Bowel Câncer Chemotherapy

Snowball36
Occasional Visitor

Re: Bowel Câncer Chemotherapy

Hi Bianca,

I feel like I'm in a pretty similar situation to you although I'm a bit older.  I am 45 years old, with Stage 3 bowel cancer which I was diagnosed with in March.  I barely drink, have a very healthy diet, practice yoga, love swimming, walking and have rarely taken any medication in my life.  I would also say I have a bit of a phobia of ingesting anything toxic.   I am just about to start my fourth round of chemo, I have to complete eight in total.  The day before my first treatment  I was in full fight or flight mode, so fearful of having to 'poison' myself with these drugs.  The first couple of weeks were awful,  I made it through the first infusion with my sanity intact but I felt very anxious about having to put the tablets into my mouth.  I just did not want to do it and nobody could force me.  However, I had to face the reality that I was actually really sick even though I felt and looked fine. 

My husband always likes to set me on the straight and narrow, he reminded me that it might feel like poison but it's most likely going to prolong my life and I want to grow old.  The way I get through my anxiety is to remind myself of the big picture.  I'm doing this for myself and my family, I need to be strong.  You might create a little mantra for yourself or thank your body for being so strong to get you through all of this trauma so far. My nurse also said to me, the human body wants to survive and thrive. Meditation, yoga, and long walks have eased my anxiety greatly.  As well as making regular visits to the hospital psychologist who is absolutely wonderful.  Be really kind to yourself  🙂 

Ben30
New Contributor

Re: Bowel Câncer Chemotherapy

Hi Bianca,

 

I know you’ve already had some great replies to your post but thought I would say hi as well. I’m Ben, 30 years old and live in Melbourne and was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer (spread to liver) in late May. 

I feel the same way about Chemo. It is genuinely the scariest thing I have ever done. I was so nervous before my first treatment I was throwing up. I have recently finished round 4 of chemo and like you the side effects aren’t as bad as I imagined. The main side effects I’ve had are fatigue and nausea/vomiting. They have gotten a little worse for me each time. but not drastically and it’s not unmanageable. Then again some others like mouth ulcers and taste changes seem to be getting better the longer into treatment I get. I’ve just been trying to take each day as it comes and not look too far ahead as I find it a bit overwhelming thinking about all the treatment still to come. I’m also getting pretty nervous for my next PET scan the week after next to find out exactly what is happening with the tumours. Fingers crossed it’s good news! 

If you are still looking for support my partner called the Cancer Council and they were able to refer them to their in house counselling service as well as have a really good chat on that day that seemed to help a lot. 

 

All the best to you and everyone on here with your treatment and always happy to chat! 😊

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