Hello 😊
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in July after attending my first mammogram. I received my letter, rearranged it three times because the first two appointments clashed with the school run and the third I had cinema tickets booked to see the Amy Winehouse film Back to Black with my mum 😊. I popped along thinking it was a tick box exercise, get it done and forget about it for three years. But I received a ‘We would like to invite you to attend for further investigation’ letter. Worded like you’re being invited to something fun! I thought they just needed to do another mammogram. I arrived and was told I would be having three biopsies. Two weeks later I went back and was told “It’s breast cancer” My world imploded. Well very slowly. I actually sat there and just looked at them. And then I looked at my partner who was crying and I thought ‘this is weird’. I feel nothing. The Dr asked if I was ok? And I replied ‘I feel nothing. I can’t have cancer, I feel fine, my children are only 5,7 and 9”.
On August 23 I started chemo.
I thought I would start this thread to share chemo survival tips and things I wish I’d known beforehand in the hope I might make someone’s journey a little easier. And I would love to hear other peoples survival tips if you’re willing to share 😊
My protocol means taking steroids after breakfast and lunch the day before, the day of and the day after chemo. I was advised to have a protein based meal first as steroids can irritate the stomach. So I did. I swapped my usual coffee and biscuits breakfast for a chicken sandwich, and then I swapped my usual light lunch for another chicken packed sandwich. I did that for three days. On day 3, the day after my first chemo, I spent the evening in A&E convinced I was having a heart attack! Convinced my body couldn’t take the chemo and I was going to die. I had an ECG, bloods taken and was told it was……acid reflux! OMG I’ve never had that before! It is SO painful and the Dr said people often think they’re having a cardiac arrest. As I sat there in a crowded Saturday night A&E I sobbed to a nurse and then a Dr “I don’t want to do this, it isn’t fair, I have a life”. They were lovely and agreed it isn’t fair. A big dose of Gaviscon and an IV drip later I went home with a packet of anti reflux meds to take daily and a lesson learnt for next time.
TIP! Don’t make huge changes to your diet before taking steroids, you don’t need to and it causes unnecessary strain on your body. A protein rich’ meal can be a boiled egg and toast. If you don’t usually eat chicken sandwiches for breakfast and lunch don’t start! 😊
I’ve never been a worrier, but I’ve also never been a drug addict, so giving permission to a group of strangers to stick a needle in your vein and fill you full of highly toxic drugs definitely alters your mindset. After leaving the chemo suite I went home and spiralled in to a hyper vigilant hell hole. The next 48 hours was spent checking my temperature over and over again, checking my skin, checking my breathing - Am I breathing? Can I breathe? Checking my heart - Is it racing? Is it ok? I walked around the house with a face mask on convinced i would pick up germs which would lead to an infection which would lead to sepsis and kill me. Hyper vigilance is another trip to hell and one that needs to be nipped in the bud quickly!
TIP! If after chemo you find yourself obsessively checking for side effects, easily done when you’ve been made aware of all the ‘potential’ side effects including the life threatening ones. Pick up the phone! Call the chemo suite, call the macmillan helpline. It’s so important to calm down your fears and rationalise them.