Diagnosed last week

Hi Kat132

Welcome to the forum and I am sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and that your Mum recently passed away. What you are feeling is perfectly natural.

Make sure that you drink plenty of fluids during and after each chemo session.  If you feel the need to take the anti-sickness meds to help prevent nausea and if they don't work don't hesitate to contact your chemo ward and they will give you a prescription for an alternative.  Make sure to bring plenty of things to keep yourself occupied while getting your chemo as you can be sitting around for about  2 to 3 hours depending on what chemo regime you'll be on.

Wishing you the best of luck with your chemo when it starts and hopefully you won't have too many side effects.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Hi Kat132

Sorry to hear of your situation, I am a little further on with my journey but can remember the awful waiting and wondering period 

Pack some lip balm, phone and earphones, a good book or kindle, crossword, snacks and a drink.  Short sleeves for ease for blood pressure monitoring etc, plus I learned to wear a skirt or dress as I had to have an injection in the thigh.  Getting trousers down whilst you have a cannula in the back of your hand is tricky and painful lol.  Plus I was there several hours and needed the loo!

Try and find out from your oncologist exactly what chemo drugs you will be receiving and use the A-Z of drugs guide on here to learn about what to expect.

Depending which drugs you will be receiving, the team will ask if you want to cold cap to try and save your hair, I didn't bother but others on the forum have and I am sure will be happy to answer any questions, there is an excellent Look Good Feel Better virtual workshop that you can register for regarding scalp and hair care.

I had a whole regime of steroids, anti sickness meds, anti constipation meds, anti diarrhea meds etc presented to me for the days before and after the actual transfusion every 3 weeks.  I also needed Gaviscon for gastric issues.

Everyone has a tailor made plan so you may have much less complexity in your treatments so take a notepad, pen and open mind.  The nurses are lovely and like you to ask questions and be fully aware of what is going into your body.

I did not drive myself, I found I was too tired after the session to feel confident in driving but I know some people do drive iif they have to.

I hope this helps a little, reach out if you have questions or need a rant, anytime!

BexF

Thanks a lot for all your advice there, it's very helpful. Unfortunately I don't drive and I think public transport may not be advisable. I'm going to ask the hospital about patient transport or may be able to organise my husbands day off to be my chemo days. 

So whilst on chemo do you just live your life normally on the days you feel OK? Going out wise? I know I need to try and minimise chances of infection etc. What about exercise? Are you still able to go swimming?

Thanks so much! It is a lot to coordinate but I'm sure I'll get there. ️

Best advice I ever got was do things that give you joy. Your immune system will be weaker so you just have to be mindful but I went into work when I felt well enough to and worked from home when I didn’t or binge watched on Netflix under a fleece on the sofa. If you’re feeling ok and up to it go for a walk or do what you can.  If it gives you joy and you can do it then do it. Don’t let this illness rob you of anything more than it has already x

Hiya, I was able to go out for a short car ride, maybe go in a couple of shops, maybe have lunch out for a few days within each 3 week cycle.  The chemo made me very weak and I couldn't walk or stand for very long.  Carried a fold up stool with me!  Your immune system is compromised so you need to be careful about what environment you are in, stay away from germ-infested venues and back to the hand sanitizer everywhere!  I was advised not to paddle or swim outdoors in case of cuts and infection (I live near the beach!).  I wouldn't have liked to go to the municipal pool due to coldness and cleanliness issues.  However once the chemo ended, the radiotherapy finished and I was approved by both the radiologist and oncologist to go swimming found a local caravan park with pool and spa which is lovely and warm, quiet so we often have the place to ourselves.  Swimming helps a lot both physically (the support of the water helps with the gravity pulling in my op site) and my mental health.  The pool also has proper steps down as I would not be able to to cope with ladder type steps, I was too weak at first and it would hurt my op site on boob and underarm.

So I would discuss it with the oncologist to see what the recommendation is, again a lot of these decisions will be driven by how you feel.  I use a system.  Some days are green, good to go!  Some days are amber, have a quieter day within limitations and sadly some days are red where getting out of bed seems impossible.  Usually have mostly green days now, however any day is a good day to be alive and kicking!

BexF