Newbie Preparing for chemo/potential infertility

Hi questions are good at this stage of the journey will have loads of questions to ask.  I like you and diagnosed with TNBC grade 3 stage three. Foods to eat during chemo is a difficult one as in my experience there will be lots of food you can’t face eating. The only thing that works for me was to eat little and often and avoid high fibre foods as that played havoc with my digestion. With regard to cold I like you felt my hair was my defining feature. However since having the cold cap has no guarantee to save your hair I decided not to bother.  It also adds time to your treatment and since I didn’t wanna be there any longer than necessary I decided not to. Make sure you get a wig Referral as one can be Provided on the NHS.    
I can’t answer about fertility treatment as it was not an issue for me.  This site is very helpful though xxx

Hi Hazeleyes

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with TNBC. There is absolutely no need to say sorry for asking questions as it's always a shock when you are diagnosed with cancer.  While it's different for everybody my cousin had treatment for cancer over 20 years ago and has had two children since.

When I was diagnosed with triple negative last year I lost my hair after my second cycle.  At first I was upset but I soon got over it and by the end of my treatment I didn't care about.  I wore turbans whenever I went out and about as my treatment was happening this time last year.  As well as having chemo I had surgery and radiotherapy and I am now cancer free.  While I won't say chemo is easy it is doable.  Your medical team will do everything in their power to make sure you beat this and they will only be a phone call away if you have any problems during treatment.  You will get medication to help with any side effects you may have.

As to what to eat, just eat as you normally do.  The only thing I changed about my diet was I stopped drinking while I was having treatment.

Your oncologist will go through the possible side effects with you and will tell you what chemo drugs they'll be giving you and how many cycles of chemo you have to have.  Ask your oncologist about any possible trials you can go on, they won't put you at risk by putting you on a treatment if the risks outweigh the benefit to you.  You could also ask your oncologist what they'd advice you to eat during treatment.  One thing you should do is drink plenty of fluids during treatment as that helps with any possible side effects.  If you want to know ask your oncologist about your chances of beating this disease. 

Wishing you the best of luck with your treatment and if you have more questions don't hesitate to ask either I or any of the other lovely ladies on this forum will be only too happy to answer them.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Hi Hazel eyes, sorry that you find yourself here, but hopefully you'll get a lot of support.  I blogged all the way through treatment, so you can check out “One Life Live It” on the blog page, but this one about chemo might help.  Good luck x

Chemo hints and tips

Hi Hazel eyes,

Re. fertility - it's so tough isn't it. Something to be aware of is that chemo may (no guarantees, as with everything chemo) put you into temporary menopause anyway. This happened for me and I did have menopausal symptoms for the duration. They were annoying but in the mixture of other chemo side effects they weren't a big deal. I didn't have prostap or anything else. If you'd like to protect your ovaries the prostap or zoladex might be a good option for you. Do discuss it with your oncologist or nurses so that you go in with open eyes.

Shine Cancer Support has lots of resources around fertility:

https://shinecancersupport.org/information/fertility/

Hope there's something there that speaks to you.

Hi, I have my second chemo tomorrow and i will be cold capping it as I did with the 1st session.  The first 10 minutes of cold cap is the worst.  My chemo nurse said that if I couldn't tolerate it then they would just take it off.  It does put extra time onto treatment on the day.  I am not sure when I will see if it works, possibly after tomorrow's session, but not lost any hair as of yet but might be too early to say x

Hi Mel , I really hope the cold cap works .  I didn’t try it as couldn’t bear being in the hospital any longer than I needed to . I didn’t lose all my hair until the end of the first cycle . Others who have cold capped have reported loss in the 2nd cycle .  I think everybodies responses are different.  I have everything crossed , that it works well for you . Xxx

Hi .mel28  I've just finished 8 cycles of chemo using the cold cap and the results have been pretty good. My hair has got thinner, and gone a blonde colour, but there are no bald patches and it is as straight as it was before chemo. I have only just started to wear a hat outdoors due to the cold weather. I had thick hair to begin with so that might have helped, and the cold cap can work better for some people than others, plus the type of chemo can make a difference too. The nurses on the chemo unit kept commenting on how much hair I had left. Having said that, I started to shed a lot of hair from the second session onwards (AC chemo) but this really slowed down during my last 4 cycles (docetaxel). The amount of extra time that the cold cap needed to be kept on for also reduced considerably when I changed to docetaxel. The advice I was given from the start was that even if you start losing hair when using the cold cap keep with it (if you can tolerate it) as it will still reduce the amount of hair you would lose normally with chemo. It is apparently considered a success if you keep up to 50% of your hair and I'm so glad that I stuck with it after my hair started to shed badly after cycle 2 as it's turned out so well. Good luck with your treatment and hope the cold cap works well for you x

That’s amazing LalaLou , what a surprise the change in colour must have been . So pleased it worked for you ,  I was told that my weekly treatment would be about 3 hours and would need to add nearly 2 for the cold cap . So put me off . However if there is a way to keep hair do it.  Nothing prepares me for the trauma of actually losing it and the pain that went with it .  I miss washing and brushing hair that showers are no longer a refreshing experience but a bit of a trauma really .   I should have been braver - hating my local hospital didn’t help as didn’t want to be there a second longer ,  my impression of the hospital has improved but had an awful first experience which made my decision for me . Xxxx

Hi Harleybear, I can understand why you didn't want to spend any extra time in the hospital, an awful experience would have put me off too so don't beat yourself up for not being 'braver'. You made the right decision for you. For the first 4 cycles of AC the cold cap added an extra 2 hrs or so to the treatment time of about 3.5hrs, similar to you. However when I changed to docetaxel the treatment time reduced and the cold cap only needed to be on for half an hour before and after treatment but this also corresponded with a flush so didn't really extend the treatment time by too much. I had my last chemo/cold cap session today and was out in just over 2.5hrs. The change of colour to blond was a surprise but it has helped to make the grey roots look less noticeable so I can't complain! 

Hi, my wife 39 was diagnosed with tnbc grade 2 in April. She finished chemo 8 weeks ago and had surgery a few weeks ago. Had her first radiotherapy today (9 more to go). We were trying for a baby prior to all this. (We are lucky to have a 7 year old daughter). So we did ask all the questions regarding fertility. We didn't freeze eggs etc because my wife wanted to start treatment asap. She instead had zoladex injections. We know there is no guarantee regarding fertility, but was best option for us. We had been struggling to conceive prior. My wife also cold capped. She managed to keep say 70% of her hair. Thinned out the most on top, but she wore head bands to cover. She also had a wig which she loved! Yes, cold capping add abit of time, but my wife thought she might as well as she had nothing else planned on chemo days so might as well be looked after by the nurses as much as possible. She said the first 10 minutes was hardest, but taking paracetamol an hour before cold cap stopped headaches. My wife will be taking oral chemo as another added treatment after radiotherapy as she had a tiny 1.5mm bit of residual cancer left after surgery. I wish you well with your treatment. Never be afraid to ask questions....