Chemo

Dear Finch,  thanks for all your tips - shopping and cleaning today !  All the best for your next round - I'm sure you'll be fine. Take care.  Deb xx 

Thanks Margie,  I'm am so grateful for all the tips & abvice from you and all the beautiful ladies online!  I've still got the butterflies in the stomach but I'm in a much better place now since reading  everyone's experiences.  Tomorrow is the next stage for me -  fingers crossed - I'll see if I can meet Flaneuse. Deb xxx

Hi there @delew. Great advice from all the gang on here that’s for sure.  I agree with @kmakm don’t listen to the horror stories. People can be a bit too forthcoming with too much information thsts for sure especially when you are feeling vulnerable. I had an arsehole of a breast care nurse and I nearly didn’t have chemo because of her. So don’t believe all that you hear. It can be shitty thsts for sure but it is doable. 

Just see what happens take each day as it comes, delegate shit at home if you need to, this is your time to be selfish and like most of us probably aren’t use to putting yourself first. Well love this is the time you need to for sure. I’m brisbane north side and @Flaneuse is also having trestment at the Royal bris currently so perhaps you can touch base with her. I’m brisbane north side too so if you ever want to chat just PM me.  I had 4 rounds of AC and 4 rounds of paclitaxol so different to you. You’ve got this love. Biggest hug. Margie. Xx 

Deb, it is my absolute privilege and pleasure to help you. Paying it forward to the people who come after us here is something I feel incredibly strongly about.

From diagnosis to now I have experienced the most desperate moments of my life, and experienced tremendous and tender love. The varied and extraordinary women here have helped me, and continue to do so, more than I could have imagined possible. Kate xox

@delew Three weeks ago I was like you.  I was terrified, so much so that instead of my preferred lurking on this forum I jumped on and asked questions.
The morning of my first chemo I  was very uptight.  Three weeks later I wonder what I fussed about. Yes I had most of the side effects I'd heard about but nothing dramatic.  The nurses are excellent.  They know what they're doing and you'll be in good hands.  I suppose my advice would be ring the number they give you at any time.  Don't hesitate no matter how small your concern, they really want you to keep in touch.  YOur body is in foreign territory so it's not  as easy to read your body signals as before so phone phone phone if necessary.
 My other advice is to prepare for what  I called  my chemo holiday.  I got  my grocery shopping in, I cleaned my house (I'm slightly OCD) I had a chemo caddy made up with lotions, lip balm, Panadol, thermometer, fave magazine. Book. I bought myself a very nice dressing gown to spoil myself. I went out for dinner the weekend before ....... I prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.  I seemed to come through quite well first treatment and I wonder how much had to do with drinking my recommended 2 1/2 litres of water a day and exercising. 
Everyone is different, no matter what you'll be nervous, but rest assured you'll be very well looked after and monitored.
I go for my second treatment on Monday, I'm very relaxed about it now.  Hopefully I'll be ok for this next round, I'm told it can be quite different but now I know what to expect.  Wishing you well.  Xxxxx

Had the same regime as you.  It is just one of those things that you can't tell until you start.  I did all my usual stuff along the way. Worked, shopped, cooked mowed etc.  I wouldn't drive on AC as already suggested, but managed fine on the Paclitaxel.  That one is generally pretty ok to handle.  I remember one of the nurses saying at the start in her gorgeous Korean accent.  "This one is good drug Miss Kerry.  Not much problems"  and she was spot on.  All the best.  Everyone is here to help remember we all "get it".
xoxoxo

Agree that you won't know what your side effects are until you start. And that you should always seek assistance as soon as possible to minimise unpleasant side effects. There are no brownie points for suffering unnecessarily. And you just might not have too many nasties. While nausea and fatigue are common, they don't always happen. Most of the side effects I had were irritating rather than awful. And most of us can put up with a lot, to do what we all want, end up cancer free! If you can keep
your eyes on the goal, it helps a bit. When first diagnosed, everything is overwhelming and treatment is for ever. From five years out it doesn't seem so bad, and also a long time ago. That's worth looking forward to. Best wishes. 

Thanks so much - you taught me  a lot so K.  Deb xx

Curse those people who tell horror stories! Honestly...  :#

Everyone's reaction is different, much like childbirth. You just won't know until you get there. TBH the only sources I trust are the medical people (and the nurses know more than the doctors as they're at the coalface, inc BreastCare nurses) and the people on this forum.

Your chemo is known as AC. Search that term here and you'll find lots of people starting like you, halfway through, just finishing and long finished.

If you are really feeling desperate and need someone to talk to, you can call the BCNA hotline on 1800 500 258. They're incredibly helpful & comforting. K xox

I'm on the same regime and just about to have my last dose of AC.  My advice is to let the nurses know if you feel sick during, make sure you have someone to drive you home in case you've been given anything that makes you drowsy, and absolutely ring your chemo centre if the drugs they send you home with don't work.  I went through a whole weekend feeling really bad and didn't ring until Monday morning and was told I could have rung anytime.  I didn't end up getting the new medication until late on the Monday afternoon so that was nearly 3 days of suffering that didn't have to happen.  Other than that, take it really easy and don't plan anything - sleep as much as your body tells you to.  I was given lots of help on this forum about what to have on hand to help during chemo - you should be able to find the lists that others posted.