Heartbroken, but unbroken
We have just been hit with a TNBC diagnosis. My wife is 44 and we have two young kids. Our world's been turned upside down. There's so much raw emotion and the sense of grief that we all know all too...
Forum Discussion
As others have said, your questions are valid but many will probably be covered by your onc as part of the consultation.
Other things to ask (or at least note):
Is a portacath suggested? Not fun to have but saves your veins (search for a discussion from January 2018 - "to port or not to port" for the feedback I got from the forum when I was uncertain)
Is cold-capping offered - your wife may not want it (it adds a huge amount of time to each treatment) but worth discussing if it's available
And one for later when chemo starts - what do we do if she needs better side effects meds at an awkward time (I speak from experience, here)
Your oncology clinic may offer ancillary services such as physio, exercise groups, dietitician, psychology - or they may have local recommendations. It's worth finding out about them. I accessed a bc rehab oncology exercise class through a large part of my chemo and it was fully covered by my health fund as it was run by the hospital.
Chemo is not a brilliant experience. I would certainly not put it up there with "must do". But for most of us it's not as bad as we expected, although your resilience does wear down towards the end. Unfortunately, the only answer we get as to whether it's working is survival and even that may not be down to the chemo.
Best wishes.
Other things to ask (or at least note):
Is a portacath suggested? Not fun to have but saves your veins (search for a discussion from January 2018 - "to port or not to port" for the feedback I got from the forum when I was uncertain)
Is cold-capping offered - your wife may not want it (it adds a huge amount of time to each treatment) but worth discussing if it's available
And one for later when chemo starts - what do we do if she needs better side effects meds at an awkward time (I speak from experience, here)
Your oncology clinic may offer ancillary services such as physio, exercise groups, dietitician, psychology - or they may have local recommendations. It's worth finding out about them. I accessed a bc rehab oncology exercise class through a large part of my chemo and it was fully covered by my health fund as it was run by the hospital.
Chemo is not a brilliant experience. I would certainly not put it up there with "must do". But for most of us it's not as bad as we expected, although your resilience does wear down towards the end. Unfortunately, the only answer we get as to whether it's working is survival and even that may not be down to the chemo.
Best wishes.