Meeting with psychologists

The nausea last week lasted for around three days and Monday evening last week I was starting to feel quite fine again. It is the Eloxatin that is the cause of the nausea and it typically hits days 3-7 after the infusion. I'm considering trying out another medicine than Primperan to cope with the nausea next time.

I was supposed to go and see that Norwegian psychologist last week's Monday but as I didn't feel too well I called him and had the appointment moved till Wednesday. On Wednesday I jumped on the train to Helsinki. I learned first of all that he's a psychotherapist and not a psychologist by education, though for me it does not make a difference. We talked about his education and experience, what services he provides and about my situation. It was good to discuss matters in Norwegian and he made a good impression. However, he wanted a set-up where he'd meet me twice a week for a longer period of time. I said I needed some time to think about that as travelling to Helsinki that frequently could be tough especially if I will have side effects from the chemotherapy every now and then. He said we could try and do some of the conversations on phone. We also discussed the possibility of getting financial support from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA).

On the train back and forth to Helsinki I read half-way through Lance Armstrong's book “It's not about the bike”. He was a professional cyclist that got testicular cancer that spread (metastasised) to brain and lungs. Against all odds he recovered from the cancer and returned to cycling to win Tour de France seven years in a row. We have found many other against-all-odds stories on the Internet which has helped us keep up a positive spirit.

Yesterday, one week after meeting up with the Norwegian psychotherapist in Helsinki, my wife and myself had an appointment with a hospital psychologist at the Tampere University Hospital (TAYS). This is a free-of-charge service that's included in the treatments I'm getting and we met her for the second time. Among a lot of issues, we talked about how to include children into this process. We have so far told the older kid that I'm sick and need to go to the hospital every now and then. She recommended to be open with the kids and not to create an atmosphere that there's something secret going on among the adults. She also gave us some hints how to tackle tricky questions from kids like if dad is going to die. We could just answer that I'm feeling fine now but I may not become as old as grand-father. She also recommended us to attend a one day family therapy session in Helsinki later this autumn.

Upon my request the hospital psychologist had checked if I would get any financial support for seeing the Norwegian psychotherapist in Helsinki. It seems challenging unless I would get a doctor's referral from the cancer treatment department at the hospital. As I already have this one psychologist at my disposal free of charge it will probably not work out. Anyhow, travelling twice a week to Helsinki would have been too much anyway.

By the way, a new side effect appeared last week. The sole of my feet got sore and I started getting blisters. This is a documented side effect from the Xeloda drug. It is much better now and it seems to disappear.