once a week chemo and the real world..

H Beau

think everyone is different , I had 5 cisplaten, I just kept my distance from people like in the early covid days. The only issue I had with chemo was tiredness the day I received it, the drugs they gave me worked like sleeping tablets and I was in my about 9pm and slept like a baby .

no other issues whatsoever 

Hi I was lucky with my chemo I had day 1 and day 21 the days were long average 10 hours including radiotherapy. I took lots of tech things in and more importantly a long lead to charge stuff and earbuds so I didn’t disturb anyone. Best advise I can give is take  the medication they give you snd if you feel nauseas tell the team as we are all started on the cheapest tablets usually. If you feel your hearing is suffering tell them cisplatin can cause tinnitus 

Hazel x

I was v v sick.   If that happens make sure you ask for more anti sickness.  They did control it in the end.  Best wishes. Lizzie x

Hi like Liz says.  Long days mine bout 8 hours not counting travel. I actually found it relaxing ( no chores ,  kids, sounds bad!). Phone , books , Netflix and chill , nurses excellent can’t fault them 

Hi, I ended up having 2/6 Cisplatin. It was stopped as I developed tinnitus. It was quite bad when I went in for Week 3 of chemo so my oncologist decided to stop. He said the benefit wasn’t worth losing my hearing. Up until then, my side effects were minimal really though I stuck to the drug regime and did everything my team recommended eg stay away from crowded places, don’t overdo things etc. To be honest, I was quite tired from chemo and RT so wasn’t up for visitors really. I did go out for little walks most days, fatigue permitting. So, I guess my advice is listen to your team - they have so much experience with this. And flag any problems immediately. I am pleased to report that the tinnitus did ease. I do still have the ringing but not as bad now 

Hi. I had 6x chemo (Cisplatin) & 30x radio.  Chemo was every Monday. Typically 9am-3pm then radio afterwards.Then radio every day.  Sometimes chemo took longer - if they were short staffed etc The mask would be very tight on a Monday as you have to have saline drip before & after the chemo

I was extremely sick every day throughout treatment & for a couple of weeks afterwards. I wore a mask to hospital & didn’t have visitors at home so as to reduce any infection risk. I was too tired to do chores, cook etc. My days consisted of PEG cleaning, flushing etc, oral hygiene, neck cream, Caphosol, going to hospital, coming home & sleeping a lot, overnight PEG feeding….I was too ill & exhausted to do anything else. 
It was a case of hunkering down, putting in the work, crossing off the days & having faith in the process. . 

Hi Beau

Anti emetics...if the anti emetics given are not proving effective tell your team, they will look at others that will be more suitable.

Make sure you always have a sick bag handy ....especially when travelling.

I ended up with Atrial Fibrillation....not sure if it was the chemo or just bad luck.

Everybody reacts differently to chemo ...some patients are luckier than others.

Good luck

Peter.