Newly diagnosed, about to start AC

@"Little Duck" everyone has given you lots of advice, this is such a wonderful forum and I really can't add much except to say for me , it's been about the planning.  Usually when we come down with a bad  bout of the flu it hits out of thin air. With chemo, there is the little luxury of pre-planning and organisation.   Plan for the worst and hope for the best ..... get as much done beforehand. Meals, housework, everything you need sorted. I call it my chemo-holiday to to try and stay positive. Book in something for yourself to look forward to before your next infusion. 
Take care xxxxx

Hey @"Little Duck" ,

Welcome to the forum.  As you have seen already, everybody here is full of warmth and tremendous advice. Unfortunately no body can tell how they are going to react until they start.  I really believe it's important for those who managed ok to share their stories for those just starting out.  I had myself that worked up about the side effects I was so very close to bailing out on the whole thing.  It's no picnic run but it was nowhere near as horrrid as what my brain had conjured up.

I had the surgery first but the same chemo regime then 6 weeks rads. I was 45 at the time of diagnosis. 

You will get your chemo education prior and, like everyone,  it will scare the daylights out of you.  The list of side effects is long and daunting.  However, they are all the possible side effects that could happen.  It doesn't mean they will. 

My first 3 x AC I coped well.  Day 2 and 3 after chemo I was on a high from all the steroids and went flat out, got heaps done. Bit of a crash day on day 4 but then pretty good from then on.  Number four was a bit more rugged, but hey, at least that's the last one.  Maxalon is a waste of time so ask for the good drugs straight up!
Taxol was soooooo much easier.  Next to no side effects with that one.

Hardest thing I found throughout was the hot flushes, mild light headedness at times,  and everything tasted blah. (Lots of mints and fruit tingles)  Luckily, wine and tim tams tasted the same or I would have been really ticked off. lol.

I kept my hair with the cold cap, so that was very helpful.  I worked, shopped, cooked, ran the farm, rode my horse, went to horse shows, partied in the bar with the cowboys, renovated my dining room etc etc etc.  I just planned around it.  Keeping busy really helped me I found.  It was a distraction for my brain and I didn't spend every waking hour thinking about treatment.

Get someone to take you to the AC definitely but I easily managed to drive there and back with the taxol.

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you.

All the best.
xoxoxoxoxox

Dear @"Little Duck" , Best wishes from jennyss in Western NSW

Similar story, here.  Had my health check to-do list - then wham!  Mine is ILS and was originally thought to be about 2.5cm with no nodes so I went in for partial a few days before Christmas.  Path report came back as 4.5cm without clear margins and in the nodes, so back in after New Year, mastectomy, clearance, AC chemo, then it'll be Paclitaxel, radiation and hormone therapy.  One of the common themes on this site is of people going along in their life, feeling well and then being completely sidelined by this bastard.

Oh gosh, I did that too, happily ticked the mammogram off my health kick to do list last November. The rest of that list is still waiting...

Thanks everyone for all your responses and advice, as you all know everything is so overwhelming in the first month. A bit more info about me - I'm 46, have three kids (13, 11, 9) and am studying for a degree in Nutritional Medicine part time (oh the irony). Until this bombshell I was on track to finish end of next year but this will put me back at least 6 months, assuming I can finish this semester, which I'm really hoping to do. At my biopsy (which happened after a routine mammogram due to family history - can still so clearly recall mentally ticking the mammogram off my to do list back in February), initially they thought it was DCIS but contained, so I had visions of maybe 1 month of disruption (surgery then recovery and surely I'd be back on the netball court in time for the upcoming Winter comp?!). But within a week it went from preventive surgery to "you've got cancer and may need a mastectomy". They are recommending chemo first as the cancer is Her2 positive and apparently trials of chemo then surgery in this instance have been very positive. So herceptin is on the cards as well. I have 12 weeks of AC then 12 weeks of taxol coming up, then surgery after that. It's all so surreal as I feel perfectly healthy (aside from a constant headache and slightly ill feeling since all this began!).  

@LittleDuck as everyone says it's a bit of an unknown.  Your first will give you an indication of what the rest will be like but I would not assume that you will be at Uni a couple of days later.  For me, my first was dreadful, but that had more to do with me not realising that I could ring the nurses on the weekend and get better anti-nausea medication (Maxolon was no better than Smarties).  So, take someone with you on the first visit in case you need something that will prevent you from driving - I did.  Ring the centre if the medication they've sent home with you doesn't cut it.  Some people have absolutely no issues but I don't think that it's uncommon to be out to it to some degree for until Day 6 or 7, then you'll probably start to come good.  2nd & 3rd AC not so bad, possibly because it's more expected.  I'm currently getting over number 4 which has knocked me a bit more with the nausea again.  Good Luck

Sorry you find yourself here Little Duck, but having said that, it's a great place to be. Lots of good advice and wonderful support. I have found it invaluable!

I had different chemo from you but if I may I'd like to add to the excellent advice above. Chemo can give you the runs or set you like concrete. You don't want the latter to hit in the middle of the night and be unprepared! So have something on hand. If you go the other way, it's handy to start a couple of days before your infusion. Coloxyl and Movicol get good reviews! After your first dose you'll have an idea of which way you go.

Drink lots of water to flush the chemo through, 2-3 litres a day for the first few days. And exercise during chemotherapy can help reduce side effects, even if it's a 15 minute slow stagger!

I wish you all the very best. I was shocking scared before chemotherapy and had a full blown panic attack. But you know what, I managed OK. Accept all offers of help, be kind to yourself, and take it one day at a time. K xox

Hi there @Little Duck..I don't want to come across as being flippant, but it's a little like pregnancy and childbirth. Some lucky women sail through pregnancy without so much as a burp. At delivery, they pretty much drop their dacks and out the baby pops. Other women have varying degrees of troubles both before and at birth. So hard to predict where on the line you will fall. Pretty much the same for AC chemo. You may have little or no side effects, or you may suffer a lot of them. For life in general, I say prepare for the worst, and if things are not so bad, you don't get taken by surprise. I had convinced myself that I was going to puke non stop, and so the first thing I bought was a plastic bucket...it remains a virgin. Not even the slightest queasiness throughout the six months of AC then taxol and herceptin for almost a year. However I did have lots of problems with other side effects, (spent a total of 56 days in hospital through chemo, but no vomiting). For your first session, I would suggest having someone go with you for support. Also to drive you home afterwards as you probably won't feel up to it, even just on an emotional level. Be well hydrated before you arrive. Take your own tea or coffee and anything else you might fancy to drink or nibble on. Boiled sweets are good, and I was very keen on salt and vinegar chips...the saltiness and tartness helped with the foul taste in my mouth. I took my knitting and my kindle also. Follow the advise in the written stuff you will  have been given afterwards. After your first dose, you should have a better idea of what to expect. One step at a time, and we will be here to cheer you on and support you. You've got this!!!