A day in the life of chemotherapy?

I had the same TCHP & schedule, 6 cycles every 3 weeks. Counting chemo day as day 1, I functioned fairly normally on day 1 and day 2 -- I cooked dinner, walked the dogs, etc.... Starting with the afternoon of day 3, the fatigue would set in. I came more fatigued with each cycle. But from day 12 - 21, I was almost back to 'normal' and able to cook dinner, walk the dogs, etc.... Then the cycle would start all over again.

My husband was able to work from home while I was fatigued and took over most of the housework and care of our furbabies. That was a big relief for me.

Each person is different and I don't want to say too much. Just know that it is manageable and you will get through this!

upheld - I had 6 cycles of TCH (Perjeta had not yet been approved), over 18 weeks. I had some side effects that generally appeared from days 2-4, but nothing that kept me from doing what I needed to do - bill paying, cooking, laundry, cleaning, reading, watching TV, etc. I did not have any extra help around the house and my DH did not stay home from work on any day other than chemo day. I really could have driven myself, but he wanted to be there. I had chemo on Thursdays, felt decent on Friday, kind of meh on Sun/Mon, usually pretty ok for the following week. I generally prepared in advance of chemo day by catching up on bills and laundry, and grocery shopping and preparing some things that could be kept in the fridge or freezer, and I did this so that if I did feel badly I could rest and not feel like I was behind. I usually stayed pretty close to home for the first 10 days or so after chemo, not because I felt that bad, but rather that I really didn't have much to do as I had avoided scheduling things with the thought that I might not be as able. The last 10 days prior to the next infusion I lived my life very normally, went to lunch, shopped - except I had no hair appointments, lol! I was probably a bit more tired than most who do this regimen because I had five surgeries in the 14 weeks leading up to chemo, I had some healing issues and surprise positive nodes that required ALND surgery. I had to take a leave of absence from work due to all of that surgery as my MO did not want me to return to work during chemo since my job was in a bio-hazardous area of the hospital. I also did not have small children, my youngest was 21 when I was diagnosed, so I didn't have to worry about work or small kids. I will say that many have some cumulative fatigue, but I found that this was inconsistent for me. Also, side effects can be a bit of a moving target - you have them, figure out how to manage them, then some go away, but new ones crop up. It is important to notify your MO of anything new that happens, they have ways of mitigating many issues, don't suffer in silence! Wishing you the best, and be sure to ask questions - someone is usually around to help!

Greetings Upheld, I'm early in my chemotherapy journey (Day 1 of second cycle was yesterday), but I am on exactly the same treatment plan as you so thought my insights so far might be helpful.

I found it a big help to read and comment on a board that's for those us starting treatment in a certain month. I check in on the April chemo group, I think you'll find one for May also. (I'm repeating some info here that I posted on the April group, so sorry for duplication if you read that thread.)

It's also been really helpful for me as a newbie to keep day-to-day journal that I write in every day. Now that I'm starting the second cycle it's helpful to flip back and see where I was and what helped. I have several categories I update in the journal morning and evening: Check-in (basically how I'm feeling and sometimes a place to vent!), Diet, Fluids, Meds, Exercise. I also write down new things that may be good to try each day, like look up a new yoga program on YouTube, listen to relaxing music for an hour (YouTube is a fabulous resource for me - did you know they even have music/meditations to listen to during chemo sessions? I pack my iPad and good headphones when I go - helps to relax and block all the machine bleeping and general noise).

I too am concerned about neuropathy during chemo or as a long-lasting result. With my oncologist's permission, I'm icing my hands and feet for the entire length of my infusions. So far no numbness or tingling, but my onc said said those symptoms of neuropathy often won't appear until round 3 or 4. But I plan to keep it up and did ice again yesterday for the full 6 hours. Fingers crossed. My first post in the April thread gives details on how I made my own icing "kit." If you're interested but can't find that post, just let me know.

I started losing my hair sooner than expected (just a couple of weeks after first infusion) so was not ready with the with the wig, night caps and scarves, etc. So maybe plan ahead for that and not be caught in the stressful place I was --rummaging through my husband's wool ski caps in a futile search for something to wear in our hot, humid SC spring!

I've had most all the symptoms -- fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, etc, -- but fortunatley each of my onc visits includes a consult with the pharmacist to see what's working and what needs tweaking. (She is amazingly kind and even picks up my meds from the pharmacy and brings them to me in the infusion suite. There is a HUGE arsenal of meds out there, so speak up and get what you need to help you keep life as normal as possible.

to you through this.

