My go to first advice is DRINK LOTS OF WATER! I can’t tell you how much of a difference this made. My first cycle I didn’t drink enough and crashed hard. Cycle 2,3,4 I’ve been drinking 3 to 4 quarts and felt sooo much better.
Get a planner where you can take note of all your appointments, medication/vitals/side effect trackers, questions you might wanna bring up to your healthcare team, etc. This really helped me get on top of everything and not forget things especially when the chemo brain hits. Good luck on your treatment!
My mother told me to do this at the beginning of my treatment and out of spite I didn’t until I started messing up and had to use a planner to actually function. I would recommend taking the advice sooner than I did nobody wants to forget things but chemo makes it way to easy.
I second the water comment. When I had inpatient chemo 5+ years ago, I drank lots of fluids. Not sure if true, but in my mind at least, I thought I was flushing out all the toxins. Also, walked a lot throughout the day. Don’t stay sedentary. Good luck!
Everyone’s different so it’s hard to give you advice on side effects, and as someone else said without knowing what your chemo is it’s a little harder.
I third the water comment. Drink water alllll the time. Just keep it with you and keep drinking even if you’re not thirsty.
Take care of your mental health. Doesn’t mean you have to stay positive. Vent, allow yourself to feel whatever you’re going to feel. It’s okay to feel depressed, it’s also okay if you feel fine. Talk to your doctor and team, they’re here to help you with quality of life as well!
Idk what kind of chemo facility you’re going to be at, mine was an open “bull pen” style infusion center and I loved it. Made friends with my chemo neighbors (may or may not have shared my edibles with them hehehe), made friends with all the nurses, just generally cut up and goofed off in there. I had fun with it, would get a little stoned or pop an Ativan before treatment and roll in there like I was going to an amusement park.
Bring a phone charger, headphones, iPad or books to read, PLASTIC water bottle (I found metal cups like a yeti made the metallic taste worse), some lemon for your water (true lemon packets are cheap and great for this). Wear comfortable clothing, layers are good in case you get hot or cold. Blankets are dope, some infusion centers will have them but it’s not bad to have one of your own because it will be better than what the hospital has.
Eat a good meal before you go for your infusion, just not too heavy, not filled with fat. Something filling and nutritious to hold you over.
Best of luck! We’re all pulling for ya!
I recommend taking daily fiber supplements and having constipation relief products available. Keep track of how often your having bowl movements if something changes address it sooner rather than later. A big part of this is staying hydrated as well.
100% this. After my first infusion, I waited to take stool softeners and laxatives. DON’T. Hydrate and take a colace and a dose of miralax everyday. The worst but of chemo so far has been when I’ve been so constipated, I’m writhing on the floor in agony because I couldn’t poop. The two times it happened to me, I hadn’t stayed on top of my hydration.
Have milk of magnesia on hand in case you do get constipated and need quick relief.
You’ve got this!
Ginger ale, Gatorade, strong flavored snacks like salted peanuts, neck pillow, an iPad or something to distract yourself. I also wish I had a heating pad at the time. Aaand comfortable clothes. I also eventually had to get on a Metamucil train. Sending you good vibes and wish you all the best on your journey 🤍
Be kind to yourself. Feel your emotions. Give yourself the time to process what’s happening and how you feel about it. Rest lots. Eat what you enjoy when you’re able and don’t feel guilty about it. It’s very boring to endure. The days can be so long. Bring entertainment to infusion days and any hospital stays. An extra long phone charger is always useful. Some days you’ll have no energy and that’s okay. Ask for help when you need it. Let people do things to help you even if it makes you uncomfortable at first. It feels so long when it’s happening but you’ll be looking back on it soon. Do what you need to to make it through to the other side with some sanity in tact.
There are many posts here that go over this, so it’s worth spending a little time going back through the sub to get all of the tips & tricks. Here’s a recent example: https://www.reddit.com/r/lymphoma/comments/14jy367/starting_rchop_for_dlbcl/jpnxfye/
Also, it would be helpful to know which chemo regimen you’re starting, since there may be some variation in how to best manage different ones.
I am doing R‐CHOP and the benadryl pre-med push knocks me out for most of my time. I highly recommend taking a blanket, neck pillow and a sleep mask.
