Hello folks,

So glad to have found this thread! I start chemo on 11th march and am SCARED!!! I have no idea what to expect and am working myself up into such a tizz over it!

I have noticed a lot of you using abbreviations like FEC/CNOP/CHOP - I presume that these are different types of chemo? I have no idea what treatment I will be on. I am unable to get an appointment with my GP until 5 days after my 1st chemo session and although I have been referred to a macmillan nurse, I still havn't seen her!

So at the moment, these forums are my source of info and advice so please keep it coming!!

Kaz xx

Hi All,

A really useful thread! I was diagnosed with Stage 2b Cervical Cancer and started treatment 14 Dec 09. 6 weeks chemo-radiation + Brachytherapy which included 5 sessions of intravenous chemo (Cisplatin) on a Tuesday. Having the chemo was no problem at all for me, no pain just boring having to sit there for 5 hrs as a day patient. I had 2hrs pre flush (I think it was called - to protect the kidneys) 1hr chemo and another 2hrs post hydration. You can walk around but I didn't venture too far from the ward. I did find it tiring but probably because of the travelling each day for the radiation. I was given steroids + an anti-sickness pill just before the chemo and didn't feel sick at all throughout the 5 weeks. No hair loss either so felt I was very lucky. I did have hallucinations just before going to sleep after the first time (a very distorted man's face peering at me!). I called him my Italian Stallion as he had big brown eyes and darkish skin . The nurses had never heard anything like it before and were all in stiches when I told them the next week but the Dr. was concerned and wanted to know exactly what I had seen. He thought it was probably a side effect of the steroids so halved the amount for the 2nd week and I was fine after that. 3/4 weeks after I finished my chemo I had strong pins and needles in my feet, not painful but quite uncomfortable. It meant sometimes walking on tiptoe but didn't stop me going out although I didn't walk far. It only lasted for a couple of weeks and I still get it (also in my hands) sometimes but only mildly.

Hope this helps someone. Any questions please let me know.

Pearl x

i have just finished 28 days of radiotherapy and 2 cycles of 5 days on chemo pump that was attached to my belt day and night on wed 24th feb ,i expected so much bad side effects from both treatments i received for anal cariconoma ( i think i spelt it right) ,that i was surprised and felt lucky that i only got soreness and pain from the pelvic radiotherapy and No Side Effects from Chemotherapy.during week 2 i was taking 38 tablets a day for a week that i thought i might rattle if shaken .but otherwise the daily traveling and waiting for hospital car to the hospital and back ( 60miles distance from hospital) was the only draw back ,meeting other people with cancer and being able to talk and under stand that the mood changes and anger i felt was normal for so many of us ,even though i would never go for treatment again .i am happy to have gone through it this time ,i would reccomend that everyone should at least try it and see how they react to treatment ,but i felt i had to keep my family away from me and cut them out of most of my life during the 6 weeks as for me it was and is the only way i could deal with it ,i found Friends are easier to talk to and they do not ry and take over your life as some familys do .can i wish you all luck in the future ,I now wait for my results on 8th april and look forward to many happy years of happiness and life .

mine was pretty bad after the second treatment. I had to have nine sessions of chemo every fortnight through a hickman line, do not ask me which kind of chemo as i do not know, have not bothered to look at my notes yet, but i was too busy feeling ill to read much of anything. It was the sicky heartburn feeling, and some days I couldn't walk or just felt too tired. Also a ride in the ambulance or a taxi to the first session and back made me ill, so i decided to use the buses. I don't know why, travelling on two buses was much easier on my stomach than in a taxi or the ambulance. My throat felt urk, and the steroids affected my muscle movement the most, not the chemo. I think most of my problems during my treatment was due to the steroids and not the chemo. Also, during my treatment, I was more out of breath than usual, and the doctor said I was anaemic due to the treatments. I had the treatment during summer, which was a killer for me, as I had problems drinking cold and icy drinks and had to use gloves when getting things out of the fridge/freezer.

