2 Chemo treatments under my belt

thruby
thruby Member Posts: 7
in Colorectal Cancer #1

It feels so good to be underway with treatment since my stage 3 diagnosis in early September.  I had the port installed and all is good with that and the pump is so much more tolerable then I thought it would be.  I have been back to work and I am actually getting back to my weekly volleyball games and daily workouts and that is a great feeling.  So far I haven't really found the need to slowdown which I know is probably short lived but I am enjoying it while I can.  I find cold sensitivity is a big pain in the butt and it lasts way longer than the five days my nurse told me it would. 

I am finding great advice and words of wisdom on this site and I thank you all for that.

 

Terri

 

Comments

  • ellend
    ellend Member Posts: 109 Member
    edited November 2016 #2
    finishing 8th and final chemo

    I'm glad to hear you are tolerating the chemo well. I did pretty well with it, just got a bit more fatigued after the 5th or 6th treatment. Sounds like you are more active than I am, so you may not feel the effects of fatigue as much as I do. I also had some trouble sleeping through the night, which definitely doesn't help.

    The cold sensitivity is definitely a pain, but it did seem to get better the 2nd week, but never went completely away for me before I had to get the next treatment. I'll have to see if it does go away now that I'm done. The other thing that popped up that I hope you don't experience is jaw pain when chewing. It only lasts for a couple of bites, but that is bad enough.

    Good luck with your treatment and I hope you continue to have minimal side effects.

    Regards,

    Ellen

  • thruby
    thruby Member Posts: 7
    edited November 2016 #3
    ellend said:

    finishing 8th and final chemo

    I'm glad to hear you are tolerating the chemo well. I did pretty well with it, just got a bit more fatigued after the 5th or 6th treatment. Sounds like you are more active than I am, so you may not feel the effects of fatigue as much as I do. I also had some trouble sleeping through the night, which definitely doesn't help.

    The cold sensitivity is definitely a pain, but it did seem to get better the 2nd week, but never went completely away for me before I had to get the next treatment. I'll have to see if it does go away now that I'm done. The other thing that popped up that I hope you don't experience is jaw pain when chewing. It only lasts for a couple of bites, but that is bad enough.

    Good luck with your treatment and I hope you continue to have minimal side effects.

    Regards,

    Ellen

    Ellen,

    Ellen,

    Thanks for your response. Falling asleep is my problem but it hasn't caused too much fatique.  I do have the jaw pain and also ulcers on my gums.  LIke you said the pain is just in the first few bites.  I did get miracle mouth wash but I think I prefer the pain over the mouth numbing feeling. It's funny, as i start listing out all of I have experienced from chemo I guess it is quite a bit. I think having three really active kids doesn't allow me the time to think about my ailments and helps me to minimize them.

  • NewHere
    NewHere Member Posts: 1,427 Member
    #4
    The Treatments Go Quickly

    I had them all mapped out on the calender on my iPhone thinking "Wow, long time," and then it was done.  I did pretty well with it.  Infusion and pump was fine, did not start getting tired until about the 7th-8th treatment starting two days after disconnect.  Had every side effect, but minimal.  Hiccups, two days the entire time.  Etc.  Lost body hair, auto manscaping :)  Did have the cold sensiitivty the entire run, usually the few days of hook up being the worst.  Had weird sensation after disconnect, like eating slushies is the only way to describe it, the last 4 treatments or so.  The peripheral neuropathy was the big one.  I got taken off the Ox after using it in 8 of my first 9 treatments.  Please make sure to track that and let your Onc know.

    The way it was explained to me is that trying to get 8 of 12 in with Ox was the goal, the rest was gravy in terms of benefit/risk of long term peripheral neuropathy vs cancer.  I still have it 15 months after being done with chemo.  Hands not too bad, but feet still funky.  Not enough to affect anything in terms of walking, running etc, but kind of tingly and I usually wear socks all the time becuase it cuts down the weird feeling. Beforehand I would wear sandals in the winter unless the snow was deep or REALLY cold out.  

    Keep as active as possible and do the things you like to do.  Even if that means being a tad selfish for some "you" time.  

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,796 Member
    edited November 2016 #5
    thruby said:

    Ellen,

    Ellen,

    Thanks for your response. Falling asleep is my problem but it hasn't caused too much fatique.  I do have the jaw pain and also ulcers on my gums.  LIke you said the pain is just in the first few bites.  I did get miracle mouth wash but I think I prefer the pain over the mouth numbing feeling. It's funny, as i start listing out all of I have experienced from chemo I guess it is quite a bit. I think having three really active kids doesn't allow me the time to think about my ailments and helps me to minimize them.

    Baking soda and salt

    I took a combo of baking soda and salt for my mouth ulcers. Swish don't swallow and it worked like a dream. If you swish with it every day, regardless of wither you have ulcers or not, it can keep them from occuring. 

    I'm trying to think of the amount. One cup of warm water, 1.5 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I think that is the right way around. 

    SUE

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