hi Chris hoy had his feet in iced water to protect from P neurotherapy, during his treatment. I just left my feet on the cold floor during treatment but as you dad is already suffering then he could try rolling a tennis ball under his bare foot when at home, this helps to re-awaken the nerves in the foot. I also now have to wear compression socks -
following another issue which ensures a good blood flow throughout my feet during the day. hope this helps Moonsox.
Hi the key throughout is to continually drink plenty of fluids. Although these drugs remove the cancer they are still a poison so need flushing. and that will be more important when you start the Docetaxol as it colours your urine. Moonsox.
Thanks, I am managing to drink throughout the day but feeling really rough today and a bit down, at the moment coping with months of this seems a mountain Iām not sure I have the strength to climb. I know tomorrow is another day and I have no real choice but itās hard today
Good morning all. Right there with you @scribbler! What regimen are you on?
Day 7 here and I feel like I took a step back yesterday. Had a decent walk in the woods and it completely wiped me and I felt sick and exhausted again. Constipation came for me yesterday too. May have overdone the laxative as was then up last night with crampsā¦
I guess itās natural feel like we are facing a mountain when we are at the very beginning. I am hoping that by the time I get to next weekās infusion Iāll have had a few good days and almost āforgottenā a bit like childbirth and feel ready to face it again 
xx
Hi everyone,
Iām due to start chemotherapy tomorrow and, now that itās getting closer, Iām starting to feel quite nervous about what to expect. Iād really appreciate any advice or experiences from anyone who has been through a similar treatment.
Iām 38 with ER+ / PR+ / HER2- grade 3 breast cancer. My treatment is starting with dose-dense EC every 2 weeks, followed by weekly paclitaxel for 9 weeks. Iām having chemotherapy before surgery.
Iām also planning to cold cap as Iād really like to try and keep as much of my hair as possible.
For anyone who has had EC followed by paclitaxel, how did you find it? What were your worst days after EC, and did you generally have some good days before the next cycle? How did you find the weekly paclitaxel compared with EC?
Iād also love any advice on things you wish youād known before starting ā managing nausea and tiredness, what to eat and drink, cold capping, hair care, things worth taking to chemo, or anything that made treatment a little easier.
I have three young children, so one of my biggest worries is how wiped out I might be and how much help Iām likely to need at home.
Thank you so much. Reading other peopleās experiences on here has already made me feel much less alone. 
I am on my first cycle of EC at the moment, day 6. I know the first week can be the worst but I also had my long hair cut short yesterday and I think itās upset me more than I thought it would. I am so weak and tired and donāt feel like I have a lot of reserves today but I am holding on to the thought that I will feel better again for at least a little time before the next cycle. I hope you do too xxxx
I finally started to feel better about halfway through today thank goodness, hoping it continues and I can get a couple of good weeks before my next cycle 
long may it continue. I had a pretty good day yesterday too. Had a lovely walk to my favourite coffee shop with the dog in the sunshine. Had a nice chat with someone with the same breed.
That said - the nights are still weird! Mouth is dry, feel hot and slight headache. Wondering if this will just go on throughout!
Thatās so great to hear! Walks are my saviour too if I feel up to them, I managed a couple of half hour ones yesterday. I am lucky to live somewhere I can literally walk out of my house onto a long distance footpath through woods and countryside or turn the other way and walk the bank of the river Severn. I picked tomatoes and peppers I grew yesterday and cooked too (my son has cooked the past few days) and even though they donāt taste quite the way they should ( my taste, not them!) it felt really good xxxx
Nights are weird! I am still back sleeping and it isnāt really a natural position for me BUT it does seem to help with the joint pain so keeping it up. But yes, broken sleep, weird mouth feelings and all the things that creep into my head in the wee small hours. I think night time may be my trickiest time too x
Hang in there, I do listen to audiobooks if sleep gets too elusive, I am very grateful for my audible account just now x
Hey guys hope everyone is OK! Im day 10 since first EC, Tuesday I was struggling with fatigue a bit but better yesterday. Today my lower back hurt a lot but I did my filgrastim injection in my thigh so closer to bones. At least I know its working. No extra meds until next EC on Tuesday. Ive had a breakout of spots on my face. I shaved my hair a few weeks ago but today I noticed its starting to shed a little
Hey @scribbler
Well, I managed to make it through my first treatment on Tuesday but Iām now just finding it all a bit surreal 
I think it was weirdly easier after my mastectomy as it was obviously a big trauma that I was then recovering from, but now it feels like Iām having treatment and just waiting to get sick 
My brain canāt make it make sense..
As Iām on the weekly Paclitaxel so far Iāve only had some insomnia from the steroids, some of the weird mouth stuff which started last night, rosy cheeks and some gut issues from the anti nausea pill. Iāve now got a todoist list which gets me through the day, just doing things to try and keep as healthy as possible through this. Like you Iām really lucky that I can walk from my house into woods, but at the moment 3 months of this is feeling like a long time, during which Iām just waiting for the symptoms to get worse - though i know Iām fortunate that itās not the worst regimen. Ugh - this is definitely a very strange life experience I think we could all do without
Hi @findingmyway38 I hope your first treatment went ok
From what Iāve read Iām trying to focus on eating whole foods, as much exercise as I can do when I feel up to it, polybalm for my nails, and compression gloves and socks for neuropathy. Iām on Paclitaxel so Iām also trying to do a wobble board session to help with nerves in my feet, and running my hands through beans and rice!!
