Any advice appreciated

Hey 

Firstly good luck starting the treatment, I found this site super helpful when I was starting out. 

From reading on here,  everyone responds to the treatment a bit differently.  But this is what I found. 

I also only live about 20 mins from the cancer centre and I drove myself to all my appointments. I did use a pillow to sit on nearer the end when my skin was sore. Use the creams they give you liberally , think I used about 3 tubes!! 

Towards the end of treatment and the few weeks after I was tired, so rest up when you can . I could still walk my dog and do grocery shops but rested when I needed to. 

I went back to work 6 weeks after the end of my treatment.  But like I said everyone is different,  be kind to yourself,  rest when you need and always ask your team for advice

Good luck x. 

Thank you so much for your response and your best wishes. Very much appreciated x

Hi Grapes61 Welcome to the club although I'm sorry you have found yourself here. I had no problems with driving and drove myself everyday it was about a 2 hour round trip. As for shopping etc I was capable of doing it but if someone offered I didn't say no. Good luck with your treatment. Sending hugs. Xx

Thank you so much. The advice of people who have gone through this is so very helpful xx 

did you have to stop driving at any point or did you continue the whole time?

Hi Grapes61 I had one day I didn't drive but that was because my car had to go for an MOT and a friend took me, other than that I drove the while time. Xx

Hi Grapes61 , another warm welcome from me to the MacMillan Online Community but I’m so sorry you’ve had the need to find us.

You've already had some great informative replies so I’ll just share my experience.

The hospital that I was treated at has a charity that runs transport for anyone having treatment for cancer or patients attending the renal unit there. I took advantage of the transport that was on offer but in hindsight much like LM84  & Bungle1 I could have easily driven myself throughout. The 11 days following that last treatment were the worst for me but once I started healing I was back walking my dog & doing jobs around the house, I just made sure I rested when I needed to & every couple of days I needed a day doing absolutely nothing. I did my own grocery shopping each week throughout my treatment. I went back to work on a phased return 5-6 weeks post treatment. 

The best advice I could give is take it all at your own pace, we’re all different & although there are common threads regarding side effects we all react slightly differently so try not to think too far ahead, let your treating team know about any side effects as they arise they’ll have plenty of lotions & potions they can prescribe. 

Wishing you the very best of luck for the start of your treatment. Please just ask if there’s anything at all that you think we may be able to help with. 

Nicola 

Thank you Nicola.. I am overwhelmed with everybody’s kindness and sharing ️ helps so much during this scary stage 

We’re always here to help support you however we can.

Nicola 

One more question if I may? I was told that diarrhoea is one of the biggest side affects of the chemo and radiation and wondered if you had any tips on how to manage this .. really worried about being caught short when attending appointments

Hi Grapes61

They will give you medication for diarrhoea to take if required but although I didn’t have any accidents I always felt that the travelling was a risk so I was up around 4.30am to give me plenty of time to go to the loo before setting off, but I had early morning appointments, you may get mixed times so could be more difficult to plan. I also wore a pad just in case and took a bag with essentials in such as a spare pare of underwear and spare pads.

On the recovery as others have said the main thing is everyone reacts differently so I think it’s good to plan for the worst and hope for the best, I was able to do everything I would normally do the week following treatment.

Good luck with your treatment when it starts

Monty xx