Tomorrow is my first day of chemo and radiotherapy. Hospital letter states I will be there for around 7 hours any tips on foods/snacks, what to expect?
Thanks
AMF
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Hello AMF - so the day has arrived at last! Tomorrow will be the first day of your cure.
I had a very unexpectedly strong reaction to my first radiotherapy, in that I was on hospital transport and went home in a VERY bumpy ambulance, which took over an hour, and I found that immediately on getting home everything I normally drank and ate made me feel nauseous - and I ended up throwing up on an empty stomach for hours! So my advice is that if they give you anti sickness meds after chemotherapy, to take them - even if you donât feel bad at the time - when they say to, and just tell your family to be kind to you! If you fancy something to eat, try a little - if you find youâve gone off something, donât worry, because after itâs all over you WILL get back to normal with your food. My body did not like being âpoisonedâ at all and reacted very strongly, but I wasnât expecting it, and even things like dietary aspects - listen to the advice, protect yourself, but donât worry if you feel really tired! Think of it not as your weakness, but the treatment doing itâs job.
Keeping everything crossed for you!
Jackie
Thanks Jackie,
When I went to doctors to have bloods done this morning the nurse said I would be very unwell after my first chemo and I must admit this did throw me a bit.
Luckily I only live 15/20 minutes away from hospital and will be getting lifts to treatments from family as I donât drive.
I can usually eat anything and very little puts me off my food so itâll be interesting to see what effect the treatment has on this.
Just going to take it a day at a time.
Thanks for your kind words
Hi AMF
I wasnât particularly unwell after my first chemo, just felt a bit nauseous; I took my anti-emetic drugs as advised and by about the 3rd
day the nausea passed.
I think the radiotherapy hit me more and the diarrhoea got a bit scary at times but I managed by maxing out on Imodium.
Generally I didnât feel too bad during the first 2-3 weeks. But as treatment progressed I increasingly lost my appetite but Iâve always had that tendency when faced with stressful situations. By week 4 or 5 I was underweight and the dietician prescribed me with nutritional drinks which got me through - along with mashed potato and tomatoes on toast which were about the only things I could stomach by week 5.
In terms of what to eat and drink I was advised to eat whatever and whenever I wanted. I did follow that advice and it certainly helped.
All the best for tomorrow.
x
Thanks Jazza,
Fingers crossed Iâll be okay I am carrying some excess weight so no chance of me being underweight!!
Will let you know how I get on x
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On another topic, that of comfort, I hated changing into those awful hospital gowns for the radiotherapy, so I got myself together a wardrobe of âmachine friendlyâ clothes = stretch bras from Amazon (elastic, no wires or hooks), soft loose tops that could be pulled up easily (like baggy t shirt in the summer - I was big busted so I used menâs jumpers in the winter) and stretch trousers that could be pulled down for the machine. I love colour so I went for elastic topped harem pants. They were also very comfortable. That way I didnât ever have to change for the machine 
I was pleased to find that I had to get smaller stretch bras half way through the treatment (a bonus for me) but I know they like you to try and maintain your weight so that your âtattoosâ are lined up nicelyâŚ.
X
Thanks for that Jackâs,
I have had my first chemo now on fluids for 2 hours so far so good.
Unfortunately I have worn bra with wires. I did buy one without wore it to all my scans. I didnât know if you could wear a wire bra for radiotherapy as Iâm sure I worn worn when I had my planning scan. Never mind will have to take it off everything else is wire/metal free.
Just about mastering the toilet one handed!!
Ah yes, the toilet one-handed trick! 
. Having to pee into a jug as well (one handed) to measure your output too - well we had to do that anyway! With my chemo we did the fluids first and then the actual chemo. We had to produce at least 200mls of pee in the jug before starting chemo, to show our kidneys were working well enough. We also had a blood test before the whole process to check kidney function. You will be like a pin cushion by the time you finish! Iâm an âeasy bruiserâ so I was covered in bruises from blood letting and injections⌠still have a bruise scar on my forearm from chemo in January when the nurse (against my wishes) put the cannula in my forearm, which is really sensitive. It was a complete mess afterwards!
Youâll got to be an expert in all things cancer treatment related over the next weeks. I shall think of you each day. Itâs great that youâve started the treatment - do keep us up to date with how youâre doing - youâll never bore us! Xx
Ha ha fortunately I didnât have to weigh my pee nurse didnât say anything. I was drinking loads and was up and down to the toilet like yo yo!!.
Was allowed to keep bra on for radiotherapy I did ask if it was ok and she said because they are only targeting pelvic region its ok.
