Chemo Prep Tips
What are your burning questions or best practices to share about prepping for chemotherapy?
One tip - drink more fluids that you think you have to. Dennis(Blood-Cancer.com TEAM)
It’s very hard to give a generic tip since “chemo” varies so much from one type of cancer to another. My general answers: take as good care of yourself as possible and be attuned to side effects (and discuss them with your oncologist asap).
Great point,
. Not every treatment is identical and experience will vary from person to person. One thing I've heard that does seem somewhat universal is being mentally prepared for what to expect in terms of side effects, etc. I love the tip to talk to your oncologist as well. It's important to feel comfortable having those discussions. Thanks for sharing and being a part of our community! For anyone interested, here are a few articles written by some of our awesome Health Leaders about preparing for chemo:
https://blood-cancer.com/living/preparing-for-chemo-a-guide
https://blood-cancer.com/living/chemo-brain
https://blood-cancer.com/video/post-chemo-check-upHope to hear more tips from you all, too!
-Anthony (Team Member)
Try not to stress
Try is the word! It takes some focus. Deep breathing, avoiding dehydration, and having a distraction work for me. No matter what we do sometimes treatment can derail forcing us to try, try again. So determination plays a big part too. I wrote about my chemo failure here https://blood-cancer.com/living/chemo-failure. It happens sometimes, and it doesn't always mean we're done 😀
Manage your expectations! By that I mean that chemo is not what you've seen in movies and on TV, for the most part. It varies based on the type of chemo and the type of cancer, but more importantly, it has really changes over the last 10-15 years and it isn't the gulag-looking thing it was a while back. Even though that looks really good and poignant in a movie, it isn't really how it is these days. It's actually more like a visit to a restaurant that just happens to stick a needle in you while you are sitting there. Mine had a guy who came around making milkshakes! Beyond that as Anthony said, me and some others wrote a few articles on what to expect and how to prepare. Above all else - don't be timid about bringing with you whatever is going to make you more comfortable or, at the least, asking for it! Blankets, hand held video games, snacks, books - whatever it is, this is your time with no one around to say annoying things like "you have the good cancer," so use the time for that! Let us know if there's anything else we can do to help. Keep on keepin' on, DPM
- Absolutely, which is why the point in your original message is so important...Be sure to communicate with your doctor and ask questions to help you manage expectations about what you may or may not experience. I suppose it all comes down to what it comes down to the experience we have at our local hospitals. I do hope that it picks up for you! Either way let us know if there's anything we can do to help! DPM
