Hi

Welcome to to this lovely site.I would like to say a bit about my journey to you if it helps, because it helped  shrink my tumour a lot so that I could have surgery.

When I was diagnosed with Bowel cancer in2010 it was advanced ( T4 ), so the surgery could not be done until they reduced the tumour. So I had to have Oxaliplatin MdG chemotherapy with a pick line, for 5 weeks . Yes I will be honest  I was very tired but no hair loss, and my cycle stopped and now going through the change. Unfortunately this did not work enough for them to do surgery.So I then had to to have chemo and radio therapy for 5 more wk's.This was sucessfull, and then started my next journey surgery, which was the main goal for me.I'm now in my 2 year of remission. Good Luck.x

great post....

Iv just finished my chemo 2 weks ago, 6 x fec i had reconstuction LBM invaisive breast cancer , i was terrafied, i lost my hair 2 weeks after 1st chemo, apart from the sickness, i may be one of the unlucky ones that got 2 blood clots in my arm, in the first week of chemo i found my mouth and taste was horrable even water, the worst for me was the haze of chemo, mentley didnt seem to be on the same planet,after a week it seems to lift a bit, but after my 2nd chemo began to get painfull joints, and eyes  hands and feet towards the end of chemo was burning like they were on fire, i use to take my dog over the park for a walk and be in bed for 2 days after, still have few painfull joints specialy my hands but they are geting better, iv suffered depression too, but think a lot of that was the haze of chemo, i didnt think i would ever finish chemotherapy, but i did and it can only get better now...............start radio on 24th new side effect new beginings,,,,,,,,,

Hi - Thanks for your honest post about this. I have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer - 2 lumps in my breast and traces in my lymph glands. They've decided to do 6 sessions of chemo first then surgery in the autumn. I have to admit the chemo is the bit Im dreading most, but I realise I just need to get on with it.

Now that Ive read other peoples posts on this I feel a bit calmer. Although its going to be rough I know I'll get through it and I will definitely add my own experience to this thread too once it all gets going.

Thanks again

Cathy

I had 5 sessions of chemo over 5 weeks each wednesday i would have to be in hospital at 7am and i would stay until 3 or 4 everytime. During this time i would also undertake my radiotheraphy session.  Having chemo is not as scary as i thought it would be you just sit there while drugs are administered into you.  Whilst the chemo drugs are being given you cannot leave the ward but while you are having fluids you can move around although you will have to take your drip trolley with you.  The after effects of chemo were not too bad for the first 3 days however, after that i would feel sick and by really really tired for a few days so much so that i had to have regular naps but it got better. In total i had 5 chemo sessions and 22 radiotheraphy sessions followed by three brachytheraphy sessions over a 5 week period.  I have now been in remission for over 6 months and have just gone onto 6 monthly checks.  Good luck to you all x

I had 10 chemo sessions in 2 weeks and 36 radiotherapy sessions in a 6 week period.I was fine,just a little tired,(I walked home approx 3 miles) It was only about 3 weeks after I was done,that I had a rough time

Great idea for a thread and I agree it really helps to know which chemo people are having. I started my first cycle of EC yesterday (4 of those then will be 4 of Paclitaxel) and OH MY GOD ... (initially)

The chemo and cold cap themselves were fine but when I got home and after only a couple of hours I felt sick, I was really disheartened.  Given they sent me home with extra anti-sickness stuff for the first 3 days, and you already take some before your treatment I was full of dread that I have 4 months ahead of feeling that dreadful. There were tears of self pity. Finally.  I couldn't eat dinner and threw up that evening.

Be reassured anyone reading this post who is having similar, I had a further tablet before bed, sickness faded, and I slept on and off until the wee hours. Today I feel relatively normal. Just keeping on top of it with the meds now. So while I know every indicidual is different and every type of chemo is different, if anyone is pre-reading, just don't panic if you feel ill the first day! I was expecting it not to hit until a bit later. And that was a bit of a terrifying shock.  Am very relieved it hasn't lasted.  I expect more sickness and nausea to come but at least if it isn't ALL the time I can cope with that.

There is also an old post on here from a family member who was very worried about her Mum. I hope that all turned out well for you, and it is lovely that you wanted to do right by her.  We all react to this differently and have different needs. Personally when I'm ill I just want to be alone. It is easier to cope.  I am very lucky to have loads of people who want to be here and be supportive and I feel somewhat duty bound to let them over-help when it isn't actually what's best for me.  Because I know it makes them feel better.  People struggle to listen to what YOU NEED not WHAT THEY THINK you need. And i'm already learning how to be clear about what I can cope with in terms of having people around.  It's possible your mum found it much easier to cope that way so try not to feel guilty and know she had it her way, which is so important.

I hope this thread continues to generate responses and I'll try to remember to update once I'm further in and also when on the new drug.

Best wishes all!

Hi all

im now two years post treatment for throat cancer and had 30 daily sessions of Tomotherapy align with 6 full days of chemo on cisplatin 

I used to long for my Friday 8 hour chemo sessions as I would get pumped full of steroids and it took the pain away .... Come Wednesday I would have crashed again

i was not sick on chemo, but I stuck rigidly to that horrible Dom peri stuff 5 times daily for 5 days

 the chemo days were long though and you had to weigh everything you peed out

i did better on my chemo than I did on Tomotherapy 

vatch