MVAC side effects

One day at a time my dear just keep your eyes on getting to the end of your treatment. Talk to your health care team and don’t spare the details and see if they can offer some help dealing with your side effects.
Keep us updated I will be thinking of you.

MVAC is known to have side effects as you already know. I have had a lot of chemo and there are a few things that can help in my experience. I will share them with you on the agreement that you use them to frame questions for your medical team. Never take advice from strange ladies on the internet without talking to them.

Take your nausea meds before you need them and keep them in your system as prescribed. Waiting until you need them makes it harder to get on top of it.

Never let your stomach get empty as it can exacerbate nausea. I always kept a pack of crackers in my purse and a small can of juice.

If medicinal cannabis is legal in your state talk to your medical team about how to be certified as a patient if you are interested. It does not have to be smoked there are several delivery methods and the right strains can help a great deal. It can help deal with nausea, lack of appetite, aches and pains, lack of energy, not being able to sleep and others. The people working with the dispensaries are knowledgeable and should be able to help you.

Talk to a nutritionist about you nutritional needs. We all know what foods work for us when we are nauseated but if you have no appetite things can get complicated. They should be able to help you with suggestions and help you understand your dietary needs during chemo. I was told to up protein intake among other things. I craved chicken breast and spinach to the point I couldn’t face it for about two years after chemo. Chocolate milk was my friend.

Give your self permission. To take a nap, to not take care of others problems, take a long bath or let someone else do the laundry. People will want to help let them you can help them back later. Exercise as allowed and as able even a short walk is better than none. Self care right now is very important.

Communication is MANDATORY as you go through chemo. Don’t let anything go I can assure you that cough will not get better by tomorrow as a general rule. If you can’t eat you will get weak and healing will be harder. This is a case of having a still upper lip is not a good thing. You are part of the team and they can’t do their work if they don’t know. Ask who you should call if you have questions and keep the number with you.

It is a journey every day will take you closer to getting better. But the road from here to there is going to have bumps. Chemo is cumulative for most of us and we will feel weaker as the doses go by. But the good news is with in a few weeks of finishing chemo I was getting back to normal.

Losing your hair if you do is traumatic, you know it is going to happen you think you are ready but. Decide now if you want a wig or if you want to wear hats. I had both but the wig was hot so I preferred the hats. You need them it is surprising how cold you get until the hair grows back. My hair was gorgeous after it came back in unfortunately it went back to normal.

I have been to infusion twenty times. My best advice is to keep on top of the small thing health wise so they don’t get big, cut yourself a lot of slack and keep you eyes on the prize.

Let me know how you are doing and we are here if you need us.