Oncologist appointment

Dear Loreto,

What a wonderful soul you are to share with me, especially as you early on your journey too! Yes, the first one is very daunting and I am blessed to have an amazing daughter who wishes to come with me and stay overnight in the hospital with me (I have elected to stay in overnight, thought I have had this private insurance for years and I may as well use it as that is what it is for)...

Having a supportative and loving family, including 5 grandchildren who I have promised can draw all over my bald head with something non-toxic helps with smiles instead of tears! I feel very blessed to have had women who have come before me so that I can have Herceptin, considering those prior to 2007 had to sell houses and take out loans to have that treatment! I am a lucky lady!

I do hope your journey gives you loads of smiles along the way because a good attitude is half the battle. Your teenage kids sound great!! Look after you lovely lady.

Take care,

Suse x

Hi Donna,

Yes I am finding I am more comfortable with what my future holds; I know that I am yet to experience many things but at least I am feeling more educated by wonderful women such as yourself, who take the time to care for us on the beginning of our journey! I will in turn return this never ending gift to others in the day, weeks, months and years to come!

Thank you and look after you!

Suse

Hi Susan My treatment plan sounds similar to yours. I am up to cycle 3 of chemo on Thursday and I have 3 more to go after that. The first round can be scary, as you don't know how your body will react. I had an allergic reaction to the docetaxel the first time but the oncology nurses were great and gave me fenergen to counteract the reaction. At the beginning of the second cycle the nurse gave me fenergen, and then I had no reaction to the docetaxel which was a relief. One thing you might want to do is organise a wig before your chemo starts, depending on what drugs you are on. My hair started to fall out two weeks after the first chemo session and it was a relief to already have one organised. Oh yes, and I am a bit vague which my teenage kids think is very funny! Hope it all goes well for you. Loreto

Hi Susan My treatment plan sounds similar to yours. I am up to cycle 3 of chemo on Thursday and I have 3 more to go after that. The first round can be scary, as you don't know how your body will react. I had an allergic reaction to the docetaxel the first time but the oncology nurses were great and gave me fenergen to counteract the reaction. At the beginning of the second cycle the nurse gave me fenergen, and then I had no reaction to the docetaxel which was a relief. One thing you might want to do is organise a wig before your chemo starts, depending on what drugs you are on. My hair started to fall out two weeks after the first chemo session and it was a relief to already have one organised. Oh yes, and I am a bit vague which my teenage kids think is very funny! Hope it all goes well for you. Loreto

I am pleased you seem a little more at ease, its not an easy road and we all get scared along the way. This site is so good, it provides us with a place that we can ask questions. vent and celebrate all with people who understand and do not judge.

Believe me there will come a time when you look back at it all and sometime even have a chuckle. I had the most god damn awful diahorra experience that at the time I thought was horrendous, now it makes me laugh.

Take care

Donna

Hi Jane,

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on this post, I so appreciate it and am so grateful to have communication with someone whose treatment plan is similar to mine. I know all our journeys are different and we all handle things differently. Great to get an idea of what the day of chemo will be like; i.e. time, things to do, etc and how it will change when I am just on Herceptin (thank you).

I hope your journey is going well... Look after you and sending you a virtual hug with a smile.

Take care,

Susan

Hi Suse,Your treatment plan is very similar to the one I had. Although feeling anxious about starting chemo is absolutely understandable, in most cases, it usually goes off without too much of a hitch. With my first chemo they slowed each of the infusions right down just to keep an eye on how I reacted with it all, so the first session was around 8hrs long, but subsequent chemo /Herceptin treatments were usually 3-4hrs, reducing down to about an hour and a half when just on Herceptin, depending on how busy the ward was that day. As it is time-consuming, plan on bringing something / someone to help pass the time. I usually listened to music & yoga relaxation as well as a bit of light reading or used the ipad. My hubby was also able to come along so had someone to chat to, or send off for coffee!

As Donna and Wendy suggested, there is lots of info on here about dealing with the chemo / Herceptin side effects (Wendy's bathroom also sounds strangely familiar!).  I also found the oncology nurses absolutely brilliant and they were able to answer lots of my questions at the time and to provide caring reassurance.

Best wishes for your treatment, I truly hope it all goes well for you. Cheers, Jane

Hi Suse,Your treatment plan is very similar to the one I had. Although feeling anxious about starting chemo is absolutely understandable, in most cases, it usually goes off without too much of a hitch. With my first chemo they slowed each of the infusions right down just to keep an eye on how I reacted with it all, so the first session was around 8hrs long, but subsequent chemo /Herceptin treatments were usually 3-4hrs, reducing down to about an hour and a half when just on Herceptin, depending on how busy the ward was that day. As it is time-consuming, plan on bringing something / someone to help pass the time. I usually listened to music & yoga relaxation as well as a bit of light reading or used the ipad. My hubby was also able to come along so had someone to chat to, or send off for coffee!

As Donna and Wendy suggested, there is lots of info on here about dealing with the chemo / Herceptin side effects (Wendy's bathroom also sounds strangely familiar!).  I also found the oncology nurses absolutely brilliant and they were able to answer lots of my questions at the time and to provide caring reassurance.

Best wishes for your treatment, I truly hope it all goes well for you. Cheers, Jane

Hi Wendy,

Thank you for some humour, made me smile! I so appreciate your honesty and for taking the time to help another!

I hope you are well and that your journey is progressing better than you ever felt possible!

Take care,

Suse

Thank you so much Donna and yes reading the blogs has been a wealth of helpful information...

I hope you are well.

Suse