Starting Chemo June 2019
Comments
-
SIMSAgreen: I am so sorry you are struggling so much, all of what you are going through just sucks, there’s no other way to say it. I can’t help but say to you to that you will get through this one minute at a time, this will all be a memory one day. We all understand that this is not an easy battle, but know that you are NOT a one man army, you have an army behind you!! Happy Birthday!! I hope you get over this hump so you can celebrate YOU!! I don’t know if you’ve tried, but the lemon popsicles from Outshine are my favorite when my stomach feels gross. Pedialyte pops are good too as they have electrolytes, sounds like you could use some. Keep us posted and hang in there!
0 -
Hi SIMSAgreen - Happy Birthday!!
I’m sorry that you are going through these SE. I am also getting more nausea and more exhaustion. My hair is coming out but still have enough to keep from needing the wig. Over the weekend I swear I could feel my hair cooking on my scalp. I wish I had something magical to suggest to make the SE go away for all of us. I hope that the next days get better for you and that you have a good birthday.
0 -
I just wanted to say hi - I have my first AC infusion tomorrow 6/26. I'm kind of nervous. I'm glad I have a friend going with me. Do you go alone or with a friend or spouse? My husband can't get off work unless he plans way ahead.
I have another biopsy (something they saw on MRI on the opposite side) immediately afterwards which is certainly not ideal, but it's how things fell. I hope I can sleep tonight.
0 -
Breathe! And then breathe again long and slow. You will get through the infusion. Like a couple of us said to another member, the actual infusion isn’t that bad, your nurse will get all hooked up with meds to help with SE’s. Speak up if meds aren’t helping or you need something else. The harder part is managing the SE’s after depending on how you are impacted. I personally go with different people. My mom cane one with, my husband is always available too and Thursday which is my 3rd infusion, my close friend is going. It derives on who you are comfortable with and who is able to give you what you need emotionally and mentally, it’s such a personal time. If your MO Hagen you something for anxiety, maybe consider taking that. I wish you the best and trust your strength; it’s there I promise!! Keep us all posted!
0 -
how did it go??? I’m hoping you’re doing ok. Thinking about you.
0 -
LoveMy4Kids - Infusion is usually the easier part. My husband has gone with me so far. I have seen a couple of people coming in by themselves though. Good luck today!
0 -
Thanks for all of the tips and support, everyone.
So, apart from some trouble inserting the needle into my vein initially (I don’t have a port), things went okay yesterday. I drank a ton of water during the infusion. I felt super groggy afterwards, but I still managed to stop at the Farmers’ Market on my walk home to pick up some fresh local peas and strawberries.
Fortunately, my nausea is under control (that was my biggest fear). I’m just so damn exhausted. And my stomach is super unhappy. I barely ever take any medication, so it’s probably reeling from the whole cocktail. I managed to eat reasonably well yesterday. I felt kind of sick when I got up with the kids this morning, but I’m slowly sipping on a smoothie I made.
Oh, and to add insult to injury, I got my period yesterday! Argh. But I’m guessing this will be my last one for awhile!
Hope your first time goes well today, LoveMy4Kids!
Happy belated birthday SimsAgreen.
DogMomRunner, I hope your nausea and exhaustion eases a bit today
0 -
I had quite a day. First, my chemo center is great and I love all the people. As most everyone says, the actual infusion was fine...until the Cytoxan started giving me a headache. They gave me Tylenol, but it's just gotten worse and worse. I took more Tylenol but it's not helping. It's almost to migraine level. Nausea kicked in 4 hours after infusion ended, despite the cheerful prediction that tomorrow would be my "honeymoon" while all the IV anti-nausea meds were still in my system. I'm burping a lot too. Is that a chemo thing?
It's a really long story that I am too tired to explain, but I unavoidably ended up getting more lesions in BOTH breasts biopsied immediately after the chemo. My wonderful 70-something year young radiologist (who loves her job and can't retire) had never had a patient come directly from chemo to biopsy in her whole career. She and the radiology resident were asking about the Neulasta - they'd never seen a patient with one. I got to teach them something new! Now the lidocaine is wearing off and both breasts are aching. The port aches too. I've got ice packs basically on my whole chest.
My precious friend cleared her whole day and sat with me from 9am to 4pm. What a gem! And I'm thankful that we have a fridge full of food I prepared ahead, and my teenagers are being unusually helpful and attentive. My husband is showering me with gentle, loving care. I have to keep counting my blessings.
0 -
Hi everyone! My 4th went well today. We’ll see what tonight brings. I hope everyone is doing well!!
