2 Questions....

Don't worry, post menopausal women still enjoy sex!  I was on FEC and avoided sex in the first week after chemo.  After than we had sex, not that often because I didn't feel great, and chemo is overwhelming, but we still had some.

 Good luck.  Nice to have a conversation about sex!

Karen

I hate needles..so had a couple of Valium to calm the nerves..so whole experience is a little blurry...tablets made me a bit tired and a little fuzzy brain..I had lots of fresh chopped fruit to snack on, lots of water..trying to wash it out of my system..spice gave me a little heart burn, but only felt different for a few days..really not as bad as I had been dreading...not all doom and gloom at all.Day 17 now and hair is just sitting on my head..not gave to touch it as I did earlier today and out came 20 hairs ?? I knew it would happen..but I felt so normal..thought I might break the rules and not lose my hair...having a wig party in a few weeks!! I hope you get through your first treatment as well as I did! Give me a yell if I can help!

Lisa

How are you feeling after having FEC? Have you had many side effects? 

yes, ive done the Look Good, feel good session, it was good. I use a great product that makes me look like I have eyebrows from Mirennese, its an eyebrow mascara. Also check out a eyebrow pencil from a company called Arbonne they both give you eyebrows.

I'm at two weeks & two days now after treatment with FEC ... I think hair is only just hanging on..head feels strange...good luck with your treatment!

Got a blonde wig and a brown with foils...not sure how I'm going to go with no eyebrows!? Never been on for much makeup! Have you done the Look Good Feel Good sessions?

Thanks for the help! Today my head / hair felt strange...just patted it then and 10 hairs came out..might not pat it again for a bit! I love the way you see a bright side! Hubby keen on joining me for my bald look...he has hair longer than me...I think he'll look more strange than I will! At least I don't have to shave anymore! 

Keep smiling! Lisa

Good questions!

Re hair, I was on A/C first and was told two weeks. It started dropping after 2 weeks and one day. After that, it was all pretty rapid. You may be advised that you will get some "tingling" - after the first 3/4 days my scalp felt like it had a bad case of sunburn, quite uncomfortable. After about 5 days, my hair simply didn't feel like it belonged to me at all. It looked OK but felt really odd. The good thing about that (you'll get used to finding good things when you can!) is that it made it much easier to go and get it cut off!

No, you won't kill your husband but it does depend a bit on what chemo you are being treated with. My oncologist gave me written information(and verbal) on all of this before I started, which was really helpful. A/C is pretty full on, so the advice was no sex in the first week after every treatment. Which is also when you need to flush twice, and be careful if you are sick - cleaners uppers need to wear gloves and use bleach - not pleasant, but on the positive side (there I go again) I was never sick! Bottom line, you really don't want to share any of your bodily fluids with anyone while the chemo is going through your system. A 3 weekly treatment will take about one week to get through your system, as long as you are not constipated or anything else fouls up. A weekly treatment, such as Taxol,  about 3 days.

 We didn't use condoms, but that's an added protection.

Good luck! This too will pass.

as others have said it depends on the type of chemo you are having. I tried cold capping which worked for the 1st 2 weeks after my first treatment then one nite in the shower when I was washing my hair I got handfuls just coming out. Gave up on the cold capping. I am now bald and actually loving it, think I might stay like this, love wearing beanies and scarves (went to op shops and bought heaps) I also have wigs which I wear when I go out (they are claimable on your health insurance and some hospitals offer a free wig service).

I must say it is very upsetting when you first loose your hair and I swore if another person said to me 'don't worry it will grow back' I was going to get the clippers and cut all their hair off and tell them 'don't worry it will grow back' and see how they liked loosing their hair.

As for sex, condoms are the answer.

Good luck with your treatment.

I'm about to start FEC and then Taxol, I was told hair will start to fall out after about 2 weeks. 

I was also told sex is fine, but just use condoms. I also asked about open mouth kissing, my nurse said there is conflicting opinions on it, but she recommended not in first few days after chemo. 

Hope that helps a little, hope all goes well xx