Starting chemo on the 28th Aug

Hi Mandy62 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.

I'm not having chemo at the same hospital as you but noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. Responding to you will 'bump' your post back to the top of the discussion list where it'll be easier to see.

If you haven't already, you could type 'velindre' into the search facility at the top of the page to look for people who have mentioned this hospital before.

While you're waiting for replies, it would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.

Wishing you all the best with your treatment

Thank you  

Hi Mandy. While I am not having treatment there, a couple of points I have learned from my treatment are

• download podcasts or stories into your phone to listen to
• take socks and slippers even if it is warm as your feet may be cold. 
• take the opportunity between now and the 28th to see family and friends and (if you don’t already) also to take daily exercise. The fitter you are the better you will (I am told) cope with treatment. Being used to exercising now will also help you in the first week of chemo when you may not feel like going for a walk. 

for me the thought of what was about to happen was worse than the reality of chemo. I am in week two of my second cycle and this week we have been to the cinema, I am about to exercise and we are seeing friends for lunch. I need to rest each day but life hasn’t stopped. 

best wishes 

Jackie

Hi Mandy, I also go to velindre,  I just had my 6th round of carboplatin on Aug 3rd and I'll be moving onto hormone treatment next. 

I'm having carboplatin and taxol (I think it's called) How are you getting on with it? I'm hoping I can carry on working, I'm trying to reduce what I do at the moment but I'm self employed. 

I've only been having the one drug treatment. The first few doses were fine, but it did get gradually worse with each dose. I felt hungover for around 4 days with the last 2 rounds.  I felt more tired than anything, but I think the steroids are mostly to blame as they gave me insomnia. I've had lots of bowel problems since my surgery and the chemo just worsened those problems, but apparently that's very common. I also now have tinnitus, which I'm told is also very common. I've had very minimal sickness, I was honestly expecting it to be much worse. 

I hope your treatment will be finished soon so you can start to feel better xx

Same for you, 6 rounds  plus surgery sounds like a lot, but I'm surprised by how fast the time has flown. I'm not really sure what the next part of my treatment entails, I'll find out at my appt on the 29th. But if you have anymore questions feel free to get in touch. X