Scared Sh**less!

Hi there,

so pleased you are home and feeling better, its amazing what bothers us before our treatment and then its mah........... who cares if my hair is falling out I'm alive.

Enjoy your shower and I agree not shaving the legs was awesome.

Donna

Hi there,

so pleased you are home and feeling better, its amazing what bothers us before our treatment and then its mah........... who cares if my hair is falling out I'm alive.

Enjoy your shower and I agree not shaving the legs was awesome.

Donna

Hi there,

so pleased you are home and feeling better, its amazing what bothers us before our treatment and then its mah........... who cares if my hair is falling out I'm alive.

Enjoy your shower and I agree not shaving the legs was awesome.

Donna

Thank you all for the wonderful advice.  Since my first Chemo, i have been admitted to hopital as I got an infection and high temps, but am well again now, day 10 after Chemo and the hair started to come out, now 2 days later it is really bad (can't touch it or get a hand full!) Im not that worried anymore, I am looking forward to a shower and not shaving my legs!!! 

I was diagnosed with Stage 3 BC and lymp nodes and tomorrow I start 2 x TCH followed by surgery then 2 x TCH again and I am scared as hell also.  My BCN explained that the nausea you get is similar to morning sickness and since I had it during my pregnancies the only thing that helped me was eating red ginger and drinking ginger beer so I have stocked up on those!

Also I have found a couple of recipes for juices you can make at home to help combat nausea.

I wish you well on you journey.

thank you Hailey.  Will do! 

hi busymissy,

i finished chemo three weeks ago, so i completely understand how you feel!  the girls here have some great advise and even though i don't post much, its great to read the stories and get some ideas.  

the head oncology nurse where i had my chemo told me that everyone reacts differently to chemo and the best thing you can do is listen to your body and do what your head tells you... which is difficult when you have a foggy head!

he also told me that its common that people's reaction are an exageration of something that would normally happen to them... i am prone to upsets stomachs, so that was a regular side effect for me, i also had twitches in my eyelids which i commonly get when i'm tired... its just that everything was ten times worse during chemo!  

like everyone here said, drink a lot of water and eat little things often to help with the nausea...

good luck and take care of you!
:-)

Thank you to all the feedback and suggestions.  I am having a 3/4 cycle.  Every 3 weeks for 4 cycles and TC are the drugs.  I guess I am prepared as I can be, I have been dubbed the research queen, but prefer to hear other peoples stories.  I was just mainly concerned about the bowel problem as it was told to me by a lady I know that went through it, but have to remember the golden rule - every one is different and will fare differently!  Next big step is having my hair cut off this Thursday (hasn't been short since I was in primary school! - it is now waist length!) Ah well, looking forward to a short do, bald... maybe not so much.  Thank you all again, love the advice and hearing your stories. xo

You poor thing. It sounds like you have heard all the horror stories and chemo is scary enough without having people tell you the worst. I bet you there is not one person that hasn't been scared sh...less. As Donna said its no walk in the park but you will get through. Everyone's experience is different. I wrote down all the symptoms I had and when they occured after my first round no matter how small they were so I could tell my Oncologist and she was able to adjust the chemo as we went along. Eat a light meal before your treatment and drink as much fluid as possible. I took a big bag with some supplies with me, I called it my chemo bag (daaaaah) and probably will never use it again :) A friend of mine suggested Fruit Tingles to suck on as they have bicarb in them and give some relief from heart burn which I suffered from. Also your Oncologist can prescribe Nexium for stronger relief if needed. I also sucked on icy-poles during treatment which I found helped with mouth sores and dry mouth. Tissues, headphones if you would like to listen to music, if you have a smart tablet like an iPad to play games on or a book to read, all help to pass the time quickly. Plastic bags just in case of.... on the way home. This only happened to me once and it was when we were trying to work out if one of the anti-nausea drugs was giving me headaches and my Onc suggested we try leaving it out. I don't recommend this as I was really sick. Dress comfortably. I dressed in a track suit. For the first round I also took along with me any vitamins and supplements I was taking and showed them to the Hospital Pharmacist for his okay. He told me not to take some for a certain time before and after chemo as they might have had a negative effect so this might be something you might think of. One of the chemo drugs is nicknamed the red devil and this turns your urine red the first time you go to the loo so if you are on this one, don't freak out. I was warned about it by the chemo nurse but a friend wasn't and she panicked thinking there was something terribly wrong. Ask your chemo nurses if you are unsure. Ask plenty of questions, forearmed is forewarned. I know this all sounds overwhelming to you but once you are over the first one, you'll get your own routine going. It's really not having the chemo that's bad it's what happens when the side effects kick in around day 3 or 4 for me. Again remember that we are all different and the side effects will be different for you. I will keep my fingers crossed that you will breeze through with mild side effects. But you'll find your inner strength to fight any side effects no matter what they bring. Take all the help that is offered to you. You are número uno through this. Take each day as it comes. Being scared of the unknown is perfectly natural but once you know what to expect, you'll do okay and before you know it you'll be through.

Sorry about the book, I do tend to rambled on :)

Sending you hugs and kisses. Love Janey xxxooo