I imagine going through this with children is really challenging, but hopefully is also a source of strength 
Best of luck 
It is surreal yep, what other disease has treatments which make you so ill? I know I had a huge tumour and I am/was in big trouble but I felt totally well before I started treatment and that is hard to get my head around. I am trying not to think about everything the treatment as well as the cancer is taking away from me but itās hard. My life has already utterly changed and I will never be able to live between countries again in the way I have I donāt think. Being told I will be on Kisqali for three years after 4 months of chemo and then radiotherapy really threw me a couple of weeks ago as it basically seems to be more chemo in a pill. For years.
Sorry to be on a downer but this is all so shite
Morning all. Itās helpful to hear how everyone is doing (the good, the bad and the downright ugly!) I definitely fall into the latter camp in my spotty, colourless skin!
@scribbler I know what you mean about the enormity of treatments just hitting you some days. I will go onto abemociclib alongside the hormone blocking following chemo and radio and wonder what my quality of life will be like.
Yesterday turned into a stinker. My eldest daughter is really struggling with her mental health so spent time talking her down, and finished the night having an unpleasant argument with my husband 
Icing on the cake is waking up to find my youngest daughter has caught some sort of lurgy, just in time for my lowest wbc days! Iām not sure what I can do to avoid catching it in our relatively small house.
A LONG walk will be needed todayā¦I too am fortunate in living amongst nature. So I will go and calm my nervous system down in the bog and the lanes today
Xx
@derry1 that is a shedload of stuff to be dealing with as you are navigating all this, I really hope the day gets better xxx
My grown up son lives with me and works in hospitality so I am a bit worried what he might bring home with him too, we are a very huggy sort of family
I have to go to the job centre for a universal credit appt this morning as my income has taken a dive since surgery, I am wishing I hadnāt been persuaded to apply right now but it probably wonāt be as bad as I imagine will it? 
Morning, just popping over from the May starter group to share some info:
I had Four 2 weekly cycles of EC and the Four 2 weekly cycles of paclitaxel. The first and last EC were the worst for meā¦The last cycle of EC was a longer bounce up. I found that you could plan for your bad and good days on the EC. I would start to spiral downwards energy wise on day 3 and day 6 would be my worse, I would sleep most the day. Day 7 I would feel a bit better and the bounce up started. Please plan for very easy meals on your bad days. I found concentration was a huge issue on EC, so much so I couldnāt drive any more. Some ladies found that they could safely drive on the 2nd week, but not me. Cancer made me eat is a very good thread, good advice about eating more protein and dark chocolate! Some ladies found that keeping topped up with food and not letting themselves feel hungry really helped with nausea. I found Milk helped to line my stomach first thingā¦ My poor tongue also liked milk based products. Some foods will taste better cold rather than hot, itās a bit trial and error.
My hair started falling out quite quickly day 2 of cycle 2ā¦I didnāt do the cold capping. I had no issues with peripheral neuropathy or issues with my nails on EC, it was the paclitaxel that gave me more problems. I had to have a reduced does of pac after I had reacted on 2 day of the first cycle. My hands and feet went bright red and then started to hurtā¦I had to have Urea cream to use. The pac also made my finger/toe tips swell and the nails became very sensitive and started to lift off. Do not use your nails as tools and keep them short. Moisturise regularly and use cuticle oil too, My nails never fell off and the bad bits are slowly growing out ( I am one month post chemo).
Use mouth wash twice a day, If your mouth gets sore tell your nurses sooner rather than later, they will give you some special mouthwash to use, and it does help.
Paclitaxel is not a problem for some ladies, but I found it worse than ECā¦harder to plan your good days. If you are on a weekly dose you may find it easier. A few of us in the May group ended up with a reduced dose, so please report any issues.
I had a Picc. Much easier for them to give your drugs and take bloods. Sometimes they do not behave. I didnāt lay on that arm at all for fear of blood clotsā¦sometimes you can do everything right and still have issues. You shouldnāt lift heavy things with that arm. The longer it was in the more uncomfortable it becameā¦it was easily removed though, when the time came.
Good luck with your journeys ladies, feel free to ask questions. 
@derry1 so sorry to hear that - that does sound like a shitshow on top of a shitshow 
. A very long walk sounds like a good idea if you can manage it 
@scribbler Iām surprised theyāre making you go in person - maybe see if you can do it via a phonecall for future appointments. I canāt get UC coz my partner is a saver, even though we have completely separate finances 
Iām having to squeak by on ESA but thatās all been done on the phone and my caseworker has been great as she has a friend going through it 
Just waiting for my oncologist to fill out the cancer bit on my Ability to Work questionnaire at the mo..
Thanks for all the info @baldiesrus