Cancer quirks you may not have considered

• Fevers

  Fevers and infections become big risks when your immune system is compromised by taking medications such as chemotherapy.

  Once you start a treatment as invasive and brutal as chemotherapy you lose the freedom to take paracetamol every time you have an ache without taking your temperature first. The nurses will give you specific individualised instructions but fevers are a big risk throughout treatment. Paracetamol can mask a fever and while this may seem odd the first few times, like every new adaptive practice you’ll make a habit of it very quickly.

• Radioactive urine

  On certain types of chemo and with some scans you’ll be poisonous or radioactive for a few hours post. If you live with others there’s things you’ll have to consider to protect those around you. For example avoiding pregnant women and babies after PET scans, double flushing the toilet and putting the lid down after every pee to protect those you live with.

• Mouth ulcers and taste changes

  Ice cubes, numbing gels, bicarbonate soda mixed into water, excessively mouth washing or brushing your teeth. I don’t have much advice on this one. Contact your nurses and I’m sure they have lots of great ideas. I wasn’t too bothered by the ulcers. It was the nasty taste and texture in my mouth after chemo which upset me more. One of my lovely nurses told me to mouthwash with salt water which helped, again this advice may be specific to the type of chemo I was given so ask your team they’ll have the best tips.

• Weight

  If you’re not already, get comfortable with weighing yourself. You’ll be asked to weigh yourself a lot every admission, to track your body’s fluid retention, get your chemo dose correct and ensure you’re not losing weight.

• Hospital food

  Life hack, you can order Uber eats to hospital. I struggled with association nausea related to hospital food so in an effort to eat consistently and save my bank account from living off uber eats, I pre-cooked meals and stored my own food in the patient fridge. Hospital food can be great but in an attempt to minimize waste and eat at regular meal times I cancelled any orders from the hospital kitchen and stuck to my own food majority of the time.

• Skin

  Something positive! If you battle with the occasional acne outbreak, being hooked up to fluids frequently really clears out the skin. Oncologists should mention this as a positive when they give you the handbook on the 200 terrible side effects of chemotherapy.

• Hair

  Not all types of chemotherapy induce hair loss. Mine did, but as well as losing the hair on your head you also lose it all over your body. You may see this as a bonus or more of a loss but you will be as smooth as a baby. I personally was most shocked by losing the hairs in my nostrils, I felt as though this made me more sensitive to smell and my nose ran more when eating spicy foods.

• Confidence

  This is another one that I imagine goes both ways. For me, despite losing my hair, my freedom to pee without announcing it and a large part of my identity (outdoorsy and energetic) I was still me. My friends stuck by me the whole time and people still wanted to hang out with me, laughed at my jokes and treated me the same even though I looked like lord Voldemort. After so much of your identity is stripped away trivial things that previously would have made me feel self conscious no longer seemed as scary. Even if you’re not going through chemo I would recommend shaving your head, it really is very liberating.

• Psychology

  Honestly, let go of all expectations and don’t let anyone tell you how you are meant to feel. There are great support services in place in many hospitals and clinics and despite what everyone might tell you, there is no ‘normal’ way to process the instant reality check that you are not immortal. I have a very proactive approach to problems and a truly amazing support network in my life so I continued to get on with my life in a new hybrid (hospital and home) way. Until the psychologist came to visit me in hospital I felt influenced by many people in my life who continually told me that I was not processing this news. I was, just in my own way and it was nice to speak to someone who was qualified in this area tell me that it’s ok not to be ok but it’s also ok to be ok. Different challenges and emotions will arise throughout a cancer diagnosis, treatment and remission such as scanxiety (scan anxiety). If you can find a psychologist or counselor that is able to support you throughout your entire journey, I think the continuity of care is both comforting and important.