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Hi,
TrixieLady: I'm 48 so not far behind you. To be quote honest I think I was fairly lucky with the chemo. The FEC part I used to find I felt a bit sickly (almost pregnancy like) for about 4-5 days and then had the loss of taste and sore tongue but this used to sort itself by about day 8-9. The tiredness builds up but I don't think I was too bad, only remember 1 or 2 days where I had a sleep during the day. BUT I am very luck in that I work part timea and from home and was able to fall out of bed in PJs and sit at a desk for a few hours, my work is only centered around answering phones if they ring and a bit of typing so somedays I laid on the sofa and read a book inbetween or pottered around. The hair loss was a big big milestone for me. I had told myself I wouldn't let it bother me "Its only hair".. but when on day 12 of the first chemo it started to go.. my resolve followed suit. By Day 15 I had to have the shave.. I will never ever forget that day, in fact I feel tears just thinking about it...a friend sat and held my hand and my son watched as they shaved the lot. I couldn't bear to see myself for a few days but I had a nice wig which everyone said looked fab and used that and went around the house bald for most of the summer as it was so hot. It was hard to make people understand that even though I had lost a boob, losing my hair was harder. I felt I had gone from being a healthy person to looking like the chemo patient. Having said all that, after a couple of weeks I did move forward and accepted it.. never like it particularly.. but accepted it and wow it saved time in the shower.
The T Part of chemo was a differnet kettle of fish. I didn't have herceptin, just docetaxol and I was dreading it. I had read about it, it was going to be awful etc etc and I was so scared. But it was anymore awful... just different I guess. The SEs I found didn't start for a few days, the worst being the horrible mouth, T seems to affect that more I think. I got oral thrush during the 1st cycle of T and mouth ulcers but the hospital sorted me out and gave me medication for the next 2 cycles which helped it from getting too bad. The loss of taste was worse, lasted longer. I did have a stay in hopsital during cycle 4 (first T) when my temperature was high, 2 nights in a single room wasn't pleasant but they looked after me and made sure I didn't get an infection. The next time round I was fine, during the last cycle I had the self administered injections to ensure white bloods were high enough for the last bout. Eyelashes and eyebrows going was hard too, they didn't go until chemo 5 but they are back now. My hair was growing again during chemo 5 (apparently thats quite common if you have FEC first and then T). Now its full coverage. Oh my thumb got numb during T too, look out for numb fingers and toes and report it as they can reduce the chemo to prevent neuropathy. After chemo finished my thumb came back to normal but the nails are quite ugly, very short and have ridges, par for the course I'm afraid but they are growing too. As they always say, everyone reacts differently to all of this and its best to wait and see and just deal with it as it happens. Don't be hard on yourself if you need to rest, ask for help it you need to (my mum used to come over once a week and clean for me so I didn't need to worry even though I could have done it). Hope that helps.
DiKat - after treatment ends? Well I have read everything going about what I should eat, what I should do etc etc.. the conflicting reports are a nightmare. I am taking magnesium and zinc for my joint aches (chemo or Tamoxifen not sure which is causing it) but checked that with teh Onc nurse first. As for eating, I wasn't sure if I should be avoiding dairy (many posts suggeste that) but I asked at the hospital and they said no, just eat a balanced healthy diet... don't worry if you drink a bit, keep within the guidelines and just try to maintain a healthy weight and do some exercise. Its a minefield of information and quite overwhelming but I was asked if I wanted to see a dietician for some advice and although I haven't yet I may ask. Its hard to move forward when you wonder what you should be doing for the best but I think just be sensible and try to eat well, I still eat dairy, meat, drink alcohol and eat chocoloate
I know this is a bit further down the line for you guys still but worth a read:
"After the Treatment Finishes - Then What? by Dr Peter Harvey... you can find this on line and it hits the nail on the head! Ive just printed it off to show my hubby, gives him an insight into how this feels to.
Keep well
Kip
xx
Sunnydaze, sorry I can't help re headaches as I didn't have any. Is it worth giving your chemo unit a ring for advice?
Thank you for your kind words about my observation 
A bit dramatic, but I'm trying to think to myself that if I can get through chemo, an observation is nothing! RE on a Friday though...! I was asked today if I could do some extra work next week, so definitely back properly now! I've gone back to a harder job than the one I left-I was covering PPA time before, now I'm job-sharing and teaching an age that I've not had so much experience with! Luckily I taught them a morning a week when they were in Reception and they are a lovely class and I'm enjoying being with them. They made me smile last week-I'd been wearing my wig when I returned, but ditched it over the Christmas holiday. They were very observant that I'd had my hair cut and one thought it looked a bit of a different colour! At least my wig must have looked realistic!
I was really nervous about returning-I was off for 11mths-I wasn't sure I'd even remember how to take the register! I went back on a Phased Return and that made it easier x