I would also recommend looking at a previous month's chemo thread to see what they learned along the way. Joining a current month chemo group is great for the support, but sometimes when everyone is going through the process simultaneously you are all discovering at the same time.

Upheld - I did ice, but only during the Taxotere portion - started 10 mins before, and through the 60 minute infusion, then 10 mins after. I iced less for neuropathy prevention, more for the prevention of nail loss. I used some supplements for anti-neuropathy, 30g of powdered L-Glutamine, taken in 10g increments dissolved in cold and non-acidic drink 3 times a day. I also took vitamin B-6, a regular capsule - 100mg. I experienced tingling in my fingertips (and tongue - weird!) starting with the first infusion. It resolved before the next infusion, until the 4th, then it stayed until about 90 days later, when it gradually dissipated. I have no problems with it now.

For somebody reason I didn't lose my hair until 24 days after I started chemo. Even though I had Taxotere I did not lose all of my hair - I buzzed it down to 1/2 inch and kept probably 20-30% of it.

Upheld - since the bone spot is not in an easy to biopsy location, doing chemo and then imaging will hopefullygive you answers. I'm sorry you have this to worry about, and I'm crossing my fingers that this is an anomaly, not mets.

upheld, best wishes with your treatment and for boring news on future scans. (In this area, I like boring!)

I went through TCHP last fall. Experiences seem to vary. I was pretty functional the first two cycles, had quite a bit of nausea in the middle of the treatment timeline, and toward the end it did get to be pretty debilitating. It took me six weeks or so post-surgery to feel back to somewhat normal in energy/etc. Around which time I had my surgery and was able to bounce back decently from that. After which I had radiation, which i went through ok.

I never took completely off work, or lost the ability to run basic errands, or had any issues requiring emergency dr/hospital visits. But after a while I found the week after TCHP tended to be bad with either fatigue or nausea or both. The treatment day itself and the first couple of days after were usually ok other than some bad tastes that developed.

After the third cycle, I just started to schedule off work or arranged to work from home that following week rather than guessing; it was easier with work to be able to just plan around being out. Housecleaning and keeping clutter at bay wasn't a big priority; my house was pretty much a wreck after the four months lol. (Fortunately living by myself, I just didn't let anyone in to look ha - hired a cleaning company to come in as I started to feel better, that helped a lot.)

I had pretty bad anemia and other deficiencies that may have contributed to the loss of energy and so forth. The Neulasta was awesome and I never had any worries on white blood cell counts. I think we're fortunate in this situation to have Neulasta as well as newer drugs like Perjeta and Herceptin.

I hope your experience is good, but I'd recommend building in the breaks and time to take care of yourself whenever you feel the need.

upheld.....just chiming in. I don't visit these boards frequently any more. I noticed your positive internal mammary node. I also had a positive IMN . My surgeon was able to remove it. I had 6 months of chemo and 7 weeks radiation, with one week of targeted radiation to the IMN chain. That was 7 years ago, and so far so good. Hopeful your results are the same! Have hope

I am only on TC, but my cancer center has a Starbucks (which I didn't find until after the infusion) and I'm going to have my husband bring me a frappacino to alternate with the ice chips! I'm hoping for the best on neuropathy, because I have Raynaud's Syndrome, and my MO didn't think it was wise for me to ice in case I made the Raynaud's worse.

I felt great after my first infusion, but everyone had stressed bland food so much, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel (lol) on the way home. I don't know if it's because I only have TC that I've had no nausea, or the fact that I very rarely have any in the first place. I felt kind of a letdown in energy on day 2, but it was a Sunday, so just lazed around. About 24 hours after the Neulasta injection, I started having the throbbing bone pain. I had been taking the Claritin, so I don't know if that just didn't work for me, or the pain would have been worse without it. This time of year in Texas it never hurts to take an antihistamine anyway. Still had some pain yesterday afternoon, but none this morning. Walking on the treadmill helped some. I had a little tingling in my tongue the second day, but it went away and hasn't come back. No changes in taste. With my luck I'll be the only person on chemo that gains weight.

I brought up the possibility of taking B6 to my NP to hopefully prevent neuropathy, but she said there were some studies that showed it made the chemo less effective.

I've been taking a stool softener every night, but last night decided to go for the Miralax in prune juice. Yuck! But seems to have been effective.