New and about to start chemo

Hi, I am very interested in this to. I am the same recently had surgery and due to start the same same Chemo in a few weeks. Any tips would be so helpful 

Hi  and Sally321 can I just welcome you both to the forum . 
Great idea to get prepared . I am going to tag in  and Salis who are a little further down the road and Gemmary  to see if any of them are free to share .

My mum had the same treatment but quite a long time ago now . Given the recent temp my tip would also include a very large scarf for around your mouth when you are leaving the building and I always made sure my mum’s drinks were tepid .

Glad you both joined us and hopefully others will join in .

All the very best with your treatment .

Court 

Hi  and Sally321, welcome. I'm afraid I had 5FU rather than your drugs, a low dose over a long time, so cannot directly relate. Gloves are a good idea though, as protection as well as warmth.  The bowels themselves will probably be erratic for some while after the operation but will settle down with time. Really hope all goes well with your treatment. (((Hugs)))

Hi and a warm welcome to the board from me. I’ve atfached a link to a post below that I did a couple of months ago which I hope will help. Yes the cold will have an effect at the moment so make sure you have a scarf to cover your mouth or you’ll find that your lips will twitch. I bought a cheap pair of gloves with little knobbly bits on the palm for grip which were good for driving and picking up anything cold.

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer-forum/f/diagnosis/207876/stage-3-bowel-cancer-about-to-start-chemo---worries

Chemo is not very nice but there are pills and potions for all the side effects and the nurses keep a close eye on you. If you are struggling then please tell the nurses as just tweaking the doseage can make a difference.

Hope it goes well for you

Take care

Karen x

Thanks so much Karen 

Thank you Gemmary, hope you are keeping well after your treatment. X

Hi there,

I started the same chemo last week for the first time. Despite now realising I've been taking the wrong dosage of capacetabine (so unobservant in everything ) it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

The cold/neuropathy is real but mine actually tapered off after 4 days and it's not unbearable or anything, you just have to be mindful. The cold exacerbates the pains and needles but I found if I put gloves on for a couple of minutes then it went away. Also had some pain in the cannula site but no sickness or diarrhoea. 

Also, have been keeping busy and napping for 30 mins if necessary, which I've found helps. 

I'm very inpatient and feel like a foreign invasion is happening in my body but it is what we have to live alongside for a much better outcome. 

Good luck!

That's reassuring to know it's not as bad as might think. Thanks for posting x

Honestly, I acted like a bit of an idiot when I arrived for the first I.V, proper fight or flight reaction, 'this isn't happening to me' etc, etc. It was really nowhere near what I had imagined. It's sort of surreal really because there's lots of language about 'treatments' and you get your hands soaked to bring the veins up so it's like a really, really weird spa!! 

Take something to do whilst your sat there as can be a bit dull. Also towards the end you'll get the cold reaction so if you go to the toilet open the door with your elbow, not your hand!!

Let us know how you get on

Thank you