Cancer Chemotherapy – what was your experience?

Being diagnosed with any type of cancer is a frightening experience, so learning from the experiences of others is invaluable.
The purpose of this blog is to help people who have been diagnosed with a cancer and who are or will be undergoing chemotherapy to understand better what to expect from the treatment.   To do this we invite anybody who has themselves or had a loved one to tell their cancer chemotherapy story to help others about to start this journey.
The principle behind chemotherapy is very simple.  It is where a medicine is used to kill cancer cells.  The medications can be delivered either as a tablet, and injection or an infusion.
There are four main types of chemotherapy used to treat cancer:-
a) Curative chemotherapy.  This is where chemotherapy is used to cure cancer completely
b) In conjunction with other treatments such as radiotherapy
c) Palliative chemotherapy.  This is where chemotherapy is used to relive symptoms of the cancer
d) To reduce the risk of the cancer returning after surgery
We are interested in all aspects of your chemotherapy and cancer stories because they will be of tremendous help to others in your situation.  However we would like to focus on the following questions:-
a) What type of cancer were you diagnosed with?  How long ago was this?  Have you had any re-occurrences of this cancer?
b) What treatments did you/are you receiving?  What sort of chemotherapy did you receive and what type of medication was used in the treatment?
c) What were the effects on your lifestyle because of the chemotherapy?
d) What was the final outcome of the chemotherapy?  Did you have to have any other treatments after your course/s of chemotherapy had finished?
e) Do you have any advice for somebody who has been told they will be receiving a course of chemotherapy?
Please treat these questions just as a guide. It would be great if you could tell us any part of your story.
Thanks very much in advance for your help. Remember, a blog is really like having a conversation with lots of people at the same time and so please check back on the blog to see what others have said so that if you feel like adding to their thoughts you can. It’s a conversation and a chance to learn and share!