re: Chemotherapy? How did you cope?

Had chemotherapy 7 years ago. If it was just me, I would not have done it, but I have a wife and young kids at the time, and I didn't want them blaming me for causing my own death by rejecting my doctor's advice. The hardest part was figuring out who/what to listen to (there's SO much information out there). Did a lot of research and here's what worked for me:

1.) Chemo = poison Get it out of your system as fast as possible. Drink lots of water (especially right after a session).

2.) Try to exercise - even a little bit. Luckily, I have a 100 pound Golden Retriever who is more persistent than any personal trainer. Last thing I wanted to do was to walk him a few times a day, but even those modest walks made me feel better in the long run.

3.) Try to eat healthy. I kept hearing that I could eat anything I wanted, but it didn't make sense. Your body needs nutrition now, more than ever. Raw juicing (mainly carrots, celery, apples, lemons, and beets) is something that I have come to crave even today. Sounds much worse than it is.

4.) Chemo = poison (remember?) It's brutal on your liver. Milk thistle was recommended to me by everyone in the know. Does wonders for cleaning the liver.

There's more, but those are the main things. Sucks to go through, but you will get past it. I wish the best for you.

Smoke Weed Everyday

I’ve only had radiation, so no direct experience with chemo. My mom had several bouts with cancer and chemo. Ginger ale and raw ginger root seemed to help. She would eat spoonfuls of peanut butter throughout the day. I know she took Claritin & I think it was for bone pain.

I would look for another onco if at all possible. Every Dr and every nurse I had were awesome. If you’re having issues with nausea, they can try different cocktails; the response should never be that you can quit.

Saying a prayer for you.

Prayers for you through this

I’m a survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma, my chemo was 6 months. Radiation for 3 months, please take the anti nausea as much as possible. It was the only way I could eat even though the food tasted like crap. Godspeed to you

Technically you’re getting total neoadjuvant since adjuvant refers to post surgical therapy. My prior recommendation still stands. FOLFOX tends to have a few tough days followed by a better set of 10 or so days. The oxaliplatin dose is 85mg/m2 every 2 weeks instead of the slug of 130mg/m2 every 3 weeks. 5FU tends to be better tolerated and more predictable than xeloda/capecitabine.

Hope this helps. Wonderful that you’ve had a clinical complete response.

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A lot of protein is important. We tell patients with poor appetite to drink muscle milk and mix it with ice cream.

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Ignorant here (my wife and I meet with her oncologist for the first time today )...are G-Tube's not common to supplement. At this point, we're kind of expecting one for her but this is our first bought with this.

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Since completing my treatment in December, 2000 I have been cancer free.

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This is the goal i have to work toward, and I guess just deal with the side effects.