Drink as much water as you can, eat when you can, sleep when you need to, be as active as you can and let your team know if you are struggling.
Chemo is not fun, but it is doable. AC is kink of a jerk, but it is temporary.
You can do this!
I scheduled my weekly chemo for Fridays as I continued working (teacher) at the time. This allowed me to rest and get myself mentally prepared for the week. I agree that chemo was not as bad as my imagination built it up to be. I dressed comfortably making sure I was warm enough. My providers had warmed blankets as well as tea to drink. If you can, it’s nice to have a buddy for support. My husband came to most and my bestie was with me when he couldn’t. I tried to incorporate walking to keep up my energy level but did take up napping especially on chemo days. Will be sending you positive thoughts on the 22nd!
Tips- easy ones-
-make sure you are keeping up with healthy habits so you are in your best place going into this
-check with your PCP if there are any tests, etc. they might want to do," to have a baseline for "before chemo" stats
-take care of any other upcoming medical appts, especially dental, as chemo can impact how well you heal from any of that.
-if you have any Rx's to fill, take care of that. I was given two for nausea- you want to have those available if you need it, versus waiting for it to be filled.
-the day of- make sure you have a good breakfast, for me it was scrambled eggs. It's a good protein, easy on the tummy, not greasy or heavy.
Packing a Bag-
-I packed my water bottle, some snacks, gin-gin candy (ginger is a natural tummy soother) some books, etc. Some pack their tech with movies or music downloaded.
-phone and charger
-calendar
-since I wore lounge pants and t shirt, I brought my jeans to change into afterwards.
-later after the hair was gone, I wore my beanie- and packed the wig.
-the first time, I brought my comfy slippers, after that, I left the slippers at home, just slipped the shoes off and cuddled up in my chair.
-a cozy blanket. They had blankets there in a warmer, but they always smelled funny to me- mine was a gift from a friend who had gone through chemo- so it felt like a warm hug from someone who had come out on the other side of this and was celebrating 20+ years!
For most of us, while chemo is not fun- it is usually not as bad as our imaginations build it up to be. The nurses will take awesome care of you. I am looking forward to your post that everything went well and you are back home resting comfortably!
Hugs!