Chemo or no chemo for stage 3 her2+ bc

Nisha517

not very brave-

Yes, I know what you mean. If I complain too much, will they get annoyed and take me seriously? And if I don’t complain enough- when I do have a complaint, will they dismiss it because I never spoke up before? But, now is not the time for me to notcare what they think. I need to get through these chemos with as few side effects as possible so I don’t think about quitting again because of them.

WC3

Nisha517:

For hunger related nausea when I couldn't eat, I sucked on hard candies like butterscotch discs. I also later discovered I could tolerate banana flavored popsicles.

But one thing I discovered that I can eat at any point in my cycle are egg whites and egg white sandwhiches. I season the egg whites with salt and garlic powder and put a little bit of mustard and mayonnaise on the bread. If I can tolerate some ketchup, I use a bit of that a well. Sometimes I also add some sauteed mushrooms for taste or very finely chopped broccoli florets so I can say I have had some vegetable but a lot of times it's just a simple egg white sandwhich. I use Trader Joe's brand mayonnaise by the way, because it is canola oil based, which is better for us than soybean or safflower oil. It is also expeller pressed. I prefer the unsweetened variety.

I also eat a lot of cold chicken noodle from the soup bar at the market my first week. I tend to wake up at night during that time with hunger related nausea so just go grab the cold soup.

hapa

Nisha - suck on ice chips during your infusions, especially during the TC part (the HP shouldn't cause mouth problems). I'm not sure it will help but a lot of women did this to combat the mouth sores. I've also heard that certain IV anti-nausea meds can cause the taste changes to be worse. I had different anti-nausea meds with almost every infusion and I lost track of which was which, but ask your MO about that as well. Maybe changing some of your premeds can help with the taste issues. I found that when my taste was way off I had to add something to water to drink it, or drink juice or tea instead. I normally don't drink juice because of all the calories and sugar but if you haven't been eating anyway it would probably help. A lot of people recommend squeezing a bit of lemon in your water. Experiment until you find something that works. There is also the possibility of delaying treatment a week to regain some strength. It's not optimal, but definitely better than quitting.

Nisha517

hi wc3-

What type of bread would you use for your sandwich? And yes, I do seem to tolerate chicken noodle soup. But more just the broth. I leave everything else out. What I discovered lately is if I suck on sugar free mints it helps with the nauseous feeling. Thank you for all the great advice!

Hi hapa-

Yes, this time around I will do the ice chips thing and also take popsicles with me. I hope that’ll help. I will talk to the MO on Monday about the pre meds. After my first infusion I was able to drink sprite and sparkling water. After the second infusion, I can’t do sprite and sparkling water anymore and have only been drinking apple juice. I do feel bad that i Dont eat or drink healthy but MyHusband said right now is not the time to worry about all that. We just need to eat And drink whatever goes down. Thank you!

WC3

Nisha517:

Typically just cheap white bread. I like Van de Kamps Sandwhich bread but sometimes it's too sweet for me...it's difficult to find unsweetened white bread in the U.S.