Any ideas? Getting ready for Chemotherapy

Hi Stella2023. Chemo can be a long day in the chair so stock up on snacks and drinks to take. Something to keep them occupied such as tablet, book etc. Loose clothing to keep comfortable. Maybe slippers to take shoes off. Earplugs help to relax as there is a lot of noise going on. Make sure they take anti sickness tablets as prescribed. They are designed to help prevent nausea rather than stopping it if it happens. Chemo can cause mouth ulcers, so a good quality mouthwash  used regularly helps prevent this. Chemo can cause dehydration, so a bottle or glass of water at hand all times and encourage him to drink regularly. Water can be hard to take, so some people recommend a drop of lemon barley water to help get it down. Chemo can affect diet, so rather than big meals, small portions little and often. It also affects taste. I found hot and spicy foods helped, but that was my preference. I still love a Vindaloo. Some recommend sucking pineapple cubes help with taste. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Hi Stella2023 there's so much to learn isn't there?! My partner found chemotherapy fairly straightforward but admitted it was a drag. Most hospitals let someone sit with you - but that doesn't suit  everyone (I usually just waited till the cannula was in - once the drip was up and running he thought I should go off and do something more interesting! - but it helped me to get a sense of what was happening and say thanks to the nurses).

Everything rily says I'd agree with. In our hospital the wifi's useless so my partner downloaded podcasts.  He found it all fairly ok at first - he didn't get nausea, probably thanks to the anti-sickness tablets. He was given steroids which helped on the first couple of days each cycle. He got increasingly tired - fatigue was the worst problem for him. And he got tingling in his toes, which doesn't hurt but will probably never go away completely.  

Once the chemo starts. at least you have something of a pattern to work around. My partner's not a diary-keeper but I jotted down how he was each day, which helped us notice the pattern of better and not-so-good days each cycle.  Very good luck with it all, to you and to him.

My OH has had a lot of chemo for his PCa and it wasn’t too bad, you get into the swing of it and plan your life around the good and bad weeks. It was the little things that were a bit miserable - sore mouth in particular so encourage him to use the mouthwash from the start before it gets too bad (mine was prescribed difflam), also cracked heels (regular creaming with diprobase, it was so effective I now use it!), and take the anti-sickness drugs, don’t try to be macho! Try different drinks to find one that is palatable. More positively plan some treats and fun activities for the good weeks, exercise helped. Hope it all goes smoothly for you both

In Oxford they gave us a card with the number of the cancer ward triage service on and a list of symptoms that meant we should be ringing them up. Janice had a couple of occasions when she got a bit of a fever and so had to go to hospital for IV antibiotics. Our hospital also gives out free car parking passes for patients on chemotherapy. 

Janice's chemotherapy was quicker than some, mostly she was only in the ward for about 3 hours quite a lot of which was testing, waiting for results etc as when she was being given the drug that only took about 45 minutes.

<<hugs>>

Steve