Well I started chemo last week and have been very luck up to yesterday. Man oh man does this stuff suck. Can't tell if I am coming or going most of the time and just moving hurts. I am trying to push through this but not being very successful, so today I have decided that I am going to just relax and let the stuff do what it is going to do. Anyone have any recommendations on how to deal with it would be helpful. I have a feeling I will be sleeping a lot today as well.
Thanks,
Scott
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My husband found it awful, too. He found the day after chemo tolerable, but the next two days intolerable. He would just lie in a trance, watch TV; he told me every cell in his body hurt. Then, it would start to get better. They say drinking a lot of fluid helps.
He had two of a planned four dreadful infusions (They had to stop it due to neuropathy), but the plus side is this: his hair grew back, he feels great again, he has been lung cancer free since 12/06. So, if the chemo means you can be cured, find a way to suck it up. This too shall pass. Wishing you a total recovery.
Hello Scott;
I am so sorry you aren't feeling well. Your body is obviously going through alot right now fighting the cancer, adjusting to the toxins attacking the cancer.
"Fighting" it mentally will only stress you out which will make you feel sicker, so try to relax by thinking of things that mentally "take you away" to a happier place / time / or your fantasy place. Take slow deep breaths and work towards the calm. Something I did when I started feeling stress was lie back in my recliner, dim all lights, close my eyes, picture an ocean horizon, and calmly, quietly repeat the word "peace' over and over, breathing softly. Eventually you will be able to feel the calm steal over your body. Another technique is to "picture" your breath as you breathe 'good" in and breathe out the junk...just concentrate on slow, comfortable breathing.
You will get through this time in your life. Be selfish a little and do what pleases you. Sleep if you want to; watch tv at 3 am if you want to...the bible and prayer helped me tremendously and still does, every single day.
BTW, Lilburn/lawrenceville was where I was raised...back when Jimmy Carter Blvd was named Old Norcross Rd....and was DIRT. :)
God bless you,
Ellen
ps...remember to drink lots and lots of water to flush out the kidneys!
hey, Scott,
aw, buddy, I'm so sorry this is hitting you so hard! I have a couple of thoughts for you -
First - www.chemocare.com gives a lot of ideas on what to do about side effects. The most important thing is if you have any doubts, call the onc nurses and ask "is this normal?"
Second - there are a lot of studies that indicate the best way to fight the fatigue is with light exercise, like taking a little walk. This worked well with my dad. Now the bad news is you need to cover up if you go outside - you will be hyper-sensitive to the sunlight.
Third - look at this whole thing from another angle - if the crap wasn't working, you wouldn't be feeling like dogfood right now.
Fourth - you need to drink enough water to flush the crap out. Your onc should've give you guidelines. This isn't one of those optional things.....
Fifth - I know you feel like crap - you need to eat to keep up your strength. Figure out what you can keep down and start grazing. Big meals will be totally unappealing. Eat something every hour. You will identify tastes that are totally ugly (don't eat those) and those that are either uninteresting or good (eat those). Proteins and veggies would be best for you.
Sixth - if you need to sleep, sleep. Don't feel guilty - you're getting better.
Seventh - I recommend the Young and the Restless. Totally addictive. General Hospital is pretty good too. We won't tell if you start watching Oprah, either! Just kidding (you can't forget to laugh!!!)
I really really really hope you start feeling yourself real soon!!!
Hugs
Pat
Just take one day at a time, be sure to get up shower and then do a little at a time .. get up and move around go out side even if its for a few min and then eat a little and then rest,, plenty of fluids, wter propel gatoraid...when you have the fatique thats all you can do .. the good news id usually after the week you get back to your old self before the next round of chemo.. so hang in there.. '
god bless
Lisa
Hi Scott,
I have just started this week too, so I know exactly how you are feeling, just gotta keep believing that crap that they put in us is actually doing us some good, but i wouldn't go with Pat's advice and "watch the young and the restless" , THAT will kill you.
All the best and keep on smiling
Michael
You should really rest and do what you feel up to doing. My husband had a rough time with chemo as well. After each round, the norm was a 5-day loss from work. Thank God he worked for family, and they were truly understanding.
Drink plenty of fluids, try to eat what you can, and just go with the flow. I will agree that it is very hard, but the benefits are worth it. This is a temporary event, and too will pass. You will get through, and we are all with you.
God bless!