0 -
Good Morning brave, strong women. I had my second infusion yesterday.(4 hours, home by 12:30p.) It went well with little side effects until a bit of nausea began. I came home and took Compazine which helped. I then fell asleep, solid, for a few hours. Then I woke up last night at 1:30am with intense burning in my throat. I piled up my pillows and tried to sleep sitting up.
I did the ice on my feet and hands during the Taxotere, and I painted all my nails with a dark color, which was suggested here to help prevent nail trouble. We’ll see if that helps. Oh, and another trick I’ve learned from here is to use a lint roller on my buzzed head when the spikes start falling out. It helps so much and I am amazed at how much hair is coming out. My family thinks it’s hilarious.
I’m now waiting for the Neulasta to pop off and the bone pain fun will begin. It was a huge deal with my first infusion and I’m ready for it. Anyone with suggestions for this heart burn? I did a preemptive strike with prune juice and stool softener last night, so I think I’m covered for that part, hopefully.
Lovemy4kids, you are one strong woman. Chemo and biopsies on both breasts after, the same day. I am in awe of your ability both physically and emotionally. Take good care of yourself.
DogMomRunner, glad your 4th went well. I’m curious to know how the cumulative effects will impact you, or not. I’m waiting to see how it will be with me. I know we’re on different chemo, but it seems they all have similar side effects.
I’m thinking of you all and sending strength and support.
0 -
tennisgirl1 and others -
How long after the Neulasta injection did the the bone pain begin for you? My injection went off at 4:30 yesterday afternoon and I'm on edge today with every little thing I feel in my body wondering if I'll have that crushing pain people talk about.
0 -
LoveMy4Kids - someone said that Claritin helps with the bone pain and muscle aches. I started using it after my second treatment and didn’t feel as bad (flu like symptoms) as after my first. It might be Claritin-D with the decongestant. I haven’t had to have Neulasta. My WBC were better yesterday or I might have gotten it. I use GinGin ginger tablets to help with indigestion and nausea. But I also will get the acid reflux type of reaction.
Mumoftwo- very much insult to injury!:(
I slept maybe two hours last night. I’m going to be in trouble when the steroids run out. My NP slowed the rate of the benedryl infusion and I didn’t get the muscle cramps during treatment. However I tried taking a 25 mg tablet if it last night to help with sleep and got muscle cramps. Between those and the hot flashes it was a bad night
0 -
LoveMy4Kids, my Neulasta popped of around the same time of day as yours, the day after the first infusion. Day 2 after infusion, I started feeling aches. Day 3 after chemo the deep bone pain really hit. It was pretty constant until day 7 after infusion. I took Claritin for 7 days, starting the day of infusion. I had pretty intense stomach cramps and constipation at the same time, so I'm sure that made that whole process worse. I'm managing that part better so far, so I'm hoping things will be better this time. I'm still waiting for the pop off!
I also am keeping a pretty detailed journal of meds and side effects, so I can anticipate and control what I am able to. I am finding this helpful with planning and heading things off at the pass. It's my effort to try to control life in an uncontrollable situation! We'll see how that works out.
DogMomRunner, Thanks for the reminder of the Ginger caps. I will take one now. I also have hot flashes and cold shivers all night. I had a total hysterectomy about 25 years ago and estrogen was the only thing that kept them under control. You can guess what happened after going off it after all those years of taking it. Drenched sheets and fans going all night. Then a down comforter to throw on when I wake up shivering. My poor husband. He never complains though. My MO recommended Black Cohosh for the flashes. It seems to help for the daytime ones. I hope tonight will be easier for you. Hang in there. It'll all get better.
0 -
Hi everyone
I had my first cycle of FEC yesterday. Where I am in the UK, the chemo treatment room is in the old Victorian part of the hospital. It has super high ceilings and tiles on the walls with large nursery rhyme murals - the room used to be the children's ward! It looked like an abatoir to me. I thought it was going to be a nice cosy lounge type place with lovely comfy reclining chairs. Nope. If I stretched out with both hands, I could tough the patients next to me.............which I didn't of course. My husband had to keep moving his chair out of the way of the nurses who were changing the drugs in the IV units next to me!
