Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This has doubtless been done before, but I thought I'd start a new thread regarding the side affects of chemo. Definitely hair loss, I was told today, within 10-15 days of the first chemo (if I remember right).
I've never had carboplatin nor emla cream. I was on dose dense taxol. I had 4 treatments. Joint pain was bad. I had adriamycin/cytoxin first, and lost my hair. It started coming back with taxol. The other stuff you listed are all (I think) anti-nausea meds. Good idea to have a variety on hand. I found out the hard way, do NOT wait to see if the nausea is going to get bad enough to need meds. If you feel queasy, take some meds. Stay ahead of it.
Also, a friend of mine who went through 1 year of chemo commented on the Unjury protein powder I had given her, that it was good for those days she didn't want to eat. I use it b/c of my gastric bypass but it is medical grade whey isolate powder. www.unjury.com is the only source that I know of. You can order a sampler pack, which I did, so see which flavors you prefer. I prefer the unflavored and the chicken soup but that's just me. They have guidelines on their site for various conditions, what is the recommended protein amount. It is not the cheapest protein powder but it is guaranteed to be free of Chinese ingredients, which is important to me as I will be on it the rest of my life. I had 3 cats get sick (1 died) from the contaminated Chinese melamine powder in the pet food stuff they sold us a few years ago.
>> I had 3 cats get sick (1 died) from the contaminated Chinese melamine powder in the pet food stuff they sold us a few years ago
Oh, dear. One of things I meant to ask the surgeon, but forgot, is that my prior cat, Annie (my darling little girl) died of a tumor. I just wonder if her tumor and mine are in any way related. I wonder if there is mold in this house, or something.
I'm sorry to hear about your cats, particularly the one who died. That's a tragedy. I'll check the protein power. I've been looking for a good one (thanks).
I was on a totally different regime (ABVD - adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and doxorubicin) where I had an infusion every other Friday for 5 - 7 hours for 6 months. Everyone's bodies react differently - I know others with a much lower stage who couldn't work or only could work part time during their treatment while I worked full time (with naps, thanks to wonderfully supportive supervisors). I got side effects that few others with the same treatment got, but avoided some than many people get. It's so hard to say what will happen.. but some general tips:
I took compazine with zofran to help with breakthrough nausea. Even if you feel fine, don't skip a dose. The ONLY time in 6 months that I vomited from chemo was when I went to work without my pills the Monday after chemo because I thought I was fine. Mistake! I also kept Smooth Moves tea and stool softener on hand. I didn't have to use them often, but a side effect of all the anti nausea meds and the chemo itself can be constipation.
Bring food and drinks to chemo. They tend to not have anything (my cancer center had coffee/tea, gatorade, and crackers). But don't eat things that you really like. I might never be able to smell ginger ale again. You will *really* learn the full extent of smells connecting to memories with chemo. I've been out of treatment for 7 months and when my roommates have a party and they open up a bottle of gatorade for mixers, I have to go running for the bathroom.
DRINK A LOT OF WATER. Start drinking extra water the day before chemo, bring a big water bottle there, and drink even more the day after to flush your system. I'd keep a gallon jug next to my bed the two days after chemo was over.
EMLA cream is meant to numb either your port area (are you getting one? I can't recommend it enough) or where the IV is inserted. I didn't use it then, but I use it now when I get my port flushed (the thought of being stuck turns my tummy now). I didn't mind the sticks so much but anything to make you more comfortable!
I was also told that I would lose all of my hair by month 3, and came out of chemo looking like I still had a full head of hair (cutting it short helped).
Yes, I'm having a port put in, in a couple of weeks. Water and food; got it. I'm on the ACS page now. Lots of good stuff there. Lots of support. This is a big fight, isn't it?
I'm fortunate in that I didn't have IV chemo, only oral. The nausea was minimal, but I did have medication to take for those few occasions. I did have to have iron infusions which typically took up to an hour because my hemoglobin had been badly depleted by the tumor. My oncologist had a chemo center on-site and I was in with chemo patients when I went for my iron. There were baskets full of individual packs of candy, nuts, gum, mints, peanut butter crackers, fruit. There was a coffee/tea/cold drink bar. All of this was there for the taking. Need a tissue? Here you go. Want something to read? Here's a magazine. How's your IV running? Almost done. Patients were encouraged to bring a "guest" to sit with them during treatment. There were individual TV's - not that god-awful "one big TV in the middle of the room tuned to some show you wouldn't watch if you were being paid."
Everyone's cancer experience is different. All of our stories are anecdotal. Your story, when finished, will be another piece of the patchwork - integral to the whole.
It is a huge fight. ACS is great. I had ambien for sleeping. I had another for mouth sores, I didn't use that. I had two, no wait, 4 different meds to combat nausea. It seemed the side effects were worse than the symptoms.
Wow, we are on similar treatment. I am taking taxotere and carboplatin.
I have compazine and zofran (ondansetron disintegrating tabs) for nausea. No one gave me a suppository rx and I have not needed one; these two pills are doing it for me. My onc told me the key is to take one as soon as I start feeling nauseaous - letting it get out of control would be the worst thing to do.
I also have Emla cream for my port. Putting it on the first time was weird. Now I've got it figured out. I squeeze it out from the tube right over my port, so the entire area is covered with a thick layer. Then I take a folded piece of plastic wrap and put it on top, and push down on it a bit to help it go into the skin. I do this about an hour before my appointment time. It helps numb the port so it won't hurt so much when they poke me with the IV.
If you are getting a port surgically implanted, if you drive a lot I would suggest talking to the surgeon about placing it where your seatbelt won't bother it, if possible. My seatbelt drives me nuts when it bumps my port. And make sure if you are getting a port, they give you an rx for pain. Some people, their port isn't too sore afterwards, and tylenol is sufficient. Not me! I was sore as heck for a week and needed rx painkillers for 3-4 days.
They also gave me Ativan for nerves and for sleep. I haven't needed it so much lately but I definitely needed it before the first couple of appointments (I was so nervous and upset) and I've also used it to help sleep at night a few times too.
I forgot to mention; Navelbine is referred to as NavelBIND due to the constipation (sometimes severe) that it causes. Even knowing that, and thinking I was taking precautions to ward off constipation I nearly got myself in trouble. It was a bad deal. Don't really need a bowel perforation while severely neutropenic! What works for me: 1 stool softener the night before chemo, 1 in the morning, and again 1 at night. I also take a natural laxative - Senna Lax - daily AND I take my vitamins/meds twice daily with about 4 big swallows of prune juice. If you don't have any results in a day or two then up the stool softener. My bottle says up to two at a time, and some days I need two. The prune juice is every day. The Senna Lax was everyday, but I've not needed it lately. The stool softeners until you don't need them anymore. If nothing happens after 3-4 days call your doc! My doc had me on all kinds of stuff after the xrays showed impaction. bleh. When nothing worked he suggested 2oz Milk of Magnesia mixed with 2 oz of prune juice - heated. OMG! Just the thought of it makes me gag.
Drink lots of fluids.
Eat lots of fiber foods, apples are great.
Avoid things that bind, like cheese. You can have these things, but wait until your bowels are working.
Ativan is my all time favorite drug! I can take 2 and get a full 8 hourse sleep. Save them for only when you really need them because if you take them too often you could become addicted and worse yet, they won't work any more. I've had great success with Melatonin 3mg for sleep.
Also, they like to give Dexamethazone with Navelbine. It's for nausea and other side effects. I can not stand Dex. It's horrid. Makes me amped up and causes insomnia. It is not required with Navelbine, so if it causes more side effects than it cures you can ask to not have to do it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
