Hi, just thought I'd add some things I found were helpful - I have another disability as well so really couldn't have worked through treatment. I have 2 young kids and my husband works away a lot. I did get worse as time went on - it was cumulative - and they changed my chemo for the second half and I had bad reaction. I was always worse for week 1 then much better for week 2 and 3 - even though my bloods were not good and I was at risk for infection in week 2 and 3 I felt much better - so plan more rest time in week 1 and stay away from coughing kids and childcare centres in weeks 2 and 3). I ended up having to get family to come and stay for week 1 of the cycle for the from cycle 4 onwards. (I was alright on chemo day and the day after while still on the steroids - that's when everybody assumed I'd want someone to come with me to chemo but it was the 3 -4 days after that I found most difficult)
I used woolworths home delivery - I have set up a basic shop list that I can order every time - 3 clicks and it's done - with kids to look after I didn't have the time or energy to walk around the shop
I paid a cleaner to come in weekly - so at least kitchen and bathroom were hygienic
I was lucky that I had income protection insurance so my income didn't change too much and it helped pay for some much needed extras and I also had a small trauma/critical illness policy attached to my home loan (it paid about $10,000 for breast cancer regardless of if I was working) - might be worth checking if your super fund or home loan or credit card has that in there automatically - it really helped me lots
I cooked and froze meals in weeks 2 and 3 because there was no way I was well enough to cook in week 1 of the cycle and brought easy to prepare stuff and fresh fruit for week 1. used the slow cooker lots, with microwave rice and vegies
I contacted the local Family day care service and arranged to have emergency child care pre approved including overnight care in case of emergency - luckily the couple of occasions when I had really bad side effects and had to go into hospital I had family and friends available. But I did use the child care on a couple of occasions on the weekends for a block of 4-5 hrs just so I could know kids were happy and safe and I could catch up on sleep.
when my arm and hands played up (combination of effects from surgery and chemo) washing my girls hair became too hard so I just took them to the hairdresser once a week and paid to have them wash and brush the hair and plait it up for me
when I had issues with pain I was worried about driving and taking pain medications so I didn't take the medications - not a good idea - then a friend said why not use a taxi (I should have thought of that but when stressed and in pain you don't always think of stuff) - so then I kept pain under control better used medications earlier and it really helped
I got my nails painted once a week - with the taxol/ taxotere/carboplatin I was told if you use dark nail polish and stop the sunlight getting to the nail bed then you are less likely to damage the nails and have them come off the nail bed and with the peripheral neuorpathy I lost the co-ordination to paint them myself so just got someone else to do it
I now get a podiatrist to cut my toenails because of the peripheral neuropathy my fingers don't work well enough to cut the toenails safely
and don't forget to ask the breast care nurse for any info on support in your area
Good luck - hope this info helps and just take one day at a time and know that everyone is different and whatever you need to do to get through is ok - for me I gave myself a hard time about using childcare on the weekend - but really - it's better my kids have some extra childcare now and I look after myself properly so I am here for them for the next 30 + years - don't beat yourself up - be kind to yourself.
