chemo

I haven't had chemo but my brother-in-law had 15 sessions for gullet cancer - before and after a huge operation to remove as much as possible of his cancer.  If your hubby is worried about losing his hair then try and use the cold cap - my brother-in-law used it for two sessions but didn't like it.  as it happened he hardly lost any hair and the hair he did lose grew back darker in colour - so he now looks younger than he did before his chemo!  He did use one of those caffeine shampoos, alpecin and nioxin are trade names so maybe those helped to avoid hair loss too.  Your hubby may find that he loses his taste to help with this my sister froze chunks of pineapple and gave them to him to suck whilst having his chemo.  They both went together to the chemo sessions and sat and read books together.  We did buy him some lovely Miami dolphins baseball caps and bobble hats as he supports them and they are a bright turquoise so thought they would just cheer him up when he wore them if he lost his hair - as it happened he didn't need them to cover hair loss but enjoyed wearing them anyway.  In between the sessions the best advice is to listen to his body - try and keep livign a normal life but when he is tired rest.  Everyone is affected differently and it is usually after the second or third session that people experience side effects.

I am sure that someone with first hand experience will be on soon to give better advice.

Look after yourselves and be kind to yourselves this is a difficult time so don't worry about anything other than getting through this together.

All the best

Des

Just remembered it is a good idea to invest in a good thermometer as sometimes one can get a fever so taking the temperature a few times a day to keep account of temperature is a good idea.  I am sure they have either already told you this or they will tell you this at the hospital.

Take care

Hi,

I finished my 6 cycles of Docetaxel in July.... the actual process of having it is a doddle you just sit there and drink tea and nibble on biscuits which were freely available at Sunderland Royal Hosp - if you don't like needles you can easily look the other way - I didn't look at my arm once when the canula was in - but then I'm a wuss. All you have to watch out for at this stage is a feeling of stinging/burning in your arm after after the chemo starts "dripping" - if you do, tell one of the nurses as it could mean the needle isn't in the right place... I didn't experience this thankfully and I understand its quite unusual to happen.

Afterwards I always felt ok until later on the day after when I started to get tired and achy and this got worse over the next couple of days, then it started to fade so that after a week the aches and pains were virtually all gone. Most of the time it didn't stop me doing anything I wanted to - I worked most days, I still walked the dog, did the dishes! etc ate what I wanted - although the weird taste in your mouth made the food taste funny on occasions - strongly flavoured foods I found better during this period. I found Foxes Glacier mints were quite useful for covering up the taste, others have suggested pineapple cubes...

I drank loads of water, which means lot of trips to the loo - but most of us in this "club" are used to that, but its important to stay well hydrated, you may notice that your husbands skin on his hands can get a bit dry and wrinkly - if so have more to drink - I kept several bottles in the fridge so I always had nice cold water available. I also had a non scented moisturiser which I used fairly often on my hands as they always felt dry...

Hair - I didn't have a lot to start with but it started to fall out in patches after cycle 2 so I shaved it off! Got sick of waking up to a hairy pillow and lets not talk about the plughole in the shower - yuk! 

Very important --- Get a thermometer and check your his temperature as often as you can and if it exceeds 37.5 give your nurse a ring immediately - don't do as I did once and wait until "office hours" to ring instead of doing it at 5:30am when I noticed the increased temperature - I got told off when I went in later that morning (in as nice a way as possible!). I managed to pick up two infections during my 6 cycles - Cellulitis and a UTI... both of which were treated with antibiotics and cleared up quickly enough to allow my treatment to proceed as planned.

Earlier I said that I was ok most of the time - the effects of the chemo are cumulative and I found that cycles 1 to 4 were not too bad, but 5 was worse and with cycle 6 I just couldn't shake off the tiredness and aches and ended up having to take two weeks off work.

I was lucky throughout and never felt sick at all but I understand from others that this can happen.

The time period while you are having the chemo seems like a long stretch when you first start but the weeks fly by and before you know it its all done and you can ring that bell (if you have one at your centre)… Good luck with it all, ,please ask any questions you may have.

Kevin

Hi Freefaller and Des 

Thankyou for your replies....we will be ok im sire its just a bit daunting its the word chemo for me that unnerves me. Im lucky my hubby has a great sense of humour and we can always find something to laugh at. We could both do with a little break but we will wait to see how he gets on. I dont think he will be ringing the bell though as we have been told his cancer is not curable but controlable. He has agressive prostate cancer which has spread to nearby lymph node. We are positive that we can acheive a good outcome. 

Hi again,

I'm in the same position, see my profile for more details - my cancer is also incurable (at the moment but who knows in future!) but the bell is intended to be rang at the end of the planned treatment - I rang it with gusto after my 6 chemo session - I found it a very emotional event every time I heard it ring when I was sat there all wired up to the drip, drinking tea and eating biscuits, then before I knew it, it was my turn... I understand its not for everyone but it was something I wanted to do and went for it lol.

The nurses at the unit in Sunderland were excellent and the whole atmosphere was very relaxed, friendly and chatty and I'm sure it will be wherever you go for your husbands treatment - make sure you ask the nurses about anything you aren't sure about, they will explain it to you.

Hope all goes well

Kevin

Hi Kevin 

Thanks for your reply Kev its much appreciated. Yes we do have a few questions for them. Its good that hubbys cancer was diagnosed at a well man check. I wouldnt like to think of the consequences. Good luck with your treatment too. 

Hi Kevin 

Thanks for your reply Kev its much appreciated. Yes we do have a few questions for them. Its good that hubbys cancer was diagnosed at a well man check. I wouldnt like to think of the consequences. Good luck with your treatment too. 

Hi Carol,

Can I also add that my Father had "fortisips", high calorie milk drink, with lots of different vitamins in them. These  really helped when my Dad was unable, or couldn't eat. We purchased them of Amazon, however you can get them prescribed. However some GPs are reluctant to give them as they are a touch expensive.

I wish both you and your husband all the very best.

Michaela.

Hi

Your husband sounds like me, unfortunately his condition is slightly the same, as aggressive as mine is I am still here 3 years 4months later, anyway, hope he does well with his chemo, it affects everyone differently, usually the first two days are OK but then it hits you, can be very daunting but as you go along it gets better
He will just finish before Xmas, so that’s one good thing, you probably know this, but take his temperature morning and night, try and stay away from crowds especially this time of year, as his blood cells will be low and he’s susceptible to infection, i know this as I got sepsis after my third chemo.

Take care I know you will be stressed out and worried, but if he’s like me and it will all go OK.

joe

Hi Guys

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. It means a lot. My hubby had his first chemo today. It went ok tho we had 1.5 hour wait for the chemo as the lovely nurses were running late. They were so busy so many people waiting too. The actual treatment was fine according toy hubby. Tho he did have some stinging and a burning sensation near the candela at first. This some stopped. When we came home my husband feels ok. So thats first treatment done.