The cold cap was the worst bit of it. I took some paracetamol before hand and held my nerve for 10 minutes while my brain slowly froze and then after that it was remarkably bearable. In fact the whole process was quite boring. I don't know what I had imagined would happened but for some reason I thought I would 'feel' stuff more. Mind you the amount of drugs they give you at the same time would probably numb everything! I'm not sure what they do in the US cancer centres but I was given an anti nausea table to take an hour before the infusions and then given more anti nausea meds intravenously along with steroids. I've been given steriod tablets to take for the next 3 days and then 3 different types of anti nausea meds! I had told the oncologist I got sea sick and apparently that made me high risk for sickness during chemo. Well, I don't know how they've done it but I've not felt sick at all! The district nurse is coming to check my PICC line tomorrow and to show me how to inject myself with that drug that stimulates white blood cell growth in your bone marrow. Don't really fancy the idea of sticking myself with a needle but if millions of diabetics can do it, so can !
I made the stupid decision to go for a little walk when I got home after the chemo and I think I may have over done it. By 6pm I was shattered and crawled up to bed only find that someone had turned up the thermostat in my body! I freaked out thinking my temperature had gone up and that I had an infection (so soon?) but it was normal. It was then that I realised that these must be night sweats. How strange are they? They sort of came and went in waves before disappearing completely. Not unpleasant just...............weird.
I hope you lovely ladies are doing ok and I'm sending huge hugs from across the pond for anyone who wants them!
xx
0 -
Hi ladies! I was diagnosed one year ago this past week and have been thinking a lot about the events of this past year. This made me want to jump on here and offer some words of support. First, I’m sorry you are going through this! For me, chemo was the worst part and I had them all; chemo, surgery, rads.
When it seems like this will never end, know that it will. You will taste again, not be nauseated, enjoy food, poop regularly, and feel strong again. I also learned that I like having short hair and I look darn cute in it!!
Prayers and good thoughts for all of you. Thanks for letting me share.
0 -
Had my first TC June 11. Second scheduled for July 2. Wish I had some of these tips a few weeks ago but grateful others willing to share their experience. Worried about my blood labs. Hair just beginning to fall out. Mouth still has sores. Like my tongue is burnt.
0 -
Summersday, I have to take oral steroids for 2 days following my infusion of taxol & Herceptin to stop a reaction of rash & redness on neck, chest and arms that starts the day after treatment. I do not do the cold cap, but I do icing on my hands and feet, so I know how you feel. The first 15 minutes of the icing is the hardest for me. Hope you do well and also every wonderful lady on this thread!
0 -
ByUmom, yup I've got to take oral steriods for 3 days after my infusion and anti nausea meds but so far I've had minimal side effects. My throat feels kind of thick not sore and no rashes or anything but I'm on a different regime to you. I do have to inject myself every day for 7 days with a drug that encourages my bone marrow to make more white blood cells but apparently that's standard on my kind of treatment. And actually, it's a piece of cake! I thought there was no way I could stick myself with a needle but really, my tummy flab doesn't seem to mind............
My oncologist was quite dismissive of icing hands and feet but I've heard so many ladies say that it really works for some types of chemotherapy. I think the last three cycles of my regime (Taxotere) is the one that causes problems with nails so I've got the dark nail polish at the ready. I've actually got pretty rubbish circulation to my hands and feet (always have had) so I'm curious to see if this helps!
I hope all you fabulous ladies on this thread are doing well and staying strong!
0 -
AlexandraS, sorry to hear you've had such rubbish side effects. Can you get a gentle mouthwash to use? Here in the UK we have something called Biotene which is very soothing. Or my oncologist recommended bicarb of soda (baking soda I think you call it) and water. Have your doctors prescribed any medication to boost your white blood cell count? They're supposed to be very effective.
Sending you hugs.........
0 -
Thank you for the encouragement Misha. I certainty feel vastly different than I did a month ago when the chemo started. I guess this is the new normal for now. Fuzzy, tired, nauseous, kind of like an alien has taken over my body.
tennisgirl - I have been trying to cool my body down before bedtime with varying degrees of success. On my treatment day, I ate popsicles and tried to drink as much water as I could. At bedtime I took an ice pack from the freezer and put it on my head and then on the back of my neck. We've turned down the temperature the air conditioner kicks in so we're keeping the house cold. I have started wearing a sleep cap at night because the hair is coming out and ending up on my pillow. So that may be part of whats heating me up. I have not had any constipation. I am not taking the Zofran (because of the headache SE) but using Gaviscon as anti acid and ginger tablets.
summersday - Welcome from the other side of the pond! It sounds like your treatments are fairly similar to ours here. I hope the cold capping goes well. It just sounded too complicated for me to try but then putting on ice packs at this point can seem like a major endeavor. Good luck to you!
