Common Side Effects....

Although chemotherapy is an effective treatment for many types of cancer, chemotherapy—like other cancer treatments—often causes side effects. The types and intensity of these side effects vary from person to person and depend on the type and location of cancer, the treatment dose, and the person's overall health.
Common Side Effects: (Nausea/vomiting, mouth/throat sores, inability to fight infection, hair loss and fatigue)

Nausea and vomiting: the best way to manage nausea and vomiting is to prevent it. On week (1) I get a lot of nausea. I get (2) meds that week. Week (2) I’ve had a little nausea but not as bad as the week before. I only get (1) med on the (2^nd) and (3^rd) week. We’ll see how week (3) goes…

Mouth/throat sores and dry mouth, as well as reduce the body's ability to fight infection:  Chemotherapy can damage the cells that line the mouth and throat. The sores usually develop five to 14 days after receiving chemotherapy. Although the sores may become infected, they usually heal completely when treatment is finished. Patients receiving chemotherapy who have unhealthy diets and/or poor dental hygiene increase their risk of mouth and throat sores. I just realized that every once in a while I feel like I’m coming down with a sore throat but then never do. I wonder if that could possibly be the throat sores…umm….

My daughter-in-law who is a dental hygienist told me about ‘Bioténe.It’s a mouth wash used for people who have dry mouth. It doesn’t have alcohol in it. I brush my teeth at night then rinse with the Bioténe, so far it’s been working great.

Heart health: they make sure everything is healthy before starting treatment.

Hair loss: (either partial or complete) affects many people. It will affect me.  Patients receiving chemotherapy may lose hair from all over the body, gradually or in clumps. This side effect most often starts after the first several weeks or rounds of chemotherapy and tends to increase one to two months into treatment. You may want to think about whether you would prefer to keep your head covered during treatment and whether you’d like to buy a wig or head coverings, such as turbans, hats, or scarves, before treatment begins. I am getting a wig maybe a couple…

Last night I was at the store and happened to notice that the hats and scarves were on sell…umm… so I started to browse. I’m not much of a hat person so, when even trying them on, I felt like they looked weird.I found a couple of scarves I thought were basic that I could wear with lots of things as well as some bandanas. 

What am I doing? Is all I could think…if you get a wig buy it before you experience hair loss to match your own hair color. For me, they don’t want me to get my actual wig fit until I lose my hair because they want it to fit snug. So they said when I go to dry my hair with the towel and look at the towel after with clumps of hair in it

that’s when I’m supposed to call to get the wig fit. At that point they suggested that I just shave my head. The last couple of times I’ve washed my hair I pull the towel down and sigh because there aren’t any clumps yet. Woohoo!

Great Picture...Bald Disney Princesses...We are all Beautiful!

Fatigue: (a persistent sense of tiredness or exhaustion) is the most common symptom reported by patients.Sometimes this is worse than others. I can go, go, go and then when it hits me, it's like I hit a brick wall and have to go lay down.