Im due to start on may 20th, anyone else a may lady? I live in West Midlands by the way.
Tina
Hi Tina I think someone had started a May thread under Anyone want to be my May buddy! Do join this group it will provide you wth all the support and encouragement you need to go on this journey that so many of us have found ourselves on! I am a member of the April 14 thread and 5 of us keep in regular contact and we are about to meet up again for our second reunion! I had my treatment in Cyprus and without the forum I am sure that I wouldn’t have coped it can be such a lonely journey!
Good luck you have come to the right place for support!
Hello
i posted yesterday as I start on May 9th so we can do it together. I get 6 x TAC. What about you? I love the idea of your physical meet ups…how wonderful to see people in person and be moving on together. This forum is a wonderful thing. I am in Devon x
Hi Tina
i was desperate to try cold cap as have lovely long hair but oncologist going on about theoretical possibility of mets and being as I am grade 3 and 4 nodes I think I will not try. I hate being grade 3 and all the “aggressive” terminology. In fact just been in my room doing turban look to practise but will look at some hats from suburban turban. It is pretty confronting but I looked more than ok really for around the house and garden. I am 42 and single. X
I have been off work since day diagnosed. I was contracting to save some money and looking for permanent job. Now unemployable until next year. X
Hi Tina, they don’t give herceptin with FEC because both carry a small risk of affecting your heart which is why you have to wait to the T part to receive it - I’m on my 3rd FEC on Tues then will start herceptin with T 3wks following. Hope this helps ?
Hi, no you’re not being thick ? I have no idea why we have 6 cycles … The T part of the chemo is Docetaxel and the Herceptin is giving separate to this but on the same day x
Hi Tina I was told you need 3 FEC to get the minimum effective dose of Epirubicin. They can’t give higher dose because, as someone has already said, it’s toxic to your heart, so they need to be careful. Don’t worry about this angle because they will monitor your heart function throughout & reduce the dose if there are any signs of toxicity. They also said chemo only affects the cells that are actively dividing. They aren’t all dividing at the same time, so they have worked out (& I have absolutely no idea how) that if they do it 6 times at 3 weekly intervals that should destroy all the cancer cells. Good luck ladies xx
Hiya,
Is this the May chemo thread or the other one or shall we do a separate May starters thread? I find it confusing with two threads to keep track of … What do you all think?
X
Hello ladies,
I start chemo on the 9th May and would love to join this support group. I’ll be having 6 x FEC-T followed by 15 x rads. Absolutely dreading it and feeling very tearful this weekend. I live in the West Midlands and a single mum to 2 teenage boys (15 and 17). Trying to be positive but feel so overwhelmed with the whole process.
Geraldine
Hi Tina,
I know exactly how you feel and I’m sending hugs to you.
I cannot explain to anyone how I truly feel and can feel myself withdrawing. I’m constantly putting a brave face on things and feel totally out of control. I guess when we start the chemo we’ll physically meet others going through it together with supporting eachother via this forum.
I’m going to try the cold cap treatment as I want to try to preserve some hair. I have a great head of thick hair so hoping to keep some but I’ll have to get a wig for standby.I know I’ll lose my eyebrows and lashes. Just dreading the whole physical change as I’ll be working in between too.
Do you mind saying where you’re being treated? I’ll be a Russell Hall in Dudley.
Geraldine x
Hi geraldine i am also starting my chemo on may 9th as nervous as i am, i am also eager to get started. I am nervous as to what lies ahead and how the chemo will affect me and my family but we can do this i am sure of it Tracy xx
Hi Tina, I’m also from January thread, my final chemo was last Monday. Try to drink as much water/fluids as possible the day before, day of and day after chemo. I aimed for at least 2 litres a day. It helps to flush the chemicals out and also helps with keeping your veins plump for cannulation. If you’re being cannulated then keep your arm warm on route to the unit, I used to use heated wheat bags. Though eventually I ended up having a picc. I used to not eat any of my favourite foods on the day of chemo as I didn’t want my mind to associate them with the nausea of chemo, sand went for perfume. I used to wear my least favourite on chemo days, which I have now binned! As Claire said, chemo is hard, but it is doable. Xx
I had all my scans done before my mx. Pre chemo check was a chat with oncologist about what to expect, then ecg and bloods.
I’ve kept my toenails painted with dark varnish throughout chemo and on my fingernails I used gel nail varnish. So far my nails have been fine, but I think you find that they can start having problems and breaking once the T part of chemo had finished.