AlexandraS - Sorry you are getting some of the SE. I use baking soda along with a sensitive toothpaste and a extra soft toothbrush. I also use a salt water rinse afterward. I have an occasional sore mouth but nothing too bad. Ask your MO for something called Miracle Mouthwash, that might help.
ByUmom2 - welcome to the June chemo thread. The icing is something that I also don't like. I wish they made cold gloves that you could do thing in. I have to poke one finger out if I'm going to try and read. And that may defeat the purpose. Good luck to you on the next treatment
0 -
Hi all... Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I had surgery to remove a 3.6cm mass at the beginning of May, and started chemo on 13 June... There was a bit of a delay in getting started as there was some issues with the pathology results, in particular the HER2 status. The results kept coming back as HER2 negative but apparently they also detected some clusters of HER2 positive cells as well which caused some confusion. The current plan is 4 rounds of TC (3 weekly) followed by 4 weeks of radiotherapy, then hormone blocking therapy, but due to the HER2 dispute, it might be updated to 6 rounds of TC, 12 months of Herceptin, as well as radio and hormone blocking therapy... Thats a pretty daunting thought! Overall, I think my first round of TC went pretty well - didn't get sick at all, but I had the biggest headache of my life on day 3. Literally couldn't move. My oncologist feels that was more a withdrawal side effect from the steroid so we have a plan to wean off them next time instead of just stopping. I also had an allergic reaction to the chemo though - felt like someone was standing on my chest and felt sick. Luckily, the nurses were amazing and got it under control quickly. Have to take a pretty serious dose of antihistamines before the next treatment to try and stay on top of that. I'm also very lucky as I'm currently on day 18 and so far, no real hair loss (well, from my head anyway...). My hospital offers the cold cap as part of the treatment at no cost, so I figured I would give it a try. It's every bit as horrible as you'd expect for the first 10 mins or so but is bearable after that, although it does mean I need to stay at the hosp for an additional 90 mins.... Next treatment is on Wednesday, which I'm not looking forward to, but hubby and I have a wedding to go to a fortnight later, which I'm really looking forward to!
Off to read everyones posts and catch up... Hope everyone is feeling as well as can be!
0 -
Greetings all! I have managed to claw my way back out of the deep dark hole of last week and am finally feeling like a "normal" human being again.
Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I did manage to finally get out of the house with my family and enjoyed a nice shopping trip and delicious meal with them later in the week.
Trying to play catch up now -
love4mykids - Hello fellow MA resident! All my treatment has been in Worcester, so we're practically neighbors
My husband comes to all my appointments with me, but they've all been scheduled in advance so he's able to make arrangements to be home those days. His workplace is thankfully very flexible with his office time, and he has the ability to work from home as needed. I'm sorry you had to have another biopsy and more worry so soon after everything else. The Cytoxan gives me terrible sinus headaches as well. I've been given the OK to take ibuprofen to help ease it. I've also had a lot more burping and indigestion issues... I've been taking Prevacid, which has helped but definitely not 100%. I'm glad your family has been very helpful with meals and tending to you. I need to remember to prepare more stuff in advance next time, I felt like we were scrambling a bit as I was much more ill this round than last and we wound up eating a lot of takeout. 
mumoftwo - I'm glad your first infusion went well enough, and that you were able to get out for a bit afterwards. All these meds have completely destroyed my digestive system as well. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only temporary... I also got my period in the middle of the week, unfortunately adding to all the other unpleasant SEs I was already dealing with.
I'm really hoping it stays away next time!dogmomrunner - Happy to hear your 4th went well, but sorry to hear about the bad night's sleep. I need to try ginger tabs or something, I think. I don't really like the taste of ginger, but a tablet or pill or something might be helpful. Or just suck it up and ignore the taste, haha.
tennisgirl - Has your MO recommended anything for the heartburn/reflux? They've been giving me a bag of pepcid before starting the chemo drips, plus I take Prevacid at home daily afterwards. Like I said above, all of this has my entire digestive system going screwy. I'm doing what I can to stem the SEs, but nothing is helping 100%. I've also been keeping a journal of SEs, mostly so I remember to tell my MO everything when I see her before each treatment. Chemobrain has been hitting hard here... I thought about taking a lint roller to my hair spikeys, but never got around to it. My head's getting really patchy now though, so I'm likely going to just fully shave it smooth this week.
summersday - Sending you a warm welcome of love and healing. All of the steroids and anti-nausea meds have been very helpful here as well. The worst for me though, is the coming down off the steroids a few days after treatment. My MO had me "step down" the dosage this time, rather than cold turkey and I still had a terrible time.
misha - Thank you for stopping by with such kind words of encouragement!
alexandras - I also have the burnt tongue feeling and a sore throat, but no other sores in my mouth. Hopefully some of the tips from our thread and the rest of the community will help you through your next round.
