Stage 3 triple negative breast cancer: Who to prepare for first chemo?

Hello @mrsorozco831 this might have been the most scared I have ever been. The week before my first chemo, since we can’t know for sure how it will be our brain tend to conjure up all kinds of things based on what we read and have seen and heard from others. My heart goes out to you now. I will tell you, the chemo regimen I took was not easy, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
Typically, it does take time for the infusion so I would take a blanket, some snacks, and a book, tablet or other thing to occupy your time. You will figure out after the first one, how long it will take and what you really want.
Your oncology nurse will your best source of information on that day. She/he will also be a great asset to you during your time on chemo. Ask them what to expect over the first few days after treatment.
Do you know what your regimen will be? Do you have a list of questions for your provider?

Let me agree with Chris. It is the scariest part of treatment even considering all the testing that you go through. But all that you weather makes you stronger. Initially I didn’t feel anything for the first couple of days, and then a kind of brain fog would descend for a few days. After that I’d feel sort of normal. My cycle was every three weeks.

St Joe’s in Towson, Md took care of me, and they think of everything: hot blankets, pillows, snacks and drinks. I brought my iPad and read or played games. And here I am, a year later and cancer free. I’ve never been as in touch with my body. All the blood work they do lets you see how that chemo is affecting your body.

My biggest tip is to stay hydrated and stay positive. Go get’em!

@mrsorozco831 - Hi there. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I think planning ahead can help with all different facets of the breast cancer treatment and experience.

I have not had chemo. But this site has so many thoughtful patients who can be good resources.

Also, when I was preparing for my double mastectomy, I did find two posts on Reddit that were helpful in terms of providing a list of things to get to prepare for recovery.

So many of us are thinking of you. Take care and keep us posted.

The chemo nurses will be your biggest help. They are wonderful! They help you find a place to sit, set you up, bring nice, warm blankets if you're cold. They are wonderful!! I had a little TV set to watch or you can read, sleep, knit...........whatever! I had a port so I wasn't constantly getting poked. It really wasn't bad at all. Trust the nurses.....................they are the best!!!!

I too am TNBC and BRCA2+, I made a chemo bag that had snacks, candied ginger in case I felt nausea, a bottle of water with an electrolyte added, my iPad and iPod and knitting came too. I never knew what I'd be in the mood for. The other thing is I changed my diet to a very high protein one so my work always came back high enough for my next treatment. I was fortunate and worked throughout my treatment. I'd have my infusion on a Thursday afternoon was OK Friday, really rested and relaxed on Saturday and started to feel better on Sunday. I researched what were they possible side effects of my treatment infusions and prepared my infusion bag for those possibilities. Some side effects I had others I didn't, I was also fortunate to have had mild side effects. I think for me my attitude and outlook toward the journey helped me weather each phase. Use this site to ask questions, learn and vent when you need to - know you are not alone, many of us have traveled a similar road.

They did tell me but I don’t remember exactly I do know it’s 2 chemos and 1 immunotherapy Thank you for your feedback it’s so helpful

One other thing that I would say, listen to your body, if it says it needs to sleep allow it to. I had triple negative as well, and sounds like your going through very similar to what I did with the chemo and immunotherapy. I know that the day of the treatments they gave me a mixture of drugs to stop as many of the side effects as possible and that worked for me pretty well, but 2 days later your body basically crashes after the treatment.

@mrsorozco831 - two things I did when I started this journey was to start a notebook of what I was told and I'd make sure to repeat back to the individual to make sure I wrote the information in terms I would understand. In some cases this took away the fear of what they were saying because I focused on what was said and not what it meant to me so I was detached from the information. The second thing I did was take someone with me to some of those initial scary appointments so someone else could focus on what was being said. Keeping the journal helped in several ways - the main one is - now that I'm beyond my treatment I can see what I've gone through and reached the other side stronger.

I was fortunate that all my physicians were patient with me in making sure I understood what was going to happen. I still take that notebook with me to follow-up appointments, so if I have any additional questions I have questions and answers all in one place.

I agree with you, I sat there under the warm blanket sipping apple juice.

All of these comments are so helpful. I am reading this the day after your 1st treatment, so I hope it went well and you feel a little more at ease. I am also triple negative with a grade 2b metaplastic tumor, another HER 2 + tumor and a HER 2- lymph node…so all over the place. I am receiving TCHP infusions, so it is possible we might be getting the same treatment.
I have had 2 out of 6 treatments and @sschafer70 described very well the same symptoms I have had. The first 10 days after treatment have been the time with the most side effects (mostly just tired) and the rest of the time leading up to the next treatment, I have felt great. The first round I experienced very tender gums and a short lived rash on my face. The doc prescribed a gel for the rash and it helped tremendously for the 2nd round. My hair did start falling out after the first few weeks but I took that as a time to experiment with cutting it short. 8 weeks in, I went ahead and shaved it because it was messy so doing it in stages helped it not be so hard to deal with emotionally. I have not had nausea but the nurse told me that try not to let yourself get to the point where you feel hungry because nausea sometimes will follow that feeling. What has helped me most is napping when I’m tired and drinking liquids. I found nutritional shakes help if you don’t feel like eating. It is all very scary but it is good you reached out for support. I learning that we don’t have to do this alone.