Recently Diagnosed, starting Chemo Sept 2017

Hi Tina, it is nice you are able to work with such supportive people. That will make a big difference because flexibility will be key. There may be some days you may need to rest more so than others. I have a great tip for you---try to get your chemo infusions done on a Wed. or Thursday. The day of infusion, I felt like a million bucks because of the steroids they give. I would come home on those days and get plenty of things caught up. It was the end of the third day of treatment that would hit me like a ton of bricks. Mostly due to the nuesta shot. Twenty four hours after that thing kicked in, I would run a low grade fever for a few days and be achy until Monday or Tuesday. The rest of the week and the following week I was off of chemo, I would feel at my best. Some say take a Claritin prior to your nuesta shot and after in order to feel better. I never tried it though. Super important when you are taking the red devil is to not skip any nausea pills for the first few days because once you get sick it is hard to stop it. I was faithful on my nausea meds and never got sick once. Those are really the most important things to remember. I never had problems with my nails, or my teeth. I kept my mouth moist with lemon sours. The funny taste chemo gives you was weaker than the taste I had when I was pregnant, so it didn't really bother me and I knew eventually it would go away. Try to maintain weight because losing will make you feel a bit weaker and more fatigued during chemo treatments. Feel free to ask me any other questions. Hope all goes well for you!

P.S. I forgot to answer your other question. I do have lymph node involvement. The true extent will not be known until my surgery which is Aug. 30th. I had my chemo prior to surgery. How about you? Are you doing chemo first?

I'm not a big water drinker either. There were some days I just couldn't drink those three quarts. I did try to eat popsicles and/or freeze pops, drink ice tea, to make up for the liquids. I felt I needed some kind of flavor.

I had a local anesthesia with the port placement. It was an easy surgical procedure. It was just a little sore after and took a few days to get use to because I lay on my right side where they placed the port.

As far as my chemo tricks, I learned them along the way. I originally had chemo on Monday and had it changed due to an illness. I much prefer the Wed. schedule because my husband was home from work on the weekends and could help with the kids. Those were my crash days. I wish I had figured that out earlier. An oncology nurse told me about the Claritin and I also read that on here. I just never got around to try it. Red devil is the nickname for A/C chemo. It is a red color and a little devilish.

Sounds like we'll be going through surgery around the same time. I feel a little nervous about being completely knocked out for 3 to 5 hours. Hope all goes well with your lumpectomy!