Hi @KylieG. I rinsed with salt water after every meal and didn't have a single mouth ulcer. A couple tried to get going in my last cycle but I kept rinsing and they disappeared.
Two nights before starting chemo I had a huge panic attack about it for 45 minutes. Fear of the unknown is absolutely horrible, and like most things in life, it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. It's not fun, but I didn't vomit.
Chemo's effects on your body tend to be cumulative, including tiredness and fatigue. It wears you down so it's really important to be kind and gentle to yourself, accept help when it's offered, and to listen to your body. And most importantly, keep exercising. It's the one thing that's been proven to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. I walked almost every single day, starting small on the day of each infusion, and building up to 5kms by the end of each cycle.
The other best and oft repeated advice here is to take things one day at a time, and on some days, one hour at a time. Don't look at the whole 4 - 6 months. Break it down to "this week" or "this cycle". You'll get into the rhythm of it and soon know when your couch days are and when the days when you can cook the dinner and do the laundry are! Life goes on, and so will you, and that's the point of the bloody thing eh?!
Now's the time to get the streaming services if you haven't got them and can manage the cost of them. Binge watching shows is a most sstisfactory way of passing the time for many of us!
There's no way round the brain fog (CRCI, Cancer Related Cognitive Impairment), but my oncologist told me that there's solid research about the benefits of reading helping on this front. So keep reading and fingers crossed it won't be too bad.
Some people breeze through chemo with nary a problem, while others have a lot of trouble. Most of us fall somewhere in between. I have never felt more loved than I did during my chemotherapy, and showers with a bald head are sublime! You can do this Kylie, we've got you. K xox
