There is no denying that embarking on the journey of Chemotherapy is a tough one; mentally and physically. When your Oncology team go through the procedure, the drugs you’ll be on, the timelines and then all the recommendations of the things you may want to invest in it’s a lot to take in. Chemotherapy can feel like a full time job. Your daily routine changes and a lot more self-care needs to be added in but, as I’m half way through my chemo ride now, I have put together the bits and pieces that I have found to be essential to my daily life and what I highly recommend to get yourself before you start.

1. First and foremost a Thermometer. One of those you might be quite used to seeing by now during this pandemic, the ones that you point and click and slightly feels like someone is pointing a gun at your head. But also the types you can take the attachment off to go in ear. I grabbed one off Amazon before I started chemotherapy and it’s been my friend daily for a couple reasons. One being the risk of toxicity from chemotherapy itself. The few days post EC chemo I would sweat profusely so temp checking was a necessity to ensure I was safe. Below 36oC or above 37.5oC would mean an immediate call to my team. More recently, however, the multiple temp checks have been needed when I became Neutropenic. This is a common effect of chemo, the killing of your lovely little neutrophils that fight hard to boost your immune system. It means you are at higher risk of infection so checking your temperature a couple times a day for signs of fever is imperative!

2. Olaplex. I have done a separate post on how I saved my hair during treatment which can be found here https://www.backsbrainsandboobs.com/blog/myth-2-i-will-lose-all-my-hair but OLAPLEX has been key! Chemotherapy targets dividing cells (of which cancer is) but unfortunately doesn’t differentiate between the healthy ones and the cancer ones. As a result it effects your hair, nails and skin. I am not one to usually spend much money on cosmetics and it is a little pricey but my word was it a price worth paying! It can be a little confusing looking at all the products as they are all numbered but Olaplex Number 3 (the hair mask) was an absolute god send. I have used this twice a week since I found out I needed chemo and my hair has thanked me for it. Its unique formulation bonds the hair and keeps it strong and hydrated against the effects of the scalp cooling. In addition to this I also use the Olaplex conditioner at the hospital underneath my cold cap (I get a ‘ooooh this is lovely!’ every time the nurses apply it) and the Number 6 every night before I go to bed. The hair I have left may be the healthiest its ever been!

3. Rivitalash. Similar to your hair, your eyelashes and eyebrows also take a hit during chemotherapy as does body hair. Now the latter I did NOT have an issue with. I haven’t needed a wax since two weeks into chemotherapy and boy I am thankful for that! But losing eyelashes and eyebrows were a bit of a dread, they’re quite a visual sign of going through treatment. I managed to just get my eyebrows microbladed in time so when they fell out it still looked like I had them and I picked up a magic wand called Rivtalash. This product is the most expensive of them all but it has lasted me 4 months so far and should last another 2. It was designed by a Dr who created it to help his wife regain her eyelashes quicker post chemotherapy. I’ve been using it every night since the start of treatment and, although they have thinned, I’ve kept a fair amount. Also the ones I have kept are super long, my Mum even bought one as she was jealous of how long they’d grown!

4. Mavala and Polybalm. Your nails can go dry, brittle, discoloured, bruising can form underneath it and ridges can appear. But thankfully with these two products my nails have survived. Polybalm is a nourishing balm you apply to your cuticles 2-3 times a day and it works wonders. Put it this way, I got lazy and stopped using it for a couple week on my toes and both big toes looked like I’d dropped a sack of bricks on them. Use it!! Mavala was recommended to me by my nurse and its been incredible. Contrary to what you may think, you should actually wear polish the whole way through treatment to protect UV light getting to your nails and causing damage. But Mavala have designed polishes that are water based and completely non toxic and they do lovely colours too! I use the base coat, two thin layers of colour and then the gel top coat and the hospital think I’ve had a manicure every time!

5. Aveno. I feel quite lucky in that I haven’t experienced too many issues with dry skin but I have ensured that I keep up with moisturising every day after I shower and again before I go to bed. Aveno is the moisturiser of choice, its free from any potential nasties that you have be careful of in cosmetics during treatment and it makes my skin super soft…win win!

6. Ginger tea/ biscuits. During EC chemotherapy, nausea was the worst side effect I got. From the moment I got home I would feel like hurling my entire life content out of my stomach and it got worse with each treatment I had. But ginger was my savour. I completely went off water, something which is really inconvenient when you’re trying to flush the drug out of your body! But sipping on ginger tea meant my hydration stayed up and nausea stayed down at the same time. First thing in the morning I’d take my first two anti-sickness tablets (which while I mention it TAKE AS PRESCRIBED! Do not wait until the nausea hits to take them, just taken them on time even if you don’t feel sick), nibble on a ginger biscuit I’d leave beside my bed, wait 20 minutes and then I would be able to get up.

7. Senosoft sachets. My diet has always been very high in fibre. I move a lot, drink 4 litres of water a day, all the things they tell you to prevent constipation. But chemotherapy slows digestion and the anti-sickness tablets cause constipation so no matter what I did the inevitable would happen. Ideally trying to avoid purging laxatives, I used Senosoft sachets which are osmotic laxatives that draw water into your bowel and found this helped keep things moving comfortably. I’d take two in the morning of treatment and then two every morning for 3-4 days post treatment until I felt things were working normally and I was no longer taking the clogging up anti-nausea drugs.

8. Resistance bands. This last one comes from a place of my profession as well as personal experience. As a PT, I obviously know the importance of exercise however never have I felt the importance as much as I have during treatment. There are days where you won’t feel like doing anything. Fatigue hits and you want to curl in a ball and not move. But honestly stand up, go outside and put one leg in front of the other. Even if its to the end of the road and back. Moving helps fight the fatigue, but be kind. With a weakened immune system (and the pandemic shutting them anyway) going to the gym was a no go. But retaining some muscle mass is an important part of chemotherapy so I got resistance bands off Amazon and the days my energy felt higher I would do a few movements to keep the muscles activated and keep strong. This, confirmed by my team, has been an integral part of how I’ve got through chemotherapy as smoothly as I have.

If you are starting chemo or have started and are struggling with the anxiety of it all give my previous post a read https://www.backsbrainsandboobs.com/blog/talking-to-my-pre-chemo-self and you will be okay xx