august starters 2023

reading may people, oohhmmmmmm

Hi, 

I started mine in July was my 1st cycle, I have my 2nd cycle on Wednesday, I found it OK on the day the staff and volunteers were amazing, my chemo was longer as I had the cold cap, after Wednesday I have 4 more cycles then surgery and then radiotherapy, I had 5 or so days of nausea and tiredness a couple of days where I was dizzy not sure if that was to do with one of the anti sickness tablets as it was on the days I took this but could be a number of reasons and a couple of days where gum and teeth hurt then I had a normal week and half.

thank you for replying, i have been reading the forum and see a few started in July like you. cold capping is not on the cards for me, but have wig and hats at ready.

so i am one cycle behind,as my first is weds. hope your second goes ok 

Hi Djct,

I'm from the January chemo group (although I started my chemo in December). I was scared when I first started as I didn't know what to expect or what side effects I might have. The nurses were amazing and will go through every step of the way with you. They won't just leave you when the infusion starts, they will stay with you to make sure everything is ok. If you have any question just ask them, no matter how silly you might think they are. They will give you an emergency number too which you can ring at anytime to get advice if you don't feel quite right. I rang it 3 times not long after my first cycle as I wasn't sure if what I was feeling was normal or something that I needed to go to the hospital. You are given plenty of anti sickness drugs to take too. Take them as prescribed, don't wait until you feel sick. If you are doing the cold cap, it does make your session a little longer. I did the cold cap. Whilst I lost about 80% of my hair (I had EC first which is harsh on the hair but not everyone losses it) the regrowth started whilst I was on Docetaxel and still using the cold cap. From  what I understand it helps to protect the hair follicles and helps with the regrowth. If you don't use it on your first cycle you won't be able to use it after. Its worth giving it a go, if you don't like it you can always stop it. Having paracetamol a little bit before using it helps. Once you are over the first 10mins you don't really notice it. Whilst chemo can be hard its doable and I was surprised it certainly wasn't as bad as the scare stories I have read. It affects everyone differently and some have more side effects than others  If you click on my name you can read my journey. 

Wishing you all the best for Wednesday.

Hugs from cuffcake x x x x x

thank you cuffcake hugs, no cold caps available for me. so hopefully short appts.

Hope your 1st goes OK, I have started to have some shedding of hair the past 3 days, so will see how that goes. Haven't decided yet what I will do wig or some kind of head covering.

Hi Djct

Good luck with your first chemo session. 

thank you, there are kittens alll over the floor right now, and not the cite cuddly ones

Make sure you mention all this to your nurses. They will probably go through a load of questions before you start next infusion. Were you advised to have a dental check b4 you started chemo? I was and ended up with two extractions.  Was told it was important to be dentally fit pre chemo as if any problems pop up during chemo could be an issue 

Hiya. Remember everyone is different and chemotherapy is very personalised to the individual. And side effects can also depend alon a number of factors. Completely natural to be scared but you aren't alone. You have your chemo team your red card team and all of us who have been through it. No question is silly and on here there is probably someone who has asked similar or had a similar side effect. 

One piece of advice I was given by one of the nursing sisters stuck in my head. If you feel so rough that you can't even get out of bed that's not right and you should call your red card team. That happened to me once so I called red card team and ended up in hospital as my white  blood cell count was dangerously low.