This may be a strange topic to post but … does anyone else feel really OK with their chemo? I have had 2 of my 6 FEC. I am feeling really well. Haven’t felt sick or tired or any of the other things I was expecting. My hair has fallen out, got it shaved just after FEC2 as it was shedding all over the place, but apart from that and a few mouth ulcers, I haven’t had any other side effects.
I count myself one of the lucky ones but perversely can’t help worrying that the chemo isn’t working because I don’t feel crap! Asked my chemo nurse and she said she would be more worried if I did feel rubbish!
Would be great to hear from other girls that are feeling fine to put my mind at rest! Lynne
I finished my x6 FEC three weeks ago. Before I started I had prepared myself for for being really ill. My hair fell out after my second so I shaved it as I looked like a Sasquatch getting out of bed in the morning As each treatment came I was getting more nausea and was sick on the day and that night. I felt a little tired for a day after but other than that I felt fine and I also worried that it wasn’t doing to job You may find that as you get towards the end of your treatment, you may feel like it’s catching up with you a bit.
I stopped working as I work in a care home and didn’t want to pick up infections but started to feel guilty that I should be in work as I felt OK. I came into contact with people with coughs and colds, not through choice and managed to stay infection free. I was carrying on doing all the thing I was used to doing and had everyone saying you shouldn’t be doing that, you need to rest. But I felt fine and wouldn’t have done it if felt I couldn’t. I felt like saying “Leave me alone, I’m not sick” People just couldn’t believe how well I looked and felt. I even put on a stone in weight my appetite was so good, too good in fact.
I hope you stay well and fighting fit throughout, I think a positive outlook and determination not to give in helped me (as well as eating well and drinking plenty of water)
I’ve found that SEs tended to build on fec, but still worked virtually normally 2 weeks out of three. Now two days post first tax and feeling fine apart from the steroids stopping me from sleeping!
Hope you carry on as you are - it’s probably the nature of the forums that people want to share and get info on their concerns, so we probably don’t hear about all of us who seem to be having an easier time.
I also feel guilty i’m not at work - I work in a primary school and my oncologist said straight away I couldn’t go to work in between chemo’s as the risk of infection was too great. After my 1st FEC i got a stinking cold and now (2weeks after FEC2) i seem to have the cold again!
As with you, everyone can’t believe how well I look (even with the baldy head) My appetite is mental! Can’t stop eating!! Will defo be a couple of stone heavier by the end of this!!
Hi Diane - I have had a couple of nights with insomnia - the first 3 days after chemo I take the anti-sickness drugs they give me which I think are steroids(?) and am usually wakened and reading my book between 1am-4am! It’s these steroids am blaming for eating loads as well!
Hi Elaine - am getting my 3rd of 6 FEC next Friday - after that I have 3 weeks of Radio therapy. Have had my mastectomy and reconstruction already after all this I have 5 years of Tamoxifen to take.
It’s good to hear some positive experiences for a change.
I had another positive experience when having my chemo that I forgot to mention. I haven’t been able to smell for years now because of Allergies and sinus problems, but when I started on the fec my smell came back for about 4 weeks ??? Don’t know why but it was great while it lasted
I wouldn’t worry - being fairly SE-free is what the Oncies try to achieve for everyone but most of us don’t manage it. One of the ladies I met at the Haven said that she felt ‘like a fraud’ because she sailed through chemo and is now back at work. It just seems to disagree with some of us more than others!
Apart from a bit of a wobble with the first one when the anti-emetics simply didn’t work, I was pretty good on the first three. I even went for a 15-mile walk the day after FEC3 (though I did have to sleep for a lot of the next couple of days). FEC4 was tougher, and FEC5 was much tougher. The main thing most of the time has been the need to take several naps a day for the first week, but I just let that happen - if I needed to sleep, I slept. It’s cumulative though, so I’m expecting FEC6 (oh god, two weeks to go) to be the toughest.
It’s good to read you posting how well you’ve felt, and don’t worry that it’s not working. Look at your nails, do you have coloured marks showing where you’ve had treatment? (Might not have grown out yet). Look at your hair, it’s fallen out, right? Have you had a funny mouth or smelly bum? Those also show that the chemo’s doing what it’s designed to do, i.e. have a go at fast-multiplying cells.
Good luck with the rest of your chemo, I hope you continue to have it relatively SE-free.
Choccie - my FEC5 was horrible, but so far (I’m only on day 3, so its early days), FEC6 isn’t as bad. I’m still tired, but no more tired. Smelly bum, check. Heartburn, check. But I reckon I can cope with that, especially since I know (or hope) its the last time.
