High Cal Drinks:
Drinks, such as Boost Plus and Ensure Plus, are packed with calories and nutrition. Unfortunately, the high concentration in such a little amount can cause the runs, stomach problems, etc. Of course I didn't find this out until after I lived in the bathroom for a week. I also noticed the chocolate drinks caused more problems than the non-chocolate ones. For some reason, I seem to recall that chocolate is a natural laxative, but correct me if I'm off base and it was just coicidence.

Scary Posts:
The very first time I logged in here, I swore off message boards and Internet research forever. Some of the posts left me under the covers crying and my husband bewildered (couldn't blame it on womanly issues). A week later I ventured back on, and now I know to skip the ones that scare me. The second I get that feeling in my chest, I have to skim or skip.

Nausea:
I did not have chemo, but my advice is Emend (a anti-nausea drug). The girls in my support group swear by it.

Different symptoms:
Everyone handles their treatment different. For example, one fellow support grouper said Taxol gave her no problems and she lived a basically "normal" life while on it. In fact, some of her hair started growing back while she was one it. The other grouper recently started Taxol and it left her motionless on the couch for three days. She's now on a relative of Taxol, and she's having no problems whatsoever. So it depends on the person.

Handling Side Effects:
When you contemplate your potential side effects before they occur, I think it is definitely scarier. When you're presented with the actual challenge, however, it amazing how well you mentally accept it. Like I said, I was terrified reading some of these posts. Now I look back and shake my head - I just can't understand how I went through treatment without a mental breakdown (though I was very close many times). Somehow your body gets you to the other side; and if it needs some medicated help, that's not a bad thing either.

Sabrina