|
That's what I had 4 doses of AC, 1 each, 3 weeks apart. I then had 4 doses of taxol, then rads and now I'm on herceptin. The AC wasn't too hard for me -- they tell you all the possible side effects but all or none or a combination can happen to you -- each person reacts differently. I had pre-meds and benedryl before they did the AC (The "A" was given in a push with a syringe, the "C" is a drip). I lost my hair by day 14 -- it started to go at that point and then I shaved the rest to spare myself the agony of it coming out. Went to my hairdresser and she did it for me -- we'd prearranged that. I wanted to feel that I had some control over my body while going through all this treatment. No nausea for me -- I had great meds to take after chemo which helped as well. The "after" meds seems to be standard. I lost my sense of taste - my taste buds were flat/dead, but had no mouth sores. Fatigue is common and seems to last even after treatment. I found as the cycle went on that my pattern was, I was tired into the second week after the dose and then the third week was my "good" week where I had energy and felt like doing things; a little more like myself. For nausea, someone suggested to me ginger -- a small piece to suck if you like it that way, or ginger tea/ginger snap cookies. I was also told that gripping the flap of skin between my thumb and index finger (either hand) and rubbing that when I'd feel my stomach go a bit off, right away, would ease the feeling and it worked. I was never "sick" with chemo, but I did have some queasieness the first few days -- sporadic. There were foods I couldn't get enough of and some I didn't want to go near -- trying to find something that would just taste "right" -- everything tasted like metal. Remember, everyone is different, everyone responds differently to the drugs. I went in expecting to have "no" side effects -- didn't really think about them and just waited to see how I was going to feel. A little "mind over matter". Sometimes, even with the best will in the world of mind over matter, you can't escape everything. My best "advice" is to be good to yourself. If you feel the need to sleep then do it -- that's your body telling you it needs time to repair and don't make excuses for being tired or unable to do the things you might normally do. For right now, the only thing you "do" is chemo!!! I'll be thinking of you next Thursday -- hopefully your body's response to this will be "good".
__________________
Sherry
|