I’ve searched and honestly cannot find an answer to this in factsheets or anywhere else... what does chemo feel like when it’s being administered? Is it cold? Room temperature? Do you not really notice it at all?And (notwithstanding that things are different for everyone) do side effects sometimes hit you right away or do they usually take a while to develop?

That is great advice @Afraser - not to waste perfectly good days worrying before worry is due! I have read a few of your posts on various threads and your perspective is so wonderful (especially as you are “past” the immediate crisis). I’ll calm the farm and take myself out to lunch tomorrow and think about other things!

I did my chemo back in 2016 and 2017, as as our very wise @Afraser says...one step at a time. My take on it is "How do you eat an elephant"? ..."One bite at a time". Hear goes the tip of an ear. I had a port put in on the morning of my first chemo and so "hunt the vein" wasn't a problem. They found it, poked it...ans we were in business. Aside from a strange taste, sort of at the back of my throat, top of my sinuses area, as well as in my mouth, I had no other effects. I found nibbling salt and vinegar crisps(well chomping really, but nibbling sounds a tad more ladylike), very good at cutting through the burning plastic, acrid taste. By the time I got to the paclitaxel part of things, I knew to have very fast removal pants on and a clear run to the loo. (I also took spares with me in case of a total disaster, but fortunately they weren't needed. Montezuma's Revenge...big time. I did purchase a plastic bucket from Kmart to puke in, and it remains a puke virgin to this day. It now spends its days as a mere laundry bucket. When you get to eating the trunk, or other bits...ask away. Nice to see another member with a ...shall we say...different sense of humour....I like mine black...

Mine didn’t feel anything much at all - perhaps a little cold, but certainly not icy. I didn’t notice it much - until I sprung a leak when I had to goto the toilet while still hooked up. Not my fault (faulty canula as it turned out) much running about by nurses, noharm done and much hilarity. You have to see the funny side! Side effects do vary - my neighbour who had bc ten years before me (no, not a cluster!) could not get home after treatment before being sick. I never felt remotely nauseous. Many find chemo is cumulative - particularly fatigue. It may well be (I didn’t have fatigue either) but no-one should underestimate how tired you can get of the whole shebang! But you get through. If you have difficult side effects, ask for help. Most of all, try not to anticipate. What you dread may not happen. Worrying about it won’t change anything. Don’t waste good days thinking about not so good days. Best wishes for a good run.

@AllyJay I hadn’t even thought of snacks!! Good one. My husband is allowed to come with me for my first one thankfully so I can send him off to find whatever my heart desires! After that due to COVID it’s a solo endeavour. And yes, I generally enjoy a very dark sense of humour!! But I will be honest and say I absolutely howled at the moon and cried my eyeballs dry in the shower this morning, so it’s not nonstop LOLs by any means 🥺 like everyone else just drawing on whatever I can find to cope with this very sudden situation.These descriptions are really useful in having some idea of reality (or multiple realities). I guess I didn’t realise how many tropes from movies and TV I have in my head around treatment - even though I do have sibling that’s gone through extensive chemo, it was 22 years ago and I wasn’t there all the time at the hospital.I’ve forced myself to do a 15 min yoga video to calm myself down which really helped, along with walking my dog for an hour this morning. Putting on a brave face when my children are home is so hard, but that’s a whole other thread no doubt.

Thank you so much everyone. I thought I’d report back especially in case anyone in future reads this thread! So much of your advice has proven to be golden ✨✨✨I did indeed have to go alone due to lockdown restrictions but that was actually fine. The nursing staff were incredible, my doctor popped in a few times, and I felt very well attended to and cared for.The port insertion went smoothly. Basically a light sedative made me relaxed but awake, plenty of local anaesthetic meant I felt nothing in the arm as they put it in. It’s fairly bruised and sore on Day 3 but that’s to be expected.I decided to try to the cold cap and found it fine - not as unbearable as I thought it would be. However I was given another light sedative so I could have been a little cuckoo. Round two might tell the tale!The chemo itself - I didn’t feel anything as it went in. With the “Ferrari red” AC chemo, I ate ice chips throughout and the nurse stays with you on that one to make sure it all flows through continuously. The second bag takes about an hour and they leave you for that one.The cold cap stayed on for an hour and half afterwards which is a bit of a pain but nothing terrible. I just read and dozed like many of you said above.I had an overnight stay for observation as this was my first round. Slept absolutely terribly between the sore arm and the hospital environment, but that could also be the steroids.In a piece of good news, I’ve become part of a clinical trial looking at chemotherapy and heart health in women with breast cancer, and whether increased exercise support leads to better outcomes. As part of the study an exercise physiologist will do three sessions a week with me over the next four months, either via zoom or in person, as well as bringing some equipment to my home. I feel so lucky to have that opportunity and support - especially as I am already starting to feel GROTTY and I can tell I am going to need a big push to exercise through this!!Grotty but doable. Loving that mantra so much!!!

The most newbie question ever? | BCNA Online Network

33 Replies

RiotAtMidnight
Member
5 years ago
That is great advice @Afraser - not to waste perfectly good days worrying before worry is due! I have read a few of your posts on various threads and your perspective is so wonderful (especially as you are “past” the immediate crisis). I’ll calm the farm and take myself out to lunch tomorrow and think about other things!
Afraser
Member
5 years ago
Mine didn’t feel anything much at all - perhaps a little cold, but certainly not icy. I didn’t notice it much - until I sprung a leak when I had to go
to the toilet while still hooked up. Not my fault (faulty canula as it turned out) much running about by nurses, no
harm done and much hilarity. You have to see the funny side!

Side effects do vary - my neighbour who had bc ten years before me (no, not a cluster!) could not get home after treatment before being sick. I never felt remotely nauseous. Many find chemo is cumulative - particularly fatigue. It may well be (I didn’t have fatigue either) but no-one should underestimate how tired you can get of the whole shebang! But you get through. If you have difficult side effects, ask for help. Most of all, try not to anticipate. What you dread may not happen. Worrying about it won’t change anything. Don’t waste good days thinking about not so good days. Best wishes for a good run.
RiotAtMidnight
Member
5 years ago
^^ File under “late night anxiety” obviously.

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