My treatments have gone remarkably well! I'm doing the 5-FU infusion once a week. I have had 4 treatments so far. The first night I always have a slight headache that goes away with tylenol. At bedtime I take Ativan for nausea. The nausea isn't bad at all....I take my meds the moment I feel queezy. I eat A LOT....it helps! By Wednesday night I'm incredibly tired and can sleep all day Thursday. They say the fatigue will get worse.

To be honest with you....I think I'm doing very well. The doc says I get to take a week or two off after the 6th treatment.

You can do this. It's not as scary as it seems. HUGS!

I'm on the folfox regimen - 12 cycles 14 days apart and going home ewith the pump for 48 hours. I go for my 5th infusion on Wednesday.
First I've got to tell you that if you'll be going home with the pump, the port is the way to go! It makes the whole thing so much easier as your hands and arms are completely free and with the fanny pack around your waist, you can go about your everyday activities.

My experience so far has been that the actual infusion at the chemo center takes between 3 1/2 and 4 hours. I get pre-meds of an anti nausea pill as well as and infusion of something for that. Also they infuse a steroid, calcium,magnesium and I get iron too along with the oxaliplatin. Then they flush the port and start the 5FU, which is what's in the pump, and then. I go home. I go back 46 hours later and get unhooked.
I've found that I feel not too bad while I'm hooked to the pump, although you have to be very careful with anything cold - you won't be able to breathe,eat,drink or touch anything cold. Dont even risk trying it, it's not nice at all! The 3 or 4 days afterwards I've been feeling very tired and blah. I've been very lucky so far because I haven't experienc any taste changes or nausea. You can expect some diarrhea for a couple of days. Also tingling and discomfort in fingers. Buy multiple pairs of gloves for all over the house. You'll need them to go into the fridge.
I've been told that the side effects will build up as I get more infusions, and some people have stronger reactions than others.
There's really no way to tell how it will affect you. All I can say is that so far it hasn't been pleasant, but it has been bearable compared to what I'd read before I started.
Good luck to you, and you won't be sorry you got that port installed! Feel free to message me if you want to talk more about it!

I am finished with my chemo, but I only really got nauseated for the first treatment after that I never got nauseated, although throughout the whole 12 treatments i never really had much of an appetite. I had issues with my mouth being sore and my throat burning when I tried to swallow food. All in all though I still only lost about 10 lbs or so. Mouthcare is of the utmost importance if I can give you any advice, gargle with baking soda and salt water after everything you eat to help you. I never throughout the whole thing got really tired, I wished I could have. Now that I look back on the whole process I had very few issues compared to some people. You will do fine. The first time was very scary and emotional for me, my oldest son went with me , but I went to every other treatment by myself.

It's important to remember a couple of things ...

firstly everyone is different and what happens to one person won't necessarily happen to you, it could be worse or it could be better.

secondly most of the posts here relating to chemo here are people asking for help on how to deal with the bad aspects of chemo and not people saying what a breeze it was

The main piece of advice is to talk to the people treating you keep them informed of how you, let them know of anything that changes, these days they can control the side effects with additional meds.

For me I was able to work most of the off week of chemo all the way through, though to an extent for me it was a way to keep a sense of normality in my life.

I just finished my fifth treatment on Wednesday of folffox with the oxy, I go every other week for twelve treatments. The port makes going home with the pump very easy. I will tell you I was very scared too! All the emotions your feelimNg are normal. It is a process to that you will go through, some liken it to post traumatic stress. But it will get better you are stronger than you may think. As for me the treatments have been relatively easy. I have a few days where I have some flu like symptoms but nothing to bad. I am back to work full time I eat well I exercise regularly and really feel ok. Staying hydrated is important and listen to your body rest when it tells you to. You will come through this just fine,
Blessings
Kathy

Thank you everyone for your reply. It has helped me tremendously ro read each and every one of them. I appreciate the words of encouragement and now the knowledge of what I might expect and the hope it gives me that I will be able to have some normalcy during the treatment.
Suzy, I too am eating a lot now before chemo to gain my pre op weight lost (10lbs). Thanks for the hugs! Rhoni, I will be on the same regimen as you, 12 treatment, every other week with 46 hrs pump. I definitely am getting the port. Rhoni, thanks for coming back to help with the newbies. Markarina, its good to know chemo wasnt debilitating for you that you were able to return to work. I would like to go back to work, but I work in an urgent care type clinic and would be exposed to all kinds of germs. Kathryn, Its good to know you were able to exercise and return to work full time, wow. I wouldnt know what to do with not being able to jog as I need to daily to keep my blood pressure to a good level.
this site and you guys are a blessing and i wished I would have found this before my surgery, but everything was moving so fast! thanks again for your support.

I did get weaker with more treatments.
Mark is right, keep your team informed. They have lots of ideas for side effects.

My husband was on the same treatment plan as you. Everyone does respond different. His first treatment had him in bed for 9 days with no energy and extreme sensitivity to cold (he looked like he lived in the artic). His second treatment was the same. Before the 3rd treatment he was in a wheelchair during what we call 'chemo weeks' so the doctor decided to back off a little. His third treatment he WALKED out of the hosiptal and was ready to go eat! It took on average 8-10 hours for him to get his treatments and then bringin the pumo home for 48 hours.
After 3 treatments he had an emergency surgery to remove a little over half his colon. He was chemo free for 2 months and then resumed treatment. When he resumed, he had allergic reaction. I tell you this to just make you aware...listen to your body. If ANYTHING feels odd, call your nurse! He did not do this and it took the nurses and additional 3 hours to get him stable. Two weeks later we were back for another treatment. They did the same one, but added 6 premeds to stop the reaction. It helped. Now, hes been told he cannot have anymore of this treatment because it does cause permanent nerve damage. It was the oxyplaton that caused all the issues. Again everyone is different and like I said just listen to your body.

Roxy, that sounds awful scary, but good to know. I hope he's feeling better.

yes it was scary but that treatment stablized most of the cancer. only one spot showed no sign of change and growth (the liver). This new chemo hes on is just as rough. He cannot decide if the cold or the rash is worse. good news is the rash hes having now, is a sign the chemo is doing its job.;)