FEC is all about head and body hair loss. Around day 16 after chemo 1 my head hair started to shed, so I shaved it to a grade 2. My lady garden hair, leg hair and underarm hair started to leave. My facial hair (top lip) has gone and the hair on my arms has thinned. My lower leg hair started to grow back when I started T, but at a much slower rate. Eyebrows and lashes only started to thin out and leave once I started T. I didn’t completely lose my head hair, however it thinned out greatly and was patchy, it also turned really fair in colour. Since starting T on chemo 4 my head hair has started to grow back.
The worst thing for me on FEC was constipation, so try to keep on top of that from the start. I’ve found the T harder than FEC, but remember everyone is different. On FEC I would usually feel better from around day 11 so would be back out and about socialising. I’d usually fill my good 10 days up with fun things to do. On T I start feeling better around day 12.
I’ve got rads starting in a few weeks and am off on holiday to Spain end of July. In the four week break between chemo and rads, I would be happy to go away the week before rads starting. Xx
I did have some days where I would be in bed. Usually days 2-4 on FEC and days 5-6 on T. I’d just lay there watching box sets feeling sorry for myself. It does pass though and the good days soon come xx
Hi everyone, I’m also from the January thread - just taken my steroids ready for my last dose of chemo tomorrow and have started in my first bottle of water of the day - big tip, try to drink 2L of water the day before, day of and day after chemo and then as much as you can manage after that!
I’ve been on FEC-T and I’m in the minority because I actually preferred the T part to the FEC!! I’m just not good with feeling sick and dizzy but can tolerate pain (well up to a point!)
For FEC I was given Emend to take the morning of chemo and 2 days after (I think it was a further 2 days) and 2 other antisickness meds, one of which was a steroid. I had no actual sickness, just felt dizzy and hungover. I had another antisickness tablet to take if needed, but never did. I generally pottered around the house doing not much in particular for the first few days but stayed in bed or on the sofa if I really didn’t feel up to it. After 7 days I felt much better but as your immune system is at its lowest then, I generally stayed in but had a few days or evenings out with friends as long as I avoided anyone who wasn’t well!! By day 14 I felt I could function normally and by the end of that week seemed to concentrate getting the house clean and tidy, washing and ironing up to date and filling the freezer with chilli, Bolegnese sauces and shepherds pie bases to make life easier when I wasn’t up to cooking.
My cupboards are full of snacks - nuts, cereal bars, ritz crackers, biscuits etc - anything I think I will fancy eating at short notice with minimum effort! At night I have a snack box with ritz crackers in it!! Healthy eating is best, but honestly sometimes you just have to eat cr@p to satisfy your cravings and get through it!! I’ll get back to healthy eating again in a few weeks time when it’s all over!
I see there are 2 threads for May - so I shall copy this if I can (!) to the other thread too!
Loads of good luck to you all - you CAN do this! It is scary to think about but once you’ve started you do deal with it and you do have days when you feel human again! Drop into the other threads for advise (or a good rant!) I imagine our Jan thread will be quieter than usual as we are finishing and going into radiotherapy etc, but we are a friendly bunch and will definitely be happy to give you our words of wisdom!!
Kim xxx
Hi Tracy … like you, i’m dreading the effects on my family. I’m a single mum to 2 boys (15 & 17) & i’ve been totally open & honest with them both about how i feel. Even so, everytime i look at them both my heart breaks. We can get through this xx
Tina - i’m also cold capping & will pack my own blanket & scarf & take a couple of paracetamol beforehand. Stay strong! X
Claire & Kim - your advice is so appreciated. It’s lovely that you take the time to think about us ladies about to embark on the chemo run.
I had such a bad day yesterday & to make matters worse i started my period. Haven’t had one for 3 months & supposed to be having a bone scam on thurs which i’ll have to cancel for at least a month. Keep getting dealt daily blows!
Geraldine x
Hi Tina,
Yes, it’s very likely we are. I’ll have a go at messaging you too. I feel so unprepared for chemo and I start next Monday! I think I’m still in denial.
Geraldine
Small world eh?
The next session is the 9th. I would really love to go but as it’s my 1st chemo day will see how I feel.
The nurses are a mixed bunch lol x
Sounds awful for you. The last thing you want to discuss after hearing all of that is scarfs & wigs. My nurse is lovely but i can’t always get hold of her. The only gripe i had was Mr didn’t tell me i was triple negative at results. I got a copy of the letter he sent to my gp. I was alone at home trying to absorb the news & it was the worst experience of my life. The following day i saw dr (removed due to Ts and Cs) & 2 lovely nurses who calmed me down & put it into perspective xx