Hello everyone, this is my first post on this forum, so I hope I don’t bore you all with my little back story! I found a lump a few weeks ago, had a lumpectomy, sentinel node biopsy and I was told yesterday that i need 6 hits of chemo and then radiotherapy. I am 44, grade 3 and triple negative. I am still a bit in surreal mode but I would really appreciate any practical advice regarding chemo. I am very nervous about sickness and all the side effects, so any tips would be fantastic. Thank you Nicnak
Hello Nicnak1, I’ve just finished chemotherapy on 29th September and it was ok, not as bad as I thought it would be. The hardest thing for me was tiredness, I have 4 children so still having to do all the family stuff was hard. I just learned to plan ahead and nap when I could. I honestly never vomitted once with chemo. I hope it goes as well for you, good luck x
Hi Nicnak
I’ve had 2 sessions of chemo so far and to be honest the side effects haven’t been great. The nausea feeling for me is the worse, BUT the nurses have been great and changed my meds twice so if you do feel rubbish pls do speak to them. I am now taking Emend which is one of the best anti sickness drugs and I have felt less nauseous. The only thing that makes me feel better is eating! My husband actually said to me is there anything that actually puts you off your food? Obviously not! You may find the steroids make you hungry too.
One thing to be aware of is oral hygiene. I was a bit blasé about it on the first session and even when I felt a small ulcer appear I ignored it. BIG mistake! Within 2 days I had a small mountain on my tongue. The nurses were great and prescribed Gelclair and it cleared up after a few days. It was so painful though for about 3 days. After round 2 I have been super vigilant and all ok.
Good luck with everything
Sarah x
Hi niknac welcome to the forum although sorry you find yourself here. I finished chemo in august and radiotherapy last week, I found the chemo tough but doable and found taking each day as it comes the best way to get through. I was given emend for nausea on the the 2nd cycle which helped enormously and can’t stress enough about strict oral hygiene through out chemo. There is a very useful hints and tips thread in the chemo section and loads of support in the monthly chemo threads. It probably feels a huge mountain to climb at present but you will come through this I am sure there wasn’t one of us who thought we wouldn’t see light at the end of the tunnel at some point. Good luck x
Thank you guys. So glad I found this forum. Nicnak