Thanks for the replies, I made it through yesterday, not too bad today but still very tired and my legs are just numb all the time, and when I walk on carpet it feels like little pins (don't hurt) are on the bottom. Talked to the ONC and this is normal reactions, they are glad that I have not lost my appetite (guess I am too) but everything tastes like cardboard, the only taste I really get is from the smell of things not from placing it in my mouth. Well let's see what today brings and see about maybe getting out of the house for a little while today (if I can)
Hey There Scott,
I have ESCLC. I was DX with it, back in, Dec. of 2007. It had already mest. to my liver and bones. I also have Emphasema. I am on oxygen 24/7 with only a 30% lung capacity. Thus, since the end of 12.07, I have already complted 6 chemo sessions. The side effects of the chemo on myself were: extreme fatique, hair loss, appetite being decreased, being nauseated. But, on the last day (during any session) of any given chemo treatment, I was given an infusion of this medicine for nausea. It is known to last for 5 days. I tell you what, Scott. That stuff was great. It lasted far more than that time with me. Other than that, chemo didn't bother me much. My first scan results were wondereful.
The results were: my lung cancer had decresed a ton, so had the lesions/tumors in my liver and bones. No more growth was seen. We were keeping it all at bay it semmed like. I reckon I was in sort of a remission. My Dr. said it was a miracle.
I had my second scans done. With a request from me, to have my brain scanned. I just had a feeling about this being done. I call it my intuition. All my scan results came back within 24 hr. Bad news my Dr. told me. They found 3 lesions in my brain. But, I caught them early on, and that my intution may have saved my life. They are small. Ranging from 9 ( being the largest) down to 4. I asked her what is the plan of treatment for me, now. She told me, "Whole Brain Radiation treatments." She said they would contact me straight away in radiology. Which they did.
I met with the head of Radiology Dr. We had a good talk about it all. He said that scans can sure enough show what is in the brain. However, sometimes where there is like 3 seen, there can be many more of them that the scans do not pick up. He didn't want to be surprized by my having like 33 lesions on my brain. So, he ordered me to have an MRI of my brain. before he starts the radiation treatments on me.
I had the MRI done that next morning. That same day I met with this Dr. He said I didn't have 3 lesions, but 13 of them. I was then told I would be receiving 15 WBR treatments. That meant, every day I go in there to have a treatment. My last one is on the 28th of July. Yipee!
My Oncologist told me, that the very day I am done with my radiation, I am to start on chemo treatments again. Lord have mercy. That is because all the cancer inside me is still growing. At least all of my treatments are inside the same cancer center I go to.
Today, I am really feeling the side effects from my radiation treatments. I am so very fatique/tired. Plus, I'm an insulin diabetic. And, the steroids I was about to be getting for my brain swelling, has screwed up my blood sugar readings. I had to meet with my Endcoligist Dr. My insulin amounts had to be reset, before I even started the steroid medicine. My BS numbers are still too high. I had to have my insulin amounts once again uped for me. I'm having far too many high and low blood sugar readings. I am constintley taking my blood readings. What a true balancing act it all is for me. But, I'm going to make it. I must. I don't want to die from complications of my diabetes now, do I? I think not.
Oh, and today? Well, I have a pain pump inside myself. It seems it isn't working. When it was put into me, (not by this Dr. I have now) it was put in a bad position. It is always flopping over. It is believed that the catheter tubing is wrapping around the unit itself. Great, huh? Not!
So, now I have a Monday appointment at one of our hospital's here, to have it checked out. I will have to have surgery again, to re-position it correctly in myself., no doubt. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So, when I am to have my last radiation treatment done on me. Then, after that, (upstairs in my cancer center there) I am to start my chemo sessions. I sure better pack a lunch, I reckon.
By the way. Not that it really matters to me. But, last night almost every bit of my hair came out. Go figure.
Dang radiation treatments.
My advice to you Scott is, rest up. Ask about that infusion for nausea, if you do start to have a problem with it. And, as others have encouraged you to do on here. Do drink tons of water and eat smaller meals through out the day and night. Other than that, try and keep a good attitude and have faith, that this too shall pass.
We all have to do what we have to do, to get and stay better, health wise. I take my sons IPOD and watch me a movie during my chemo sessions. That sure helps pass that time for me. I plan on fighting and out living this monster cancer inside me, friend. You do the same.
May God Bless and watch over you and your loved ones, Scott. Hugs to you. I pray that your journey has great results for you.
My Very Best to You,
Rosie
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