I’ve just finished session 4 of chemo. I’ve had 3 x sessions of FEC 100 and 1 x session of Taxotere and I can’t take anymore. My body is gradually being poisoned to death by these drugs which incidentally do not know the difference between good cells and bad cells. They wade in there and destroy everything leaving your body at severe, and I mean severe risk of infection which you can’t fight because they’ve also destroyed your white blood cells. I was proud of my immune system’s ability to rally and fight and now I find it is drastically compromised by these drugs.
I was given Taxotere last Wednesday and once the steroids I had to take as well had worn off I fell prey to diarrhoea on Sunday which has stayed with me to now. A panicked call to the chemo unit on Sunday night invoked the response “Oh yes, Taxotere is known for that”. On describing the rest of my symptoms I was told to come in to hospital for assessment. When I said that I couldn’t drive myself and my neighbours were out, I was asked “Can’t you take a taxi?” I said I couldn’t afford the fares there and back. They refused to call an ambulance and advised me to call the Out of Hours Doctor on 111. When I went to bed on Sunday night crying my eyes out I was unsure if I was going to wake up the next morning.
In desperation this morning I contacted my fellow chemo chums on our Facebook group. Immediate replies from these amazing women told me to take Imodium straight away which I have done. In the 3 calls I have had with my chemo unit since Sunday night I was told to just keep up the fluid intake, not one single mention was made of taking Imodium. This is just one incident of the unsupportive nature of my regime. My oncologist has deigned to see me just once during the entire period of chemo, yet I know from my FB ladies that their Oncologists at the very least telephone them before each chemo session to discuss side effects, reduced doses etc. At my appointment the Oncologist spent more time looking at his computer screen than talking to me the human being. I asked him the question “Will I have another scan when chemo has finished? He said No, we got it all at the op. So really, what was the flipping point of chemo in the first place? And the answer to that is, it is Protocol and a Cash Cow. It doesn’t matter how the patient will cope with these toxins, just blindly follow Protocol laid down, one size fits all and pay the money to the Pharmaceutical Companies. Incidentally each patient on chemotherapy is worth £200,000 to the industry.
Well this patient has had enough, I know instinctively that my body will respond better to a diet wholly containing foods that are known to be anti-carcinogenic, exercise and a de-stressed lifestyle. My Oncologist wants to see me next week to discuss, I will speak to him and I will tell him that in 100 years time this form of cancer treatment will become known as the most ‘Barbaric Treatment of its Age’. It is sheer and utter hell and I for one am not taking it anymore.
Slàinte Mhath xxx