Chemo commenced and the side effects started to show themselves, losing my hair (waist length brunette hair) was a big deal although in the whole scheme of things I dont give a hoot about hair anymore. Highly recommend that if you have long hair and are facing chemo then get your hair chopped first before it starts to fall out as a) it makes a big mess on your bed and b) its not so upsetting. You can do something called a 'cold cap' but it does not always work, it can hurt your head, and you have to spend a whole extra hour in hospital to have it something I just would not do, cannot stand hospitals and until all of this cancer crap I had never been into hospital for anything, I was very fit and healthy. The first few rounds of chemo went ok I was sick only once and that was my own fault for not taking the anti-sickness meds quick enough, made sure to take them the minute I felt slightly sick, they really do work. Emotionally I was in a mess throughout the whole chemo process, yes it was good to have a treatment plan in place and yes that did give me some comfort but at the same time I was coming to terms with this dx and was emotionally fraught.
The treatment plan was a comfort ie: to know your doing something about it and that chemo does work, I had what is called neoadjuvant chemo (prior to surgery) to try and shrink the cancer enough so the surgeon can try and get clear margins. The chemo worked beautifully in shrinking everything the lump in my breast went from 6cm to 2mil and only one lymph node was infected, also the mets on my lungs shrunk to now classed as tiny and stable.
Here's some tips on dealing with chemo and the SE (side effects).
- If you have long hair get your hair cut short before it all falls out.
- Dont try and start any anti-cancer regime (save it for when you have finished chemo) ie: juicing/diet etc whilst on chemo you need to build your blood cells up before the next round otherwise they wont give you the chemo.
- Eat red meat at least whilst on chemo this really helps with your bloods (mine were fine throughout).
- Dont eat or drink anything that you might want to carry on eating and drinking after chemo as it makes everything taste horrible (I made this mistake now I cant drink my beloved cups of tea).
- Soak feet and nails on hands in epsom salts this helped me keep my nails on my toes and hands.
- Fatigue sleep when you need to, rest is the best policy for healing.
- Find your local Macmillan centre and try out some of the complementary treatments I had reflexology and spiritual healing all free, which helped stop the anxiety also found it very relaxing.
- Talk to someone even if its the Breast Cancer Care line or the Macmillan line, just get that nonsense out of your head. I joined BCC online and an american site called breastcancer.org here's the links http://share.breastcancercare.org.uk/community/ and http://www.breastcancer.org/ the women on these forums are in the same shitty boat and will offer you support and help. These sites are full of advice and information relating to your particular stage and I highly recommend you join especially if you are at the beginning of your cancer journey. A word of warning you can get hooked on these sites probably not a good idea to be on them all the time.
- I took probiotics and think they really helped also Evening primrose oil (will go into more detail about these on the page entitled Supplements).
- Go out for a gentle walk at least once a day this exercise really helped me.
- Book up for the 'Look Good Feel Good' session at your local Macmillan centre you get loads of freebies ie: makeup, toner, cleanser, etc and you get to chat to other ladies going through the same thing, it really did make me feel better.
- Lastly treat yourself after each chemo I treated myself to something nice whether its a pair of shoes, a new dress, or just a cream cake just treat yourself you deserve it.