My nails have no marks on them, in fact they seem to have been growing much faster than normal. Hair has definitely gone, though I have a lot of fluff on my head now, like baby hair. Some of this is coming out after FEC6 but I’m hoping it will come back less fluffy and more dark coloured (its suspiciously light i.e. grey).
My nails were always really soft and bendy, and tore easily. Now they’re much harder and stronger, so that’s one good thing!
And the farting can be very amusing if you’re into gutter humour. I’ve been able to FINALLY get my own back on my son (24 going on 7!) whose favourite party trick is to fart in people’s faces if they’re sitting on the sofa - so I’ve produced noxious fumes in his bedroom and then left. I know, very childish, but HE ASKED FOR IT!!!
(I have avoided lifts when my digestive system has been particularly, erm “active”, even I can’t take the fumes!)
Only had 1st FEC and the first 3/4 days I had nausea, but wasn’t actually sick and was vvvvvvv sleepy…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!But since then I’ve felt great, I look pretty good, in fact the word fraudulent has been used!!
I’m trying to eat reasonably well, but am not denying myself stuff if I want it. Still have a glass of vino in the evening,eating lots of fruit veg, nuts and seeds and taking a few supplements but feel really good.
Hair still hanging on, nails are in good nick, no mouth probs, am sleeping well, perhaps am a bit more tired at the end of the day but am not working so life is not too stressful.
Long may it continue, I realise I probs won’t keep the hair, but am ok with that and just hope that all future se’s arethe same as FEC1.
I haven’t felt too bad really. There’s been days when I’d have been happy to take a proverbial swing at anyone who re-approached with me the chemo stuff, but more or less two weeks out of every three I’ve felt pretty fine. Kept working throughout. OK, I’ve lost my hair (though a bit is growing back) and I did feel nauseous for a good while (which I hate) and I’ve still got three TAX to go so anything could happen, but it’s not the total wipeout that I was led to believe would happen.
Ann x
Me too !! I feel great. Last chemo was two weeks ago and all se’s have gone! Still have lots of hair…thank you cold cap!! And thanks to my OH having to sit in chemo unit for 5 hours at a time whilst they froze my head!
Apart from tiredness heartburn…thank you lanzoprazole for sorting that one out, bad veins…PICC sorted that one i really have not suffered much, i thought this year was going to be wiped out (dx 16th Dec ) but that was so far from the case, have been for weekends away been to concerts been on my bike, just done stuff i would normally do.
My bloods have been great every time and chemo has gone to schedule.
Off abroad before rads start, rads finish end of July then on holiday in September again, all in all what i thought would have been a truly s**t year has turned out not at all bad, whilst i would not want to do it again it has certainly not been as bad as my nightmares!
I just sailed through 4 FEC - was online bed for 24hrs and no sickness!
Don’t get me wrong - I had plenty of SEs - but nothing that I couldn’t live with and get on with things. So I just enjoyed 3 mths playing with my babies!!
I’m having a break for surgery ATM, and praying that TAX will be no worse in a few weeks!
I would agree … I certainly have two good (normal) weeks out of three … yes I’m losing the hair, but everyone says I look fantastic … and nobody knows its a wig … maybe people are expecting some pale, gaunt, hollow eyed individual … but glamming up and putting the wig on, going out, go to the gym, and working from home ! Yes, the chemo week is a bit of a no starter, feel tired and a bit yukky like I’m coming down with something … but the good weeks more than make up for it. Maybe it will get worse … I’ve only done two!!
Apart from a chest infection after chemo no 4, I have also had 2 good weeks out of 3 when I have worked full time, so although it has been a bit yuckky, with a few very washed out days for one week in 3, there hasn’t been anything that has been too awful so far!
I had FEC3 today and told the nurse I was worried about feeling so good haha! She said that’s what they aim for and some people do seem to sail through it, with help from all the anti-sickness meds of course!
Going to see oncologist on Thursday as have a few questions that I want to ask her … just realised I don’t really know that much about my cancer / survival rate etc! Probably got a lot of silly questions but she is happy to see me and she’s probably heard it all before!
None of us knew anything about this before the bomb dropped, so you just ask away. If it’s something you want to know the answer to, then it’s a reasonable question and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
As each treatment came I was getting more nausea and was sick on the day and that night. I felt a little tired for a day after but other than that I felt fine and I also worried that it wasn’t doing to job