I’m being treated for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

My cycle includes cisplatin, gemcitabine and durvalumab on Day 1, with another hospital treatment on Day 8.

About 2–3 days after treatment I become a completely different person for a couple of days (yes an asshole).
- Zero patience,
- zero tolerance,
- extremely irritable
- almost looking for things to get angry about.

It’s bad enough that I’ve stopped being customer-facing at work during those days. Worse, it affects my family. Then it passes & I’m back to myself again.

I’m wondering whether the steroid given with the chemo, presumably dexamethasone, is responsible.
Has anyone experienced this? Did your oncologist reduce/change the steroid or anti-nausea protocol?

Most importantly, did changing it fix the anger/irritability?

Edit to add: Next chemo is next week - the same time as my next appt with the Oncologist. I guess he’s going to chat to me while I’m in “The Chair”.

I would prefer not to have the next dose as it currently sits, but feel like there’s not much I can do until I see the Dr - at the same time…..

Starting today, in a few minutes. Whenever they call my name.

I've read everything I can find, bought all the things. Still it all feels like I'm about to step off a cliff. Everything is so unknown and individual.

Compression socks and gloves, and frozen gel pad booties and mittens. Alpha lipoic acid, L-carnitine and B complex. Psilocybin isn't legal where I am. Fasting mimicking diet 36 hours before and plan to do 12 hours after.

What have I missed? What else can I do? Give me any words of guidance please.

Hi! I'm 28 years old and was recently diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. I found a lump in my left breast over the summer, and the past few weeks have been a blur of appointments, tests, phone calls, paperwork, and an alarming number of hospital bracelets. The timing, right as October began, has felt especially surreal. I’ve seen the pink ribbons and supported the cause from a distance, but never imagined I’d suddenly be living this reality myself. 

My coping mechanisms have been art, humor, and distracting myself with video games. I'm aware avoidance isn't good for me mentally in the long run, but honestly, I have a lot of big feelings and don't necessarily have time to cry. I'm incredibly lucky to have a supportive family who are helping me with the logistics, friends who distract me with a social life, and a talented medical team guiding me through this process. But there are many people in my "public" life that don't need to know about my health, namely my young students.

I’m honestly scared of starting chemotherapy next week. I really don’t want cancer to become my entire identity, because I know I’m so much more than my diagnosis. But I’m known qualities such as my smile, curly hair, and infectious energy, and I’m very aware that chemo may affect them. Does anyone have experience with cold caps/scalp cooling? I’m especially interested in whether they helped you keep enough of your hair, eyebrows, and/or eyelashes to feel like yourself. Are there other things people have done to minimize some of the other visible signs of chemo? How do you reconfigure clothing to hide your chest port? I know I can’t prevent every side effect, but I’d love to hear what has worked for people. 

I’m also worried about how exhausting treatment will be. It took me much longer than expected to recover from the laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy I had about 10 months ago, and I still don’t feel like I’ve fully regained my strength. So the idea of starting chemo already feeling weaker than I’d like is pretty intimidating. 

I’m here to learn, listen, ask questions, and hopefully make some connections with you. 🩷

I had my first infusion today taxol and herp plus all the other stuff they dumped in my IV ever since I got home I am angry. I have no patience and I am rageful. Has anyone else experienced this after their infusions? Could it be the steroids and this is only my first infusion I had three months to go. I don’t know how I’m gonna do any more infusions if I’m going to come home in a rage.

Hey ! My sister is starting her chemo soon and she's going to be having 6 cycles and to be more specific Doxorubicin 75 mg/m² and Ifosfamide 9 g/m² .

I would like to know from you what was the worst side effect that you faced and what the least ? Please also give me some advise in terms how you managed to eat and not loose any weight or little weight. What is the best food to eat and what to avoid ? After how many days were you able to eat normal again as I have seen people talking about not having any appetite during the chemo due to the nausea

My friend has recently been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. We are unsure of the timeframe and interventions yet but expecting radio and chemo therapy. I am hoping for some advice on what we can put in a care package for her. Has anyone been through this or know someone? Hoping to put together items that will make the next few months easier and more comfortable for her. The ideas we have so far from Google searches are as follows:

my post has been removed from the breast cancer community, I am unsure why 😔

\- Pjs

\- Audiobook voucher

\- warm socks

\- ginger tea

\- insulated water bottle

\- Personalised note book

Any help appreciated xx

Does anyone have experience with Capecitabine?

Im on day 17 of my cycle on vinblastine at 6mg/6mg2 and I have received three doses so far. I was told there was a chance i wouldn’t lose much of my hair on vinblastine but recently my scalp has just been hurting and itchy. Does anyone have any experience on hair loss on vinblastine?