Hello

Hi Heather09 ,

Firstly welcome to the MacMillan Online Community although I’m really sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis. 

It’s great that you’re getting prepared prior to starting treatment. I can’t help with any advice on hand cream, I suppose it will depend on your chemo regime as to side effects, I had an infusion through my wrist on day 1 of treatment then oral chemo each day of treatment thereafter, I had a few mouth ulcers resulting from the infusion but after that I had little to no side effects from the oral chemo for the remainder of my treatment, my hair went a little thinner (not that anyone else noticed) & it was a bit frazzled until I’d had a couple of good trims after treatment. 

Regarding lotions & potions, I used whatever my radiotherapy team & oncologist suggested, I was given a basic aqueous type cream to use from day 1 (QV cream) then once my skin began reacting to the radiotherapy I was prescribed flaminal cream then Flamazine for after treatment had finished although each team seem to offer slightly different creams etc. I used water wipes to clean myself after using the loo as at points later on in my treatment even the softest loo roll felt too abrasive, these can be found with the baby wipes in the supermarket. I used Epsom salts in my baths also although advice on using these seems to vary from treating team to treating team. 

One other thing I did to prepare was following some advice from the lovely people here who guided me through my diagnosis & treatment, I batched cooked some meals & popped them in the freezer for days when I didn’t feel like doing much, fatigue was quite a prevalent side effect for me in the second half of my treatment. I’m sure I’ll think of more as soon as I sign off from this post although I’m sure there’ll be other members along soon to offer more advice. 

Please just ask if you’ve anything else you may think we can help with or pop along if you just need a chat with a group of people that completely understand what you’re going through right now, we’re here to support you however we can. 

Nicola 

Thanks Nikki That’s so helpful. I guess it’s the not knowing which side effects you may get that’s the most unsettling. I appreciate your support x 

Hi Heather09

Welcome to the club no one wants to join. With regards to anything you do or use in the treatment area I would run it past your medical team first. Like Nikki65 said different places seem to advise differently, I happened to mention I was using epsom salts and was told to stop immediately. I used E45 initially and then I was given various creams by the hospital to use. Water wipes are handy as once you get into treatment you won't want regular toilet roll anywhere near. Re your question about handcream I just carried on using whatever I normally used. Good luck for the 18th. Sending hugs. Xx

Hi again Heather09 , I felt exactly the same going into treatment, you read the worst case scenario & that’s what sticks in your mind. What I will say is the side effects particularly from the radiotherapy build slowly & they’ll be managed as they arise. Although there are some common threads through side effects everyone reacts a little differently & the best advice I can give is try not to pre-empt anything & just take a day at a time.

Nicola 

Thanks Bungle1 (great pseudoname!!)

Thanks Nikki65 - good advice! I’ll focus on just taking it as it comes x 

Hello Heather09

A warm welcome here, and I am pleased to hear you have already some of the essentials although my hands weren't affected at all, fortunately.  I would add get a calendar and a highlighter pen and mark off those days during treatment - it really helps to know that the end of treatment is in sight and there are no more hospital trips.

And we are always here to help support along the way should you need it.

Irene xx