All in all the day went fine I am back home had my tea I was given anti sickness tablets to take before chemo and was also given steroids. I have to start taking steroid tablets and anti sickness tables tomorrow for 3 days so fingers 
they do the trick.
The biggest shock for me was how many women are having treatment for cervical cancer. In the area I was in out of 4 chairs 2 were cervical cancer. I am 55 and the other was a girl of 35. When I went to maggies centre for the new patient group I met an women (early 60âs) with CC who was also starting treatment today she was in another area within the ward. And when I went to oncologist appointment there was a young girl with 6 week old baby I bumped into her again at my planning scan and she was also starting treatment today saw her briefly but she sitting in a different treatment area.
There is another girl I have been on contact with on this site she will also be attending same hospital in two weeks time.
This is truly awful for 1 hospital on one day and these are just the ones that I have come onto contact with so far.
I thought CC was rarely seen how wrong I was.
To all the women out there who are going through or have gone through this I wish you all the best. We can do thisđŞ
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Hi AMF
Good to hear how your first day of treatment went. I remember feeling quite proud of myself for getting through my first day.
Stats wise I believe there are just over 3000 women a year in the UK who are diagnosed with invasive cc. What you say about the other women also going through cc treatment sounds very similar (including a lady with a young baby) to who I met during my treatment; the hospital I attended drew patients from a large area of the South East. My nearest hospital, although large with a cancer centre, wasnât able to do the type of chemo combined with radio treatment that some of us need so I had to travel further to a hospital with a bigger cancer treatment centre.
x
Congratulations on your first day! Glad to hear about the bra - I forgot that I had cancer in the para-aortic lymph nodes as well, so they zapped everything up to my breast bone, so a soft bra was required. Also my sickness could have been worse as they were zapping the stomach areaâŚ. Like Jazza said, I too was shocked how many other women waiting in the radiotherapy area had cervical cancer - another in her 60âs, like me, and lots of other ages including one girl in her late 20âs!! Only one woman I met had something else - lung cancer. X
This is frightening, the variety of ages people are undergoing treatment. There definitely needs to be far more education for women on the importance of attending smear tests etc. You hear that cervical cancer is rare enough but it doesnât appear to be that rare after all and itâs scary how affects people of all different ages.
AMF: A young girl with a 6 week old baby, this is heart breaking. Best of luck with your treatment and fingers crossed for you
Yes I have definitely had my eyes opened. The number of young women being diagnosed with this cancer is truly awful. Not only do they have to concern themselves with a battle to beat cancer they have also had the option of having children taken away. I am 55 and have 2 adult children so my battle is with cancer alone and I am finding that mentally tough so what these young women are dealing with I can hardly comprehend.
My 
goes out to them.
Thanks for your kind words I have a long way to go but at the moment physically I feel fine. Lots love and support from family and friends and all on this marvellous website x
Hi.
I had my first chemo last tuesday,also didnât know what 2 expectđ¤
Was put at ease straight away,also got good supply of tea/coffee and was offered lunch,although i had done some packupđ
Not had a very good week with pain and the delights of some other side effects,but seemâs 2 be calming down nowđ I did feel a bit of relief having now finally started my treatment and my road 2 recovery. Got a wedding 2 look forward 2 next week,my lovely godson,luckily i still have a full head of hair,hope it hangs in there for his special dayđ Hang on in there
Hi Ronaldess,
Good to hear you got through your first week. I have felt fine no issues so far, the trickiest thing is getting the bladder at the right level for radiotherapy. So far itâs been OK only one day when they said it was slightly over but they were happy to go ahead.
Thatâs 1 week down 4 to go I know it will get steadily worse butđ¤ weâll cope.
Enjoy the wedding its good to have things to look forward to.
Keep us updated on how you get on.
Good luck xx
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Hi.
On second chemo nowđ¨Hopefully beta than the last one,as i said was quite painful for bout 10 daysđ¤Śââď¸ Managed 2 keep mt hair for the wedding,which was a bonus. Had a fantastic day and my minderâs looked after me. Getting me seats,brushing hair of my back etc Then really lost a lot. Bare in mind it only weds now ,iâm nearly bald,but a small price 2 pay if u get a cure.
Hope u are getting on ok and treatment not 2 bad.
Take care 
Great to hear the wedding went well.
I have completed 3 out of 5 chemo and half of the radiotherapy so far no issues. Just taking it a day at a time. Managing to get out for walk most days. Eating and drinking well.
Good luck with the rest of your treatment.
Let us know how it goes xx
