Theraglass

[Theraglass]

Due to start Gemcitabine in June for 2nd recurrence since surgery. Finished 7 months of caylex/ carbo in November. Really enjoying past 5 months of no treatment ( first time with no treatment in 3yrs). Not feeling ready to start again! Anyone else going through gemcitabine on its own and what your symptoms are like? Hoping to continue with a few hours work if possible to finish the school term of art therapy with children. Really unsure whether I will be able to continue work . So hard to plan isn't it. Very grateful there is still treatment available.

Sending love and prayers for your journeys of recovery/ living well with cancer. xxx

[Cheadle]

I have had gem twice though not on its own. The only advice I would give is to think about getting a port as i found gem very tough on the veins and cannulation got increasingly difficult as treatment progressed. It also quite tough on the bone marrow so if your white blood count is affected you may have to take extra care over avoiding infection (this might impact on working with children) though they can give you filgrastim injections to counter that. As with any chemo regimen, it's often a case of seeing how you go but do think about a port, especially if you're having the drug on the usual day 1 & 8 schedule.

[Leniko in reply to Cheadle]

The best decision I made during this journey was opting for a chest port. It makes blood tests, infusions SO much more comfortable and doesn’t destroy veins!

[Theraglass in reply to Cheadle]

Hi, Yes I will have a port as my veins have not played ball for a while. I feel well atm and am hoping I might be able to postpone treatment. I will get a blood test done soon to see how high my ca125 is. It was 345 a month ago. thanks for your response. xxx

[Theraglass]

Update: I started Gemcitabine yesterday and as it was administered through a port it was quite straight forward. My ca125 sadly has risen to 1896 from 345 a month ago, so really praying the chemo will bring it down over the next few weeks/months. Feel ok just tired and little nausea. Happy days... going to relax and enjoy the sunshine today. Hope you're all keeping well. Thank fully there's no need for the cold cap with this drug. xxx