Hi - I took tea bags (I drink green tea!) and a seed bar at my first one but EC made me feel a bit whoozy so I took some rice cakes after that as they were nice and plain. They will give you tea/water etc and if you're there around lunchtime you will get soup etc.
What chemo are you getting?
I took my phone, my kindle, my cancer book that I was given and a pen and a notepad. I also dressed in layers as I wasn't sure how hot or cold I'd be. It was Winter so I had a big scarf that I could use. The chemo is chilled so you can get a bit cold. I was given zoladex to shut down my ovaries from cycle 2, so I then had the problem of being cold one minute and hot flushes the next!
I actually found that I talked to the nurses quite a lot. I had EC-T and with the EC, they sit with you and put it into your cannula manually so I ended up chatting away to them. For the T (doxetaxel), it was a drip so I read my kindle more and texted friends and family.
I was there for about 2-3 hours for the EC and 3-5 hours for the docetaxel, and it only went to 5 hours because they mucked up my prescription and I had to wait for it.
The first one is quite daunting. My advice would be to take it really easy for a few days. I found that after the first 4 days, I felt a bit better and could start going out for walks etc again. For me, it was worth letting my body recover at first so that I could do more later and I was able to keep working throughout (from home).
Hi, thanks for that, think it’s ec docetaxel later, was just going to take a few snacks with me and just see for the next time I go, it’s all very daunting but just take it day by day, hope everything is ok with you? Xx
Hi Lizamarie, everything is great with me. I finished radiotherapy 6 weeks ago and really enjoying life again. I had my last oncologist appointment last week and it feels great to be out of the acute phase of treatment. I also had my first zoledronic acid infusion, which was fine with no noticeable side effects. My breast can still be a bit painful (surgery was 4 months ago) but this is normal so I don't really think about it (and it's not that sore, just twinges and a bit of swelling still).
