Journey

Rory is well within himself. He isn’t in any pain and the medication is keeping the nausea at bay for now. He is tired and finding it hard to concentrate so he watches movies on his tablet most of the day. I know he is looking forward to getting up out of bed and outside once all the bags of medication and fluids are disconnected.

Sean looked worse for wear when I relieved him on the ward this morning. Staying a night on the ward again after a decade is a crash course in what is ahead.

It was another day on the ward today for Rory and I. Rory had his second dose of chemotherapy (the same medication) delivered through his port. The Doxorubicin is red and turns his pee red. We have had a conversation about what other colours would be equally interesting.

The Doctors came this morning to discuss Rory’s cortisol level. Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone. It manages how your body uses food, keeps inflammation down, manages your blood pressure, increases blood sugar and controls your sleep/wake pattern. Rory’s body does not make or use cortisol correctly because of the treatment he received a decade ago. He is dependent on tablets every day to keep things level. When his body is under stress he needs more. The big question at the moment is how do we tell when that is and how much do we give him.