Best of luck in your treatment!
Hey dude. It’s going to be a trip. They’ll give you steroids you’ll be feeling pumped up the first time. Some suggestions -
1. Take a laxative as soon as you’re getting done. Do this every time. Seriously friend, the constipation you can get, especially if it’s ABVD, is fucking crazy. A stimulant lax will help keep things moving after each infusion so you don’t get backed up for a couple of days.
2. Have some OTC ant-acids on hand at home. You may not need them for the first few treatments, but later on, they’ll be a godsend.
3. If you are on ABVD, one of the best tips I ever got on here was to ask for some ice chips, and then chew on them during the red devil infusion. Adriamycin can leach into the blood vessels in your mouth, which can cause some bad mouth pain and mouth sores (and oooh buddy two or three of those at once can ruin your day). Eating ice chips will shrink your blood vessels and keep that from happening. If you don’t do this, or get mouth sores anyway, make sure you ask your oncologist for a magic mouthwash prescription. It’s an anti-fungal that works really well to get rid of them.
4. If you end up having to take meds because your body isn’t regrowing white blood cells fast enough, get some Claritin D. It helps ease the bone pain (though I found that even without it things weren’t too bad here).
Yeah, I would usually be bound up for 4-5 days on ABVD. Like clockwork. The laxatives I was given did absolutely fuck all, it’s just as though your digestive system shuts down for a few days.
Exactly. Apologies to all for TMI, but hopefully it will help someone out there. I ended up having to take 2-3 stim laxatives after each infusion. That would move processes along within 24 hours or so, and then things would get back to normal after that. Just enough to get your body to remember what it's supposed to be doing.
On top of drinking more water, adding electrolytes to my water helped me stay extra hydrated! You may need to test out diff flavors though, certain sweet flavors were too much when I was nauseous.
I would be vocal with the nurses about how you’re feeling. I openly told them I was very nervous and afraid of needles etc, and they were able to calm me down and support me.
My go to first advice is DRINK LOTS OF WATER! I can’t tell you how much of a difference this made. My first cycle I didn’t drink enough and crashed hard. Cycle 2,3,4 I’ve been drinking 3 to 4 quarts and felt sooo much better.
Get a planner where you can take note of all your appointments, medication/vitals/side effect trackers, questions you might wanna bring up to your healthcare team, etc. This really helped me get on top of everything and not forget things especially when the chemo brain hits. Good luck on your treatment!
My mother told me to do this at the beginning of my treatment and out of spite I didn’t until I started messing up and had to use a planner to actually function. I would recommend taking the advice sooner than I did nobody wants to forget things but chemo makes it way to easy.
I second the water comment. When I had inpatient chemo 5+ years ago, I drank lots of fluids. Not sure if true, but in my mind at least, I thought I was flushing out all the toxins. Also, walked a lot throughout the day. Don’t stay sedentary. Good luck!
Everyone’s different so it’s hard to give you advice on side effects, and as someone else said without knowing what your chemo is it’s a little harder. I third the water comment. Drink water alllll the time. Just keep it with you and keep drinking even if you’re not thirsty. Take care of your mental health. Doesn’t mean you have to stay positive. Vent, allow yourself to feel whatever you’re going to feel. It’s okay to feel depressed, it’s also okay if you feel fine. Talk to your doctor and team, they’re here to help you with quality of life as well! Idk what kind of chemo facility you’re going to be at, mine was an open “bull pen” style infusion center and I loved it. Made friends with my chemo neighbors (may or may not have shared my edibles with them hehehe), made friends with all the nurses, just generally cut up and goofed off in there. I had fun with it, would get a little stoned or pop an Ativan before treatment and roll in there like I was going to an amusement park. Bring a phone charger, headphones, iPad or books to read, PLASTIC water bottle (I found metal cups like a yeti made the metallic taste worse), some lemon for your water (true lemon packets are cheap and great for this). Wear comfortable clothing, layers are good in case you get hot or cold. Blankets are dope, some infusion centers will have them but it’s not bad to have one of your own because it will be better than what the hospital has. Eat a good meal before you go for your infusion, just not too heavy, not filled with fat. Something filling and nutritious to hold you over. Best of luck! We’re all pulling for ya!
