Starting chemo this month

I'm just wanting some info of how everyone has found chemo? I'm 44 the found a lump in my breast in September,I had a lumpectomy with some lymph nodes removed. It's to follow on with 18weeks of chemo followed by radiotherapy and a tablet for 10 years so I don't produce hormones. I'm so terrified  of having chemo.when I read the endless list of possible side effects its so daunting  x

  • Hi Keeley

    I finished my chemo 6 weeks ago. 6 cycles of fect . Like u I was dreading it , but luckily I sailed through it with no problems.  The nausea was the worst but take ur medication and its fine. I felt a little tired the couple of days after but keep moving with a daily walk , eat well , little and often. I also swilled my mouth twice a day with coconut oil and had no mouth sores. Also used the cold cap snd kept 70% of my hair which made me feel so positive . It really is nt as bad as u fear !!!! I now have mastectomy to look forward to which I m actually dreading  

  • Hi Keeley,

    I didn't read your post until after I had posted mine. Please take a look at what I have said, the post is called Breast cancer chemo - it isn't all bad.

    I hope it helps a bit

  • Hi Keeley

    I'm 44, finished 5 months of chemotherapy in June.

    It was tough but highly doable. I lost all my hair, eyebrows, eyelashes.. but it's all back now and I'm feeling a lot more like myself.

    You won't have all the side effects they just try to prepare you for the worst. I managed to go to the gym throughout mine, you'll be surprised at what you can handle when you need to.

    X

  • Wow u managed the gym, that's great this makes me feel better, imsure I could manage pilates then. My hair is a big thing as I'm a hairdresser the thought of cutting/styling people's hair when I have none is awfull but il have to get past that. Iv read about the cold cap but sometimes the hair they loose comes back through a different texture to the rest of their hair so not gonna bother with it now. Iv 3 children which I didn't want them seeing me so Ill, but as iv read these posts maybe I won't be as bad as I'm thinking I will!xx

  • Yes pilates is very manageable. I got into this when I couldn't run as much as had a low red blood count.  Its just good to get out of the house for an hour and have a bit of normality in your day, music on and a break from thinking about cancer.  It helps your mental health massively. 

    I didn't bother with the cold cap as my mate suffered through it and lost her hair anyway so it was one less thing for me to worry about. I didn't mind my head hair going so much, the eyebrows and eye lashes got to me more as then you look ill, which I hated, although people avoid you more in the supermarkets. Plus not shaving your legs or doing your bikini line for 6 months is a dream! 

    You can get through this, sending you lots of love

  • Hi Debbie your post sounds so positive, iv had such bad things about how il need someone with me a lot of time cos il be so ill. I was rely starting to panic!! But your story doesn't sound so terrible. Hoping your surgery will all be OK, I found the breast surgery not as bad as I was thinking. By the second week I was doing little bits an was up and about xx