Hi all,
I have Results meeting from the surgery next week, chemo is not confirmed as yet. I was wondering roughly how long after the meeting chemo would start? Like you, I want to make some preperations.
Any ideas welcome.
Thanks
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Hi @boobtube1 chemo after my last lumpectomy was booked in 4 weeks later. My first lumpectomy needed clearer margins on a lump they found so my dates were 18th Dec lumpectomy, 5th Feb lumpectomy, 6th March 1st chemo. 18th June last chemo
Amazing, thanks @foxgem 
Was it 4 weeks from your results meeting, or the surgery itself? For your first lumpectomy. I’m still healing after two weeks. Feel better but definitely still in the rest and relaxation phase.
Hi,
I didn’t really have time to prepare following my diagnosis and surgery. (Diangosis early June, surgery in July, chemo started end Sept and finished mid April followed by radiotherapy in May). I wish I could have have gone on an amazing holiday, but I didn’t really have time to book that either, and once I had my diagnosis the insurance was prohibitively expensive anyway.
I was advise to start routinely moisturising (I don’t usually do that- I find I didn’t need to much) so I bought a large container of unperfumed lotion and started using it regualrly. I am now on my 3rd bottle but needing it less frequently now.
I put together a hospital bag with things to entertain me while I was having the chemo (by infusion through a PICC line at the hospital - 2.5-5 hours each treatment). I put knitting in but couldn’t do that initially because of the PICC line which was tender at first.
I tried a cold cap - hated it- gave up and, after a few weeks, got my husband to shave my head because I was fed up wiht clearingup the clumps of hair that had fallen out all over the house! I then used hats through the winter. To be honest, how my hair looked was the least of my concerns, but it really matters to some people.
I had 4 sessions of EC every 3 weeks but was surprised thaat I had to go to the hospital every week to have hte PICC line flushed and to have a health check (bloods, weight, hwo are you feeling etc). It made me feel nauseous, my taste changed, and I had very disrupted digestive system generally (eg acid reflux, indigestion, diahorrea) but I was given various meds to take the edge off the side effects so it wasn’t too bad. After that I had 12 weeks of weekly palitaxel. I list my appetite and, because my favourite foods tasted weird and sometimes nasty so do try some different things as I found foods and drinks I had previously not enjoyed were ok. HYDRATE! Twice weekly visits to the hospital took over my life and I found it exhausting - so, be kind to yourself and look after your body. As other people have said, try to get as fit as you can beforehand.
I’m now about 7 weeks post final treatment and am gaining strength and stamina bit by bit. My taste is almost normal now and my hair is growing back nicely.
As other people have said, do get your teeth checked out before you start.
Also, do tell your clinicians of any even minor changes in your body. With the paclitaxel, I began to get pins and needles in my feet then a couple of fingers. It wasn’t too bad and I could handle it but after a while, it got bad so the consultant suggested a reduced dose and finally stopped the treatment after the 11th session.By then I was losing a couple of toenails and feeling in my feet and fingers was really … numbly tingling/pins and needles. But it was kind of too late. Even after treatment stopped, the peripheral neurpathy got worse for a few weeks and I have now lost 2 toenails and a couple of fingernails have become a little loose. This may not ever return to normal. The toenails I lost will not grow back ina way that will reattatch to the nail bed. I wanted to get the treatment finished as quickly as possible but if I had taken a break or gone n reduced dose sooner, I may have saved my nails.
That’s all.
Good luck,
I think it would have been about 6 weeks from surgery if I hadn’t had the 2nd surgery
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This was my sitation last summer - I started on 22nd September. Things that helped me:
prehab - your base level fitness will support you as you start chemo. Its cumulative so I felt ok to begin with and felt worse over time.
I used polybalm on my nails to try and help protect them - they still lifted but it did help.
Not listening to all the negative rhetoric I heard about how ick I was supposed to be from it. I never got sickness and diarhea, and tbh no one knows what exactly will happen to you. Going into chgemo and throughout I kept active - walking, I hiked a bit, and generally kept moving. These things supported my physical and mental health.
I looked at ways to meet friends outside and stay away from crowded spaces whilst still being able to engage in doing things I loved.
If you’re able, keep moving every day. walk, run, whatever it is, it will all help you stay feeling good, or feeling better.
hair loss - if you can cold cap, it can help, I didn’t lose my hair. Paracetamol 15 mins before you coldcap really helps.
neuropathy in my hands and feet - wished I’d been told about cold mits for my hands and feet when having infusions. This can help stop the chemo damaging the nerves.
Knowing when to step away from work and focus on time for myself to stay active to support myself. This was half way through chemo, and when I did it helped.
Most of all, good luck, and you will get through it x
Thank you, yes that sounds about right to me. I reckon that’s what they’ll go for that in my case. Thatd enough time to heal I think Xx
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