Your experience of Chemotherapy

Dear All

Firstly, I just want to say, Cancer Research UK and this Chat facility have been a God-sent. 

We have just been through a difficult five weeks from my mother finding a lump in her breast/armpit to being diagnosed with Stage 3/Grade 3 Breast Cancer. CT Scan has confirmed that all other parts of her body were clear. The not-knowing over this time was really difficult and waiting outside the Consultant’s office this morning was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve done. 

Mum is due to have six rounds of Chemo and then a mastectomy. I just wanted to know how others have found Chemo and if there are any good tips you can give to make the whole experience more bearable?

i have heard about the cold cap to reduce risk of losing hair, and ice cubes to reduce mouth sores. Any other parts of your journey you can share to make us better prepared? 

Here’s wishing you all great happiness, peace and success in your individual journeys xx 

 

Sub

  • Hi there,

    Sorry to hear your mum's news, she's obviously very lucky to have you going through this with her.

    There is a thread somewhere called The Good and The Bad and it has lots of info in it, but there are some general things for any type of chemo...

    1) get checked by a dentist and get any required work done before starting chemo
    2) up your dental hygiene routine from now

    3) moisturise your body morning and night from now (basic E45 is great and relatively cheap)
    4) keep plain ice lollies in your freezer, they're useful if you find you're struggling to even take fluids

    5) some say the cold cap can work (I haven't seen it work for anyone yet) it also extends your treatment time
    6) take extra care of your nails from now
    7) on chemo it's good to gargle with salt water after brushing your teeth, this is actually quite pleasant if you make a point of buying a good quality sea salt
    8) It is really important to drink a lot of water while going through chemo, it can seem like a chore at times, so it can help to have one or two bottles that you refill each day and then drink that day
    9) If your mum is one of those that likes a really hot shower or bath then she should turn the heat down as this will strip her body's natural oils and make her more likely to have skin problems

    I wasn't sick at all on my first load of chemo and I've met others who weren't sick with theirs either.  Make sure your mum knows that our brains tend to associate chemo with sickness and this can cause our brains to trick us into feeling sick (I used a lot of mind over matter with my first chemo).

    Anyway, that's some ideas for now of things your mum can already do that will help.

    LJx