12 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE STARTING CHEMO | Chemo tips; My 2nd Cancer Journey

hi guys welcome to my channel in today's video i am bringing you my 12 things i wish i had known before starting chemo [Music] welcome if you guys are new here i'm marina blackford i started this youtube channel in march of 2020 to pay forward cancer tips and chemo tips for anybody going through cancer i had breast cancer for the first time in 2015 and unfortunately after i started this channel the end of last year i was diagnosed with breast cancer again in december 2020 so i'm a little bit of an expert on chemotherapy the first time i had breast cancer i did four rounds of anc and 12 of taxol and then this time i am doing 16 rounds of taxol or paclotaxol and carboplatin so that is my chemo experience so let me bring you my chemo tips okay number one thing to know is that not all chemotherapy cause hair loss some chemotherapies do just cause thinning of the hair so you might not end up looking like me just to let you know your oncologist should really know what to expect and should give you realistic expectations about your hair and if you're unsure about that just ask number two is cold cap therapy can be an option for you i was not given this option the first time i had breast cancer but i was the second time so my cancer center here in arizona where i am did bring in that technology so i could rent the equipment it was there which is basically you need a machine that will hook up to this thing that goes on your scalp to keep your scalp very very cold before during and after chemo so that was presented as an option to me it's a good option if you think you want to save most of your hair um you will still have thinning with a cold cap there's a cost to it do you just have to wait all the reasons why it may or may not work for you number three thing to know you will lose other hair or stop growing other hair also so not just the hair on your head this includes everything from uh your leg hair which is a nice thing if you're a woman by the way like you don't have to shave your legs by the way stop your razor uh shipment if you do automatic shipment like i put mine on pause because i don't need my razors right now so remember to do that um you will also stop growing armpit hair you will stop growing and lose your eyebrows your eyelashes these just take longer but they will go mine are filled in with penciling otherwise they're very very thin so this is some hair and a lot of makeup you will also lose your nose hair so know that in losing your nose hair can cause a lot of dryness in bloody nose so use aquaphor in your nostrils and a humidifier to help you sleep so number four your nails may also be affected this is not something that's really happened to me much personally maybe a little the ends of the nails get a little bit whitish and brittle some people say their nails may even turn dark two tips i've heard that can help is to wear nail polish during chemo it may strengthen your nails so if that's an option um or also icing um having your hands on ice or icing like i do during chemo may help your nails number five is neuropathy is a common side effect and they usually go over this this is just good to know be prepared for but neuropathy is the numbness or tingling in the hands and feet or extremities everybody can get it to varying levels some people get tingling in pain really bad some people get numbness more i've been told that once neuropathy really sets in during your chemo it can be irreversible so make sure you communicate with your oncologist during your chemo so that they can maybe pause your chemo or you know you just need to communicate on that because you just you want to do your best to fight that one thing i do to prevent neuropathy is to ice my hands and feet while i am getting chemo infused and that is supposed to help my oncologist to tell me to do that i'll link my products below see my amazon list of stuff i use um also to prevent neuropathy acupuncture can help that's not an option for me right now because of covid they don't have an acupuncturist there but i did do that the first time i had chemo and i swear it helped with neuropathy and nausea you can seek acupuncture after your chemotherapy outside of the facility so be aware of that there's also medications to help with neuropathy number six your taste will change this is a big one i really didn't know before chemo but it definitely has happened to me each time um it slowly comes on but your taste buds are just different things just don't taste the same it's very disappointing because everything tastes kind of bland spicy is a little heightened um stuff that might make your food taste better is definitely like classic taste like lemon garlic and sweet is a taste bud that does linger so be careful that you don't eat too much sweets but sweet actually does stay better than some of the others so that's good and bad i guess number seven you will be nauseous during chemo into different degrees to be honest they're gonna give you a pre-med of anti-nausea to hopefully help combat that um but you will need to manage it yourself after they usually give you a prescription to take home one or two prescriptions i also believe in wearing anti-nausea wrist pants for a couple days after chemo see that on my amazon list you can also do acupuncture for nausea but anyways it really goes um with varying levels it's the worst the three days i'd say after chemo one way to help combat that too is to always drink lots of water drink lots of water before during and after chemo like steady for those three days number eight your mouth may be affected during chemo and i say your mouth because for me this time i've noticed my teeth are very sensitive to cold and i guess it could possibly affect your enamel i am a dental hygienist by the way i just don't remember this the first time but i wanted to mention it i don't think i'm grinding more due to stress either because i wear a guard and retainers every night so i don't think it's from grinding i think it's literally from the chemo so tooth sensitivity may happen but more common for some people could be some dry mouth and could be that your gums are sore so just know that you want to continue to take care of your teeth and gums by brushing every day twice a day at least gently with a manual or electric brush okay and then talk to your doctor about your side effects you might also consider dry mouth rinse like biotin if you need it correctly number nine if you want kids make sure you discuss with your oncologist your options to preserve your fertility aka your sex organs so i protected my ovaries the first time i had chemo by doing an injection every four weeks to put me into menopause it's called zoladex and it's one of the best options to help women protect your odds of having children after chemo so discuss that with your oncologist what options you have number 10 you will be tired that seems obvious but you will be tired um but it won't be all the time i just want to reassure you of that you're gonna have again this is like a roller coaster ride of how you feel the best thing i can say is to drink lots of water to try not to over caffeinate you know just have some coffee or tea as needed and then try and get your rest they say nap shouldn't be more than an hour because if you nap longer than that it is not good for your anemia and then just try to get a good night's sleep every night as much as you can i also use essential oil a lot of times too some lavender oil to help calm me to sleep so consider using anything that might help relax you for number 10 you will be foggy foggy or chemo brain you will have that during chemo and again it's it comes and goes um for me it seems to come on more definitely day of chemo definitely foggy when you get chemotherapy that day in the next and then it kind of like gets better and then it sneaks in again mid week approaching chemo it tends to sneak into me after i eat i don't know if my metabolism or something is affecting it but after i eat i tend to notice i'm a little foggy you know so just be aware of that um it can linger for a while meaning it can linger for years after chemo but um you know just do your best to stay mentally strong number 12. i just want to say this and put this out there but you can live a pretty normal life during chemo i don't know if it helps to hear this i think it is possible i think if you're used to working out you can work out maybe not as strong as before or at least not during chemo the first time i had chemo i did chemo and then i had surgery and then i ran amir i ran the boston marathon four months after so you can work out and you can get back to working out that's it guys those are the 12 things i wish i had known before starting chemo i hope some of that helped um please you know leave me comments and feedback if you have any questions if i can address it in further videos i do post weekly videos some of it's about cancer some of it's about mom life some of it's just you know day in the life so please stay tuned for more of that and thank you for being here you can follow me on instagram marina blackford and i will see you guys in the next video [Music] bye [Music] [Applause] [Music] bye

Channel: Marina Blackford

Views: 693,878

Keywords: chemotherapy, chemo, chemo tips, cancer journey, breast cancer, breast cancer awareness, #azmarinastrong, #cancerjourney, #chemotherapy, survivor, triple negative, brca, Marina Blackford

Id: KAv9BwX4AwQ

Length: 10min 32sec (632 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 17 2021