It varies by individual. And it also depends on your chemo regimen.

Generally speaking, you will lose your hair 10-15 days after your first chemo. You will lose the "hair down there" first (so signal #1 that you're about to lose the hair on your head). And then you'll know that the hair on your head is about to go because your scalp will become very tender. Kind of like you put in a ponytail that was too tight.

Depending on your chemo type (my guess is you'll have TC?), you will likely lose your appetite for a few days or have some mild nausea. There are a ton of side effect drugs that can help manage this, so speak to your doctor if you have nausea. Most people just feel some mild flu-like symptoms, where you are achy and tired with no desire to eat/mild nausea. Some don't even have that and actually have good appetites through chemo. It's a wide range.

If you are getting Taxol/taxotere, you could also experience bone pain, bloody noses, and neuropathy (numbness/tingling in hands and feed). Not what we'd call fun, but manageable.

Sometimes people also get mouth sores. The thing to remember about chemo is that it targets quickly regenerating cells. The few place in our bodies that we have constantly regenerating cells that are healthy are our mouths and digestive tracts, as well as our hair. So some people also have issues with diahrea/constipation or just general discomfort when having a bowel movement.

I'm sure that was too much information, but chemo is NOT as bad as they make it look on TV. It's come a long way in the last 10 years, so while it's not pleasant, it's not sitting in an infusion ward vomiting every 2 minutes. Lots of people actually fall asleep while getting their infusion.

When you go in for your first infusion, expect it to take 4-6 hours. Between the preliminary meeting with your oncologist, the time it takes to run your labs (to make sure you're healthy enough to get more chemo) and the actual time in the infusion room, it takes a long while. So take a book/movie/something to keep your occupied, some food to snack on, and a blanket to keep you warm.

Good luck and let us know if there is anything else we can do you to help you prepare.

This is long. I hope it helps you.

If you have a sensitive bladder try to be get a place by the bathroom so you can get there fast. All of the liquids put in you and anything you drink can make you pee more often. At least for me it did. Thankfully I had no accidents. The Benadryl they gave me put me to sleep for most of the treatments so the time went quickly but I had to get to a bathroom fast when I woke up.

I did not have radiation on Drs orders because there were no lymph nodes affected but the surgery to get them out has left me with pain from scar tissue and nerve damage. I can live with it but sometimes it is annoying.

If you need to cry tell other people that so they will know it is something that you need to do. I was that way and it helped to get the emotions out. We are all human so we need to understand that about one another. Life can be really difficult at times.

I am an almost four year survivor so I feel blessed that I am still here with stage 2 and --+ cancer. I had mastectomies and preventive hysterectomy due to the gene like Angelina. If I knew I would get cancer at age 51 I probably would have done the surgery at age 37 too. I did have mammograms but my cancer was missed by a mammogram. I found the lump myself in one breast and had it removed and the other one about a year later because of my risk to get cancer again.

Take one day at a time and let other people help you if they want because they do want to help to get you through your ordeal.

Take care.

I had mild nausea and also bone pain. Hairloss too. Fatigue, had to take naps during the day. But everyone is different. My sister got totally sick from chemo. The nausea, vomiting and hairloss, fatigue and pain. It depends also on how aggressive they are with the chemo. Hugs to you

I found that with Chemo I had what they call "down time" every day and it seemed to always be around the same time. Never really had a problem with nausea. I didn't lose my hair till 21 days after the first treatment. It is best that prior to losing your hair cut it short and when it starts falling out the best option is to shave your head. I had to have blood work done every week to check on counts. Every person is different however it is not as bad as it was years and years ago. Radiation followed after and the only side effect was the burning which they advise to use "aquaphor". It really helped.

Norma, it really does vary between the individual and the type of chemo you get. I look at it kind of like child birth...don't listen to everyone's birth stories when you are pregnant...(Why is it that people think that they should tell their birth horror stories to pregnant ladies?) Seriously, you will have good days and bad days. The important thing is to remember that this is just a step in the process to regaining your health. You might lose your hair, but it will grow back. (Except in my case some of the leg hair, which is a big positive in my book!) There are so many great drugs out there to combat nausea that this probably will not be a factor. Your oncologist will probably provide you with information on all of the side effects for your particular treatment, but even then, you most likely will not get every side effect they tell you about. Keep your docs posted on every side effect that you experience. There is much that they can do to help you through this.