Pre assessment for chemo

Are you having a PICC or a PORT line? I had a PICC Iin the arm. honestly it's painless and doesn't take long no more 5 to 10 mins, bit of a nuisance having  it small pack of bandages and a sleeve over it...you get used to it, have to wear a plastic sleeve over it when having bath or shower. you'll be fine loads of us have them x I got my headwear from amazo and ciaro headwear I think its called. Good luck take things one day at a time. chemo ward staff are just lovely x

It's Picc going in my arm googled it , it looked awful xx

I had one too and similar experience to Hel39. Actually a gift for chemo - no needles every time, no inflammation/sore veins from chemo going in, can be used for blood tests too. You don't see anything as you just lie there whilst it is done. The only thing I recall is that it was slightly sore on my skin at the point it was inserted for about 3 days afterwards once the local anaesthetic wore off. But I wouldn't have had it any other way as was so important in making my chemo experience more manageable. You can get a prescription for your arm cover from the person who inserts the line for you. You take it to the GP and then they prescribe it. In the meantime you can wrap it in clingfilm and try to avoid getting it wet if you need a shower. I think it took about 10 mins, though I was there for about an hour with all the bits and pieces that went with it - explanation, prescription etc.

Hi, hope your pre assessment today goes well. I ordered some scarves and hats from an online company called Anna Bandana and I also got some from my local hospital who sell them for charity.  Hope this helps 

Thank you , I will have a look and see if they sell any to day at the hospital will all so look on line . Do you have any idea if I will be given my sickness tablets to day ect ready to start my chemo a week today .

I got all my medication on chemo day when I was at the hospital. I got anti-sickness. steroids and immune-boosting injections. I didn't get any heart burn medication. At my 2nd chemo, I also got laxatives as constipation was an issue for me. They can prescribe a lot once they know what your side effects are.

I got some chemo scarves online but I also just got beanies and hats at 'normal' shops online too. For scarves, I got ones that were half hat/half scarf from chemo headwear

Thank you , I just had it in my head I would get them to day I thought maybe you start them before the chemo to stop any sickness I'm sure I will find out to day what is what all new and a lot to take in thank you for your advice .

You take your anti-sickness when you're there as I recall, but that may have been the time of day I was there. I was one of the unlucky ones that ended up vomiting anyway (this is unusual these days) so for subsequent cycles, I got a really strong anti-sickness to take on top of all the others - that one was an hour before chemo so I did get the next cycle's one in advance. 

They really look after you, though the first one is very daunting as you have no idea what to expect or how you'll feel.

I think some units give you antisickness when you get there and you get quite a goodie bag of tablets to take home on chemo day. I think I might have been given my antisickness for chemo day, when I had my picc line put in as I had to take it one hour before. But I think it varies from hospital to hospital. Wishing you all the best for chemo x

It's the unknown  not knowing how it's going to make me feel which I'm sure everyone who has chemo must go though .thank you for all  your advice and support think I will be a pest on here for the next 20 weeks or so .