Newly diagnosed, starting chemo in 1 week, terrified

I hate we had to meet here but here we are...I'm also IIIC and it's a scary place.  Not much I can add, the girls covered everything.  I did neoadjuvant chemo, AC & then taxotere.  For me the very first rounds of each were the worst but the ones after that were more tolerable.  The meds they give you will help with most side effects.  I had to do AC slowly over 3-4 hrs and I used a motion sickness patch behind my ear for the last 3 rounds and that helped a lot.  With my first round they ran it in an hour and it hit me hard and I couldn't tolerate it that fast so, slowing it down and wearing the patch was much better.  I also had a port placed and it was sore for a while and I guarded the area so I'm sure that added to the sorness. I responded to chemo very well, my path report after my BMX said residual cancer in LN and my breast tumor shrank a lot so, don't put too much thought in what you said about never doing chemo, we have to do what it takes & what works, look at all the women here it worked for.  Take it day by day and go to the +5yrs forum when you need a little pep talk, I go often.  We're here & we "get it" so keep us informed on things.

thinking of you......these gals have given so much great advice, no need to add anything but the reassurance you're in my prayers.

you can do this.

xo

janyce

Suzy / scc218, here's the section to read that christine47 recommends, Chemotherapy: What to Expect.

Judith

One thing no one has mentioned is to make sure you eat enough protein.  It may seem counterintuitive, but I found that helped me immensely.  I tried for 80 g daily which is a lot.  It keeps your energy more constant, and really helps with fatigue.

I took Larabars with me wherever I went as would get major energy crashes.  These would tide me over.  Fruit and nuts would work too.  (Which is what Larabars are.)

Third the exercise.  I was manic about it, but learning more and more this is the best thing we can do for ourselves.

Water is critical, but this one has been covered.  I ate a lot of pears, and escaped most of the tummy woes.  Good luck.  We all make it through.  At least you won't be doing six AC as was the study protocol for me. - Claire

Glad you're doing good.  I guess I was weird...I was ready to start chemo, it made me feel like I was finally doing something and was killin' this s#!t.   Don't get me wrong I was nervous too but was ready to battle, I was mad at BC, it came in sucker punched me so I was wanting to get it back.  And when I saw my IBC leaving and tumor shrinking it was the best feeling, I knew it was dying.  Sorry, didn't mean to ramble...let us know how it goes when you can.

Let us know how you get on....and take all the meds they give you!

Good luck, and remember - after today, thats one less to do, right!

Hi Suzy,

Just want to wish you luck! Ginger ale helped with my nausea when I did AC. TMI Alert! Also, I had to do Colace, Colace, Colace for constipation. I didn't take any with my first AC and it was one of the "hardest" (no pun intended) lesson I learned from this whole BC experience. Chemo really is doable. Just be kind to your self. Take it easy. We'll be here for you. Hugs.

I'm brand new to the site.  Began chemo on April 1 and did 2nd round today.  How can I get to the screen to put in my diagnosis.  This is my second round with breast cancer.  Had it 8 years ago, R mastectomy and AC and Taxatere.  Came back in January on the mastectomy side (didn't even know that was possible).  Recurrence Tripple Neg. invasive ductal carcinoma.  This time I did 30 radiation treatments first.  The first plan was Taxol plus Xeloda.  I couldn't take Xeloda because it made my heart spasm.  So now I'm doing Taxol and Genzar.  I want to join the April group but how do I do that.

Susan