Hi. This week I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Due to start chemotherapy soon any advice you ladies can give will be very much appreciated xx
Hi Jacquibea, sorry that you have been diagnosed with breast cancer but you have found your way to the best place for support and advice. I finished chemotherapy on 3 May and am just about to have my last xapping of radiotherapy this week - then it’s hormone therapy tablets for the next 10 years. I had a masectomy in December.
My advice is to check out the monthly chemotherapy threads and join the June thread. I was part of the January 2016 starters thread and the support we gave each other was invaluable.
Practical advice would be to drink 2L if water the day before, day of and day after treatment and then try to drink at least a Litre of water each day after that.
You will be given a number to ring for 24hr advice during treatment - use it, don’t ever feel you’re being a nuisance!
Keep a daily diary of how you are feeling, include your emotions as well as physical side effects. This is really helpful to tell your chemo nurses and oncologist exactly how you have been feeling as well as useful for you to recognise which days on each cycle you’re likely to feel rubbish, emotional or starting to improve. You can then begin to plan days out to make the most of your good days (hopefully good weeks!!)
Taking gentle exercise such as walking is great for fatigue and ‘cabin fever’ and eating healthily is obviously ideal but I can’t say I was great at either and I ate whatever I fancied and never felt guilty about it!! Likewise if I felt really crappy I stayed in bed and didn’t feel guilty about that either!!
I’m sure others will be along with more advice, in the meantime I hope this helps ?
Wishing you loads of good luck, you can do this!
Xxx