Hey @daffodil10
I felt the same when I first started. I don’t want to do this but want to get it done! I know it’s daunting, but just know that you will be massively supported throughout the whole thing by a wide variety of people and I’ve found that support and remembering why I’m doing it makes it all that more doable.
It’s hard to say what you will and won’t be able to do as the side effects can vary from person to person so I’m afraid it’ll be a case of trial and error. For me, the week where I have all three drugs has been different each time with the most recent leaving me pretty useless for most of the week after - my last blood test showed low haemoglobin so this could account for this in conjunction with the heatwave - but the two weeks where I just have the Paclitaxel do tend to follow a pretty predictable pattern for me and I feel fine for most of those.
I’ve not used the cold cap, no. I actually started on a different regime initially in April before I switched to this one in May and my very first chemo round was a single dose of EC. I wasn’t able to use the cold cap for various reasons and my hair went quite quickly. You can learn a lot from other patients in the chemo unit and from what I’ve observed of cold capping, the results vary wildly. If you want to and are able to do it, it might be worth you just trying it and seeing how you get on. I get what you mean about not wanting to add the extra time on to your appointment though as it can be a very long day anyway. My record is 8 hours so far but I’ve spoken to other patients who are on the same regime without cold capping who’ve been there longer! With regards to neuropathy, I’ve been doing this for 8 weeks now and have had no hint of this to date. I’m not sure if age is a factor in that risk, but I’ll just let you know that I’m 47 also for context.
On the whole I’m doing really well, thank you so much for asking! There are ups and downs and days where I’m just sick of it all no doubt, but as I’ve said, the support of others plus keeping eyes on the prize gets me through. I think you’ll find what gets you through too.