I have been through exactly the same treatment over the last year. Side effects will be different for everyone depending on age, fitness, other medical conditions etc. Certainly the DVTD was not as bad as I anticipated. It tends to follow a pattern in the week where you’re fine on the day of the injections and the day after because you take lots of steroids, but as they wear off you feel more tired and lethargic for a couple of days, then start to pick up. With me it was fairly consistent so it helped me plan my life around it. I kept doing most things I was doing before but didn’t go the the gym on my tired days. The first side effect to hit was constipation (but for others it can go the other way!) so my my advice would be to take DulcoEase or equivalent throughout the DVTD from day 1 rather than wait for it to hit. You can adjust it accordingly (you will get this on prescription) . Some people get nausea. This wasn’t a problem for me but they give you anti sickness tablets in case you need them. a few of the drugs you’re on say they may cause anxiety and low mood. I was fine for 2 months, then in the third month severe anxiety and depression hit. If this affects you don’t be afraid to ask your doctor for anti depressants. They worked very quickly, but I’m coming off them now as I don’t need them. Key advice is to listen to your body. Rest when you need to and don’t get frustrated if you can’t do everything you used to. Try and do normal things, but don’t push yourself. The Stem Cell Transplant is another matter altogether. Again, for me, not as bad as I expected, but everyone will feel quite poorly for at least part of this process. I was in hospital for 2 weeks and a day. Only had 2 very bad days with sickness, diarrhea, lethargy etc but a few days before that was off my food. But I recovered very quickly. Appetite came straight back. I was tired for about 6 weeks and slept every afternoon but good after that. I am now feeling great. I’ve done lots of gardening and walking during the summer. Now that my immune system is improving after finishing the last cycle of chemo, and I’ve started to be re-vaccinated, I’m planning to go back to the gym next week. Everyone’s experience is different and you will probably get different responses on here, but I hope it goes as well for you as it did for me.
