1st chemotherapy appointment today

Well, Today was my maiden voyage on this new journey. I must say, it went extremely well for my first session that lasted about three and one half hours with 118mg of taxotere. I have six sessions scheduled with two treatments per session spaced approximately two weeks apart. Absolutely no nausea this session but I understand the treatment effects can be cumulative. After my treatment session my wife and I headed over to the IHOP for their 57 year celebration with a 57 cent short stack. So all in all a good day. Think I am going to get a buzz cut in a couple of days so my head doesn't look funny when my hair stRts falling out.

I think it was day 3 or 4 after the infusion that I started to feel the effects. None of the SE's are pleasant but it's part of the journey to get to a better place. Taste was a big issue for me but I did find that fish served with a beer had some flavor and was tolerable because I knew I had to eat something. Several guys here didn't have much of an issue with taste so hopefully you'll join them in that category.
Here's something to consider - take some photos or selfies including some before your hair is trimmed or falls out. You'll enjoy the before, during and after progression when your six cycles are done and your body is recovering.
Good luck with this - I'm sure you'll do well!

Good to hear your docs moved quickly and that you are back on a good path. Hope you will keep us posted.
Aloha
Simon

Glad your treatment went well. Hope it continues with minimal SE. I tolerated it very well - everyone will be different but here is what I did throughout my treatments:
- exercise - cardio one day, weights next day, repeat.
- good hydration (water) especially day before, day of, day after treatment
- wore ice mitts during treatment to prevent neuropothy
- Miles solution - this took care of mouth sores quickly, but did not get them much
- salt/baking soda mouth rinse 4x per day
- By bedside: Biotene for dry mouth, chap stick, hand cream
- Secaris Nasal Lubricant for dry nose - had my treatment during winter so it was very dry and nose would bleed sometimes.
- Wash hands often - never caught a cold or anything during treatment
- Watermelon tastes great when other stuff doesn't.
- Hot bath on occasional night to soak in
Best of luck and keep the fight up!

Almost a 10,
Just a few more points for you about my experience. For my first 3 treatments, my meds to take during chemo were Decadron (Dexamethasone 4mg - its a steroid) 2 tablets daily the day before, day of and day after the chemo IV. Then all other days I was taking Prednisone. I believe these drugs definitely helped me feel good - during this time I was running 5-6miles every other day and doing a 1hr weight workout on off running days. Had some fatigue - I did take naps when my body told me to - don't fight that as the day gets real long and hard when you fight naps during chemo in my opinion. My last 3 treatments they took me off the daily Prednisone - that seemed to really make a big difference in my energy levels, and fatigue was a lot worse. Also the last couple treatments everything seemed to get worse.
I continued working throughout the treatments, so really things were not too bad. Just wanted to give you some insight to the fact that things did get a little tougher as the treatments went on. I also had to delay the very last treatment by 1 week due to low Neutrophils.
I completed my last chemo on May 8 - during June I have had more leg weekness, and knee joint pain then I have had ever. Perhaps this is from the Eligard and Casodex? These pains are annoying enough that I have backed off the running to 3-4 miles, sometimes skipping days too. Hoping this gets better, but may have to live with it as SE to the drugs?
I see by your signature you started Lupron/Casodex on 12/17/2013 - I started Eligard/Casodex on 12/17/2014. Your PSA was 187.5 - mine was 179. You had 2 hot spots on spine - I had tumors 2 on spine, 2 ribs and hip. We are interestingly close in a lot of areas, 1 year apart. I noticed you had your prostate removed - my Urologist in my city said no chance to that - treating me with quality of life plan - I have another Urologist that is somewhat of the Guru here for Prostate cancer and depending how my bone scans / chest-Ab scans results are - I have them today - if all shows good results from Hormone therapy and chemo, he may suggest removing the prostate along with radiation to any left tumors. Will have that consult in September. He may treat me similar to the way Dr.Kwon of the Mayo clinic is treating Oligometastatic patients since I am 50yrs old and he believes I should be treated aggressively. Tough decision if I must make it.
Back to Chemo - I never regretted taking the chemo - I believe it was best for me to take the Chemo early in treatment as the studies have shown benefit to do this. I had to pay for this here, since it is not standard practice here. But worth the investment I feel.
Hope you do well! I will be watching your progress as we have similar stuff going on. Cheers!

