Need advice from anyone familiar with chemo

Hi everyone,

I'm slowly but surely recovering from my chemo complications and hospitalization last week, at least according to the labwork (it still looks awful, but is headed in the right direction). However, I am still struggling to eat at every single meal and find myself exhausted doing simple things like climbing the stairs or standing at the counter to do some light meal preparation/clean up.

Luckily, my dh took a month off of work and has pitched in so I can rest, but this is getting ridiculous, IMO. I've read blogs from others who have undergone the same treatment and all but one seem to have just BREEZED through it and then after a short rest, resumed their busy lives.

Has anyone else been through chemo, knows someone who has, or perhaps works with chemo patients? Any advice to help me get on track? I am literally forcing meals down, and still not doing well (still losing tiny bits of weight). I am also forcing myself to be up and out of bed, walking around the house, etc for several hours at a stretch, napping for an hour or two during midday. My bedtime is admittedly pretty early as well.

Any other advice is welcome...I have my dh home for one more week and then it's up to me again.

Thanks a lot,

Cally

I have no experience, but I just wanted to say I'm glad you're getting better, even if it's slower than you want and others have experienced. However, if you have a body that responds weirdly to medications and such (Mark does), it will probably take your body longer to recover from this. Take it easy and don't beat yourself up.

*hugs*

I work in CancerCare and work with patients having chemo, everyday. It's tough

You need to stay hydrated. So you need to be drinking. When was the last time you had blood work done and your blood pressure checked? If you are not eating, you are likely not consuming enough fluids either. It's possible that you need some extra hydration through IV fluids. Your ferritin and hemoglobin could be really low too, meaning you might benefit from a blood transfusion.

So far as some breezing through it and others not. We are all individual and things affect us differently. Chemo is no different.

Drink, eat, and walk. Start with short distances (maybe 1/2 the length of the hallway on the hospital ward you were on) a 3 times per day to help build up stamina. Remember, whatever you walk will be double because you have to walk back So 1/2 a length of a hallway will be a full length when you take into account walking back to your starting point.

After a couple of days, do the full length of the hallway, 4 times per day. Then work on increase the distance that you walk. Not by a lot, but at least by 1/2 the amount. Do that for a couple more days. Etc.

The only way you are going to build up stamina is to work at it. I know it's difficult, but you have to do it.

To help keep your nutrition up, drink Ensure or Boost so that you at least get some meal replacements into you. 4 cans per day in addition to whatever else you are eating, which by the sounds of it, isn't very much.

Is it that you have no appetite or that your food tastes funny? You can season food with lemon/lime/seasonings to help make things more appealing. Hot foods have more aroma than cold, and more taste too because of that.

I had chemo for 5 months after breast cancer, but I can't offer any better advice than what Natalie_ca just wrote. She's obviously very good at her job, and what she said makes absolute sense.

All I can say is hang in there, and sending you tons of and

Not everybody breezes through it, my sister said it's like being dragged to death's door then you have to find your way back again. She said it's like The Twilight Zone. Her chemo included one that caused severe depression. She got through it, though, and so will you. Try to eat raw foods, stay away from as much processed foods as possible.Keep your spirits up by only talking to those who truly care about you, watch funny movies and shows, keep only positive people around you.

I found that getting lots of sleep helped me.

Thanks everyone,

Yes, Linda, hydration has been an ongoing issue since DC. I had to drink SO much when doing the chemo (they wanted a urination every hour of the day and night for 5 days straight) and I am now kind of "toilet shy." I wore sores on my elbows from getting in and out of bed since I was weak to begin with, then add the chemo.

I have no appetite and food doesn't taste right. By the time supper comes, it might as well be a steaming pile of poo on my plate for all I care about it. I have been drinking Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed with whole miik as tolerated.

I had labs/vitals done on Wed and vitals were all good (they were almost the whole time). My hemoglobin was 10.7 which they were happy with, and that is after 3 units of blood the week before. Platelets are still a big issue at 30 (need to be at least 170) but when I was admitted last week they were at 7...yes SEVEN (I got 2 units of platelets as well). We are still waiting on the WBC to recover, they were finally at 1.6 last week, after being at 0 for several days running (hence the neutropenic fever.)

Dh is at the grocery store right now and calling me with ideas of foods I might like to eat. LOL I've been up for 2.5hours and got some bread rising in the oven, etc. Will take a walkie this afternoon when the the temps warm a bit. I did walk to my neighbor's and back the other day. Frustrating, as I'd put in 10 weeks at the gym prior to the reboot and know how far I have to recup when I start back there.

So, with that said, I guess I'll get myself something to drink and cruise around the house a bit. I still can't go to public places, and don't really FEEL like it, so will just continue with slow and steady. I have another doc appt on Tuesday and expect to be discharged from them then, and will certainly address my concerns while at the appt.

Thanks again for the advice and support.

Cally

When I was getting chemo, I also was very, very tired all of the time. I spent most of my time in bed, and I could never get a full meal down. I was just so exhausted and nothing interested me at the time, I just wanted to sleep.

You're not feeling anything others haven't. As someone said we all feel differently while getting chemo. I had non-hodgkin's lymphoma at the time. I hope you're feeling a lot better soon...and you will.

Ah, LaRussa, we may very well have received the same drug: Cytoxan. I had mine in extremely high dosage as a four day blast. It is nasty stuff---I still shudder when I recall the odors coming from me from it. It even oozed from my skin.

I just drank a liter of gatorade. Going to rest up before lunch so maybe I'm not so exhausted.

Thanks again for the support.

C

Originally Posted by CatMom2Wires

Ah, LaRussa, we may very well have received the same drug: Cytoxan. I had mine in extremely high dosage as a four day blast. It is nasty stuff---I still shudder when I recall the odors coming from me from it. It even oozed from my skin.

I just drank a liter of gatorade. Going to rest up before lunch so maybe I'm not so exhausted.

Thanks again for the support.

C

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I don't recall the name of the drugs I was getting but there were a few different ones. They all suck but as long as they kill the beast, we have no other choice.

I was between jobs and spent much time with mom while she was getting chemo.
Before her chemo started I spent time with a dietician so pump alot of calories in her so weight loss wouldn't worsen. What she drank alot of was a packet of Sanalac brand powdered milk poured into a gallon of whole milk (and mixed well) it was 30 calories/ounce.
She had malts and shakes made with this mixture too.

I don't remember much about her being tired though.

She had stage 3 ovarian cancer about 26 years ago. If you would like to pm me I can pass on my mom's phone number as she has no computer and has spoken with many people throughout the years about cancer/surgery/chemo etc.....