TC x4 - Questions if you can help

Hi there, I had 4 rounds of TC back in the fall.  Here are some of my main effects and things I did to help with them.  BTW, I'm 36 and went to see a naturopath before my treatments started and she had me on supplements to help me get through it a little easier.  My chemo pharmacist was fine with everything I took although he was doubtful that they would help (in my mind they did, and if it was placebo effect, I'll still take it).

~ timing: 3 - 3.5 hours, with the taxol taking longer and the other only taking about 30 minutes.

~ the meds I would start the night before and the day of (Decadron/dexamethasone and Ondansatron) gave me night sweats, but I didn't ever get nauseous (they are said to give you extra energy and increase your appetite, but I was pretty much the same and my appetite stayed with me all through chemo).

~ the first week after your infusion is when you are most susceptible to sickness.

~ I did 7 days of Neupogen shots (to keep my white blood cell count up) starting 2 days after my treatment.  I hated these as they eventually, after a few days, would give me crazy headaches that migraine meds wouldn't help with.  They gave me an Rx for Percocet, but I never filled it and instead took a magnesium drink called Natural Calm to relax my muscles and tension (neupogen and neulasta hurt the bones, especially the thigh and back because it's stimulating the marrow to make more WBC's).  With each treatment the headache pain would be less as I think my body was getting used to all of the chemicals (was worst at the beginning, maybe due to the shock of it all).

~ Epsom salts baths helped with muscle and bone pain. 

~ I had my infusions on a wednesday and by sunday would maybe feel a little flu-like and tired, would just rest up as much as I could.  This lasted for a day or 2.

~ Took a probiotic every morning as recommended by my ND and didn't have any constipation or digestive issues.  If you are susceptible to this type of thing you can also take stool softeners ahead of time.  Water really helps too. 

~ Drink lots of fluids, nothing too crazy, you don't want to make yourself sick, but you want to keep hydrated and help flush it out of your body.  Also, the C caused a bit of a urinary issue (I've had it before in the past) and it can inflame your bladder and urinary tract.  I was also drinking organic pure cranberry juice to help with this and it seemed to work.  

~ Keep as active as you can within reason, this is also a time to rest and take it easy if you can.  I had the luxury of not having to work all that much during treatments, but I realize that not everyone has that option......I'm also freelance and it was almost impossible to work anyway so I really didn't have much of a choice.  Avoid the gym when you are most vulnerable and wash hands frequently. 

~ Never really had any sleeping problems, but ND put me on 3mg of melatonin every night.

~ Also took a mushroom pill AHCC that is supposed to help with chemo (and maybe even enhance it) every morning as well as Fish Oil, Vit D, and when flu season hit, Astragalus to help with the WBC count.

~ Never had any nail problems, but I kept my hands and nails super hydrated with Aveda hand cream (my absolute favourite) and painted nails with a calcium treatment (I think by Spa Ritual, no formaldehyde etc) before each treatment (toes too).  Keep it up AFTER treatment is all finished as well.  Didn't do the ice thing, but have heard it works for some.

~ Aside from a little gum ache every now and again (nothing serious or debilitating), my mouth was fine.  Did the baking soda rinse and used Weleda salt toothpaste which was a godsend.  Didn't get any mouth sores at all.

~  Hair fell out sooner than I thought it would, about 2 weeks after my first treatment.  Definitely feels weird, but I shaved my head right away.  Had a wig, but never touched it.  Once the stubble started getting really patchy and my scalp was really dry I scrubbed everything off with oil and a towel and it looked and felt much better (the stubble is kind of 'loose' so it feels like it's poking you and it's not that comfortable). Kept scalp moisturized with an organic facial oil. Oops, just read you're doing the cold cap, sorry for this info

~ Hair started to rapidly grow back a little under 2 months after last infusion and the time went really fast.  

~ Usually have oily skin, but forehead got really dry and then I broke out.  Weird.  Use gentle and moisturizing products suited to how your skin is dealing with it all. 

~ Because you loose your hair, you also loose the cilia in your nose so keep tissue on hand as you can develop a bit of a drippy nose.  Also, my eyes watered like crazy, especially if it was cold and windy (which I realize is normal without chemo, but it was more than I would average, way more). 

~ I didn't touch my brows or lashes AT ALL during treatment and they stayed in until about a month and half after my last treatment and then they started falling out, but by the time they had all fallen out, the new hair had grown back so I really didn't notice it all that much (brows grew back faster than lashes though).

~ Ate lots of fruits and veggies (really took care to wash everything obsessively if I was keeping it raw) and whole foods. Not a lot of dairy, if I had any it was definitely organic, but dairy can sometimes cause mucous so I really avoided it.  Didn't have sushi the whole time during treatment and didn't do any raw milk or blue cheeses that weren't pasteurized. 

~ Make sure you have a thermometer to monitor your temp for the week after your infusion.  You will probably have to take it a few times a day and they'll let you know what to look out for and what to do if you have any problems. 

Hmmm, that's all I can think of right now.  Good luck with everything!!!