Just diagnosed, am scared

Kitty Kathy - this is the hardest time.  The unknowing.  My primary care physician (pcp) prescribed me an anti-anxiety pill.  It was very helpful for me to sleep.  My mind would just keep racing all night long.  Plus it was a comfort knowing I had it if I needed it.  I still have some leftover and it is still a comfort.

I didn't eat or sleep for weeks after diagnosis and treatment starting.  I started with chemo last October and recently had my surgery.  Chemo infusion really isn't that bad.  It's the next few days after.  My first night home the smell of anything cooking made me so sick to my stomach.  Everyone reacts so different to this whole process.  I had a lot of saltines and ginger ale through my first round of A/C.  I also found that I could sleep through a lot after the first few days of infusion.  Just make sure you drink plenty of water before and after infusion too!  Plus your oncologist should give you some good anti nausea medicine to help after your infusion.  Drinking plenty of water and sleep are the most important things to do!  Eat what you can when you can.  I would try to eat at least a few bites of dinner each night.     

This website has been so wonderful and informational to me through my last 7 months.  Good luck and breath deeply. 

 Lisa

Kitty Kathy -- I know that you can feel very overwhelmed with what is happening. Just remember to breath and take it a day at a time. Chemo is absolutely doable. The side effects are different for everyone. I was ok the day of -- my sister and I would go out to lunch after chemo -- then I felt like I had the flu for the next 3 days. I was dx in 2006 and have been NED for 6 years.

KittyKathy, Marianne, and anyone else just starting out:

Talk with your onco doc and his/her nurse. Tell them you are apprehensive about the unknown and ask/demand they connect you with another patient who has gone down the path you are about to take. I did this with my doctor, who called in a social worker who connected me with a wonderful program called "Reach to Recovery" that the American Cancer Society ran (I've heard a rumor it might not still be available, which would be a real bummer). They matched me up with a gal in my home state who was willing to meet with me and my family members, to talk through our fears, to share her experience and to just be there for us. 

If your doc can't do that, then ask to speak with the onco social worker. If you know what you are to face in YOUR treatment program, then a lot of the fear & apprehension will disappear. I found getting a tour of part of the infusion center before I started chemo helped, I saw people reading books, watching movies, doing craftwork - no one was puking or looked like they were in pain. Same thing when rads started - I got the tour first.

Most important, you need to remember each of us is unique chemically. What worked for me might not work for you, and vice versa. Your doctor, the nurses, the social workers, the lab techs are all part of YOUR team, you need to tell them what is happening to you and ask them for assistance and guidance, and for encouragement. I will never forget my husband's face the night after my first chemo treatment when he answered the phone at about 9:30 PM to find not just my onco doc but also her research fellow on the phone, asking how HE was doing with it all, could they do anything for HIM, and then they asked about me. And they continued doing that throughout my entire year of treatment.