Med side effects

jrj
jrj Member Posts: 3 Member
edited February 2023 in Anal Cancer #1

I am a female about to start chemo + radiation. The chemo meds are Mitomycin and Florouracil (5FU). My treatment plan is 30 rounds of radiation, with the addition of 5 days of 24 hour chemo the first and last weeks. What were your experiences?? Am I likely to have hair loss? My Oncologist has said hair thinning, but I have heard hair loss elsewhere.

Comments

  • Fengshoe
    Fengshoe Member Posts: 23 Member

    My treatment was the same as yours and completed 6 years ago. I lost most of the hair on my head, not all, but didn't lose eyelashes or eyebrows. Hair grew back within a few months. Let me know if you have further questions. Wishing you the best on your treatment.

  • jrj
    jrj Member Posts: 3 Member

    Thank you. A friend told me about cold capping, and I’m going to give that a try.

  • pializ
    pializ Member Posts: 508 Member

    Hi! I completed my treatment (same as yours) 10 years ago this month. My hair may have thinned a little, but hardly observable. I found this site just before I began treatment and trawled through what I thought would be helpful for me to prepare. Luckily my oncologist went along with my suggestions for pain relief. I was off pain relief 3 days after I competed treatment. My oncologist was sure that by being prepared with the hints and tips I found here helped me get through as well as I did. I bought a portable bidet, disposable wash cloths, used salt in the bidet, air dried. Went commando (I wore my long summer dresses), bought a very thick sheepskin to sit on. I used Candy Crush to distract me waiting for radiotherapy & made sure that I took some crackers. I stuck to a low residue low fat diet. I was prescribed antibiotics for the course of therapy, so with them, pain relief, anti nausea meds I made myself a chart and put alarms on my phone. If you are having a PIC line, buy one of the sleeves that you can use on a plastered arm so that you can continue having showers.

    There’s probably more, but it was 10 years ago. I hope some of that helps. 6 weeks seems like a long time but you’ll be surprised that once you start it goes quite quickly.

    Best wishes

    Liz

  • jrj
    jrj Member Posts: 3 Member

    Could I ask what kind of salt you used in the bidet?

  • pializ
    pializ Member Posts: 508 Member

    Just ordinary kitchen salt! Others have used oats in muslin. I guess just using water in the bidet will be fine! It’s just what I did.

  • HolyCow57
    HolyCow57 Member Posts: 2 *

    I am about to start treatment as well, same protocol mentioned here. I too am trying to be as informed as possible. I’m dreading treatment, yet anxious to get started. I’m wondering if you think multiple warm baths per day will be as effective as a bidet? Thank you.

  • Fengshoe
    Fengshoe Member Posts: 23 Member

    The only issue you may encounter will be sitting down in the tub versus being suspended above the bidet. I was unable to sit upright at the end of treatment until the skin healed. I used Domeboro soaked cloths to lay over the affected area which was soothing. I was also pretty weak and neutropenic so laying down was best. A lot will depend on the number of radiation treatments.

  • csalek
    csalek Member Posts: 23 Member

    I finished my treatment 7 yrs. ago this month. I took a bath in the tub every afternoon. I found it soothing. I did not get a bidet. I used a "she-pee" at the end when you finish your radiation and you have burns, "she -pee" helped. I bought it on Amazon they use it so woman camping can "go like men" It was a great piece of advice someone had posted on this forum.

  • JanetElizabeth
    JanetElizabeth Member Posts: 2 Member

    I just completed the same treatment plan as yours about 4 weeks ago. My oncologist said I would lose all my hair…I was devastated so I cut it to a short bob to prepare myself, then I ended up with only some light thinning. However, I did lose all the hair under my arms after the second week of chemo which was fine by me. If you do lose any hair remember that it starts to grow back pretty quickly once you complete treatment. I was lucky enough not to get any nausea but fatigue hit me hard, especially at the end. Radiation is cumulative so the worst of the burns and fatigue will hit towards the end. I took advantage of the palliative team for pain and burn management, and my burns were healed within a couple weeks. I loved the petroleum jelly soaked gauze pads when my burns were at their worst, so soothing. Make sure to ask any question you have and take advantage of all the resources available. The 6 weeks really will fly by. Feel free to reach out if you have questions and good luck to you! You got this!

  • verwal
    verwal Member Posts: 1 *

    I put bicarbonato into warm water in a bidet to pee. It neutralized the acid and allowed me to pee without pain. Hope this helps

  • AZedj
    AZedj Member Posts: 20 Member

    Nice that so many of us long term survivors are out there and so willing to help those about to embark on a tough journey. I am a 10 year survivor and am living a pretty good post cancer treatment life. I found a lot of great help on this site over the past 10 years. I am now fighting bad hip and low back pain. Seems the drs don't really understand that it is related to the radiation tx. Remember that there is a end to the treatment and life will get better.

  • Pattyeck
    Pattyeck Member Posts: 1 *

    I went through radiation with little pain for the burns which I attribute to using aloe vera spray from target. I never required the medicated burn cream. I simply made sure I was clean by bathing every day and using the spray, wearing men’s boxer style underwear to avoid elastic and recovered well. Regarding hair loss, I lost all my hair in the anal area, but only a little on my head never any eyelashes or eyebrows. The texture of my hair is what changed but it improved pretty quickly once I completed treatments.