CHEMOTHERAPY ESSENTIALS

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a great weekend! I feel like all we have done is EAT!!! The fun thing about living in a (somewhat) new city, is trying out all of the great restaurants. I think we have tried a third of the new ones in Nashville, which means I will continue to eat! I need to do a blog post just on my favorite ones! Anyway I am stuffed from this weekend!!!

Once again and way too often lately, breast cancer has raised its ugly head. Two of my friends were just diagnosed, one with Triple Negative (like I had), and the other with Triple Positive. Wow!!! I have been talking to these girls, trying as well as I can, to help prepare them for the year ahead. There is so much information thrown at you, and really, you just want someone who has been there to tell you like it is. Unless the doctor has had breast cancer, they haven’t really experienced it! Both will be having chemo. It’s hard to say,” put on your big girl panties and get ready”,  but it has to be said. This post may not be worth reading to you, but I wanted to talk about the essentials one might need during a chemo infusion. It may help someone you know at sometime.

So, what does one need during a chemo infusion? Here is my list of essentials:

1. Your spouse or a good friend or friends. There is a lot of waiting time, so having someone to talk to you is a good thing. I was lucky enough to have at least three or four people with me at every infusion. It kept my mind off of what was going on.  Also, they give you Benadryl so you could be too groggy to drive home.

2. Socks or Ugg boots. Hospitals can be freezing, so it’s good to keep your feet warm!

3. Which brings me to, a blanket or wrap of some sort.

4. Hard candy. I am not recommending too much sugar, but some people find it helpful. If the infusion is given through a port, the port will be flushed and for some reason, it tastes awful. I don’t know why you can taste it, but you can, so it helps to have a piece of candy in your mouth. Your mouth can get dry too!

5. Water, water, and more water! It’s so important to drink during and after an infusion, to flush out the bad toxins!

6. Something to munch on. Many times, I was there for over four hours. The appetite can be diminished while going through chemo, so think of things that might be comforting. We took a cooler packed with some healthy foods.

7. An ipad, laptop, magazines, books, cards, or movies. You get the idea here. One friend of mine did all of her Christmas shopping online while she was having chemo.

8. Popsicles. This is where the cooler can come in handy. Certain chemo drugs can give you mouth sores. Keeping a popsicle or ice chips in your mouth helps to prevent them.

9. An eye mask in case a little shut eye is needed.

10. The last and most important thing to bring is COURAGE! The fear of the unknown is the scariest part. Once you’ve gone through the first round of an infusion, it’s not so scary.

I hope and pray that no one needs this information, but with the statistics the way they are, we will all be touched in one way or another. Now, go have a good day with positive attitudes and live out loud!!!

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