**OCTOBER CHEMOTHERAPY CHAT 2019**

Hi  

Take a breath ! Think about how far you have come since those horrible days waiting and waiting for results and plan . You're ready now for next step .

Believe us when we say it is not as bad as your imagination is telling you .

Yes you have been told and read all about the SEffects but that is worse case scenario . We are all different so each of us can differ greatly on how our body reacts .

Look at it this way each Side Effect is Cancer getting its Ar## kicked  by chemo doing its job !! 

You have already proved to yourself you are stronger than you thought you were . So now on with the next step to recovery .

Try to get out today for some distraction today 

Margaret x

Re sickness drugs

I take Odansetron (which is the one I think gives me some constipation the week following chemo - nothing too bad and managed with dulcoease) and also domperidone (just like the champagne...right) which may the reason why I've had no nausea or sickness?? I take for 3 days following chemo and could, if needed take the dom if felt sick throughout cycle.

Sam X

Northerner and

Well said Margaret And all best wishes. Just love your photographs. Thought the tree one was wonderful. So if even if you feel you can’t run you will be able to go outside and take amazing autumn and winter photos. You will be relieved to get beating this and first step on getting your life back. Met a girl yesterday who had her treatment at Aberdeen in last 18 months and was happy with care and is now well as if it hadn’t happened. So stay positive.

Jojodot X

cheers for the advice, I will try the ginger when I can get to buy some.  In the meantime, I did manage to get some crystallised ginger from Holland and Barrett on my way to the Oncology unit last week Thursday, so will try that for now, but thanks again for the recipe, it will be worth trying.  As for the injections, I can but ask my GP reception.  Didn't get anywhere with transport to the hospital through them, but we have another line of enquiry to do tomorrow by phone.  I'm hoping the next stronger anti sickness tablets work this time round.  I don't drink, but once I tried a Malibu and baileys cocktail, just a few sips in Greece years ago, and the following day felt ill all day.  It felt exactly the same after the first cycle of chemo, must be the small amount of alcohol in the chemo which did that, nasty.  I just don't react well to "foreign" drugs/pills.  I like everything as natural as I can.

I know what you're going through, because I was exactly the same when I went down for my first cycle three weeks ago, burst into tears as soon as I got in there and sat down, ready for the injections!  So try not to worry too much, it IS all in our heads and we conjure up bad images that don't actually materialise.  It was a straightforward procedure and you may not get any side effects if the tablets they give you work for you.  Positive thoughts and to get out and about is the best remedy for calming the nerves.  I try to go out every day for a walk and meet local people whilst I'm out who chat, relieving some of the tension we hold inside.  It's also good to walk under or amongst trees as they seem to hold healing powers we just can't put our finger on, but feel better after walking amongst them and they are pretty at this time of the year.  Good luck, I'll be thinking of you when I go down this week Tueday for my second round with Mike Tyson!!!

Hi Guys I hope everyone is doing well. I have had a bit of a break again from posting - found out that my cancer was bigger than originally thought this week (some shading on the contrast that was surrounding the cancer was apparently cancer too. So my surgeon has decided I need a mastectomy - that’s being planned in for the week before christmas. A lot to take in huh? 

I have a side effect question - I’m on weekly taxol - so far so good, but I always have dry eyes anyway - but this last few days Ive become sensitive to sunlight. You know when you shut your eyes and you can still see the shape? Has anyone else had this at all. 

Thanks Eileen xxx

Hi Eileen  

EC has given me dry/ light sensitive eyes since first one . I use dry eye drops which I got first from boots then on prescription, they do stop that full of grit feeling ... Also your  chemo unit might have some .

I wear Sunglasses to help with the light sensitivity very glam with Baldy head or hat /wig lol

Sorry you've had bad news about surrounding area I was Lucky that my extra was queried and I asked for second biop on the area .Although not yet cancer it was changing so added in made 51 mm ..40 mm being target for my surgeon to do masectomy. So decision made .

To look on the good side so much better to have found out now rather than too far down the line .At least it be out of the way and you can be waited on at Christmas .

take care 

margaret x

I can only echo what everyone else has said that it will probably be better than you imaging, and you should see it as a step closer to being rid of the cancer and moving forward. I recently had my first Paclitaxel and was more worried about that again. Everyone is different, and on the actual day the thing whisk made me feel sick was the IV Piriton, something nearly everyone else likes the effect of!

Do you have someone going with you? It's nice if possible, though now I either come home myself, or with starting the T asked my other half to come towards the end and drive me home. Make sure that you have access to water, have something to take away the horrible taste you'll get in your mouth when you have it - I have mint chewing gum or a couple of fruit pastilles, but some like ginger too. They are used to people feeling scared during their first one, and the chemo we get is some of the worst for side effects, which they also know. I feel jealous when I see others popping in for an hour to have their chemo and a chat, and have all their hair!!

Let us know how it goes. We'll be thinking of you. x

Hi ,

It’s perfectly normal to feel scared before the first chemo treatment - I think that all of us on this thread felt exactly the same before our first one too, but when it came to the actual day of the first treatment, the experience was far less scary than expected.  If you look back at the August and September threads when many of us started, you’ll see how people tended to feel relieved after the first treatment, and also glad that something positive was now being done.  The endless period of waiting for tests and results is now over, and you can focus on each chemo cycle as a positive step to help you on the road to getting better.  Yes, the drugs can have side effects, and most of us have experienced a few of them, but many of us have also found that they are manageable and do not prevent us from still being able to do many things as normal.   If you do find you are having difficulties with side effects, it is important to let your chemo unit know immediately, as they will have met a similar situation before and will be able to provide advice and additional meds to help you get through.  

We will be thinking of you tomorrow, and wishing you all the best.  As you may have seen from some of the posts further up the thread, quite a few of us will also have a treatment this week (I have No. 5 of 6 on Wednesday), so remember that you are not alone - we are all going through this together, and we will help each other through. Take care, and let us know how you get on when you can.

Blackcat xx

Hi 

Sorry to hear the your operation has had to be replanned and will now be a mastectomy.  It is a lot to take in, but it’s good that your surgeon is revising the plan now (rather than at the time of the operation) so you have time to adjust.  My surgeon recommended a mastectomy right from the start (due to the shape of the lump and where it is), so I have been mentally preparing myself for this for a while.  I don’t have a date yet for my surgery as I will only see the consultant surgeon on 28 November, but I have provisionally been told it is likely to be four weeks after the final chemo, which will probably take me to the week before Christmas too!  So we may well be in hospital at the same time!

As for the light sensitivity, I haven’t had this specifically with the taxane, but I do get it in very hot/bright weather as I wear gas permeable contact lenses which can make my eyes dry and sensitive.  I asked my chemo team about this at the start, as it was a side effect I was a bit worried about, and they said that there are drops they could prescribe if necessary, so doubtless your chemo team will have a solution.

I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend, and that your eyes feel less sensitive soon.

Blackcat xx