Newly Diagnosed and overwhelmed
I have my treatment plan in place and im full of anxiety over it, i no so far its contained and it hasnt spread to organs, going for bone scan this week, mri and to have a clip put in. Petrified of C...
Forum Discussion
You know the chemo you are going to have so I assume that you've had the consult with the oncologist. He/she, or the onc nurses should have gone through many things with you including what to do if you have a bad reaction and whether to organise a port (well worth doing). If this hasn't happened, or if you just can't remember, call the clinic or your breast care nurse on Monday and discuss it.
AC is tougher but it's only 4 doses and you get time to recover from it. Taxol is not as tough but you don't get as much recovery time and it's 12 doses so most of us are pretty tired by the end of it. You will be offered some meds to control things such as nausea - these might be enough. If they're not cutting it, you can ask for different or stronger. Four days into my first AC, I was prescribed Ativan for nausea and Somac (later, Nexium) for reflux. These did the trick. You will also be monitored at each appointment and if your body is struggling with the chemo drugs, the dosage may be altered, or you may be given a break to recover more. My indications always remained just over the concerning level so my treatment was not altered.
Please don't be too scared about it. It's natural to be anxious but statistically, you're unlikely to be one of those who has a bad reaction and if you do happen to fall into that group, the oncologist will deal with it. The rest is just a drudge to get through. And who knows, you may be one of the lucky ones who gets through without a problem.
AC is tougher but it's only 4 doses and you get time to recover from it. Taxol is not as tough but you don't get as much recovery time and it's 12 doses so most of us are pretty tired by the end of it. You will be offered some meds to control things such as nausea - these might be enough. If they're not cutting it, you can ask for different or stronger. Four days into my first AC, I was prescribed Ativan for nausea and Somac (later, Nexium) for reflux. These did the trick. You will also be monitored at each appointment and if your body is struggling with the chemo drugs, the dosage may be altered, or you may be given a break to recover more. My indications always remained just over the concerning level so my treatment was not altered.
Please don't be too scared about it. It's natural to be anxious but statistically, you're unlikely to be one of those who has a bad reaction and if you do happen to fall into that group, the oncologist will deal with it. The rest is just a drudge to get through. And who knows, you may be one of the lucky ones who gets through without a problem.