Tips to endure chemo

kqteaches

Hello to all my brave friends I am getting to know through this chatboard.  I am a 44 year old Wisconsinite.  Wife, mom, and kindergarten teacher.  Now Stage IIA breast cancer survivior.

I had a double mastectomy on March 23 and am beginning chemo treatments this Tuesday, April, 19.  My chemo will be taxotere, carboplatin, and herceptin for a total of a 6 hour drip.  Tuesday a.m. I will get my port placed before my chemo begins.  I am a hard one to find veins on so I chose the port.

Wondering if anyone else is taking this combo of meds and if you have any suggestions for making my journey more tolerable.  Not sure how I will tolerate the side effects.  Not worried about losing the hair...I'm ready, not too worried about the nausea or fatigue because those can be managed, but I'm freaked out to hear that I may lose fingernails.  Any tips or tricks for getting through is greatly appreciated.  Hugs to all of you! 

KatherineNaomi

Hi kqteaches! I didn't have the same exact chemo regimen but I did have Taxotere. I was really worried about losing my nails too so I brought a cooler with ziplock bags of ice with me and iced my hands and feet during the Taxotere infusion. I'm happy to say that I'm over 5 months out of chemo and never had any nail issues.

Another tip that I found helpful was to  drink a lot of water 2 days before, the day of chemo and 2 days after. I also was worried about getting mouth sores (gross!) so I brushed with Biotin tooth paste and rinsed a few times a day with Biotin mouthwash. Never had any sores so I guess it worked.

While chemo was not fun it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had my infusion every 3 weeks and I'd have one week of feeling kind of crummy and 2 weeks of feeling good. Make sure you're stocked up on meds in case you need anything. For me my main issues were bone pain from the Neulasta shot (took Aleve), heart burn (took Zantac) and diarrhea (took Imodium).

Honestly, the most annoying part was the hair loss, mostly because then you actually look sick. It comes back pretty quickly though. You can see my hair journey so far here.I'm due to post another monthly picture so it's even longer now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katherinenaomi/sets/72157625818201808/with/5556547841/ 

Hope everything goes well for you and it's easier than you are expecting!!

kqteaches

Wow-what great advice.  Thank You!  I loved your pictures.  You are beautiful with and without hair my dear!

mdg

I am sorry you have joined our little club.  Hugs!  I am on taxotere and cytoxan and I have completed 3 of 4 treatments.  I just want to give you some encouragement....my chemo has gone way smoother than I EVER imagined.  My first round was the worst and that consisted of constipation, body aches from days 3-5 post chemo and bad bone pain on day 6 post chemo. For the second and third round I took things for the constipation issues (senakot), body aches and bone pain (aleve and claritin) and had no issues at all.  I also had some minor heartburn (prilosec helped) but that was not that bad.  As far as nails....mine have not changed at all.  I ice my fingers and toes during taxotere which has known effects on nails.  I am still wearing my usual french manicure and my med onc thought I got some new fake nails when she saw me last week...I had to tell her they were real and my nails were still growing (fake nails are a no no during chemo I guess).  I really think the things that help me most are exercising daily and drinking lots of water in the days following chemo.  Best of luck!

flash

make sure to mark where your bra strap is before you get the port.  Even if you have a mast, that spot is the same one that a purse/slip/ surgical camisole will be sitting on.   good luck.  best info for the chemo is on the chemo thread.  I would definitely suggest stocking up on canned peaches. when you feel yucky, they go down pretty easily and give you a very digestible sugar without any worry over bacteria.

hdangelbaby

I just finished chemo a month ago. i found that painting my nails and keeping them short worked sooo well at keeping them nice. I had AC then Taxol (same family as taxotere), and I started painting them and using Hard As Nails clear top coat. I had fun with it and got lots of nail art too. My nails turned black underneath, but never fell off, but I do think it's cause I kept them short and painted.

I never iced them down either

burley

I didn't have the same combo of meds, but I did have Taxotere for my last 4 treatments.  I was scared as well about losing my fingernails or toenails, but the nurses brought me cups of ice for my hands during the drip.  I never lost any nails-just got some funny horizontal lines on them that lasted until they grew out.

One piece of advice would be to not wear a bra for treatments.  And obviously something comfortable and soft so they can move your shirt easily to get to the port. I always wore a v-neck tshirt which worked really well.

Definitely drink a lot of water before, during and after treatment.

Check to see if your doctor's office provides snacks, otherwise bring some with you.  Nothing greasy or with a strong odor so you won't bother others.  My treatment center provided crackers, granola bars and cookies which was awesome.

Take the nausea meds even if you don't think you need them.  I'm sure that's why I didn't get sick, except for my very first treatment.

Plan on eating something very mellow the night of your treatment, again, nothing greasy or with a strong odor.  Don't eat a favorite food the day of your treatment in case you do throw it up-it would be a bummer to be turned off by it forever.

Um, I'm sure there's more but chemo brain is preventing me from remembering Lol (plan on losing some brain cells.)

Good luck!  Hugs-Kim

hdangelbaby

I still to this day cannot eat deli turkey or tater tots.... cause that's what I ate the very first day of my first chemo. At the hospital. for lunch. made me sick to even think about for months. and it was 2 of my favorite foods too. i thought since i wasn't actually feeling sick during my chemo, i would avoid the food aversion. uh-nuh. still can't eat it

so yes, heed the advice about eating something bland and not your favorite food day of.

my onc suggested eating cold pizza day after. because it packs alot of calories in a small amount of food. he suggested it cold cause hot or even warm food had odor, and i couldn't stand it. but we did the cold pizza the day after and it tasted great!! then the next day would be bad (due to neulasta) and i wouldnt want to eat much at all,,, then would remember there was cold pizza in the fridge!

kqteaches

Had my first chemo treatment today.  I go for the neulasta shot tomorrow.  I feel really good now, but I'm waiting for the shoe to drop.  I hope things stay good.  Thanks for all the good advice.  I LOVE cold pizza so I love that this could be a go to food.  Kim