the Chemo-thing part1

So after the operation back in October, I didn't have a lot of time off backpackin and starting work etc. Plus, getting the notes from the NHS in London was a tremendous nightmare that only culminated in end-Feb08. Anyway, I went to this hospital for Foreigners(Gaijin) called St. Lukes, and they did the required CT Scans and Blood tests(that the doctors had told me to do after surgery). Turns out both were a bit alarming: CT Scans showed metastasis in each lung, and a metastasis in a paraaortic lymph node .
They referred me to the National Cancer Centre, and treatment started petty much soon, as I'm apparently on Stage IIIb (one of the worst, but the standard cure rate is 80%).
Anyway, treatment began on 30March08, the menu is as follows:
3 courses of Chemotherapy, each lasting approx. one week, with a recovery period of two weeks in between. So that's about nine weeks in total. On the first day, they locate the subclavian artery using ultrasound scanning, and put a catheter-tube into it. This is used to intravenously drip feed all the stuff needed during treatment. Then it's one day of hydration: about eight-ten litres of saline intravenously dripped into the system. Then its five days of Chemotherapy agents: recovery mode ensues after.
The Chemotherapy agents currently employed in Japan follow a slight variation on the globally adopted BEP course: minus the bleomycin. Cisplatin is stronger than Etoposide, and is only administered on the first day, Etoposide is administered for five days. One major downside to all this is that since they pump ten-twelve litres of stuff into you, the body feels giddy(imagine normally drinking/eating ten litres of anything in a day!!): and feels like discharging everything possible: feel like vomiting every hour, and any food that goes in comes strrrraight out!!
Oh, and the chemotherapy kills cancer cells, but it ain't good for other cells either! ... cells that multiply fast(eg: Whiteblood cells have a very short lifespan: so do skin cells and cells in some of the intestinal lining), so the immune system gets really weak. Platelet count goes down too: so if you cut yaself, the bleeding might never stop: spoookaay!
Oh, and you lose all your hair in a few weeks(on apr17th I noticed I was losing hair dramatically: should be bald by the next week!)
All these go back to normal after they've stopped pumping toxic stuff into you: one thing that might not return is this though: I could lose recognition on high-pitched sounds: this is irreversible ... but this hasn't happened... yet!

• Reason why I decided to do the therapy in Japan: to learn the language easier: doctors, nurses and patients at the Natl. Cancer Centre don't speak a lot of english, so I'll learn Japanese thru necessity! Also, medicare is not that expensive in Japan ... of course, it's free on the NHS(UK)!! I'll still get paid while on therapy though(full pay for one month, and then approx.2/3rd regular pay: i think)
  

Anyhoo, its back to hospi on monday 21apr08 ... dunno if they'll let me go back home to recover for the next cohort: they say it gets progressively worse hahah!

Click on the pics for larger versions, the one on the left is the lungs: there's like a round thing(metastasis) on the centre-left. The pic on the right shows the part between the kidneys: shows a swollen lymph node (almost attached) to a vertebra.