Dear Dave: I can't tell you exactly what to expect, because I'm NOT big and
strong! LOL You will lose your hair -- count on that. It'll take about
three weeks and bingo! You'll be bald. I got my head shaved after the
second week and bought a beautiful wig. I hope they install a port in your
chest. It makes the chemo so much easier to take -- ditto your blood tests
and all that. I had side effects -- nausea, weakness, blurred vision,
anxiety, confusion, loss of appetite, depression, anemia, insomnia, etc., but
no mouth sores. For the nausea I was given Compazine, which didn't work --
then they gave me Zophran, which did. The doctor gave me Ativan for the
anxiety, Paxil (an antidepressant that I still take), Sometimes I was given
Morphine because the shrinkage of the tumor was painful at times. I took
Ambien at night to help me sleep. Gradually, the confusion and blurred
vision went away. When I became anemic, I took G-shots -- a series of about
ten in a row. They aren't painful and they help immensely. I was given a
couple of blood tranfusions, too, which was really no big deal. The loss of
appetite is a problem. You mus force yourself to eat. I drank three Ensures
a day, and now I can't stand the sight of it. It helped, though. I also
drank a lot of water, believing that it helped flush the chemo through my
body. It seemed as if it would never end, but it did. The radiation had
other nasty side effects. I'll tell you about those if you need to know --
later! LOL
Love, Kathy
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