Hello !

You have gotten some GREAT responses already that would echo my experiences with the chemotherapy treatments. I agree that your "chemo crash" typically hits 3 or 4 days after the infusion day. Be ready to make best friends with your couch at that time and watch a baseball game or whatever T.V. show you like.

I was never nauseated or sick from any of the treatments, for which I was thankful. I just felt a general sense of lethargy for a couple of days about 3 or 4 days after each treatment and then my energy would begin to return. My oncologist had me do the chemotherapy treatments on Wednesday afternoons so that my "chemo crash" days would hit during the weekend afterwards. It was in this way that I was able to go to work every day during my chemotherapy treatments.

My BEST advice is to continue drinking lots of WATER before and after the treatment days. You need to drink extra water after each chemotherapy infusion to flush out the toxins from your system. This is one of the most important things I learned during my chemotherapy treatments.

I also found if I kept up a simple ritual of going for a walk, this seemed to help me. Other forms of exercise would work as well --- but just a simple walk for 20 or 30 minutes can help work wonders.

Others have already shared advice with you that I would agree with completely. I have had a few friends that did not lose their hair during chemotherapy, so there are a fortunate few out there. I lost my hair about two weeks after the first treatment. It started falling out in clumps one morning in the shower, without warning. I got a quick "buzz cut" on that day as a way to adjust, but within a few days the "buzz cut" was falling out and so then I used clippers at home and was bald.

To make myself more comfortable in social situations, I did buy a variety of hats when I needed to attend social events. Having a few hats gave me more CONFIDENCE, but other men are completely comfortable with a bald head. I bought some casual hats for informal events, but I also had some sporty dress hats for more formal occasions and that helped me feel more confident at certain social events. It is one idea to share with you, if this idea suits your personality. Sometimes just having a hat on for a routine trip to the grocery store can make you feel more comfortable or confident !

I would heartily recommend that you suck on ICE CHIPS during each chemotherapy infusion. My oncologist and the nurses recommended this as a way to help preserve my taste buds. My sense of taste remained intact, so I feel that perhaps the ice chips helped preserve my taste buds. It certainly didn't hurt anything, so give it a try.

One of the responses above told you about "ice mitts" to prevent damage to your hands and fingers. What my medical nurses did was to place two ice bags on a pillow placed in my lap for my two hands. They also had me take off my shoes and placed an ice bag on the floor for each of my feet to prevent damage to my toes --- I kept my socks on for this. I didn't experience any nerve damage to my fingers or toes and feel that this "ice bag" method might have helped. It is something to ask about, at least.

One last bit of advice --- if you can form a personal bond with someone that is going through chemotherapy or has already gone through chemotherapy in the past, I think it's important to form a personal connection with that person. It helps to have someone to check in with during the series of treatments. I had a connection with a friend and we became "chemo brothers" during our treatments. It can be an important bond to help get you through the series of treatments.

Since then, I have reached out to other friends that have since been diagnosed and volunteered to be their "chemo brother" and I check in with them and keep in touch with messages and telephone calls and E-mails. If you can find that person in your life, it can be very important. After you are done with your chemotherapy treatments, you might find that you can later be that person for someone else and provide moral support, advice, and friendship. This forum is an online version of that kind of support, I feel.

Keep in touch and remember we are all here for you,
Cyclone

Cyclone, I really appreciate your post too. We've been at this awhile,but you brought up things I hadn't even thought of, like ice chips and ice for neuropathy. Best wishes with your scan. Let us know.