Evening all,
I’m starting FEC on monday and this week has just been hell, i have a feeling by sunday i will be a complete wreck!!
They said i will spend most of the day there, will this be the case everytime i go?
Also is there any last minute essentials i should get before monday? and i am a bit confused by the food issue, is it that i wont feel like eating a normal diet due to sickness or is this something to do with tasebuds??
thanks Ladies PP xxx
Hi, i am 16 days into my first fec, I did spend all day there as they had trouble accessing my port-a-cath so although i got there at 9am i did not have any chemo till 3pm so it was a very long day, i am hoping to be there just a few hours next time as i am just going to have a canula put in my hand instead.
I found i did not eat much for a few days after chemo maybe a dry cracker here or there and a few ginger biscuits, my tastebuds have changed and some foods i dont like now.
good luck for monday
Chelle x
Hi PP.
There are loads of posts with tips on how to get through chemo with tonnes off different people’s experiences shared which you might find useful.
in my exp - and of course it is very different for everyone -
my first FEC took the most of the day, not the treatment itself, but the waiting around and administration. The treatment itself, once I was actually in the chair - took about 3 hours in total. The subsequent treatments were much quicker. The first day the nurses had more administration and also took the time to explain everything to me.
That’s the only reason why it takes longer 1st time. I had loads of time to go out, get breakfast, pop out for fresh air and supplies before I was actually treated, but i would definitely come prepared with drinks and snacks and books/ mags etc. is anyone coming with you? personally i needed someone with me every time but of course you may be different.
re food: personally i felt nauseas on FEC but was never actually sick and only once and for a short time was it really very unpleasant. I found that eating very plain food like porridge helped massively with the nausea. the moment i felt hungry i felt nauseas so food really was the cure for me!! all I wanted on FEC was plain carbs - I was obsessed with kids pasta shapes with a little mild chedder and a few peas. and ready salted crisps!! loads of people say they ate complete crap on FEC and I know I was one of them. I just gave into every craving. as a result i’ve chubbed up but really i don’t care - it was much more important to give myself exactly what i wanted to help me feel as good as possible. one simply cannot punish or test oneself while being treated with chemotherapy.
your tastebuds may well be affected - things like tea and coffee tasted vile on FEC to me.
i got massively thirsty and drank about 3 litres a day. I also got a sore mouth - needed bonjela and difflam/ chlorohexadine mouth washes - but all of these can be prescribed for you by your oncologist or gp should you need them.
I hope this is helpful - i could go into huge amounts of detail but tbh they may not be relevant to you and it may be worth reading lots of different posts - or none at all!!
I dont know what your situation is but i took every week post chemo off work. more often than not i went back the week after - although it’s got harder as i’ve gone along. the week off - i was not good for much and spend a lot of time in bed watching dvd’s. Really hope you tolerate it as well as possible. some people breeze through and some have a tougher time. I’d say i was in the middle. I’ve just finished chemo - had 3 x FEC and 3 x Tax.
BEST WISHES TO YOU!!! XXX
all the very best and hope you let us know how you get on.