PRE OP ECX - Side Effects and things that helped- a contribution thread

While most people starting their oc journey now are on FLOT you are on ecx, which has been around for years. Anecdotal evidence is that FLOT side effects are worse but a recent paper says they should be about the same, in frequency.

I had three cycles of ECX in 2013 prior to surgery in 2014. I was expecting it to be bad, but if I hadn’t been retired I would have been able  to work throughout. The recent advice is to take exercise during chemotherapy as it lessens the side effects, and anyway you want to improve your fitness prior to surgery anyway.

I experienced pretty constant nausea while I was on chemo; the antiemetics didn't seem to help. This didn’t help my appetite so my weight went down. One thing I was pleased about was that my hearing was not affected. Cisplatin can knock ones hearing, so I was on Carboplatin, which I think is the one they use in Oxford.

Something that a lot of people comment on is that their tastes change. This is something that obviously is very personal, but can be surprising!

My hair turned from dead straight thick salt and pepper to thin curly silver, eventually reverting somewhat as the years have passed. I lost much of my hair during the third cycle.

Breezing through pre-op chemo I expected post op to be the same but it wasn’t. I was hospitalised two days into the first cycle and all chemo was stopped. It affected my heart, which thankfully recovered perfectly within a year or two.

I hope this helps and you do as well as I did.