Haha we will blame chemo brain @lrb_03.
Right heart cath was a hoot and I don’t look forward to ever doing it again. I have somewhat of a needle phobia so when I found out about them putting it through my neck while I was awake, well let’s just say I wasn’t thrilled. I was able to have my earpods in and listen to music so that I didn’t have to listen to medical talk for most of it lol. While they got some answers, they are still having difficulty with finding a way to stop the progression of the damage. They have now found that the chemo seems to have damaged basically every cell in my body on a mitochondrial level. This means that my cells don’t know how to use oxygen properly when under duress hence many of my symptoms. My bone marrow is also not producing enough red blood cells to carry oxygen which just compounds it all.
As silly as it sounds, I was relieved to get a copy of the letter that was sent to my GP that clearly says that this is all a result of chemo. I have just changed oncologists because my previous one said that he didn’t agree and that I just needed to keep pushing myself. My cardiologists were alarmed at this and kept reassuring me that they were the experts in the field and knew what they were doing. I had started to think that maybe I was being a bit soft. My new onc is fabulous and says he has no doubt that it is all caused by chemo and he is now working with a professor in Melbourne in an attempt to give me a clearer picture of what my future is going to look like. I haven’t been able to work since last year, but I’m very hopeful that over the coming weeks we will have some positive ideas about moving forward and getting back to work.I miss my job and my clients ( I work in welfare).
it was lovely to hear from you and as always Ilkve reading your little snippets on the chat.
Take care
Polly
