Chemotherapy on the horizon for me. Would like to hear your experiences how is life during chemotherapy

[dorke]

How debilitating it is?

Is it possible to continue working?

Can you exercise?

Can you travel?

Keeping away from infections, how much it affects daily life? specially during COVID times...

Any tip will be greatly appreciated

😊

[Javelin18]

I was surprised at my chemotherapy side effects being as bad as I had feared. I never got nausea. I did have really bad fatigue for about 4 days then returning to my new normal level after that. I figured the lingering fatigue was due to testosterone loss from ADT treatment.

I was unusually susceptible to peripheral neuropathy, which made my feet tingle badly, and my fingers less deft. I got it following the first treatment , which my oncologist said was unusual. She suggested strap on ice packs during treatment to limit blood flow to the hands and feet. This kept it from getting worse over the remaining treatments.

[Hidden]

It's not debilitating for most. You feel sick for the first 5-7 days after infusion, then things start getting better fairly quickly. For me it was kind of like a bad cold the first week, but definitely better than some of the flu viruses I've had. Nothing worse than what you've already been through in life and probably better than many things you've been through. I had some nausea but never even used my meds for it. Never threw up.

It might be hard to work during the first week, really depends on your job. If it's a desk job, probably OK. If your job is physical, might be tough. Many working people get their infusion on Thursday so the bulk of the difficult part falls on the weekend.

I exercised during chemo and it's good to do that if you can. Might have it take it slow and rest a lot.

You can travel, although I'd avoid that first week. Actually, I'd probably avoid the first 10 days because your white counts bottom out at around 10 days so your immunities are low. With Covid, you'd have to be extra careful. But again if you go in the last part of the cycle you'll be safer.

Best to discuss with the doctor.

[Dachshundlove]

Hi Dorke

My husband worked, golfed and traveled (domestically) the entire time he was on chemotherapy. He did docetaxal with carboplatin. The side effects accumulate and during the last treatment interval he developed severe indigestion which triggered nausea. It’s important to prevent indigestion using whatever your oncologist recommends.

The side effects were very manageable. The co medications given with chemo prevent a lot of the suffering that we associate with chemotherapy. In many cases, people on chemotherapy can maintain a good quality of life because of how the drugs are administered today.

[NotAlwaysSunshine]

Other than low blood counts zero side effects. Exercise as possible. Travel if you like. Live your life. We moved my husband's office into our home. He's still working. He did early and late Chemo. Was not beneficial, unfortunately. I hope you have a really good result!

[Shooter1]

Sour kraut with kielbasa and spicy mustard chased down with ice cream. Rare beef cooked over smoky mesquite bbq fire. Pasta tasted like school house paste. I worked my schedule to allow time off starting 2 days after infusion for additional 2 days. First 2 days I was OK, but as Dex wore off, I needed 2 days to recover. Cumulative effects. After adding second line ADT after 5th cycle I needed more time and by cycle 9 I needed full week off. Best of luck to you.

[tango65]

Some info from an expert in chemo treatment in PC:

grandroundsinurology.com/dr...

[Stoneartist]

I think this varies a lot. I barely noticed the 6 sessions on Docetaxel - hair fell out of course - but it started growing again before I was finished. I had some fatigue in the second week - but nothing which stopped me working. The encouraging thing is to watch the PSA falling for every visit to chemo.

[Hidden]

7 years ago I did six courses of Docetaxal. It was mid summer in Michigan meaning very hot and humid. I continued to do my every other day 5 mile runs, etc. Never once got sick, etc. Truth be told it charged me up. You won't know until you go through it as most have completely different after effects. No big deal get it done if your MO is pushing for it. Final note: key word Neulasta®.

[GAdrummer]

This is hard to forecast: depends on when in your journey (early or late), your body's reserves, and your approach to the challenges. My husband did chemo for two years late in our journey and it was hard time because he refused to follow recommendations for limiting side effects. Superman discovered he wasn't invincible (just inconvincible). So you are smart to ask, please be smarter to believe and do the recommended chilling. Chew ice so you can continue to taste your food. Loss of the sense of touch means trouble in so many ways: dropping things, tying shoe strings, buttoning a shirt, and keyboard mishaps.

[Kittenlover50]

Other than losing hair starting the 14 th day things went well. ( you can search for chemo caps, but most don’t). He was retired but could have worked. Did haul rock in yard. Had self injecting neuralasta 24 hrs after each chemo to keep white blood cells in normal range. That can increase bone discomfort. He took clairiton 3 days before through 3 days after each treatment. Some experience hand and foot neuropathy. Many have foot things for ice ( amazon) and keep fingers in basin of ice. Also have ice in mouth during treatment, no treats, sandwiches, hot coffee or cocoa. Helps decrease taste Bud changes. He took Lions Mane, a mushroom capsule supplement. Helps with brain fog and also neuropathies. Google. He did have 2 spontaneous nosebleeds. Never felt sick though. If anyone was sick they stayed away. Kind of hard to travel in between and some caution should be taken. I would think, but we headed to Florida right after the last one.. fatigue can be an issue. Our chemo doc ( MO) actually suggested, on a nutritional level, a daily nutritional protein drink, all the time, nut just the week of chemo. Said we would need it no matter what kind of treatment we had. Lots of premade out there. I started making my own, after awhile, with plant based protein powder adding things like spinach, broccoli sprouts ( google) ( I now make my own), chia seed ( google) for energy, white mushroom, Chaga and mixed mushroom powders, ( google), red and blue frozen berries, small tangerine. Has an apple daily and green tea. We started, slowly, switching diet to more of an anti inflammatory, limiting red meat, dairy, egg yolk, white sugar, white flour, processed foods, did low fat, lower carb, no bacon. Increased fish, veggies to at least 4 servings a day, fruit.. it’s amazing what one can do with riced califlower and zuchinni!!! Helps with loss of muscle stregnth is on ADT too… walks 10,000 steps a dat, bike rides, works on arms, but has a shoulder issue, non related. I hope this helps. Some will disagree, but it worked and still works for us.

[Javelin18 in reply to Kittenlover50]

I hadn't thought about not eating during therapy. It makes sense that it would increase blood flow to the mouth, leading to taste changes.

[dorke]

Javelin18 Hidden Dachshundlove NotAlwaysSunshine Shooter1 tango65 Stoneartist Hidden GAdrummer Kittenlover50

Thank you all!

🙂