First Chemo Today

Mickeyw
Mickeyw Member Posts: 28
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Stage 2 Type 3 N=0 M=0 Removed Labroscopically 12.20.06.


I am amazed at my afternoon so far after gettting home from first FolFox treatment about noon today. I feel better now than I have for the past 4 or five days. I know that I will most likely begin to see some of the sides, but as of yet nothing. No cold sensitivity, I just ate ice cream, no naps today, and I love a nap. I pray that I might be one of those who can skate through this with little problems. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Comments

  • Monicaemilia
    Monicaemilia Member Posts: 455 Member
    Hi Mickey: There is a very good reason why you feel so good, and that is the steroids in your pre-meds which includes the anti-nausea medication. Enjoy it for the first couple of days, and then you will be able to enjoy your naps again. I can't sleep at all the day of my chemo infusion, so I enjoy some bad night time tv. You have a great attitude. Monica
  • JADot
    JADot Member Posts: 709 Member
    Hi there, I am a fellow stage-IIer, alos T2N0M0 and started chemo at about the same time last year. Had 6 months of Folfox.

    I was on the other end of the feel good spectrum. I opted out of one of the nausea drugs which Monica referred to. I asked to be taken off of decadron, so I threw up badly for 3 days after every treatment. I thought throwing up was easy but steroids, I didn't want to deal with.

    So I got peace of mind by throwing up and got a lot of sympathy from my family and friends who saw me with double-lined waste baskets all around my house :-)

    I was quite amazed how much my oncologist let me do my own thing.

    I am so glad you're feeling so grand!!!

    Enjoy!
    Ying
  • Mickeyw
    Mickeyw Member Posts: 28

    Hi Mickey: There is a very good reason why you feel so good, and that is the steroids in your pre-meds which includes the anti-nausea medication. Enjoy it for the first couple of days, and then you will be able to enjoy your naps again. I can't sleep at all the day of my chemo infusion, so I enjoy some bad night time tv. You have a great attitude. Monica

    Hi Monica.
    I'll get ready for bad TV tonight then. I have already about decided to hang in the recliner tonight and tomorrow night because of the pump that has to run for 48 hours with the 5FU. The worst nighttime TV is the colon cleansing commercial. I chuckle that someone can try to convince me to fight cancer with enemas. I don't doubt that cleansing the colon is a good idea, but I got a good cleaning Dec 14th before the colonoscopy and then another Dec 20th before the surgery.
    Thanks for you input, very informative.
  • 2bhealed
    2bhealed Member Posts: 2,064 Member
    Mickeyw said:

    Hi Monica.
    I'll get ready for bad TV tonight then. I have already about decided to hang in the recliner tonight and tomorrow night because of the pump that has to run for 48 hours with the 5FU. The worst nighttime TV is the colon cleansing commercial. I chuckle that someone can try to convince me to fight cancer with enemas. I don't doubt that cleansing the colon is a good idea, but I got a good cleaning Dec 14th before the colonoscopy and then another Dec 20th before the surgery.
    Thanks for you input, very informative.

    I wish someone could convince you to fight cancer by not eating ice cream though.

    Besides being full of sugar (even the aspartame laden ones are toxic) it is mucus forming which is not good for the colon. Cancer feeds on sugar.

    I hope you rethink that one. How 'bout a blueberry (cancer fighting antioxidants) smoothie with flax oil (cancer fighting) and protein powder with some green powder added in for extra good measure! Better than ice cream any day!

    peace, emily who did plenty of coffee enemas in her day and remains cancer free after 5 1/2 years
  • scouty
    scouty Member Posts: 1,965 Member
    You actually ate ice cream the day of your chemo treatment? WOW, you don't get it do you.

    Lisa P.
  • jams67
    jams67 Member Posts: 925 Member
    Mickeyw said:

    Hi Monica.
    I'll get ready for bad TV tonight then. I have already about decided to hang in the recliner tonight and tomorrow night because of the pump that has to run for 48 hours with the 5FU. The worst nighttime TV is the colon cleansing commercial. I chuckle that someone can try to convince me to fight cancer with enemas. I don't doubt that cleansing the colon is a good idea, but I got a good cleaning Dec 14th before the colonoscopy and then another Dec 20th before the surgery.
    Thanks for you input, very informative.

    The pump made so much noice that I finally put it in a drawer next to my bead and almost closed the drawer. Also, slept with a pillow over it to drowned out the sound. The clicking sound it makes sounds like a camera taking a picture. I kept dreaming I was a model for the colon calander 2008.
    On a more serious note, let us know how things are going. jams
  • JADot
    JADot Member Posts: 709 Member
    2bhealed said:

    I wish someone could convince you to fight cancer by not eating ice cream though.

    Besides being full of sugar (even the aspartame laden ones are toxic) it is mucus forming which is not good for the colon. Cancer feeds on sugar.

