1st chem treatment

[westajul]

Hi,
Next monday I will have my first chemo treatment and I have a question. I live alone and I was wondering what to expect after my 1st treatment. I am anticipating becoming  pretty sick 2-3 days after the treatment and  won't feel like doing much for an additional couple of days. I am single and I am trying to anticipate what type of help I may need. I am already planning on cooking some light meals ahead of time. My family is scheduled to go on a cruise in 12 days. I have already cancelled but I really want them to go on the trip. I plan on asking a couple of friends if they can be on standby to help if I need it. Will I be able to do this one treatment on my own? I have aleady taken the week after my treatment off from work.  I am pretty independent and self sufficient but do accept help when needed. So any info would be helpful. Julie

[crecco]

  I agree that you should have no problem being by yourself. But, I feel like you should at least have someone to stop by daily just to check on you. If for nothing else, a little moral support. I too live by myself and have been on chemo almost 3 years now. But that very first go round is scary as you do not know what to expect. You need someone just to talk to if you feel like it. Also losing your hair is traumatic and it would not hurt if there was someone there as a shoulder to lean on. Throughout my first treatment, I stayed with my son and his family and am very glad that I did. It helped to keep my mind off of things that I did not want to think about.
  As it will only be for one treatment, you should be just fine, but as I said, you should have at least someone to talk to if for nothing else, support. The hair thing will happen after yout first treatment and for many, that is the hardest part. It will usually begin by the second week. If you could maybe find someone to come in and just keep you company, it may help some.
  I did not have a lot of problems either, just a few days of diahhrea after about a week, but having someone that I could talk to helped.
  I wish you the best of luck,
       Chris

[marleerose]

Have had 3 treatments to date. These ladies have captured it for you with the meds. With carbo/taxol they also give a steroid for side effects( day before and day of was my regime as well as some in the IV) These make me feel extra good the day after, but on day 2, I crash and feel emotionally not so good. I am never sick, do have cravings for specific foods, and have to remind myself to drink plenty of fluids. My side effects, bone pain and flu like, came from Neulasta injection, not the chemo. My Rx is on Thursday, so by Tuesday I am feeling on top of it and getting around pretty good. The chemo meds have a cumulative effect in your system, by the way.

[survivor_susie]

Hi,
My first treatment almost had no effect.  Days three and four after chemo I felt like my arms and legs were covered in cement blocks.  5th day, I woke up expecting the worst.  I was completely better!  I had digestion problems, but that was it.  Third treatment had yucky side effects, but not the first two.  Hope that helped.

[westajul]

Thanks...good to hear about the anti-nausea meds. I am meeting with my dr on next monday and if i agree to the chemo treatment plan...then I will have the 1st chemo treatment that day. Since I am going to the taxol/carbo lab...I am assuming that is the chemo treatment i am going to have. Another concern I have is trying to time it so the days i feel the worst after the chemo treatment fall on my days off. I have heard days 2-3 after chemo are the worse...fatigue. I have read other messages in the archives about possible side effects...so I guess I am as ready as one can be for their 1st chemo.

[slee56]

I had my second chemo on the 3rd of sept. With the 1st one July 19th i got pretty nauseated and ran out of the zofran eneded up in the er and having to get some meds from the local dr here ...this time to prevent that they gave me the aloxi( in my port iv)  which is to last for 7 days after the chemo.. so this time is going better although I still feel ill in the earlly am like morning sickness... I also take the Emend at treatment and for two days after chemo in the am  and Dexamethason 2 at treatment and then 2 a day until day 4.. ALso the bakup anti nausea pills they gave me seem to work better this time have had to take and few.. My dr told me to keep on top of the antinausea  and found that true as when i ended up running out of the meds after the 1st treatment learned to not run out .. take care and God Bless

[JC145]

Like the others, I had Emend (pill) and Aloxi.  I also had anti-nausea drugs at home for what they refer to as break thru nausea.  I really didn't need them very often .. just when I felt really nauseaus.  I preferred peanut butter/jelly, poached eggs (microwave), and plain baked potatoes with only salt (somehow they settled my stomach). I am also a firm believer in cranberry juice (usually cut with a little water) .. cranberry juice is excellent for your kidneys.  Chamomille tea was also great for me.  You will experiment with food and find what suits you best, but keep the hydration going .. very important.  I got Neulasta shots after each round of chemo.  I was lucky with very few side effects, altho some ladies ended up with major bone pain.  As long as you are prepared to just focus on yourself and take life easy, you will do fine.  It's not fun by any means, but doable.  Good luck & God Bless you.  Judy

[marie3B]

What chemo drugs will you be getting??  If I read that before, I forgot.  Sorry. I had I/V taxol and I/P taxol & cisplatin.  The main thing I noticed after my first treatment was that it was easy to get dehydrated.  I was not throwing up at all, but if I was not careful to drink water and cranberry juice every couple hours I would get signs of dehydration. I even had to drink off and on all through the night.  I never threw up, thanks to the anti-nausea meds.  The only time I was sick to my stomach was from a partial bowel obstruction, not chemo.  I felt well enough to be alone for the first 3 cycles.  After that I think I would have been a little nervous about being alone.  I had high doses and the I/P chemo was sickening to tolerate. I think you will be fine as long as you have someone to call if you need something.  I hope the chemo goes well.  If you do feel too much nausea, call for additional or different meds.  The Emend I had was a miracle drug for me.  Some drugs work well for some and not for others.  They have so many more options now to try.  Good luck. Marie

[vegas2cr]

First off every person reacts differently to chemo.. Are you getting carbo/taxol.. Second if you have the proper anti nausea drugs you probably won't get sick... After my first chemo I felt fine, except I took neupogen injections to keep up my white blood cell count and on the 4th day my leg bones really hurt...  

I found that I could not and did not want any protein and only ate carbs... (bad for a type 1 diabetic) but it was what I wanted.. You should not have a problem taking care of yourself..

Please look at the right side of this margin and look under most viewed health pages.. listed is some of the best anti vomiting anti nausea drugs available... Speaking for myself I had emend which is a pill you take 1 hour before and then 1 a day for the next 2 days... I had @aloxi put in my IV... I never got sick one time...

Wishing you much luck.. Ronni