Treatment starting soon

Evening  I'm glad to hear it went well. Take it easy over the next couple of days. When I was on chemotherapy I felt quite tired and sometimes light headed. Listen to your body and make sure you keep well hydrated. I know what you mean when having treatment they fill you with so much water that you nearly burst haha.  You are now on the journey to getting better.

Hi Nan

Glad your first experience has not been too bad, and that the nurses were lovely.  

I hope that you are keeping a diary, to note any potential side effects or changes, Dal finds that he has a nose bleed a few days after his treatment and always notes it down, we know when it has come earlier than expected and also when it did not happen. 

You may find a diary useful if you do not already write one; but I hope that you have rare reasons to write anything negative in it. 

Take Care. 

Lowe'

Thanks Lowedal. I am keeping a diary and the hospital also gave me one with a traffic light system to be able to know when to ring them for help. Not feeling great today but with the amount of stuff pumped into me it is hardly surprising! 

Good luck, Nan. I started chemo/immunotherapy this past Thursday for my esophogeal cancer. it was a long day but not bad. Sounds like yours is going well and you seem to be feeling quite positive. That’s great as is keeping fit. I’m having to force myself to eat so am going to try some of those high protein/ calorie drinks. I seem to have difficulty with drinking water sometimes which makes it difficult to stay hydrated and avoid constipation. I also have a lot of reflux which means the things I try to swallow seem to pop back up. That makes taking the tablet sometimes difficult. The tingling in the fingers was annoying for the first few days but  seems to have disappeared. I wasn’t really that sensitive to the cold but didn’t try cold drinks or food. Hope your experience and treatment continues to be good. Seems like it’s normal to have good days and not so good days. All apart of the journey. Off to walk my dog and get some fresh air.

PJR when I first started my journey I was the same as you in regards to struggling to drink water/eating. Have a read of my profile where I have shared how I improved my eating. I found as soon as I started treatment the difficulty to drink water/eat got less and less of a problem hopefully you have the same responde. The protien drinks are great and a game changer the fresubin ones are really nice.

Thanks Folks. Needed your support as this has been a tough day. Had a bad night’s sleep with constant coughing and then by lunchtime I felt shivery and had a temperature. Rang the cancer hospital and they told me to come in. Had everything checked- bloods, chest X-ray . They think the chemo and steroids are causing the problems by irritating my stomach so more meds given. Definitely signs of a mild infection so on antibiotics as well. They decided not to keep me in which was a bonus. Does anyone suffer with sweating in the night? That was another reason I couldn’t sleep last night! 

Oh, Nan I am sorry. It’s good they saw you right away and hopefully the antibiotics will kick in quickly and you’ll feel better soon. I do’t have the sweating just have to keep getting up to go to the bathroom. Hope you’re much better tomorrow (and tonight).

Thank you , Vinny. I did look at your profile and it made me rethink the idea of protein drinks. My GP prescribed some for me today and I had my first one . It was really good and so easy to drink. I wonder if the milk doesn’t coat the esaphagus and make it easier to swallow???? Kind of like when you have an ulcer and need to drink milk. I’m looking forward to my next one tonight before the chemo tablets.

Nan, I was thinking of you this morning.  Hope you are starting to feel a little or a lot better.

Thanks PJR. I am feeling better thanks-temperature down . The main thing I am struggling with is the coughing! I had a chest X-ray and all is fine -they think it is just the effects of the chemo and the steroids I am on. It’s hard to sleep and sometimes if I start to try to eat or drink something it goes into overdrive! It’s annoying because I don’t feel as bad as I thought I would on chemo but the cough is wearing me out! How are you getting on?