Starting Chemo today

Chemo is hellish, and one thing you will probably find is that your tastebuds will change and the foods and drinks you once loved, you may not love any longer. So yes, while nutrition is important, it is most important that you just get food into your system. So with the nausea and taste changes you may experience, eat what you can keep down.

So sorry you are going through this. But you can beat this. I'm an 11 year cancer survivor. I wish you the best. ((Hugs))

I'm a 17+ year survivor of stage III breast cancer, older than you (44) at diagnosis, but still premenopausal at the time. I always tell people that cancer treatment was the worst hobby I ever had: Worse than adventure travel, worse than extreme sports!

But you know what? You can do this. This is a "one day at a time" "one foot in front of the other" phase of your life . . . but you can get through it. You will surprise yourself over and over with the strength you have.

Eat the things you can tolerate. For now, just strive to maintain your weight, with the best nutrition that seems tasty, during treatment. I found that the chemo nausea feelings were different than nausea I'd had before. When I 'd had intestinal problems in the past from other sources (e.g., "stomach flu"), it had been best to hold off on eating until it passed. With chemo-related nausea, it was best to eat as soon as possibly could, as much as I could:. At first, bland things were best: Mashed potatoes (with cream cheese!), bananas, etc. Then I could eat a wider range of things. I carried saltine crackers and lemon drops in my purse, so I could eat a tiny bit any time I felt queasy - that helped me.

When you're done with all that, that's a great time to dedicate yourself to the best possible nutrition and a reasonably active life. For now, the goal is to be as happy and feel and as good as you can during a time that . . . well, my favorite term for it was "sub-recreational". But it's what needs to be done, and you can do it.

Some things that helped me were endless comedy movies (personally, I really enjoyed the "screwball comedies" from the 1940s like the Thin Man Series, Bringing Up Baby, and others - even in black and white). But do what you enjoy. Indulge yourself. If you have others around you who care about you, allow them to take care of you and do nice things for you - they want to help, so tell them specifically what you want and need - someone to take you grocery shopping, cook for your family, do laundry, vacuum the living room, whatever it is. Right now, being specific about what you need is the best gift you can give to caring people around you.

At a more detail level, here are some things I learned during chemo - some of which will be individual.

For me, the first cycle was the hardest, because it was unknown. On subsequent rounds, I kind of knew the drill, i.e., when my energy level would be better and worse, so I knew how to pace myself. \

Like you, I had bilateral mastectomies (5 tumors in one breast, 1 in the other, 1 positive axillary lymph node) and it was estrogen/progesterone receptor positive (ER/PR+). (They didn't test Her2Neu back then, or oncotypes, etc.). I chose not to have reconstruction. I had 3 months of Adriamycin/Cytoxan (3 week intervals) and 3 months of Taxol (ditto). I took Tamoxifen for 2.5 years, then Adriamycin for 5. Since I was already pretty old, the chemo put me into menopause. After chemo, I had radiation therapy on 5 fields on my left side (despite the mastectomies, because it was locally advanced).

While you're going through it, it seems like a really, really long time. But afterward, it truly gets gradually smaller in the rear-view mirror, hard as that is to believe now.

One thing I found was that after treatment, I really had to work at feeling strong and healthy again. That sounds kind of negative, but in reality, I found that realization completely transformational. Now, many years later, I absolutely feel younger and stronger than I did before cancer. I have a better understanding of what's important in my life. I don't sweat the small stuff or cultivate drama over trivia. I'm grateful and happy to be alive. Every day is a gift.

Sending your strength, hugs, well-wishes!