I’m about to get on chemo for breast cancer and it is scary as fuck seeing all these side effects and the utter sickness I’ll be dealing with. Nice to see there is a light, and life, at the end of the tunnel.
Hey, I went through six rounds of chemotherapy for my breast cancer and it was a breeze. I got tired. I had a few side effects but honestly, I never threw up once and it was pretty easy. There are tons of us out there. We just don’t post about it. Take every single drug that they tell you to take and direct message me if you need any help.
I just finished 13 months of chemo (6 different types total) for breast cancer and managed to work through 11 of them. I hope your treatment goes smoothly and you have minimal side effects and no complications!!
Thank you! I’m hoping to work through a lot of mine as well, but I as this was in general a big ole wrench in my life plans, I’m trying to temper my expectations and allow myself to go on leave if I have to. Fortunate to have a job that does have those options if I need. Thank you for sharing a snippet of your journey! Did you know you were going to go through 13 months off the bat or did that timeframe evolve?
Wanted to edit because while I said it out loud, I feel you deserve a big BRAVO(A) for kicking cancer’s ass. Fuck cancer.
It evolved. Mine was triple negative so the Keynote 522 protocol was recommended or I could enroll in the ISPY study and potentially start with an experimental chemo/immunotherapy combo if I was randomized into that rather than just Keynote 522. Being in the study also meant I got more MRIs to monitor response to treatment.
I got into the experimental regimen and it shrunk my tumor a lot but not totally s I went on to Keynote 522. It shrunk some more on TC chemo then started growing again so I had to do AC chemo. I opted for dose dense AC so I had infusions every two weeks instead of three, that's when I was off from work. Tumor shrunk initially then started growing again. After AC I was off chemo for two months for my mastectomy then started six months of Xeloda oral chemo since there was still active cancer at the time of surgery .
My nurse navigator told me to try not to worry about problems that may never exist. You may tolerate the chemo very well. Medical science has come a long way, and even the more horrific treatments have pretty effective palliative care. Do I ever want to go through chemo again? Hell no! Would I do it again if I had cancer again? Absolutely.
I am 10 years disease free after chemo, surgery and radiation for Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast cancer. Fatigue and fear are the worst of it. Yes, chemo sucks, but you learn to deal with the cycle of good days and bad. Eat well, rest and take good care of yourself! 🤞🏻
Chemo is a very scary concept to me: Let's repeatedly inject you with a substance that's poisonous to both you and the cancer cells, but a bit worse for the cancer. We'll try to get the amount just right to kill the cancer without harming you too much.
I am just finishing active treatment for breast cancer, every bit of it is worth it. Biggest advice is if something feels wrong, say something. My team did amazing at treating my symptoms, you should not have to feel like you have to suffer through anything. I will also say be kind to yourself, and abuse the cancer card as much as possible. If you are not cold capping, your hair cut should be free (cut your hair if the chemo you are on has hair loss as a side effect, losing long hair in clumps hurts physically and mentally). Cancer treatment sucks, I am not going to lie, but it is doable and life on the other side of it is amazing. I wish you the best pink sister!
Take it easy on yourself and don't feel like you need to be doing anything but that. Also, when my mom was going through chemo we had to get a plumber at some point bc it killed all the good stuff in the septic system (or something like that) and caused issues, so iust be aware that can happen. Good luck with everything<3
Depending on which side effects you experience acupuncture could help, I know several ppl that went through chemo and got acupuncture to help with nausea and pain.. also weed.. helps give you appetite as even without nausea some ppl have no appetite but your body needs food to get through the chemo.
Wishing you all the best and that in a few months this is hopefully all behind you.
233
u/FuckeenGuy 10h ago
I’m about to get on chemo for breast cancer and it is scary as fuck seeing all these side effects and the utter sickness I’ll be dealing with. Nice to see there is a light, and life, at the end of the tunnel.