And as for me - Well, last week was legitimately the worst I have ever felt in my life. I'll have to talk to my MO to see if she can offer any other help or advice before the next round. I thought I was prepared to handle anything chemo threw at me after the first round, but man was I wrong. Didn't matter what medication I took, or how much I rested, or how much I tried moving around. Everything was just awful. And if I wasn't swollen enough post-infusion, I bloated up like a balloon and started cramping like crazy...and got my period. Thanks, body. >:( I felt like I'd been steamrolled, and it sent me to a very dark place mentally. I'm recovering, but that was really really tough. Thankfully by Friday I was feeling well enough to get out of the house, though very easily fatigued. Today I am feeling much more like myself and am planning to get out and about more in the coming days. Can't be a couch potato forever.
I hope everyone has a good week. I send love and warm thoughts to you all.
0 -
SIMSAgreen, I am with you on the digestive...acid reflux is horrible. Also feel like acid coming out the other end as well! Not fun! This week has been hard for me...very tired, lots of aching muscles. I know of the dark places you mentioned. Treatment scheduled for tomorrow. Will see how it goes. Hope everyone has a great day!0 -
Does anyone else freak out about the whole infections thing? Even though I'm injecting myself every day with G-CSF which I know should prevent by WBC dropping too low I'm really struggling to cope mentally. I have an anxiety disorder which until about a month ago was a distant memory but has now sprung back to life. I'm taking medication to try and keep on top of it (safe with the chemo) but I'm getting to the point where I'm scared to leave the house now. And it's only day 4! Both my oncologist and the chemo nurse said not to wrap myself up in cotton wool in fact the chemo nurse said I could have a meal out now and again which I couldn't believe! Before cancer I had a great immune system (even if I do say so myself!), never had an infection, never had flu, rarely caught a cold, VERY lax on the '5 second' rule of dropping food on the floor but now I'm this gibbering wreck, clutching my digital thermometer and refusing to move from the bedroom!
Any ideas of how I can get over this?
0 -
summersday, I am definitely with you on the anxiety. I have good moments and many bad moments. I too check my temp. throughout the day. I have gone to eat out twice in the past month. Definitely nervous but pulled it together to do it for my family. I was very much like you. Never sick. Now I watch my weekly bloodwork numbers drop. Makes my anxiety even worse. I stay home mostly but try to get a walk in outdoors in late afternoon just for a little sanity. I know you mentioned previous about your throat. I had the pressure in it and my onc says it is from the steroids. I hope both our stress levels come down and we see this thru!!
0 -
Hi everyone. I didn't see a thread for July 2019, so I hope it is okay that I tagged along on this one. I'm starting TC on Friday, July 5.
0 -
Hi all - I had my first followup appointment today, day 6 after my first chemo. My WBC count was 1600 this morning. No wonder I feel like somebody sandbagged my body! I feel sooo heavy and tired, but in a different way than I did the first 3 days after chemo. The doctor didn't seem concerned, but I feel rotten. What has your experience been with WBC counts dropping? How did it make you feel? Especially interested in anyone who has had dose dense AC and Neulasta like I did.
Welcome Fairydragonfly. I just started chemo last week, so you and I are on a similar schedule despite the month changing. So sorry you're going through this, and so soon after losing your parents to cancer. It's got to be really hard.
SIMSAgreen - Fellow Worcester-ite! (Is that a word?!) I don't actually live in Worcester, but nearby. May I ask - are you being treated at St. V's Cancer and Wellness Center? That's where I am. I'm sorry to hear you were in a really dark place last week. So far I'm less down emotionally since starting treatment, but I had some super depressed periods of days in the two months between realizing the lump was probably something really bad, to starting chemo last week. I've been on an SSRI for a long time, and I know that's helping me not sink into the darkness that I knew too well many years ago. But I also figure that I'll soon get really sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don't think I've felt as bad (physically) yet as you were feeling last week, but I may, and that scares me. I'm really just trying to take one day at a time and focus on some small pleasure (like flowers or bird song or a funny joke) or something to be thankful for each day.
