I’m a 31 year old women with no known breast cancer history in the families and I got diagnosed and my new patient talk about the chemo and the possible expected effects have absolutely petrified me. So much so that yesterday I was like (I don’t wanna do it) I have two young children right at the start of summer holidays. I’m normally quite a strong willed lady with what I’d call quite a high pain threshold but I’m sh**ing myself…
Hi Missie
It may not help at this stage but only a stone would not feel like you’re feeling. I have several phobias, including a lifelong terror of being sick, so the oncologist arranged for a visit to the unit before I started chemo. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t see the horror show I expected. Everyone was calm, relaxed, comfortable and chatting or dozing. Not a sick-bowl in sight! Then I started my own treatment and understood. The actual treatment is not that bad, certainly nothing like the dentist (for which I have to be sedated, I’m embarrassed to confess).
Each treatment has a preparation phase. You’ll have a cannula in the back of your hand, which you will barely feel. If you’re having the full works, you’ll start with a quick flush of saline solution, followed by a drip including probably a steroid, an anti-histamine and an anti-emetic. The steroid can have an ‘interesting’ but very brief effect if it’s not administered slowly (feels like sitting buck naked in a nettle patch but lasts maybe a minute). After that, you have whatever your chemotherapy regime is and feel nothing except ‘how much longer?’ I took loads to do and did nothing but chat to my friend. I even took a downloaded hypnotherapy session on my iPod but never used it. By then end, I was eating sandwiches and scoffing biscuits like most other people. You finish with a flush through the system. If you’ve been told ‘about 2 hours,’ make that 4.
I will be honest and say that, once the steroids wear off (depends if you are given some to take home, as you are with EC for example), that’s when you begin to experience the effects and everyone responds differently. That’s important to remember - the staff have to alert you to all possibilities but that doesn’t mean they will happen. If you do get unpleasant side-effects (as I seemed to), it’s not forever and it’s worth it. Don’t google anything!! Ask you GP for something to help with that initial anxiety if you want to (my oncologist prescribed something for me), take good company and a choice of things to do that don’t involve using both hands, wear comfy clothes and relax in some grown-up me time. Then go home and collapse into bed, emotionally exhausted first time. But you will definitely need a support network to help you with the children - you won’t always be able to be your usual self! It might also help you to ring the breast-care team here - I found them so helpful and reassuring. Good luck on Friday,
Jan x
Thank you for your much needed reply, I’ve been really silly and been checking this page loads today waiting for a reply. I think the worst in my head, is not being able to care or do things with my children. I’m thinking the worst and I suspect I’m not the only one that’s done this but out of all of this so far in my journey the patient talk scared me the most.