Due to start chemo in next few weeks - question about acrylic nails and hair dye

Hi, sorry to jump in! I had my first chemo today. Yes, I was advised for my nails a good base coat and then a deep dark colour is supposed to help your nails. I also purchased a good nail/cuticle oil to give them some strength too. Generally my nails are ok but I’m going to give them some extra care.

I had the cold cap today. I was so unsure about whether to do it or not as lots of people don’t get on with it. I was absolutely fine and really pleased I did it, although it’s not a given that it will work. With regards to shampoo/conditioner I was told anything sulphate and parabin free (sorry not sure of the spelling but I’m sure you know what I mean!). She said avoid baby shampoo as this is not good, but Simple shampoo and conditioner are good.

I’ve just left cuts and colours because I couldn’t bear the thought of paying all that money to have it done and then potentially watch it all fall out! With regards to hair cuts and the cap - I have shoulder length hair which I was going to have cut super short so any bald patches were less visible but was told today to not cut it as they can use your hair to protect any parts of your head that in future may need covering when having the cap.

wishing you lots of luck for the 20th. Deep breath, one step at a time….. we can do this x

 JelloH  thank you for your reply and the tips gor nails and hair. 

My nail technician advised to use coconut oil on my nails and cuticles and the welllbeing person at work yesterday told me that coconut oil replaces something in the body that chemo can destroy which can lead to nail issues.  So I'm massaging that in every night. I've sldo read that Castor Oil cam help regrowth of hair, eyebrows and lashes so ice ordered some from Holland and Barratt. 

It's good to hear you found the cap was okay  

How did you find the chemo?  Have you had sny side affects?  

Yesterday I got my CT and MRI results and the Cancer hasn't dread thankfully so now it's the green light to start chemo asap.

I’m so pleased for you that you got the all clear and the green light to start your treatment!

Definitely try the cold cap if you’re able to, it’s not signed in stone and if you don’t like it you just stop. I was a little worried about the extra time it may take. But I had to have an anti sickness drug an hour before my chemo drugs and the cold cap needed to be 30 minutes before so it all worked out fine. You keep it on through treatment (it’s like a bicycle hat) and then I had to keep it on for 90 minutes after. 

(all of what I’m about to say next is just my personal experience and I’m aware it’s different for everyone. I’m also aware it’s the calm before the storm!) The chemo itself was absolutely fine, my nurse sat with me the whole time and we had a good old chat so the time flew by. I’m rubbish with the names of the drugs as for me it’s just extra info I don’t really need to compute - as long as they know that’s all that matters! But one of the drugs I had can give you a really metallic taste in your mouth, wipe out your taste buds and cause potential mouth ulcers. She gave me an ice pop to suck whilst having the drug as it effectively freezes your taste buds and stops your mouth absorbing so much of the drug. I didn’t get any taste at all (but I have just had covid!). And then after treatment chew lots of gum to keep your saliva going.

 I haven’t had any side effects yet, just a bit tired when trying to do things. But I’m really aware that I was given a super duper 5 days anti sickness drug and I’m still on lots of steroids until Monday. So this may all change. I also start my injections from tomorrow night which causes your bones to ache (the injections are to stimulate red blood cells and bone marrow to help your immune system hence the achy bones). I’m trying really hard not to be too confident with this as I know that this is not going to be my experiences for the next 16 weeks but at least I should be ok for Christmas. I have a 12 year old daughter who is coping fabulously through this journey but I want to be as ‘normal’ as I can be for the holiday period.

Keep your chin up, smile, take a deep breath, one foot in front of the other, day by day. We’ve got this….

ohhh and LOTS of water! My drugs went in red and frightened the life out of me when it came out the same colour  xxx

 JelloH  thank you so much.  It definitely was a huge relief.

And thank you for sharing your journey so far with me.  I'm happy to read that so far your experience has been positive.   I've had so many people tell me they or someone they knew had minimal sicknss or symptoms so I'm thinking positively abd hopefully I'll be the same. ️

Those are great tips too, thank you.  I bet you did have a shock at the red colour!

I'm so glad that you'll be able to have Christmas as normal and that your daughter is coping so well ️  kids are so resssillient aren't they.  I'm very much of the business as usual mindset too.  Keep everything as normal as I can.

Definitely agree that the cap is worth a try.  My hair is so fried from years of bleaching that if it does fall out I'm seeing it as an opportunity for a restart!  Everyone around me thinks I'm crazbut it makes sense to me! 

I've signed up to some Look Good Feel Better workshops in January which im looking forward to around nsil, skin, hair. Have you done any of those?  xx

 JelloH  no idea why emojis were randomly inserted in the middle of words in my reply!

I think the more ‘normal’ we can keep it for the children the easier it is for them. I sent my daughter a picture of me with the cold cap on so see saw that it wasn’t frightening (more funny than anything!) and I picture of me when I was home so that she knew when she walked in from school I still looked like mum!

