My dad had 1 low dose of Cisplatin chemo last year, along with 30 rads. He was supposed to have 5-7 doses, one per week during his rads to sensitize the cancer cells to the radiation. They weigh you before each cycle and use that to measure your dosage. He felt fairly nauseous the day after his infusion. It took a long time, like all day, to get the fluids and infusion. They go really slow the first time, and monitor you closely. Our hospital had comfy reclining chairs and private cubicles to sit back and watch tv, and snacks while you're being infused. They gave my dad an anti-nausea drug called Ondansetron through his IV between the hydration and the chemo, and they gave him some anti-nausea pills called Decadron to take home. It's important to be hydrated before your chemo and to stay hydrated afterwards, so you can flush the drugs out of your kidneys. Dad had changes in taste, which I guess is fairly common. His hair didn't thin or fall out but it did grow slightly darker than it was before over the last year. He hasn't said so, but I think it affected his hearing a bit. He had a very uncomfortable belly for a week or so later, which is also somewhat common. They told us to be sure to call with any new symptoms, because they can treat any symptom you might experience, and can even adjust their plan if things are not going well. I know other people who felt like chemo was not taxing at all. I know one person who had a lot of side effects. Dad felt so icky he decided not to continue his chemo. They said one dose was better than none, but they were persistent that he should try to continue.

I would definitely ask your medical oncologist about what side effects you might expect, as every person is different, and I imagine there are differences with drug and dose as well. They gave my dad a several page print out with a bunch of scary possibilities. Having to consider these things, and the radiation side effects was really nerve-wracking, but its better to be prepared and to have an understanding of what could happen than to be surprised by something later.