HelloMY husband has advanced prostate cancer that has matasticised to his spine.HE starts his 1st cycle of chemo this week.WE keep reading about all the things he can't do/eat etc in order to avoid infection. Then we are told by the GP to do things we

Hello Liznal and welcome. My husband had chemotherapy a couple of years ago so I can recount our experience. Firstly there is a link to another thread which explains in more detail some things we learnt.

 Hubby about to start chemo 

To answer your specific questions, life should carry on as near normal as possible but with sensible precautions such as avoiding anyone with bugs so just ask friends and family to let you know if they are suffering. If we had to go to busy places then we did wear masks and basically adopted COVID like precautions -there is a new strain going around at the moment so be aware of it and if you suspect he has caught it then get checked as he can get antivirals. Your husband's first cycle will give you an idea of how it is going to affect him for each cycle which should allow you to plan for future cycles but I wouldn't arrange anything after the first cycle as you don't know what the effects are going to be. If he experiences few side effects then great but if it affects him badly then the experts can give supportive drugs and adjust the dose to make sure that your husband has as good a quality of life as possible but it is important that he tells them about his experience. He will need a blood test a couple of days before each infusion to check that he is well enough to have it so this will have to be factored in if you go away on holiday. As a precaution I would personally stay in the UK. We did go out for meals but chose to eat outside -easy for us as we live in Greece. 

You don't say whether your husband is newly diagnosed or whether this is a recurrence. If newly diagnosed then you may have a lot of questions so ask away. 

I hope everything goes well this week. Let us know how you get on and please come back with any questions.

Hi Liznal , Alwayshope has given you a great summary so I won’t repeat it.  I had my chemo 8 years ago and mostly it was fairly easy.  Each cycle repeats itself with a slight increase in any symptoms each time round.  In my experience day 1 to 3 were normal, day 4, I got chemo head (muddled, felt odd, reduced energy) by day 6 I was back to normal.  Try and do normal things, exercise but listen to your body.  Most people go through chemo fairly easily, but my neutrophils went very low and I had to stop at round 4 (click on my name or avatar to get the full story).

I am sure your husband will sail through it, but any questions, please just ask.  Best wishes, David