    I hope you rethink that one. How 'bout a blueberry (cancer fighting antioxidants) smoothie with flax oil (cancer fighting) and protein powder with some green powder added in for extra good measure! Better than ice cream any day!

    peace, emily who did plenty of coffee enemas in her day and remains cancer free after 5 1/2 years

    Emily,

    It's good to see you chiming in. I wrote Mickey an email but decided not to send it at the end. I was putting on my best concerned voice to say that ice cream is not even in the top 100 things that's good for this time, or ever, if you really look at it.

    Mickey, please please get yourself a copy of Patrick Quillin's book "Fighting Cancer with Nutrition" and see why we're so worried.

    If you've ever seen the lovely movie Monsters Inc, you know their motto "We scare because we care!" - that's why :)

    Take good care of yourself!
    Ying
  • Mickeyw
    Mickeyw Member Posts: 28
    JADot said:

    Emily,

    It's good to see you chiming in. I wrote Mickey an email but decided not to send it at the end. I was putting on my best concerned voice to say that ice cream is not even in the top 100 things that's good for this time, or ever, if you really look at it.

    Mickey, please please get yourself a copy of Patrick Quillin's book "Fighting Cancer with Nutrition" and see why we're so worried.

    If you've ever seen the lovely movie Monsters Inc, you know their motto "We scare because we care!" - that's why :)

    Take good care of yourself!
    Ying

    Wow, I have never gotten such a nice
    butt-chewing. I will certainly get the book.
  • jams67
    jams67 Member Posts: 925 Member
    Mickey, I remember stopping to get a milkshake after one of my chemo treatments. It tasted funny but that wasn't the worse part. It numbed my mouth and tongue so that I had to work to form words. I sounded like I was drunk. Very wierd sensation. jams
  • vinny3
    vinny3 Member Posts: 928 Member
    Hi Mickey

    It's great that you feel well but some of that is likely the steroid euphoria. The side effects of the oxaliplatin are cumulative. The first few treatments you may not notice so much and they don't last that long. Usually I felt the worse on the day they removed the pump and for several days after that.
    As far as diet there is good evidence, especially for gastrointestinal cancers that there is a relationship. In addition, it is pretty well accepted that mutations that can lead to cancer, develop in people on a daily basis but that our immune systems can usually handle them and prevent the cancer from developing. Cancer cells also metabolize faster than most other cells and thus things that are absorbed quickly, like sugar, help to "feed" those cells. Whole grains, and fruits and vegetables have fiber and antioxidants which help moderate the action of the bowel and help the immune system. As much reading and asking questions that you can do on this may affect your long-term survival.

    Here's hoping that the rest of your treatments go well.

    ****
  • StacyGleaso
    StacyGleaso Member Posts: 1,233 Member
    Mickey,

    I am happy your first day of chemo went well! There is no saying you will ever get side effects (I didn't have any!), and I love your optimistic outlook! Take each day as it comes, and each milestone as something to be celebrated!

    All my best,

    Stacy

    P.S. I won't yell at you for eating ice cream! lol
  • kerry
    kerry Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    Mickey,

    So glad you are feeling well with your first treatment of chemo. Attitude is half the battle and you have that part won. Let us know how you are doing. Glad you could indulge yourself in that one ice cream becuase the cold sensitivity should set in soon.

    My best wishes to you.

    Kerry

    P.S. I won't yell at you for eating ice cream either! lol
  • JADot
    JADot Member Posts: 709 Member
    Hi Mickey,

    The thing that really helped me through chemo and feeling great was exercise. Mild exercise has so many benefits, oxygen to alkalinize, burns up blood sugar, serotonin, it goes on and on. I had very bad nuropathy so I used to walk with a bank robbers mask :-) In the summer I was also able to swim in my own unheated pool, which in N. California, is not warm at all. I remember my first swim while on chemo, I thought I was just the healthiest, happiest and the coolest person on earth. It did so much to remind me the joy of living and why we fight the beast.

    Oh, another thing - plan a heck of a gift for yourself to mark the end of chemo. Start shopping now!

    Cheers,
    Ying
  • Frances4
    Frances4 Member Posts: 5
    JADot said:

    Hi Mickey,

    The thing that really helped me through chemo and feeling great was exercise. Mild exercise has so many benefits, oxygen to alkalinize, burns up blood sugar, serotonin, it goes on and on. I had very bad nuropathy so I used to walk with a bank robbers mask :-) In the summer I was also able to swim in my own unheated pool, which in N. California, is not warm at all. I remember my first swim while on chemo, I thought I was just the healthiest, happiest and the coolest person on earth. It did so much to remind me the joy of living and why we fight the beast.

    Oh, another thing - plan a heck of a gift for yourself to mark the end of chemo. Start shopping now!

    Cheers,
    Ying

    Hi Mickey. I just started the same Folfox chemo last month and doing okay. I'm 10 years older than you but feel that I can handle what ever it brings. Let's just think of it as an adventure because each week is different. Love my naps also! {and ice cream} Take care!