By ee

I was on a trial for epi-cmf. I had epi for the first cycles with injections in between so I had the epi every other week. It was ok at first. I too got the wonderful red pee! My veins gave up very quickly and I was pleased to have a central line.

I had 3 days of extreme tiredness and then started to feel a little better. The injections in between were to boost my immunity and seemed to work well.

They said my hair would start falling out about day 12 and that was exactly what happened. I was told that the epi was the more toxic bit and that most people did better on the cmf.

Trust me to be the exception to the rule! CMF and I didn't get on very well! I became more and more tired eventually not having the last cycle because as the registrar put it 'you have no quality of life!' which about summed it up.

I got a nasty infection through my central line and ended up in intensive care for 4to 5 days. I was very surprised at how tired I became to the point of having to sit down for 20 minutes after just making a cup of tea!

The good news was recovery was steady and 2 months after chemo stopped even while having rads I felt much better. My hair grew back quite quickly.

I am still affected by the chemo, just had day surgery which gave a real problem to get a canula in as my veins just keep collapsing. I have lots of aches in my joints, knees etc although these could be because of the ageing process but I am contesting that theory!

I still remember that feeling of disappearing as a person, I just sort of existed.

It is 'doable' and recovery is steady.

Hope this helps.