Friend with colon cancer

So take this as only part of it. I had 30 infusions, and didn't have a PICC line, so my veins are rubbish. Or were. I finished at the beginning of June and my veins are looking better already.

Mostly I didn't have much nausea. Much less than in pregnancy and I didn't have it badly then. I did get my caffeine balance messed up (I am a coffee addict) and it did affect me a bit. I had two separate weeks when I felt really ill, and that was a couple of days feeling and being sick. I was lucky.

My eyes started watering after about the 8th week (2nd cycle) and carried on whenever I went outside. I used to bathe them morning and night with spring water on a cotton pad.

My husband took me to the hospital and collected me afterwards, because I did have some nausea then and parking at the hospital is very expensive. I would then go straight back to bed. I would get up occasionally, but would try to rest as much as possible for a couple of days.

I tried to drink plenty of plain tap water as well as normal drinks of tea, coffee etc. If the usual preference doesn't suit, it's worth trying other things. I often drank tea, especially if someone else was making it. In UK it is easier to get tea right. I did go on drinking a little wine or cider, and it didn't seem to affect me, but other people find different. If it doesn't help, drop it.
Penny is the diet guru.

I keep on about getting out and seeing places. Enjoy. It hardly ever makes you worse, and it encourages positive thinking. I felt better for taking a half hour walk with the dog every day regardless. The fresh air made me feel better, and watching the year go round the same places is comforting.

After the chemo is over, one finds it difficult to stay motivated. It has been a trauma, and it is so easy to get depressed. It takes several months to recover from the strong drugs so expect to feel better after 6 months or so.

This was how I felt. They were going to give me more than one drug, but I happened to mention that I had forgotten to take my normal medication that day, and they decided to stick with the 5FU.

I hope this helps. I do know that several different drugs take more out of you, but rest, exercise and lots to drink are pretty constant. Maybe skip the alcohol eh!

Ruth

Hi there

My husband has bowel and liver cancer and we are only starting our second course of chemo on tuesday - Paul (my husband) didnt really get any bad effects - he was pretty sick before the chemo started and that just continued - well not just- it DID continue - he was very tired, got a tingling in his fingers just for a couple of days - a couple of mouth ulcers and drank lots - but he also has diabetes so the drinking and cronic thirst I think came from the diabetes - he has lost a lot of weight over last three weeks - due to chemo - ? not sure - But the actual experience of going into the hospital and getting connected up was actually not all that bad - the nurses were like angels sent from above - the surroundings were very modern and clean - Paul had an electronic recliner chair and we were given portable DVD players - (we had been told and so had a collection of DVD's - though we only managed to watch half - too much going on around us). We could help ourselves to the fridge where there were sandwiches, juices, coffee and tea and it was actually a good rest for both of us - away from the kids and me away from the house work where it is never ending - Paul slept on and off - and towards the end we were watcing the units left to filter into Pauls body - and before we knew it it was home time! Paul bought a cartridge pump home with him attached to his portacap for two days - and then on the third day took it back to the hospital to get it unattached.

Your friend is so very lucky to have you - having the support of friends and family makes such a massive difference - good luck with it all - and please stay in touch - which country are you from? Happy travels and love to your friend.

Tania

Tania and Ruth
thanks for sharing your experiences.
Both my friend and myself are South African. I live in England now.

I am definitely going to take some English tea with me and will make sure that she has plenty of fluids thru the day.

It helps me a lot to read what everyone is going thru so that I can be as prepared as possible.

Thanks again
Erika

Blimey - that isn't UK NHS! It's interesting to hear comparisons from different countries about conditions and survival rates. I read the other day that the UK has one of the worst survival rates in Europe - so be happy you're not here! Very best of luck to your Canadian friend. It's wonderful that you are going out to help her. I found that I needed help shopping, cooking food (what I could eat), and cleaning the house. Also, as Ruthless mentions, being taken on trips out greatly lifts ones spirits even if you are too ill to do much more than get out of the car and sit on the grass: the change of scene gives inspiration. Wishing you the very best of luck. xxx Penny

I had 5FU Oxali and avastin. I had thisthru a portacath which was surgically inserted into my chest before chemo. What a great friend you are. The side affects get worse as you progress through treatment. The support you will give just being there will be wonderful enough. Anything more I'm sure will be a blessing for your friend. Just take each day as it comes and go from there. Try to ensure your friends is eating well and maintaining as normal a lifestyle as poss. This is what I found helped me the most. Having 3 little children, I couldn't just lie in bed, I had to get up and function pains, nausea and all. But I think it really helped me to get through it. By the end of the 5 months I was truely grateful it was over tho I can tell you :o)

Best of luck.
Michele

I finished up 12 treatments of FolFox which included Oxaliplatin, 5FU and Avastin in December, 2007. I also was given an anti-nausea drug with each treatment. I never experienced any nausea. I had cold sensitivity which increased in duration as I got farther into the treatments. This disappeared as soon as the treaments stopped. I still have numbness in my feet and hands from the Oxaliplatin. It is better than it was, but still very much there 10 months after treatments stopped. The treatments are long; a friend let me borrow a portable DVD player and DVD's. That was great!! Try to keep your friend active. I drank a lot of tea, coffee, room temperature water and sports drinks to try to keep hydrated. I can't even look at Gatorade at this point.

Good luck.