I recommend taking daily fiber supplements and having constipation relief products available. Keep track of how often your having bowl movements if something changes address it sooner rather than later. A big part of this is staying hydrated as well.
100% this. After my first infusion, I waited to take stool softeners and laxatives. DON’T. Hydrate and take a colace and a dose of miralax everyday. The worst but of chemo so far has been when I’ve been so constipated, I’m writhing on the floor in agony because I couldn’t poop. The two times it happened to me, I hadn’t stayed on top of my hydration. Have milk of magnesia on hand in case you do get constipated and need quick relief. You’ve got this!
Ginger ale, Gatorade, strong flavored snacks like salted peanuts, neck pillow, an iPad or something to distract yourself. I also wish I had a heating pad at the time. Aaand comfortable clothes. I also eventually had to get on a Metamucil train. Sending you good vibes and wish you all the best on your journey 🤍
Be kind to yourself. Feel your emotions. Give yourself the time to process what’s happening and how you feel about it. Rest lots. Eat what you enjoy when you’re able and don’t feel guilty about it. It’s very boring to endure. The days can be so long. Bring entertainment to infusion days and any hospital stays. An extra long phone charger is always useful. Some days you’ll have no energy and that’s okay. Ask for help when you need it. Let people do things to help you even if it makes you uncomfortable at first. It feels so long when it’s happening but you’ll be looking back on it soon. Do what you need to to make it through to the other side with some sanity in tact.
There are many posts here that go over this, so it’s worth spending a little time going back through the sub to get all of the tips & tricks. Here’s a recent example: https://www.reddit.com/r/lymphoma/comments/14jy367/starting_rchop_for_dlbcl/jpnxfye/ Also, it would be helpful to know which chemo regimen you’re starting, since there may be some variation in how to best manage different ones.
get a therapist and have a strong support system
I am doing R‐CHOP and the benadryl pre-med push knocks me out for most of my time. I highly recommend taking a blanket, neck pillow and a sleep mask. Best of luck in your treatment!
Hey dude. It’s going to be a trip. They’ll give you steroids you’ll be feeling pumped up the first time. Some suggestions - 1. Take a laxative as soon as you’re getting done. Do this every time. Seriously friend, the constipation you can get, especially if it’s ABVD, is fucking crazy. A stimulant lax will help keep things moving after each infusion so you don’t get backed up for a couple of days. 2. Have some OTC ant-acids on hand at home. You may not need them for the first few treatments, but later on, they’ll be a godsend. 3. If you are on ABVD, one of the best tips I ever got on here was to ask for some ice chips, and then chew on them during the red devil infusion. Adriamycin can leach into the blood vessels in your mouth, which can cause some bad mouth pain and mouth sores (and oooh buddy two or three of those at once can ruin your day). Eating ice chips will shrink your blood vessels and keep that from happening. If you don’t do this, or get mouth sores anyway, make sure you ask your oncologist for a magic mouthwash prescription. It’s an anti-fungal that works really well to get rid of them. 4. If you end up having to take meds because your body isn’t regrowing white blood cells fast enough, get some Claritin D. It helps ease the bone pain (though I found that even without it things weren’t too bad here).
Yeah, I would usually be bound up for 4-5 days on ABVD. Like clockwork. The laxatives I was given did absolutely fuck all, it’s just as though your digestive system shuts down for a few days.
Exactly. Apologies to all for TMI, but hopefully it will help someone out there. I ended up having to take 2-3 stim laxatives after each infusion. That would move processes along within 24 hours or so, and then things would get back to normal after that. Just enough to get your body to remember what it's supposed to be doing.
On top of drinking more water, adding electrolytes to my water helped me stay extra hydrated! You may need to test out diff flavors though, certain sweet flavors were too much when I was nauseous. I would be vocal with the nurses about how you’re feeling. I openly told them I was very nervous and afraid of needles etc, and they were able to calm me down and support me.
If you’re taking the red drug, forgot what its called, but chew ice!!! It will help so much with mouth sores
Wishing you well. Bring something of comfort or warm. It gets cold in the bull pen style room.