i am in the Uk however we are the same stage and treatment duration, I am about to start week three So hope my experience so far may help you.
i initially also wanted to work through treatment but have felt very tired so have taken some time off to concentrate the treatment And trying to do some relaxation, I was disappointed as wanted to keep working for feel for me would have been too much.
The daily radiotherapy is very quick unless the machines are running behind for me, at the end of week one I felt very tired, maybe attributed to the stress too but no real other symptoms, the Chemo day was a very long day and did cause me quite some nausea but i mentioned it straight away and they changed sickness meds and week two was much improved in terms of that, the radiotherapy effects have kicked in a little at the end of week 2 Lots of tummy rumbling and loose bowel movements but not too troublesome- my biggest mistake was not drinking enough water so am doing my best to drink constantly which is making me wee constanty! Not sure if this is purely due to the increased in drinking or they did say the radiotherapy cou cause it too, had a very mild burning feeling on my skin too which i will mention this week, I have to say for someone who is very bad with treatment I have found if ok, very draining but not as bad as I expected, almost feels better once treatment starts to be getting on with treating it. I have to agree the ladies on here are just fantastic and without the support I wouldn't feel as focused towards the treatment as I currently do and I am so very grateful For this kindness.
i wish you the very best for your start of treatment and am sure the more experienced ladies will be along with good advice but wanted you to know you are not alone and I understand how you are feeling awaiting treatment and if you would like to chat then I am always here to listen xx
To exercise daily brisk walk etc and we also have a gym inside the Rad centre where they design a plan for you. I will try that next week too.
Are you having brachy at the end? I am suppose to have 4 sessions appx 2 weeks after I finish chemo/rad as well. But not thinking about that for now. One step at the time.
I will try and post as much as I can so keep me posted.
Thank u for ur kindness and I am here too if u need.
It is six years now since I went through chemorads and then brachy. Weepingwillow's description of how you feel week by week during treatment almost exactly matches my experience, though I didn't get the burning skin sensation.
Take each day as it comes and if you can't face work don't push yourself.
I'm 37, staged 2B and starting that same treatment plan tomorrow...also very good at imagining horrifying scenarios when my mind wanders too much. Just wanted to say hello as it seems we are on the same treatment trajectory...although it's all a bit terrifying it is comfortng to know there are people out there dealing with the same challange..and especially someone close in age because I do keep feeling that it scares me that I don't know anyone my age that has had this..but I'm starting to realize that's not the case, unfortunately. Please feel free to message me if you want to comiserate! I'm trying to take everyone's advice of one day at a time, but this last month since I first found out has felt like the longest month. Also hoping to work when I can just to keep something somewhat normal in my life, see my coworkers, get out of the house...but will just have to see how it goes.
Good Luck to us both this week, fingers crossed it's not as bad as we imagine!
I'm Aussie too but a state further north than you. I couldn't work during treatment but I was really anaemic and still bleeding. Some people do manage to work , but honestly most don't. But just listen to your body it will let you know. All the best with the coming treatment. Try and stock up on the imodium as the diarrhoea from the radiation will probably kick in about the third week... but everyone is a little different. The days I had the chemo gave me a bit of pep and a bit of appetite and the following two days as they gave me the steroids those days. But chemo days are long. All the best for the treatment.
The steroids have a tendency to wire me and make for long sleepless nights though
Plus the chemo gave me chemo brain for awhile so i was unable to concentrate or focus on stuff. Xx
Hey! I'm a 2B lady aswell and finished treatment in June and feeling pretty well now. My advice would be to just take each day as it comes. Take the anti sickness as instructed and drink plenty of water, I also used to us E45 for my skin which worked well :-) good luck with treatment xx
Thank you all. Fingers crossed it’s not as bad as I hv made it to be in my head!!
Summer the calendar thing is a good idea. These many days till I am cancer free countdown :-)
Tivoli I hv read so many of ur posts in the last few weeks. I am so glad that u are still posting after all this time. I think the worst when I don’t see ppl around for a while. You inspire us all!
Jess I am sorry that u re going thru the same shit thing as I am and I feel we are soooo young. Wtf? Keep us posted
Bexter thx for the advice. It seems to hv taken soooo long to get to treatment. Steroids? No one mentioned this to me.
They give you along with the cisplatin other drugs. My regime was magnesium (as you tend to lose it with the cisplatin), manitol (to protect my kidneys), dexamethasone (the steroid.... helps with nausea too ), antinausea medication and a further litre of fluids. That's why it takes about 4 hours and they check your bloods every week before you have your chemo. I also had antinausea medication and steroids (Only another 2 days) for home.
Thanks. Gosh I feel there is so much I do not know and then so much I dont want to know either as it will just stress me out more and I am already a mess!
2 more sleeps before Mr Mean starts to shrink!! Thats how I hv to think x
I'm in Australia as well (Victoria) and am also 37! I was diagnosed about 4 weeks ago and am waiting to have my CT scan done so I can start 4 weeks of chemo and radiation then brachy. My tumour is around 5cm, adenocarcinoma, stage 1b2.
It's really nice reading about all your experences!!!
BunnySydney, good luck for tomorrow! Let us know how it goes. I'm sure you will be fine xx
Lady bug sorry to hear you are on the same boat as the rest of us here.
As crap as it is I think no one else fully understand this until u go thru it. So its nice to share knowledge and experience with ppl who fully get it.
Hi there Bunny, I dropped off for a minute there...1st week of treatment was rough; didn‘t respond well to steroids :-/ Reduced them 2nd week but still an issue. Nausea hasn’t been too bad, but am consistently a bit queasy. Getting so much liquid in is hard so I’ve been eating tons of popsicles. It’s also super hot and humid where I am and it’s not helping...Ready for summer to take itself down a notch! Going into week 3 on Tues. I so badly want to feel better again. No choice but to hang in there, right? How has your treatment been going? Mine was delayed a week after my initial post so you might be a week ahead of me-hoping you’re not in too bad of shape xx
So far I hv had 8 rads and 2 chemos. I am having the Cisplatin on Thursdays and tend to feel crap on the weekend Sat and Sun. Mostly nausea and tired and just flat.
I did go for half an hr walk on both days and cooked dinner but wasnt feeling well. Monday/Tue/Wed are better but I need to watch my body if i feel yuk I take another nausea or pain tablet.
Hopefully round 3 will be easier now that I know what to expect and how to adjust to it.
Just want to say hi and I had the squamous cell about a year and a half ago. I was stage 2b. Chemoradiotherapy wasn’t that bad. I was a little tired and got the poops but that was it. My chemo days was long about 8 hours from start to finish. My days was a lot different then most on here I had my radiation in the morning and the chemo about 3 hours later. I also had a radical hysterectomy because they thought I was 1b1 and after surgery found it had got out a little in the Parametrium. I am getting ready for my check up on the 10th of September and getting scared. I hate the follow ups nerves get bad worrying. I want to wish u all good luck and pray that all goes good for u all. :-)
Just completed week three today-pretty much agree with your description of how the days go...my chemo day is Tues, then Thurs-Sat are pretty awful, and then maybe a little better going into the next week. I've been having such a hard time getting my bladder full before radiation-trying to force liquids just makes me more sick What a most un-fun type of rollercoaster, right?! 2 weeks feels like 2 years in front of me at the moment...
What a most un-fun type of rollercoaster, right?! 2 weeks feels like 2 years in front of me at the moment...
