Thanks all, some good practical advice there :)

Just another question about the treatment which I gather is cumulative regarding the side effects.

Do the ill  effects last for just a day or two after each chemo treatment or do they last  all the time unitl the next session ? and once complete how long before these ill effect finally wear off ?

No idea yet, but sounds like typical sessions are 3 weeks apart ?  so with 6 - 8 sessions  ?  could be looking at nearly 6 months of treatment which does sound really daunting :(

Hi Will, great advice from @Davek there re. support. I've not looked into what support is there myself as I'm lucky to have my husband and some family and friends nearby to help out.

As to how the chemo will affect you, it's a very difficult question to answer. Your oncologist should be able to provide you with information and print outs on the likely side effects, which will be specific to your chemo cocktail (a 5-page print out in my case!). It's important to remember everyone reacts differently though.

For example, one of the main side effects of my chemo is nausea and digestive problems, but I haven't suffered from either - at least yet. I felt pretty much normal for a couple of days then a massive brain fog crept in. I found it hard to remember why I'd gone into a room/cupboard/fridge etc. One day I totally forgot who sat where at the table. My worst day was 5 days after chemo, my brain really wouldn't function and I couldn't cope with noises or more than one thing going on at once. I was also incredibly tired and had to nap during the day. I'm now just over a week post chemo and feel pretty good - apart from a cold.

I think my mindset going into this was that I would be housebound/bedbound for the whole chemo 4.5 months but unless you're really unlucky that is just not true. I've spoken with other people who've gone through the same chemo as me and they had their bad days but did manage to lead pretty normal lives around it. (EDIT: "normal" - probably the wrong word. Many I've spoke to who've gone through it were living at a slower pace. e.g. not able to work at least during certain weeks due to infection risks, and it is wise to avoid crowded/public places for the same reason). What I means is they were up and about, doing stuff with their kids and family etc.

I have been warned however that the effects of chemo tend to get worse as the cycles go on because the drugs build up in your system. Time will tell.

One thing your oncologist will stress is the risk of neutropenic sepsis. Any infection caught when your blood cells are wiped out is bad news. So another item for your shopping list is an in-ear thermometer so you can check your temperature regularly. I also stocked up on lots of hand sanitiser gel and hibiscrub hand wash to put at each sink. Washing your hands regularly and carefully is a must.

Hi again will100,

As I've said the side effects for me started a couple of days after the chemo and lasted at about a week, going from very bad- confined to bed- to not quite so bad -able to get up.

Something like this ; Thursday chemo, ok Friday and Saturday, starting to feel ill on Sunday, in bed from Monday to Wednesday, up on Thursday. From then on feeling a bit better day to day but still retaining a metallic taste making eating and drinking less pleasurable.  Regarding the accumulative effect, in both my  planned  6 sessions - a year apart-  the treatment was stopped after 3 or  4 treatments because the accumulative effect of the regime was too much for my system.

Ending on a more positive note, my  dire diagnosis was over two and half years ago and I'm still here and, since leaving the chemo treatment behind me over a year ago, the quality of my life, at the moment. is pretty good.

Thanks Mrsfingers some interesting insights there.:)

It does sound like you get plenty of advice on the treatment before you start.

Have suffered some of those side effects already, like a bit foggy and forgetting why I opened the cupboard etc, not sure if its some side effect of all the tablets I have been on to improve the symptoms or just the stress of things.

Its all been going on since May and been through a battery of tests, scans and biopsy and was remaining positive for the first 4-5 months, but that last few weeks have not been good, hence my trepidation at the thought of Chemo; still as said , hopefully will get a full diagnosis next week.

My Mum had one round of chemo for lung cancer after immunotherapy didn’t work and it killed her. It was too strong and they didn’t give her platelets until it was too late and she wasn’t eating at all so was weak. I’m beyond destroyed. I feel like they failed her. Personally if I get cancer I’m not doing any treatment whatsoever.

Hello MW101010,

Sorry to hear about your Mum.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of lung cancer patients actually benefit from the standard NHS treatment of chemo. I've had two periods of chemo sessions, in 2016 and the following one in 2017. My experience of this you can find in an earlier post. I don't know if the chemo treatment  helped to slow down the rate at which the disease progressed.  Anyway, although my latest  CT scan shows the disease is progessing, the NHS is unable to offer me any further treatment. My hope now lies in daily exercise,  taking supplements and following a high fat, low carb diet. 

hi Bal72,

im sure it works for other people it’s just I think they left it too late as they gave her immunotherapy first but didn’t tell us it was only a 1 in 4 chance of working. I feel we wasted precious time on that but who knows if the thechemo would have sped things up anyway. She wasn’t even that bad until the last month and then when she had the chemo was too weak for it. I can’t believe  she’s gone and I’m completely devastated. I hope you find alternative ways to stay heathy. One thing I know though is that wI put my Mum on a very healthy diet and it did absolutely nothing, the tumour doubled in size anyway so I wish I had just let her eat and enjoy whatever she wanted. 

I watched my wife undergo 2.5 years of Chemo in her fight against Grade 3 triple negative BC.

First she had 6 sessions of FEC-T, over 4 months, then she started 9 sessions of Gemcarb 13 months later, and finally one session of Eribulin 3 months later.  She never made it:(.

Chemo offers hope at first, and even though it temporarily shrinks tumours it doesn't fully stop cancer.  The side effects of Chemo can far outweigh the benefits, and to be honest Chemo is just an experimental treatment because there are absolutely no guarantees that it will work on any given patient.  It just destroys your body, wipes out your cells, wipes out your immune system, and can leave you feeling like utter crap. By which point you're stuck in the circle of having treatment, having blood transfusions, having infections,  having antibiotics,  popping a pick 'n' mix of pills that are trying to counteract all the side effects of what Chemo has done to your body.

It is bloody awful stuff and for some cancers chemo is the only option to buy some time, but after seeing my wife go through it I would now say to anyone starting out on the cancer journey, please please ask your oncologist if there are any other treatment options available to you other than Chemo before starting it.  Also, do your own research into your cancer type to arm yourself with information to ask the Oncologist questions about your treatment plan.  It's your life, be in control of it and always question everything that your oncologist tells you. They aren't always right!

Plus there are side effects not mentioned in this thread. 

Before surgery i was told I would need chemo by the surgeon, I  later found out that she had expressed doubt about my capability to withstand it because of my other ongoing health conditions. But b3cause at my consultation with her I was told I could have a mastectomy with chemo or a lumpectomy with radiotherapy (but that radiotherapy was a no go because of a frozen shoulder from a prior op) i was left with the chemo option.

when I met my oncologist he was horrified at the idea of chemo but I felt I had no choice but to go ahead.I managed 5 sessions out of 15. At that point my internal organs were close to shutting down and my mental state was equally bad. Chemo can cause major depression, worsen major depression as it did for me or even cause psychosis. It isn’t all about physical symptoms.