Tips to endure chemo

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!!

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!

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

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!