I think the more relaxed you can be about the hair thing the easier it is. I know it’s really mentally tough for a lot of people but I just think, well it will grow back eventually.

I’ve signed up to the skin/make up course too but the earliest I could get was 6th February! But I will probably need the help then as I will know more where I’m at with my hair/skin/nails. I’m also very lucky that our local beauty ‘retreat’ works closely with a cancer charity so I’m all set for facials, reflexology and hair cuts as and when needed.

Please keep in touch, it would seem treatment wise I’m a few weeks ahead of you so I’m happy to ‘share’

Take care xxx

 JelloH That's a great idea to send her photos so she knew you were okay.

It sounds like we're very much on the same wave length with being as relaxed as we can be.

I said to my partner I might not be in control of what's happening to me, but I can control how I respond and react to it.  So I've chosen to stay as positive as I can and focus on things such as nutrition and getting things organised before I start treatment  

I agree.  I think February is probably a good time to do the makeup course as by then you’ll know what you do/dont need support with.  I decided to wait until after I start treatment before booking the makeup course as I'm not sure if I'll lose eyebrows etc.   My makeup skills are terrible to start with so I'll definitely appreciate help with drawing on eyebrows if I do lose them   I have booked the online nail course and the two online hair courses for January. 

That's great you have those beauty retreats close to you. it's good to know you have those complelimentary therapies to access.  I'm going to look into acupuncture as I was told yesterday it can help with chemo side affects like nausea.

Yes let's definitely keep in touch.  It's nice to chat to someone at a similar stage etc.  Are you having or have you had a mastectomy?  I'm having chemo first and have been told I'll have the mastectomy and reconstruction in about 5 months time.

Wishing you a lovely weekend. 

I'm currently watching Christmas films and plan to do the annual Christmas cheese run to the local farm shop tomorrow for our Christmas Eve cheese board.  Doing as much as I can before it all starts and appreciating the normality. 

xx

Yes, as you say I think we’re both approaching this situation in a similar way. As you say, we have no actual control of much of what is going on, which is REALLY hard for a control freak like mysel So I’m choosing positivity, happiness and getting on with general life all the time I can and feel like I can with a smile on my soon to be bald face …

I had my mastectomy first. I had a single side with immediate reconstruction. From the surgery it enabled them to have a clearer picture for my treatment. I’m having 8 rounds over 16 weeks of chemo (I don’t actually know the names of the drugs off the top of my head as for me it’s an unnecessary piece of information. It means nothing to me, I have to have it, as long as my chemo nurses know that’s fine by me!) I then have to have 3 weeks radiotherapy (this is because I had 19 lymph’s removed and four of them were cancerous, also placement of some cancerous cells that were removed at the top of my breast, I have to have targeted treatment).

Just be be really boring and dull - I was told to eat like I was pregnant again. So no blue cheese, prawns etc just because of risk of illness. I was gutted removing my cheese and prawns from my Christmas shopping, and if I can’t have it obviously no one else can…

Take care, smile and enjoy your weekend x

  JelloH   hehe yes that's exactly my mentality too 

How has your recovery been after your mastectomy and reconstruction?

Yeah I'm the same.  I don't need to know the names of stuff and trust the exoertls to just get on with it.  

Ah you had a fair few lymph nodes removed?   I just have one that has thickening so I'm guessing they'll just take the one out   

And not boring at all!  I'm glad you mentioned it.   I'll make sure to stuff myself full of cheese and prawns before starting the chemo.  But that completely makes sense.    You'll have to celebrate with a praw platter and cheese board galore as soon as you can!  

xx

My recovery in itself was fine. I healed really well and fairly quickly. I had two drains which I had a few problems with - mainly me over thinking! My surgeon wasn’t nearly as worried as I was and nor was my breast care nurse! But it’s hard to start with, it’s all new, nothing you’ve ever dealt with before and if you’re like me, you want to do everything right! So I ended up worrying about things I didn’t have too! I think that’s why I decided just to chill out about the whole chemo thing and just roll with it. 

With regards to my lymph’s, they always planned on taking a fair few, but once he was in there took more to be on the safe side (which turned out to be exactly the right thing). The big thing is the exercises after surgery, I was so scared of doing them for fear of bursting something! But I put my big girl pants on and did them and I survived! Just go for it. Also, I made sure I got out and walked every day, even if it was just walking my daughter to the bus stop (I didn’t venture into the shops for fear of my drains being knocked!) but just being out in the air does wonders for your head.

I live near the sea so as soon as the summer arrives I shall be stuffing myself silly with fresh fish! 

I’m happy to help with my very limited but personal experiences with the mastectomy/reconstruction if you have any random thoughts…..

It’s an absolute minefield of information as you go but you end up learning very quickly on the job! xxx