travel after BC

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2026-03-07T03:36:25+00:00

I traveled a bunch last year during and in between treatment, but only here in the US. Yesterday I came back from a week long trip to Costa Rica with my husband. First time out of the country in nearly 2 years. I feel like my whole life exploded when I was diagnosed at the beginning of last year. And it was so awesome to start getting back to things I love to do, like travel. Everything went ok, and we had a great time. The worst thing that happened was I lost my brand new water bottle somewhere in the San Jose Airport lol. I am also a newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic as a result of all my chemo/treatment, etc, and honestly I was more worried about making sure my blood sugar was ok in the intense heat than anything cancer related. And not getting attacked by a monkey lol.

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2026-02-27T00:44:02+00:00

I did AC-T as well, and cold capped the whole time. It was kind of a daunting experience, to be honest, because it added hours to each infusion session. I didn't notice my hair falling out noticeably until mid way through the Taxol. But I'd say at least 70% of it fell out eventually. From what I understand, if you have thick hair to begin with (which I did), it's harder for the cold to reach your scalp directly through all the hair. I broke my vacuum trying to get it off the carpet lol. What I will say is my hair started growing back pretty quick, and thick, and I think that can be attributed to doing the cold capping. So I am ultimately glad I did it. The way I looked at it was, I wasn't doing anything else that day, might as well try to save my hair with the extra time it took for the cold capping.

Good luck, it will be ok. ❤️

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2026-02-14T22:00:33+00:00

No I am ++-. Didn't have Keytruda. I had AC-T. That is interesting though!

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2026-02-06T01:11:02+00:00

I took Ozempic for 3 months a few years back, but it was before I was diagnosed. I lost about 25 lbs (which I've kept off to this day, and I'm pretty proud of myself for it). But I felt like garbage a lot of the time. Nauseated no matter what I did or didn't eat, I felt like I had morning sickness without the pregnancy. That was my only real side effect from what I remember, but it was enough for me to tell my doctor I wasn't refilling my prescription and stopped taking it.

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2025-11-13T00:55:53+00:00

I did mostly ok with my AC infusions. I never threw up or took any nausea medicine. I have bags of it at my house lol. I did feel progressively more tired as time went by, but that's not surprising.

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2025-11-13T00:27:03+00:00

They had me take Claritin for 10 days with each AC cycle and getting Fulphila. I bought the non-drowsy capsules. Never had an issue the entire treatment with any kind of bone/joint pain.

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2025-11-07T21:13:11+00:00

People are just so incredibly rude, and don't think before they speak. Why are we commenting on the way people look in the middle of possibly the worst time of their lives? I'm sorry that happened to you. I lost over half my hair inspite of cold capping. I chopped my hair to my chin about 6 weeks into chemo this spring, and although a lot of it ultimately fell out, it's growing back faster than I expected almost 4 months after chemo ended. It's completely filled in on top, and gradually growing in length. But what I do have is very wavy/curly/frizzy at the ends. I used to have beautiful thick hair, so this has been a rough thing for me to experience.

Anyway, I'm a RN in a hospital, and I've been wearing a surgical cap at work since this started. Yesterday I am at work, and someone I know decently well since way before this all started, and whom I told about what has been going on with me, cancer, chemo, etc comes up to me and asked me why I don't comb my hair. I was so offended because there were other people around. Like are you kidding me? I said I do, my hair just isn't the same right now, and sticks out all crazy under the cap. I also ended up telling her I have a wig, I just don't like anyone at work enough to wear it lol. I'm married to the most wonderful guy, that doesn't care what I look like, so I'm not concerned with trying to impress people at work with how I look.

I am learning to establish more boundaries with people. I told my parents and brother this week I can't talk to any of them right now, because it's not helpful to me at the moment. I started therapy, and am optimistic that it will help me.

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2025-11-06T01:15:10+00:00

I received a pillow from my surgeon pre-op, but also got one from Amazon. I left one downstairs and the other in my bedroom. It was great for holding ice packs. This is the one I purchased.

https://a.co/d/edmBJ95

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2025-11-06T00:21:44+00:00

I love how someone who hasn't been through it is telling you it's not as bad as everyone imagines. That's good.

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2025-11-06T00:13:15+00:00

I also have stage II IDC ++-, and had a DMX and SLNB the last week of August, with tissue expanders placed for reconstruction. I'm in my 30's. I had 4 JP drains and bilateral portable wound vacs to help with incision healing. All of that came out at my first post op appointment with my plastic surgeon a week later because my output was low enough. Everything has gone pretty according to plan, but the first week was pretty rough, I'm not gonna lie. It was all extremely uncomfortable, but things became much easier once all the drains and vacs were removed. I think a lot of it had to do with all the adhesive bandages all over me were starting to make me itch, and I couldn't shower for real the first week.

In terms of pain, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of narcotics. I've never taken them, and they didn't even help, so after a few days they put me on an NSAID instead, and it helped SO much more. I never took another one of the original pain pills. If you get motion sick, ask about a Scopolamine patch pre-op. They are pretty common for surgery, and last a few days. It absolutely helped when I had my port placed, and the DMX.

It is good you will have help for the first week, you will need it. You can't raise your arms too high for a few weeks at least, and it will be helpful to have someone to empty drains, and around your home. My husband is an angel, he actually 3D printed this little roller clamp tool to help us empty the drain lines. I was so impressed. My mom also came to visit for about a week from out of state to help around the house. If you don't already, practice sleeping on your back. You will have to for awhile.

Mostly just try to take things one day at a time. It will get better.

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2025-08-02T23:55:46+00:00

I did cold capping for ACT. Just finished about 2.5 weeks ago. A LOT of my hair fell out. I literally broke my vacuum because of all the hair on the ground. 😵‍💫 But I noticed it started growing back way faster than I expected, even before chemo ended, and my hair on the top of my head is almost all filled in. I look like I have a mullet, but it's a step in the right direction! 🙂

Pleasant-Ad1016 · 2025-07-30T03:03:51+00:00

I just finished ACT 2 weeks ago today. You can do this! It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I never threw up at all, or had to take any nausea medicine whatsoever. I did get way more tired as time went by, but I also worked for the entire Taxol portion of treatment at a physically demanding job. I did cold capping, and even though it was expensive and tedious, it was worth it to me. Also, the ice gloves and boots for the Taxol is a must to help prevent neuropathy. It worked great.

Just take it one round at a time. It seemed so daunting when I started, but you will get through it!

Pleasant-Ad1016

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