Amy's Story: Know what to expect after chemotherapy

Before beginning my chemotherapy, during "Chemo Teaching Day" at my doctor's office, I took notes of all the possible side effects specific to the medicines I would receive. I also read tips from the literature I was given and checked out a couple of books, which I found helpful, including "Just Get Me Through This," a practical guide to coping with breast cancer.

Everyone reacts differently, so I wasn't sure which of the many side effects I would get. I tracked them after each chemotherapy treatment. My first round of chemotherapy included these medicines: Adriamycin & Cytoxan and Neulasta.

Here are some tips that I hope will be helpful to others. They are not meant to be advice to anyone; only tips that helped me, that may help someone else.

• Hair loss: It's one of the most emotional side effects I am experiencing. (We'll cover it at length another time.) Oh my gosh, huge, huge deal.

• Night sweats. Waking during the night with my shirt soaking wet. These were reduced once I started taking a B-complex vitamin daily.

• Nausea. At the first sign of nausea, I took Compazine, then waited one-half hour, and forced myself to eat something, even if it was just a few animal crackers. Keeping anything in my stomach to keep it busy helped.

• Headaches. I got severe, roaming headaches, sinus pain, throbbing temples and migraines. After trying several things, I found it worked best to drink LOTS of water, and take one Exedrin migraine when needed.

• Bone, muscle and joint pain. After trying different painkillers that didn't help, I learned that Clariton once a day helped a lot; not sure why, but I learned this from a nurse practitioner. It worked for me.

• Dizziness. I learned to look straight ahead and take deep breaths when dizzy. Also, had a protein smoothie almost daily to ensure nutrition. My favorite: frozen strawberries, banana, yogurt, ice cream, peach nectar and whey protein. I always felt stronger after drinking this.

• Sores on tip of tongue. A nurse gave me a recipe of water, baking soda and salt for rinsing my mouth after eating, which got rid of sores within two days. I did not get mouth sores from the Adriamycin. While receiving this medicine during chemo, I chewed ice — another tip.

• Exhaustion, fatigue. I tried to stick to my regular sleep schedule as best I could. Following chemo, many nights in which I could only sleep three to four hours per night — a side effect of the anti-nausea medicine, which left me very tired. I take an afternoon nap, and read a lot to get my mind off everything.

• Loss of taste buds. Everything tasted yucky for a little over a week after each treatment. I found myself planning yummy meals for the days I knew they would return (day 10 to 14) In the meantime, I especially liked Italian food, which I could at least barely taste.

• Sour taste. Tums

via greenbayhub.greenbaypressgazette.com

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