Update on Trabectedin chemotherapy

I had the first instalment of my latest chemotherapy, Trabectedin, this week. All went well and it was a straightforward experience.

In preparation for the chemo I had a PICC line fitted on Tuesday afternoon. This is thin plastic tube that goes into a vein at the top of my arm and runs into the large vein that feeds blood back to my heart. The PICC line allows the chemo drug to be delivered with less chance of damage to my veins and also means that I don't have to have any needles now in order to get blood tests done or to receive the chemo. The PICC line will stay in whilst I continue to be treated with Trabectedin.

I went into hospital yesterday morning to have the chemo. The drug is given through a 24 hour infusion and so requires a one night stay in hospital. The PICC line meant that the experience was pretty non-intrusive and I was back at home early this evening. So far I haven't had too many side effects, I hardly slept last night in hospital, this was probably down to the large dose of steroids I was given before I had the chemo, hopefully I should sleep better tonight. I also had some slight nausea and some stomach pain (both known side effects of Trabectedin) but these have eased off now. I will have to see how things go over the next few days but I'm hopeful the side effects won't be too bad.

I will have further treatments once every three weeks with a CT scan after the third treatment to see if the drug is having a positive effect on the cancer.

Now we know what my chemo schedule is likely to be for the next few weeks Katie and I are planning a trip to Northumberland so that we can visit the Farne Islands to see the Puffins. Here's a shot I got of one of these characterful little birds last year on Skomer in Wales: