Firstly, how soon do people generally experience chemo-induced nausea please?! I know it varies greatly but I’m just after some ideas. I started my first cycle of Docetaxel+ Phesgo yesterday.
Secondly, my husband has woken up with a bit of a cold today and is panicking about being near me. I’m not sure what to do for the best. I obviously want to be safe, and not delay any chemo along the way, but don’t want to go silly about it all either. Plus I have two teenagers in school potentially catching bugs every day! Any advice gratefully received!
Docetaxel is recognised as one of the harsher chemos so I’d suggest you ring your breast care nurse for advice about your husband’s cold, though it’s probably too late as people are most infectious before they really realise they have a cold. It would be easy to say that it’s so early in the chemo cycle that your natural immunity will still be there but I’d just be a bit more cautious about hand washing, tissues etc. Let him take care of himself till you know what the hospital advises. As I learnt the hard way, it an be one short step from a runny nose to being admitted with infection so check your temperature daily (make sure your thermometer is accurate) as your main guide. You may well be exposed to all sorts of bugs during chemo so it’s just a question of being sensible and a bit more careful/
As regards nausea, you will have been given steroids etc in preparation for your chemo (you may still be taking steroids) but usually hospitals provide anti-nausea/anti-emetic meds in the goody bag you take home from the pharmacy. It may be cyclizine or metoclopramide. My personal advice would be to take is as prescribed, as.a preventative for the first cycle. Then experiment once you’ve a vague idea of how you’ll react. You may not experience much nausea or sickness - it’s just one common side effect. But how many side effects from those listed do you get when you take paracetomol? Probably none. You may be lucky with docetaxel. Still, no one wants to be vomiting, hence my advice initially to take the meds. It doesn’t mean you’ll be taking them throughout.
i didn’t find the nausea too bad on my first round (EC). I took all the medications proactively so put it down to that. There was one optional drug I didn’t need to take - I’ve forgotten the name now but it causes constipation so I was glad to be able to avoid it.
Regarding the cold having been admitted with a severe neutropenic response where they could not get the bottom of the infection anyway it’s a hard call. Their advice to me is live life normally, take hygiene seriously and keep a close eye on your temperature. There is only so much we can do especially when we live with people. Good luck x