even now, I am still having problems wiht being tired, legs feeling like stone, out of breath and ready to collapse, and that may possibly be due to the steroids or the chemo. or both. or it could be psychological, feeling sorry for myself kind of depression that I have been under lately.

hello all

i was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma , it started with a lump in the neck which after much nagging and threats from wife i went to see doc, anyway had op was told it was cancer, week later was informed what type of cancer, started chemo week after that, my chemo was ABVD it wasn't to bad the treatment was ok the chemo nurses were excellant, how they managed to smile day in day out shows how caring they all are.

anyway my chemo was every 2 weeks for 6 months it wasn't,t too bad though the last part needed a warm wheat bag to help with cold part of iv drug lol the drawbacks were few some u expect,i.e. hairloss weightloss, saved fortune at barbers and weight watchers the other drawback to me was everything tasted metallic ,food, cough, fluids, and did make eating a difficult chore but all in all i was very lucky an coped quite well

hey, i am into my 4th year of havin b/cancer, i remember havin chemo, an i was knackered, hated the procces, but soon found mr hickman, an that was a godsend, its not talked about much, but really should be, but all in all, we all get through it, you just have to,.

It is really interesting as a daughter of cancer patient to read how you all coped during your treatment. I am finding it difficult to understand what mum is coping with as she won't tell anyone how she feels, just says she is feeling rough!

As I live 170 miles away and contact is by email as she can't talk on the phone due to her cough, I worry all the time about how she really is coping especially on her own- her choice.

She says she hasn't lost her hair but we think she may have a wig on- hair used to be short and curly , now longer and straighter and higher on forehead.

She looks so grey and thin in the face, has a distinct hospital smell around her. she is on gemcarbo for lung cancer. gemcitabine and carboplatin.

Has anyone any experience of this type to share with me so that I can understand more as Mum tells me nothing!

Hi PearlB

Im so glad you posted that I have exactly the same cancer as you and was told on thursday im to have the same treatment as you too, so its really helpful to me to know what to expect. I know we all react differently but to speak to someone who has already been there is great. I have to have the scan to give me my tattoo blue dots :D and when having that done they will give me my treatment timetable. Somehow after reading everything on this thread I dont feel quite so scared, cheers all lol xxx

My BC involved TCH chemo treatments x 6. In fact, had last one today (though must continue with Herceptin the "H" for 11 more visits, tho technically it's not chemo).  I had long hair prior to chemo and decided to cut it short in preparation.  My hair started falling out on day 17 following first chemo.  I knew to expect it but it was still devastating.  Even tho others suggested getting it shaved off early would be liberating and put me in control, I balked at that.  However, it was true.  I bawled like a baby when it came out in my hands.  So even tho I thought I was prepared, I wasn't.

Also, it does depend on the chemo concoction - they are different, and not every chemo makes you lose your hair.  My doctors and nurses told me that the "C" was the culprit for hair loss.

My next treatment (following a lumpetctomy last November by a surgeon, then told by the Cancer Hospital specialist team, after studying my results, that I required chemo followed by a mastectomy) is a five-year regimen of Tamoxifen...oh hot flashes, here we come.  This journey we are all on is unpleasant, scary and somewhat out of our hands.  However, I'm not sure I fancy the alternative.

Also, my first three chemos went fairly well and I thought I had it beat...treatment 4 and 5 were much harder, as each one is cumulative in its negative effects.  I don't say that to scare you, just to prepare you.  Make the most of the time you feel well and seek appropriate supports for when it becomes a bit more of a struggle.

My side effects, other than hair loss, involve: fatigue/tiredness, after sitting for any length of time my legs felt like lead when I walk, bruised/sensitive fingernails, runny nose, water eyes, acne on my face after day 4 or so which last about 4 days or so, definitely depressed for about 10 days or so each time, very easy to cry, taste goes and everything tastes briny or metally, so I have been craving/trying to satisfy this need for taste by eating bad food choices (crisps, sweet things), hence I have put on about a stone or more.

Best advice is to eat healthy, have lots of supportive people around you and remember, we all cope differently - mentally and physically.  You do the best you can.  There's no normal.

:-)