Waiting for oncologist ??
Hi there, I was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 weeks ago. I am now 4 weeks post surgery after a lumpectomy. I had a grade 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. My specialist informed me last Thursday that...
Forum Discussion
Hi Jazz,
I have had 2 rounds of chemotherapy so far (3 weeks apart) and so far so good with 4 more sessions to go. The second round was better than the first as I knew what to look for in terms of side effects and had a range of strategies to deal with it so didn't have the same problems at number two. Found it helpful to record day by day each side effect and then emailed that to the oncologist and he was able to guide me on prevention the next time. After the first week I felt pretty reasonable and by the third week I felt back to normal. I found by about 7 -8 pm I am ready to rest and not as resilient as usual. Exercise helps according to the oncologist with side effects and have walked most days and gone to yoga. If you need chemo, I would suggest you look closely at the side effects and ask the nurses and oncologist for advice on how to manage them if they occur eg. Mouth washes for preventing sores, types of painkillers you can take, early use of Imodium for diarrhoea, prevention of constipation etc. and make a record and gather a kit of useful medications in case you need them. Obviously the type of side effects would depend on what chemo you have. Also with hair loss, I opted out of cold capping (decided against an extra 2 hours at a session) but found it helpful to cut my hair short and then when it started falling out, I had enough when my daughter told me she found it in her muesli! Got it down to a number one that day and haven't looked back. Also found the Look Good Feel Better workshop to be really good too. With regards work, I opted to stop work but so far could have done some work in the week 2 and 3 if I needed.
All the best, Jual
I have had 2 rounds of chemotherapy so far (3 weeks apart) and so far so good with 4 more sessions to go. The second round was better than the first as I knew what to look for in terms of side effects and had a range of strategies to deal with it so didn't have the same problems at number two. Found it helpful to record day by day each side effect and then emailed that to the oncologist and he was able to guide me on prevention the next time. After the first week I felt pretty reasonable and by the third week I felt back to normal. I found by about 7 -8 pm I am ready to rest and not as resilient as usual. Exercise helps according to the oncologist with side effects and have walked most days and gone to yoga. If you need chemo, I would suggest you look closely at the side effects and ask the nurses and oncologist for advice on how to manage them if they occur eg. Mouth washes for preventing sores, types of painkillers you can take, early use of Imodium for diarrhoea, prevention of constipation etc. and make a record and gather a kit of useful medications in case you need them. Obviously the type of side effects would depend on what chemo you have. Also with hair loss, I opted out of cold capping (decided against an extra 2 hours at a session) but found it helpful to cut my hair short and then when it started falling out, I had enough when my daughter told me she found it in her muesli! Got it down to a number one that day and haven't looked back. Also found the Look Good Feel Better workshop to be really good too. With regards work, I opted to stop work but so far could have done some work in the week 2 and 3 if I needed.
All the best, Jual