Week 8: w/e 4th October 2026

Hi Folks and thanks for taking the time to read this. 

The week that has just ended, could not have been different to the excellent previous week, if we tried! Chemo No. 2 took place on Monday afternoon and was delayed by more than 90 minutes! That results in a whole afternoon being written-off, instead of this being done and dusted in less than 2 hours. When it began, there was a slight issue with the cannula, which the young nurse misunderstood. She proceeded to grab the arm, which forced the needle deeper into my arm, resulting in notable pain; that has left a nice dark bruise. Once back home, I could not get comfortable all of Monday evening, so I went to bed to stretch out around 21:00. That was the right move, but since then, waking up at 04:00 most mornings; oh well, more writing time!

The ‘swimming head’ side effect increased from Tuesday and worsened Wednesday, then repeated Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Alongside that, I felt sluggish, with lead legs, slight skin irritation, and groin and leg pain. That dominated the week and the majority of the weekend. From memory, the chemo delivers an accumulative impact and it is fair to say that I am ‘in it’ this week, or at least the start of it; I expect it to worsen with each session. 

My taste buds are pretty shot now and half of all of my current food intake is tasteless, which makes it no fun to eat, but the challenge of having to eat, to keep strength and fuel to fight the disease, is essential. My weight has gone back to 11 stone, but had gone slightly higher, briefly. Food has been a ‘challenge’ this week and has varied from managing half meals, to feeling completely famished and feeling like I cannot eat enough. However, my body cannot cope with larger meals anymore and when I do eat one, I pay a price for that. 

Last, but certainly not least, my hair continues to leave in droves, very thin now, but some still hanging in there. We are constantly going around and vacuuming the floors and chairs, to scoop up the jettisoned former hair follicles. I even went as far as a more vigorous hair washing on Sunday, to try and move this onto a final conclusion. I have been very careful since session no. 1, trying to keep as much as possible, but it is a lost cause and I need to get on with now. 

Alongside the very dominant ‘health’ week, there was not much else of note. We know not to  plan much for ‘chemo week’, and just as well. No real plans were made for this week and any little ones we had were cancelled. We left for chemo slightly earlier and managed a quick 1 hour around some shops, where I undertook some retail therapy; a small, but nice high point. 

The writing focus was the one thing I could do, so I kept my pace up, around the side effects (sitting in front of my double screens was manageable). Hazel’s book edit is now at 50% of the total. The Münkemer book is now at the proof reading stage and the ‘117’ project now has 60 biographies completed, but we also explored various connected avenues to this, which may yield results in the very near future. 

In summary, a challenging ‘chemo’ dominated week, but I am a pragmatist and I ensured that I moved on what I could, around that impact. Your time is deeply appreciated and I hope my ramblings may be of help to some of you, or your families / friends.

Regards, Peter