Summersday - I get the anxiety. I'm fighting it since hearing how low my WBC counts are today. I'm constantly getting after my kids to wash their hands and my mind is thinking about all the ways germs could be getting into my body. I keep thinking I have a fever, but I don't. The doctor said I can go about my business as usual. So I did errands on my way home from the clinic...just used lots of hand sanitizer and tried to be careful. Tomorrow I plan to stay home.
Wish I could greet everyone, but my brain is just soooo sluggish and I've used up all my writing energy!
0 -
LoveMy4Kids - it's so hard keeping the anxiety under control, isn't it?
I decided to call the chemo nurses yesterday about my irritating cough and made the mistake of saying that the bottom of my throat felt kind of tight. She said that I needed to get checked out by my GP just in case of a chest infection (aaargh! what?) so I called the GP who promptly referred me to A&E for an ECG and blood tests! So shaking, I drove myself down to A&E and was plonked in a room by myself. Temperature normal. Heart rate slightly elevated (umm you think?) Next a nice nurse came in and took 5 little bottles of blood from my PICC line. I had to wait an agonising 10 minutes to be told that I wasn't neutropenic (WBC was higher than before I started chemo thanks to the daily G-CSF injections) and that the basic blood stuff was normal. A&E consultant comes in saying that he wants to try and get me home as soon as possible but wants to understand why my GP feels I needed an ECG. I mentioned about the tightish chest thing and suddenly feel a bit silly. He goes away and the nurse comes back with an ECG machine. She hooks me up, presses a few buttons, disconnects me and then leaves again. I sit there waiting again getting colder and colder in the hospital gown until the consultant comes back and says the ECG is quite normal. I go to breathe a sigh of relief when he says, you can go if you like but we still have to wait on the other blood test results. He offers to call me when the results come in about an hour but warns me that if there's a problem, I may need to come back in for futher tests.
To be honest, I'm not quite sure how I made it home. When I fell through the door, all I could do was go and lie down in the dark and try and get out of my head. An hour later the phone rings and it's the consultant. My blood tests are normal....well normal for a chemo patient he says. He reassures me I'm fine and wishes me well.
And I'm only on day 6. This stuff better get easier because right now, I don't feel like I'm going to make it to the next cycle. The irony is the rest of me is fine! No bone pain from the G-CSF, no nausea, no steriod withdrawl symptoms, no bowel issues and not even that much fatigue. So I know I'm very lucky given what all you ladies are going through. The only thing that is niggling me now is my PICC line. I've had it for less than a week (feels like a year) and apart from the first day where it hurt and stung like hell, I haven't really thought about it. Now it aches a little under my arm- perhaps this is due to having blood taken from it for the first time yesterday? Not swollen, not red, not warm to the touch, just a little sore. I really don't want to put myself through the whole hospital thing again but neither do I want to sit here all day and stew. How can I have morphed into a hypochondriac in less than a week? Urgh.
To be honest, if chemo was that dangerous no-one would be having it or we'd all be wrapped up in little plastic bubbles for the duration. We are surrounded by bacteria all the time and even with depleted WBC our bodies do a pretty good job of dealing with them. Goodness, people go back to work on chemo!
Well, I hope you lovely ladies are fairing a little better than me in the mental department and enjoying the weather wherever you are! Perhaps a nice walk will do me the world of good..............................
0 -
Hi... for those of you who may not know about fasting, it can be a huge help in terms of lowered SEs -- and seems even to improve the efficacy of chemo. You can ready about Fasting Mimicking by searching the terms on this site or google. I have posted a lot about it. Dr Valter Longo of USC developed this.
One can do a water only fast fr 3 days or a very low cal "mimick" fast for 5 days. Chemo day is the middle day of the fast. When you stop eating your body goes into a mode of protecting itself and using less energy. So the healthy cells get some protection, from the coming chemo. The cancer cells get ravenous and active. Then the chemo hits, killing the cancer, but not affecting the healthy cells as much. And when you GI tract slows down, there is not much food in there. So the SEs are mild.
An important part of the fast is a nutrient-dense "rebuild" which charges up your immune system.
I fasted and my main SE from chemo was fatigue/anemia. I want to let people on this thread know about it, as it helped me so much.
Good luck to all of you!!
0 -
Welcome Fairydragonfly! You can hang out here.
So NOW I’m worried about infections. My WBC dropped to 9 and the NP said no to the taxol treatment today. I am still getting the Herceptin today but really bummed about adding another week to the schedule. I’m going to have to be more cautious at work. The only good news is that I didn’t have to get the steroids with Herceptin so I won’t have the 3rd day drop and can maybe sleep tonight.
I hope everyone is doing well
0
