Hi, my husband had this treatment and finished 6 months ago. He thinks that he was really lucky and had no side effects apart from tiredness.

He did however have long bouts of hiccups which is a side effect of the steroids. He took a lunch pack with him each time! I hope your treatment goes well for you . Please keep us posted! Good luck x

I don’t have chemo but do see others who are there a long time and they do eat and drink whilst having treatment so am sure this is fine. Your specialist nurse would be able to confirm. Best of luck x

Hi my husband started his second round of 6 cycles of Carboplatin and Etoposide yesterday. We take some food with us as he is not keen on the sandwiches they offer. We take some fruit, cake, sweets ( as he gets a dry mouth) and water. As he is not eating much we also took his Scandishake with us ready prepared. It is a long day. He gets bored and so he takes his music to listen to. Not so easy to read when you are hooked up to a drip. He also shaved his hand and forearm as less painful when they peel the tape off that holds the canula and line. Good luck.

Hi my husband has stage 4 inoperable, incurable lung cancer and was to have 8 cycles of the same, now please remember that everyone reacts differently to treatment but in the case of my husband he reacted really badly, he was extremely sick all of the time, his white blood cells kept dropping so he was often unable to have treatment especially on day 8. After 4 cycles and despite having daily injections to boost him his white cells dropped to zero and he was admitted to hospital for two weeks with neutropenic sepsis plus he also contracted C Diff, he eventually had 2 blood transfusions which really helped, at this point they stopped the chemo completely and after a month moved on to radiotherapy. The good news is though for all he went through it did work and the tumours shrank, and exactly 12 months on they remain stable. Day 1 is a long day and he always took food with him and a book to read etc to pass the time. We also found that the people in for the whole day were sat together so you get to see the same faces all the time and strike up friendships and believe it or not, despite the reason you are all there you do laugh together. Like I said everyone is different and my husband just happened to be one of the unlucky ones, some sail through and I hope you are one of those. Good luck and try not to worry too much.

Hi,

Your snacks sound fine,not at all OTT. Depends on the hospital but some have free wi-fi so you could take a phone or tablet with you if you have one.

Otherwise i would suggest a book, magazine and wear comfortable clothes and footwear.

Good luck with your chemotherapy

All the team at the Roy Castle Helpline.

Thank you everybody for your replies. I've been preparing (probaby over- preparing lol). Ive stocked up on peanut butter, ginger preserve, vegetable crisps, humous, salad, soups, garlic, tumeric and chilli flakes, as well a lots of different crackers. As I live alone with my cat at this time, I've been told to wear face mask and disposable gloves when emptying the litter tray and if cuddling her. Poor thing will be confused but I know it's for my benefit so I've stocked up on those too. I've also got special mouth wash (in case of ulcers and dry mouth), adult bonjella for ulcers, and I've got all sensitive, unscented allergenic shower and bath gel, moisturizer and shampoo (just in case my hair stays lol). I figured if I don't need the stuff I can still use it so it will not go to waste but I like to be prepared from day 1 just in case. I was told the other day the first 2 treatments tend to be the worse as it's normal to experience most side effects within the days or couple of week following them. At least now if I don't feel good and none of my friends are able to get stuff when I start to need it , it doesn't matter as it's all there from day 1.

My way of thinking is the second those side effects start I can act to help lessen them. Also spending the weekend getting all the washing done, and cleaning the house, and changing the bed. Monday I can chill ready for Tuesday. At least then if I feel unwell after Tuesday I won't have too many things to do and can do just one or two mall chores at a time to keep it all up. It's not been easy either as I am still recovering from LLL lobectomy (nerve pain) but it helps me mentally knowing it's all done.

Will let you all know a soon as I can how things are going.

Thank you all for caring and to dawni0508 long may your husband continue to improve and fight this awful thing. You're doing an amazing thing just being there.

Hi sunshine, I also had cisplatin and vinorelbine. And the others are right, some people breeze through it- you might be one of them hopefully. Sadly some people don’t, my oncologist said I’ve had the worst reaction he’d seen but I don’t think this is the case for most people. You will probably be given all the anti sickness and diarrhoea treatment to take home with you, I was. So don’t waste your money buying it for yourself.

The first couple of days are not too bad as the steroids get you through, the worst of it for me was after taking the vinorelbine I had the most toxic diarrhoea and have never felt so sick in my life, couldn’t move for fatigue and just felt like I was being poisoned, which in effect I was. I really don’t mean to scare you and I’m sure you won’t have such an extreme reaction but I truly wish someone had prepared me for how bad it could be.

I had 4 rounds over 12 weeks and ended up on the cancer unit each time dehydrated and on a drip. I couldn’t keep even water down.

Make sure you drink as much water as you can as this will flush the toxins from your system quicker. I wish you all the luck in the world and just remember completing each cycle is one step closer to the end xx

Also your hair should only thin, cisplatin usually won’t make you lose all your hair x

You definitely seem to have the right attitude going into this and that is to be admired Sunshine and will get you through I’m sure.

My cancer returned sadly after surgery and chemo but luckily I’m ALK positive so have been in targeted therapy for the last nine months which has for now completely blitzed my tumours.

My thoughts will be with you when you start treatment and do ask for moral support if you need it. Xx

I also had that regime post op,I had 4cycles total .I remember taking a sandwich and various items to pick at and a large bottle of water .It is all doable not particularly pleasant but neither was surgery .The big problem for me was constipation which once under control by laxatives and stool softeners ,was ok .It was worth it from my point of view ,however cancer has returned but intially had been found in my lymph nodes as well as my lung .That was 2015 and I am still kicking about in 2019 now on immunotherapy and it's working so good for a while longer .Good luck with chemo hope things improve soon .Diane

Sorry above should say nearly 9 weeks lol