1st Chemo

I put lidocaine on my port and covered in in Serran wrap up to an hour before my labs were taken. It helped a bit with the sting of injectioN. I guess I'm unique. I never had the nulasta shot and my levels stayed fine. 

Maryanne YOU DID IT

Sounds like you did a GREAT JOB preparing and getting through your 1st treatment- you will find it much easier next time I think.

I also use the lidocaine on m port and cover with Serran wrap like Soup52- it helps so much!!!  I love my port- they can do everything with it and save your veins.

I had to do the neulasta from my 3rd treatment.  It doesn't hurt any more than being snapped with a rubberband.  I REALLY needed the claritin so glad you have it.

When you start the taxol they will start another set of drugs to keep you from having a reaction- that adds time.  I was usually in the treatment room for about 5 hours.  I watched a lady throw a fit one day because she hadn't taken into acct the added time from the other drugs.  Just wanted you to be prepared.

I thought of you as I got my IV therapy and first thing today.  Wishing you an easy day.  Thank you for letting us know how you did!  (((HUGS)))

Glad you made it through the first one in good shape.  I have,used Biotene from the very beginning and I have never had any mouth sores.  It sounds like you have done your homework and are well prepared.  I often lost my appelite after a few days and could not taste salt.  Watermelon cantaloupe, and fruit smoothies work well for,hydration, when you need a little extra.

Hgs and prayers, Lou Ann

Maryanne,  Glad you got through your first chemo.  As others have said the addition of the taxol may be the one that makes you lose your hair but it could also cause the body to hurt too.  It kinda feels like you worked out to hard or coming down with the flu.  What hurt most on me was about the 3rd day through day 7 that everything was just achy.  Oh yeah, the taste buds change too.  I did not get mouth sores and I really ate when ever I was hungry and ate what I thought I could handle.  Glad you talked with the dietian and they gave pointers.  The one thing I ate all the time before cancer was peanut butter and pinnapple jelly on toast.  I tried to eat that after chemo and it was one of the off days with dead taste buds, it was awful and made me so nauseous that to this day I cannot eat either one of them and even the smell of peanut butter makes me sick.  I hate that.  So my warning is wait to eat your favorite foods on day 18, 19 or 20 before the next chemo treatment.  It is so much easier with the port, you can also ask if the nurses can spray the area with cold numbing spray before they stick you.  Let us know how you are feeling and know that I am praying for you.  trish

It's great to hear that the first infusion went well! I agree with everyone else on their recommendations. My onc nurses also advised that I stay away from raw foods (like salads, sushi, etc.) unless I was the one cleaning/preparing them. I guess it was because of the risk of germ contamination. They said that raw fruits with thick skins were fine to eat (after washing them well, of course) since the germs would be on the skins that are thrown away and not eaten. Hope that you continue to feel well and experience no bad side effects! Kim

Mmpeterson said:

I have a journal as of

I have a journal as of yesterday to keep up with what I do daily so I can see a pattern with my treatment.  I thought this would help to plan things around the "bad days, tired days".  Also keeping track of how much water I drink.  I think yesterday I had 160 ounces!!  Went to the bathroom couple times last night but slept pretty good except for a little sweating.  My Lexapro seems to help me sleep and keep most of the hot flashes under control.  I have disinfected the bathroom and kitchen before I left for Dallas and today washing my bedding in hot water.  I had my flu shot in the hospital so that worked out good and just trying to not touch my face and washing my hands a lot along with using purell hand santizer.  Maryanne

I'd like to suggest that you get a small package of Poise pads to wear at night for a day or two after each of your remaining infusions. Between all of the fluids you're drinking and the cummulative effects of the chemo drugs, you may find yourself waking from a sound sleep with urgency in the nights right after an infusion. Having a pad on will help you to not rush and potentially injure yourself trying to get to the bathroom in a hurry when you're still half asleep. I'm suggesting this from my own personal experience (I fell), but haven't really seen anybody else bring up that they had this kind of issue during chemo. Is it just me?

Mmpeterson said:

I saw on my appt that it will

I saw on my appt that it will be about 5 hrs; carboplatin will be 30 min and taxol 4 hrs plus all the pre and post infustion meds I need to have.  I do have the lidocaine cream and they said to put that on 30 min before infusion to help numb the port site.  Saran wrap is a good idea that some of the ladies told me about so the cream doesn't rub off.  I also have printed out a Chemo Calendar (yes I am a type A personality, lol) which I am keeping notes on how my days go especially when they add the Taxol.  I do have a question:  how many of you went back to work while on chemo, I am hoping in Dec going back part time?  Maryanne

I went back to work right away.  I scheduled chemo for Wednesday.  Felt fine for Thursday and Friday.  Pain and side effects hit Friday night and by Monday I was feeling tired but good enough to go back.  I taught school for the,first two years that I was reacieving treatment.  I did have,much support from fellow.teachers and my kiddos were wonderfu.  They kept me going because I never had time to think about myself or the cancer word.

Lou Ann

I work from home and could manage my own hours, so that was a great blessing. With that said I was on the tri-weekly treatment schedule, and worked all the way through chemotherapy (June-Sept.). I had an infusion every third Thursday, would lose that day (unless my treatment was scheduled for the afternoon/evening), would often do some work on Friday (but always had the Neulasta appointment, and sometimes had a low-grade fever), usually was down feeling miserable Saturday, and would also lie low on Sunday, often struggling with that severe constipation from anti-nauseau meds. Monday morning I'd be fine to work. My voice was supressed for a couple of days, but I could still talk on the phone.

The most gnarly times were the weekends of treatment, and there were also periods mid-cycle when the diarrhea would hit without warning. Otherwise, things were okay for me and work.

Mmpeterson said:

I saw on my appt that it will

I saw on my appt that it will be about 5 hrs; carboplatin will be 30 min and taxol 4 hrs plus all the pre and post infustion meds I need to have.  I do have the lidocaine cream and they said to put that on 30 min before infusion to help numb the port site.  Saran wrap is a good idea that some of the ladies told me about so the cream doesn't rub off.  I also have printed out a Chemo Calendar (yes I am a type A personality, lol) which I am keeping notes on how my days go especially when they add the Taxol.  I do have a question:  how many of you went back to work while on chemo, I am hoping in Dec going back part time?  Maryanne

I am self-employed but also work for someone else part-time.  I did do some work while I was on chemo.  My infusions were on Fridays, so my weekends were good, Monday and Tuesdays were usually low energy days, but the rest of the time I generally felt well enough to do some work.

Thanks for this post.

I've been reading through all the old posts about first chemo sessions in preparation for my mom's upcoming first chemo session this Monday 10/31/16 at 12:45 PM. They said it will take 4 hours. Is that time about right? Any last suggestions on how we should prepare? The doctor says she won't need a port and so she will be getting her chemo via an IV in her hand/arm, so I'm hoping there are no lasting repercussions with that.

So important stuff beforehand: Miralax, colace, senokot, extra layers of clothes during chemo, make sure to hydrate well before hand, and eat breakfast (any suggestions?)

Best,
Rebecca