More Tips (and a Shopping List) for Getting Through Chemo
Comments
-
Bump ~
0 -
Bumping for Cierra ~
0 -
Bumping for Craig ~
0 -
Hair loss: some days you want more than a ball cap but not a full wig. I found a cute halo (half wig) meant to be worn with a cap or scarf that is affordable and is what I wear out on most days. www.tlcdirect.com.
0 -
Carolinainc
How does it stay on under the hat? Does it adhere to your head? with a hole in the top?
0 -
Valstim - below is a link for all things hair. I read from the beginning when I started here and found so many great tips.
0 -
Starting chemo Thursday. SO nervous. Don't know what to expect. Doc has given me nausea pills and nausea tabs to take before chemo and for next two days. Have to have neuplasta (sp) too and 10 shots cause my drug plan doesn't cover the "just one" shot. Wish I could be a little more relaxed about this chemo. Just dont know what to expect. Hope I can still go to work and keep some normalcy in my life!
0 -
What does it mean when someone "bumps"
0 -
2ND20 -- a "bump" is used to bump a thread into the Active Topics to make a thread easier for someone to find, or to draw attention to a slow thread, in the hopes of more posts.
We hope this helps!
--The Mods
0 -
And just to chime in - this is a great thread with lots of valuable knowledge. I read pretty much every page before I started chemo. Thanks to everyone who has contributed experience and tips over the years.
0 -
ARG some of us nausea medication dosent work- the best thing are the disposable sick bags you get in hospital- they are awsome and you can put in them in the bed and hold it close - they dont spill at easily too - good luck
0 -
Feeling yucky. Got the Big D. Trying to think of what to eat to help.
0 -
Try the BRAT diet. Bananas, rice, applesauce & toast.
0 -
thanks
0 -
2nd20- have you tried saltines? I ate 2 or 3 every few hours and it helped. Also, bananas and unsweetened applesauce. Hugs to you!
0 -
No haven't tried saltines will do! Thks
0 -
Ginger tea is helpful for nausea, also candies called "Gin Gins". Low fiber foods helped for the Big D as well as OTC anti-D meds.
0 -
Please check out what we did with many of your tips!
http://support.breastcancer.org/site/DocServer/che...
0 -
Thanks, this is great. I start chemo on June 1st. I used the lists and tips here and looked on other sites as well. This is by far the most comprehensive and includes all the tips I found, plus a few more. It's great when someone helps make this whole process a bit simpler.
0 -
Mods - thanks. Some of the specific remedies are gone & of course individual experiences, but it's a good quick list. I hope many people will read this entire thread as they approach chemo. I did and it was an amazing help.
0 -
Excellent suggestions - I have a kit that includes organic baby food pouches; banana blueberry; apple/peach/oatmeal,, etc - good to have as a snack (about 100 cal.) & so easy to digest, esp if your mouth is sore -
only 2 chemos so far, next in a week - doing well I think; with prunes able to get back to 3-4 bowel movements a day as per usual (I'm a 30 year vegetarian) within a day of the chemo...no other problems; eating well, walking (very slowly, but walking), sleeping very well indeed & food tastes great!
0 -
Thank you for this list. I have made it through my first chemo and was nauseated for the first 5 days regardless if I took zofran or nah. It was not horrible, but just enough to be uncomfortable. I only got physically sick the last day and actually felt 100% better afterwards. Nothing smelled good, so I avoided foods with smells. Smelling proteins cook made my stomach do flips. Drinking coffee was a no go the first 5 days. It just didn't taste good. I keep vanilla and chocolate pudding cups available along with fruit cups. Lipton Chicken soup was my meal most of the time for the first 5 days.. There is just something about that soup that always makes me feel better. It is my "Im sick" food. I even told my husband when we got married that if I ever got sick Lipton chicken soup is the only thing I want. When Chemo started he got my daughter to go buy 4 boxes.lol.
Constipation and heartburn were constant companions. I tried milk of magnesia for the constipation and it was all i could do to not get physically sick. Actually threw the bottle in the garbage quickly. Im gonna talk to chemo dr to see what stool softeners will be good and start those a few days before my next chemo. Reloads helped with the heartburn.
Now that I am past my 5 days, I keep pita chips handy to snack on so my stomach is never empty. Fresh fruits and veggies are a must. Im back to eating a little protein, but not much. Meats just aren't appealing. I am back to cooking and it feels great. My husband and daughter both are pretty good cooks so they will take over cooking during the "chemo 5."
0 -
topperfan5 - what is your chemo regime? I'll be starting carboplatin, taxotere and Herceptin next week.
0 -
Topper - I got Kytril for nausea with my infusions. And I had Emend pills at home. There really are things that work so don't settle for nausea.
0 -
What are reloads. The only thing stopping me from eating right now is the indigestion. I am also taking Zofran and the nausea isn't too bad right now. I am also experiencing headaches that don't seem to go away. This was my first chemo treatment and I'm receiving dose dense AC. I was given two anti-nausea medications with the chemo along with a steroid. I am taking Pepcid AC but so far it isn't helping to much. Anyone reading this post, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I just want to be able to get through these treatments and feel normal (whatever that may be) again.
0 -
clj57 - sorry to hear about your nausea. You might check the threads for groups going through chemo right now - such as chemo spring 2016 or chemo May 2016. It helps to be communicating with those going through the same thing. I also read the month or quarter thread for those who before me to see all the things I could look forward to - LOL.
0 -
Emend worked wonders for me in preventing nausea. I took one pill the day before chemo and one pill the day of chemo and one pill the day after chemo. Many of our sisters say that Aloxi given IV was effective for them because it stays in the system for three days after the infusion.
0 -
bumping for Helen ~
0 -
clj - I had AC every 3 weeks and had some indigestion once and a headache that started during the Cytoxan infusion and lasted for hours. Definitely report these to your MO.
For indigestion, I slept with a slight inclination using a wedge pillow It went away, but I told my MO who prescribed a drug to take even without symptoms to prevent getting an ulcer.
My headache started during cycle 2. The infusion time was shorter than the first cycle. I mentioned it to the MO, and the infusion time was set back to the original time. No more headache. If the headache isn't from the infusion time, a likely culprit is dehydration. It's difficult to drink so much water, so I recommend coconut water, smoothies, soup, and bowls of frozen fruit. I love frozen mangoes. Even add it to a glass of water.
Glad your nausea is managed. I never got it and was able to drop the meds at home. But I wasn't on dose dense.
Good luck with the rest of your treatments.
0 -
If you or someone you know is getting a port, check out this web site of a charity that will mail a free port pillow. The pillows protect the port from a seatbelt rubbing on the port. They're also very useful over a tender sentinel node incision site: This site includes a link for ordering a pillow.
https://www.gofundme.com/Portpillows0
