Another new member...

Well AK , depending on your
Well AK , depending on your work schedule, you might want to be sure you have your days off after the treatment. I felt fine the day of, and the day after,but started feeling a little tired and had some diarea on the third day. You need to plan for time off after the first treatment until you see how it goes. You may be too tired and nauseated to do anything but sleep. Everyone is different. And be prepared with soft bland foods. Potatoes ,cream of wheat, rice, ....all I wanted those first days was milk, (hence the diarea, I dont recomend the milk diet!) Anyway I'm going for my 2nd chemo next week, and while I'm not working this summer, I probably could have if necessary.
Best of luck and let us know how things go for you.
Dee

Hi and sorry to hear you
Hi and sorry to hear you need chemo. As far as scheduling work and fam around it...I felt crappy the first day until about five days later. Even after feeling better I was tired for 2 more days. I actually felt worse bedore I got better. I have heard of people feeling fine til the third day and then feeling sick. You just can't tell how it will effect you til it happens.
As far as the family I also had to plan for that, have 3 small children and a hubby. Lucky for me my parents, aunts, sisters took turns helping and I had lots of family cook and freeze dinners for me ahead of time. I am extremely lucky and wish everyone had the kind of help I got. My kids, as well as most, did not like me in bed and not doing the "mommy thing" but were excited when I said they could watch a movie with me in bed. Just a heads up too, my 2 oldest were very upset when I lost my hair. They got over it though but my 4 yr old still talking about it often. She says things like I "mommy can't be married, she doen't have any hair"
Also if you feel sick after chemo make sure to tell the doc or at my place there is a nurse line to call. They can change meds around to help you.
I did not do acupuncture but did Reike. I don't think it helped the side effects but did relax me.

Anyway good luck and let us know if you have more questions. Hope this helped a little.

Kim

outdoorgirl said:

Hi Akcopilot,
Sorry that you have to be here,but yes,we've got a wonderful group of people here who have either "been there done that",or are just going through it themselves. A very warm group of people who care about each other!
You know,this is a time when honestly,everybody's different. I don't think I personally could have handled working while going through chemo-it made me weak and tired. But I have a friend who I think just had her second round and she's still working full time and feeling great so far! Her blood counts are great and it's like she hasn't skipped a beat.
I might do what Dee said,take at least the first couple of days off and see how it goes.
Never tried acupuncture,sorry. They do have great anti-nausea drugs. And like I said everyone's different and some have gotten sick,but I kept up on the pills that they sent home with me(and they give you anti-nausea meds right before chemo)and didn't get sick once!
If you stay with this board,we will help walk you through it!

Hi AK
You want to know what to expect ... well ... it depends on your chemo and how your body handles treatment. I had a lumpectomy 1/21 and have continued to work full time through the chemo. BUT ... I know my chemo was not the "strong" stuff many women have. I had 12 weekly infusions of taxol and herceptin. There was NEVER any nausea for me. What side effects I did have were totally manageable. I only missed a couple of days of work after the lumpectomy and a couple after I had my port "installed." Other than that ... I've been fine with work... although I work at a desk all day ... so not much walking around or lifting. I was able to schedule all of my chemo treatments late in the afternoon so I didn't have to miss much work. And ... I start radiation next week ... and those appointments have also been scheduled late in the afternoon. Everyone has been great about everything. I have a terrific boss who is extremely understanding and patient. He's even been great when I ask him the same question 5 times ... because with chemo brain I couldn't remember his answers. I tried to take notes and make lists ... but then I'd go back and look at what I'd written and I didn't have a clue what I meant. Thank goodness I'm not a rocket scientist because my brain was just not working at full capacity (maybe not even half) ... and I don't think I've created any total disasters at work... at least not that anyone has told me about.

Anyway ... it all narrows down to what kind of chemo you are having ... how your body handles it ... and the type of job you have and how your boss is going to be through your treatment.

Good luck ... and let us know how things are going.

hugs.
teena

Welcome
I recently joined and have already made a lot of new friends. This is a great group of people. I scheduled all my chemo treatments for Fridays. After the treatment we'd (my Mom and I - she's 88, I'm 60) to IHOP for breakfast. This was good for about 3 or 4 of the treatments until my taste buds took a vacation and left me with cardboard food. I lived on broth, soups with soft veggies in it, jello and ice pops, and lost 50+ pounds. It took almost a month after treatments ended for the taste buds to slowly kick back in. I lost my hair after the first treatment. The chemo ended 3/6/09 and my hair is slowly growing back in. I can't wait to see what it looks like! I also worked full time during treatments. I'd basically just rest over the weekend and be ok on Monday. She (the oncologist) would put in an anti-nausea medicine before the chemo and I'd take home anti-nausea pills which lasted until Monday morning. They were great. I only got sick once and that was after the last treatment. Might just have been my body detoxing or something. Rads were great. I balked about them being so far away, but I'd work half day and head over from the office. It was a pleasant ride and the people there were great. You bond with the people in the waiting room because they are your buddies every day. You revel with them when their treatment is finished, and listen to their stories. I have never had acupuncture and after having been stuck with needles for so long, don't think I could take it.

Good luck with your treatments and again, welcome to the group!

Pat

akcopilot-welcome
Glad you found us, but sorry for the dx. I went through chemo in '07 and, out of necessity, continued to work. Working was extremely difficult for me, due to the side effects. A year later, a co-worker was dx with bc and had chemo with minimal side effects. I missed a considerable amount of work, whereas she missed very little. We couldn't have been more different, but that's how cancer and its treatments work-everything is so individual specific. I was lucky to have my daughter drive me into work, but like Pat, I scheduled my treatments for the end of the week so I would have a few days to re-couperate. My husband, because he is deafblind, could not help me much with the work situation, but he was great around the house and a great support.

What I found helpful was to assign my daughter and husband specific jobs to do around the house. I don't know the ages of your kids, but even young children can do some chores. It helps them to feel useful (and they are) and sometimes that helps them get through the trauma of mom being sick. My daughter was 18 at the time, but keeping busy helped her to cope.

We're there for you.
dmc

Hey Sheri! Just welcoming
Hey Sheri! Just welcoming you to the board. greart bunch of people in here good luck in your walk

Akiss4me said:

Welcome....
Hi, akcopilot, I too just wanted to welcome you to the group. I was able to take off work for the duration of my treatment (initally 6 months) so I am not able to help you with the scheduling part. I personally admire anyone who can work through this. I want your stamina!! My PCP is a huge fan on acupuncture. I have never tried it personally but hear it works well. Welcome and glad you found us. Pammy

Just want to welcome you too
Just want to welcome you too akcopilot! Good luck to you!

welcome akcopilot
although I can only concur with all that has been said so far, I want to welcome you to our lovely group of survivors here. I did work throughout chemo and radiation, just taking Friday off for the chemo because it usually took about 4 or 5 hours each time.
You have a positive attitude and I believe that helps tremendously in your recovery.
I am also in California, SoCal to be more exact, and yes, we have beautiful sunny weather right now.
Take care and keep us posted.
=^..^=

Hi akcopilot! Welcome to
Hi akcopilot! Welcome to the site! Can't help you about chemo, I didn't have it, but, others here can help you with those questions. Just want to say good luck to you!