Chemotherapy Round 2

Another round of chemo yesterday. Had to wait three hours to start because one of the other patient's blood was so hideously abnormal that it sent the blood testing machine into convulsions and they had to clean it all out before they could measure mine. My blood checked out okay, except for some slightly weird liver enzyme results. The doctor said this is probably a result of the chemo and not to worry. I figure it was probably a result of the 2 gallons of mulled wine I drank at a Christmas party last weekend. Still no major side effects from the chemo. Slight hangover from the wine though.

I've been reading lots about cancer lately, and one thing that has struck me is how often cancer patients are described as 'warriors' who are 'battling' or 'fighting' the disease. I hate these sorts of mindless metaphors, I've felt nothing but an acute loss of control over my health since I got sick. With many other serious diseases you can take concrete steps to help your prognosis. Got heart disease? Lower your cholesterol levels and get more exercise. Diabetes? Monitor your blood sugar levels, inject insulin as needed. Cancer? Get your treatments, go home and hope that the drugs do what they're supposed to. I know it's important to eat a balanced diet, keep your spirits up and get lots of rest during chemo, but I don't think that really qualifies as waging a 'courageous battle'. It's more just 'getting on with life as normally as possible'. I think radio 5 presenter Danny Baker, who is also getting chemotherapy for his cancer summed it up pretty well. He writes "my body is just the battleground. Science is doing the fighting." Suck on that Lance Armstrong.