One week of Chemo down, now what??

[Already Bald]

Hi All,
I just registered onto this Forum- I've been viewing from the sidelines for about a month. I have picked up some great information here, and I want to thank the adminstrators and web support for this resource.
My story in a "nut"shell:
Diagnosed on 4/19/06 by the Very First Visit to my new Internist, who happens to be a lady doctor. She had me in an ultrasound and Urologist mtg. that day- (I noticed the painless lump maybe two weeks prior).
So the orch was two days later, then I went to see Dr. Joel Sheinfeld at Sloan-Kettering for the RPLND. I'm also being treated by Dr. David Vaughn at PENN, and he started me on 4 cycles of EP last week. (RPLND was neg, but a nodule appeared in the right lung ~1.8cm, on CT from 10/12/06.
So, I'm one week down now, the chemo sapped me pretty good over the weekend, but I'm starting to feel better now.
I wanted to reach out to the experts in this fourm- what should I expect next from the chemo??

[63days]

Hey I've been going through chemo for 9 weeks now, so I might be able to give some advice.

First let me say I went through 3 cycles of bep so your experience may be very different.

"Cycle" is definitely appropriate because I kinda felt like I was going around in circles the whole time. My cycle was this:
Week 1: shots every day for like 4 hours
week 2: short shot monday
week 3: short shot monday

(Repeat)

The weeks that I got the shots every day were mind numbing. The process of getting the shots wasn't bad, but the rest of the day kinda felt like a waste. I recommend doing stuff to take your mind off of chemo rather than wallowing in it. For a while I was staying home and playing video games... feeling pretty worthless.

I think the biggest difficulty with chemo is the amount of time there is. You're just kind of waiting for your body to pass on the chemicals. There is a lot time to reflect on your condition and your situation, and it can make you feel helpless and depressed. Get outside! Go do stuff you enjoy. Naps are good, but you can definately overdo it. Try to have a life.

Each cycle gets more boring than the last, so make adjustments when something doesn't feel right with your life at the moment. Try different foods, different sleep patterns, different ways of transportation. Switch it up.

Oh, and buy stool softeners if you get put on pain killers. I started using ibuprofen, and I really regret not using stool softeners while I was on it. This is embarrassing, but I'll tell you so you can avoid making the same mistake. Constipation wasn't bad, but I must have torn something, because a week after I started noticing blood in my stool, and having really painful bowel movements.
When every time you take a **** you feel like you're passing a kidney stone, it makes it really easy to build up the courage to buy stool softener. I'd recommend buying it early so you can use it as soon as you need it.

There you go. If I had to give my past self some advice that would be it.

[BREwing]

Hey! I'm a fellow TC site member from Coatesville, right up the Bypass. Good to hear that you are doing well after the first round. You were looking on some info of what to expect, honestly it depends on how your body reacts to the chemo. There's a local guy on the site, Rusty009, who seemed to breeze through his three rounds.

These are my threads started by my mom detailing my ordeal with my two rounds of chemo. It pretty much kicked my a** as you will see, but keep in mind that I was basically worse case scenario!!!

http://www.tc-cancer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3917

http://www.tc-cancer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4006

In fact, my oncologist, Dr. Patterson out of the Chester County Cancer Center said I was the worst he has ever seen.

So its really going to depend on how your body reacts to it, but the fact that you are done one round and there dosen't appear to be any complications, I think you'll have a much easier time than I did.

If you want, shoot me a private message and we can chat!

Take care and best of luck with your remaining rounds!!!

Brian

[Already Bald]

Thanks for the replys guys-
63Days, I read your other post, I sure hope your markers come down fast.
Thanks for your advice on the chemo- some good ideas there, staying busy is my kind of thing.
BREwing- we are close- I live in the West Bradford section of Downingtown.
Sorry you had such a tough run with your chemo, I would like to ask you why they didn't prescribe more cycles?
Incidently, the Chester County Path Lab got my did not detect vascular invasion after my orch, I had the slide revied at both PENN and Sloan-Kettering, and they both detected invasion- which is why I had the RPLND.
I'm just kind of down to have a recurrance after that big surgery.
I plan to private message you if I figure out how, still learning to navigate this forum.
Joe

[Scott]

I plan to private message you if I figure out how...

I hope you've figured it out, but if not, the easiest way is to click on a member's name in a post and choose "Send a private message..." from the drop-down menu.