Hi all i can realy advise you on is make sure you keep well hydrated it is realy is important cant stress that enough also make sure everything is clean and keep away from infections they will tell you about that but the hydration part i so important this isnt an old wives tale or a blog apparently cancer and chemo makes your blood stickyer they dont know why but that came from oncologist hope all goes well for you. P

Hi Dave

l used to keep a chemo diary of how l felt every day. It soon shows a pattern and helps predict how you are going to feel after treatment. Also useful for when you see the doctor so you don't have to remember its all written down.

Ask as many questions from the staff as you want the more informed your are the better to get through.

on a practical point take something to read or do as it can get boring most have free WiFi but noisy games are not very considerate for others

Good luck River

Hello Dave,

It's great you have received some good tips from [@Paulus]‍  and [@river56]‍ and I hope others will also comment and share their own chemotherapy experience with you. 

I thought I would also let you know that we have very detailed information on our website on chemotherapy and what to expect here. More specifically, you can find out more about Oxaliplatin and Capecitabine (the other name for Xeloda) on this page.

You are doing the right thing in trying to prepare yourself by asking others here or if at any point you want to chat to our cancer nurses, you can reach them on this free number 0808 800 4040, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

But because nothing replaces personal accounts, I will now let our community share their chemotherapy tips with you.

Best of luck with the start of your treatment,

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi DaveCee,

No-one ever tells you to prepare for the anti-climax. If you're anything like me, you'll be all stressed going into the chemo session and after all the waiting to get started everything will seem a let down. You'll register your arrival and then wait to have a canula fitted. Having a canula fitted is the same as the process you may have been through for a CT scan, then you wait. Then you'll be hooked up to a drip for your first infusion. Then you wait. Once that's done you wait for the second infusion if you have one, Xeloda (aka Capecitabine) is often given in tablet form, get hooked up to that and then wait. Then you wait to have your canula removed. Then after a wait, you can go home. There is a lot of waiting involved, I usually take my Kindle with me, to keep me occcupied.

I was on both those drugs plus one other when I was on chemo. My only advice is make sure someone else is available to drive you home. You may feel nauseous afterwards and half the time the site of the canula became inflamed and I felt every bump in the road.

Good luck!

Dave

Hi Dave.  Thanks for that.  I was t aware there would be so much waiting around.  I’ll now get my wife to drop me off and pick me up instead of waiting.  Good luck.  Thanks.  DaveCee

Sorry forgot to mention the reason for the hydration because you blood gets stickier chemo patients are more prone to strokes and thrombosis regards  p

Cheers P.  Excellent reason to hydrate.