38 -Back on the Picc Line

9 August 2022

Well, I’m back from the long awaited trip back to Vietnam and Cambodia. And thanks to the superb pre-trip planning by my medical team, which included a ‘final’ Full Blood Count just a few days before departure, to ensure my immune system was back up and running for full infection resistance.

And it was - so there was no stopping Woz 🙂
I didn’t even need so much as a paracetamol for the two weeks away!

Of course, beerotherapy helped. As did the local medicine (Lychee Martini) in copious amounts. Well at least what I remember of those sessions 🙂

Purely for medical research - Lychee Martini infusions.

I’ve already had a new Piccadilly line inserted, by the ever professional Lauren and her able assistant Donna.

I still can’t get over how a complicated procedure is completed so quickly and almost painlessly.

And believe me, inserting a fine plastic tube 520mm (yes that’s just over half a metre) through a vein from my shoulder and around my chest to terminate near my heart, is no mean feat.

Ultrasound scan prior to PICC line being inserted. The 'hole' in the middle of the monitor is a highly magnified cross-section of one of my veins.

Anyway, the line’s in and is planned to stay in for the next 3 months or so, while I continue with another four cycles of three weeks each, chemotherapy infusions.

So that was me yesterday, back in the Oncology centre in Cheltenham for my infusion of Carboplatin and then hooked up to my ’chemo pump’ which contains the FU2 Chemo that will slowly but surely be infused over four days this week. This is the third of a planned six cycles of treatment.

Then it’s just a matter of waiting to see what nasties the treatment has in store for me over the next few weeks, while I wait for the next cycle to begin at the end of August.

In the meantime, I’ve added some pictures from the trip so I can keep looking back and remembering what a splendid time I had with family and friends across the two countries.

 

Until next time, feel free to be jealous 😉