What is in your GO Bag?

awsmGirl
awsmGirl Member Posts: 38
edited May 2016 in Breast Cancer #1

Thinking ahead to when i will be starting Chemo in 2-3 weeks, and working on putting together a GO Bag.  I have a great tote: it's a backpack, but it also has wheels and an airport-style pull-out handle.

I am assuming that i will put in my paperwork tote, my laptop and current book, maybe a donut neck pillow and a small squishy blanket?

What did you put in your GO Bag?  

What did you WISH you had with you at Chemo sessions?  

What did you find to be really useful?

Thank you!

 

~awsmGirl

 

Comments

  • Teach76
    Teach76 Member Posts: 354 Member
    #2
    GO bag

    One of the things I found most helpful was a sweater.  I found myself, especially my arms, cold.  I used to put it on backwards for easy removal if I got hot.  It depends on your chemo cocktail - mine was taxotere and cytoxin.  I also took small snacks - peanut butter crackers, fruit, etc.  I was usually there 4-5 hours and generally over lunch. I had someone with me for each infusion, so we would have lunch together.

    As to what I wish I had taken - my slippers!!!!!  Once home I always slipped them on, but never thought to take them just to be comfy.

    After 4 months going every 3 weeks, it now seems like it was no time at all. (Just finished in November, surgery in March, and waiting to start radiation now.). I wish you the best, try to be patient . . . . . . I was diagnosed last June, began treatment in July! and I am still in treatment.  Unexpected turns will happen, just take one day/appointment at a time.

     

     

  • desertgirl947
    desertgirl947 Member Posts: 653 Member
    #3
    What did you WISH you had

    What did you WISH you had with you at Chemo sessions?  

    • I don't think I lacked anything.  I had a black bag I used (four compartments).  In it I kept a small clip board with paper on it to write down questions I might have for my med people.  I had some puzzle books, along with a pen/pencil.  I had my Kindle.  Initially I took snacks -- but where I had chemo, the facility provided snacks and drinks.  I never cared to eat whatever I might have brought from home.  The room where I had my infusions had a small TV.  I tended to watch HGTV while working on puzzles.  Usually I had someone who came along and stayed.  I think we visited more than anything else.  The facility had blankets (never needed one) and pillows (rarely bothered with one).

    What did you find to be really useful?

    • Having friends/acquaintances along who would stay.  That may seem an odd thing, but it was a great way to pass the time and take my mind off why I was there.  It also was a great way to get to know some of these people better.  Also, when I was doing the taxol, I felt well enough to eat more normally.  My companion was the one to go on a lunch run for us -- I bought, as someone had given me money towards expenses, whether travel or food.  Fast food was more appealing to me than my bringing something from home.  I thought ahead of time to keep a list of what I would want from which restaurant, since I was not going out and did not want to depend on my memory.  Having one of my good friends with me several times was also handy in that I had a reaction two different days to the taxol, and she was quick to get the attention of the nurses.
  • awsmGirl
    awsmGirl Member Posts: 38
    #4
    Thanks, great feedback!

    I sincerely appreciate it, and please, keep the good ideas coming!

    :D

     

    ~awsmGirl

  • disneyfan2008
    disneyfan2008 Member Posts: 6,583 Member
    edited May 2016 #5
    NO experience with Chemo-but

    NO experience with Chemo-but I am sure others here will have suggetions.

  • Kiki2016
    Kiki2016 Member Posts: 31
    #6
    Go bag

    hi, I brought a pair of soft, comfy socks, a travel blanket, a book, snacks, and coconut water to keep me hydrated.  Good luck!

  • button2
    button2 Member Posts: 421
    edited May 2016 #7
    More ideas...

    Lots of silly celebrity magazines and an MP3 player (I like rock music to soothe me NOT "hospital" music which grates on my nerves....)

  • dpletzke
    dpletzke Member Posts: 11
    #8
    Go Bag contents

    blanket

    candy

    water

    book

    phone

    coloring books and gel pens

    clip board and paper

     

  • LanieM414
    LanieM414 Member Posts: 2
    edited June 2016 #9
    My Chemo bag has

    a soft blanket, ipad with headphones, crossword puzzles, water bottle, small snacks and my medical binder. The Cancer Center I go to has wifi and tv.

  • chanks0035
    chanks0035 Member Posts: 1
    #10
    GO bag

    adult coloring book and gel pens, small blanket, book/ipad--those are my standards

  • peony
    peony Member Posts: 306 Member
    #11
    Audio books

    The benedryl would make me sleepy, but I would listen to audio books and podcasts (they had wifi also). I also carried my own tea bags.

  • camul
    camul Member Posts: 2,537
    edited June 2016 #12
    I didn't even think of one.

    I would stop and pick up soup/sandwich usually and whatever book I was reading, or at Christmas I would do cross stitch stocking or pillows, or nothing if I was not feeling good and I would curl up in the recliner and sleep.  I had 2 1/3 years of weekly chemo that took between 2-3 hours for all but one kind, that one was about 1 1/3 hours.  Usually, I visited.  I made a lot of new friends, it became a social outing, and sometimes we would have lunch before or after, mostly depended on his I felt or them.

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