Smaller side effects not talked about so much...

Hi Taralou

You have just hit the nail on the head with the small side effects.  I have just had second round of chemo and before going I came out in extremely itchy hives for about half an hour.  It seems that this comes out when I become anxious and goes when I manage to calm down.  I've also found that if I become upset my hands begin to shake although this doesn't seem to last long either.

This second round of chemo has been worse that the first, although I haven't had the headaches this time it seems all of the other effects of the chemo have been exacerbated. Tiredness, nausea, forgetfulness, no taste buds etc.

It didn't help that I felt as though I was an annoyance during the chemo.  To explain, I currently get my chemo through private healthcare that my husband has.  It has been extremely useful up to now as I was diagnosed just before xmas and the NHS was at breaking point so I wouldn't have been this far ahead in my treatment as I am now if I had gone that route.  The only problem is that at the hospital I'm being treated at they had a power cut so that on the day of my chemo there was a couple of extra patients and the main nurse was on holiday, which meant the other nurse who took over who is a ditherer didn't want me there because there had been problems with my porth a cath in my arm (this had been sorted earlier in the week by the senior nurse) which she didn't know.

So I arrive at 11.00am.  I sit in the chair waiting.  An hour later she comes in looks at the cold cap machine, says it's not working yet, walks out.  Also she says I'm just sorting the lady in the next room out.  She and another younger nurse come and go for the next hour looking at the cold cap machine that neither of them know how to use properly and say its getting colder.  Finally at some point they say lets put it on.  The nurse put the cap straight onto my head and the lowered temp of 3 oC rather than setting the machine to cool down slowly and for my scalp to acclimate to it.  About three quarters of an hour later the younger nurse comes in to put the needle into the porth a cathe, (needle too big but as it was in and worked it was just secured with tape).  She then left me with the cold cap on.  half an hour later older nurse comes in (I'll just give you your pre meds and be back in half an hour).  

One hour ten minutes later she comes back with chemo drugs and gives them to me.  Once drugs administered she says that the cold cap needs to be on for another hour and a half and leaves again.  

An hour and a half later. The last patient in the ward.  She turns the cap machine off.  I have to wait to get the hat off as my hair was stuck to it with icycles.  Finally I get the hat off.  I feel extremely ill, I have a headache due to the cap and it being put on me after the paracetamol I'd taken to avert the headache had worn off.  I was stressed and really upset with the whole scenario and I don't want to go back as I have no confidence whatsoever in what had happened. 

Also she had said earlier that she had tried to cancel my appointment but that my oncologist said it should go ahead.  As though that was a bad thing.  Just because she didn't want the extra work.  I didn't get out of my cap until 3.50pm.  So I had been sat in a chair with cold cap on for approx3 hours without being able to go to the toilet or move around.  

The question I have is how long should it take to have chemo?

Sorry I seem to have gone off the subject but had to get it off my chest.

xx

Hi yellowdaffodil I am so sorry to hear of your awful time with the chemo treatment. Unfortunately it is the nurses that can make or break how you feel. I can honestly say I have gone through the NHS and cannot fault the whole team since the beginning.

When I go for the treatment the nurses are all so welcoming, other patients all sit and chat and, to be quite honest, we have a bit of a laught as well. Which really jhelps and relaxes everyone. We even get tea/coffee and biscuits.

How long chemo takes will depend on what regime treatment you are on. At the moment I am on EC which is administered by a nurse so takes about hour, hour and half from start to finish depending how busy the unit is.

But even waiting about is very comfortable and we are never made to feel a nuisance etc. The nurses are wonderful and will talk and listen to any woes you might have and always reassure you. In fact the nurses ALWAYS are telling us to go with ow we feel and listen to our bodies. Nothing is too small for them.

I do know with the cold cap that you have to wear it for about an hour before and after treatment which will add to your time there.

I hope your next treatment is better than the last. take care and good luck. xx

Thanks for that I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of a pickle.

I think I'll query how long when I go  in next to get the port flushed.  

Thanks xx

Hello Taralou what they also dont tell you is that it can affect your nails and hands. Told the Oncologist today that my fingernails and toenails feel like they have been trapped in a door even tho' they look fine Also the soles of my feel tingle with pins and needles as do my 1st finger on both hands with loss of sensation. He said that "some of that can be permanent "! Priceless!. But lets consider the alternative ........no lets not. Just saying

Keep positive

best wishes