EP 5: Chemo Hacks I Wish I Knew (Part 2): Real Relief for Nausea, Fatigue & Hair Thinning

In this raw, practical episode, Tina Powell, a stage 4 lung cancer survivor, shares her experience with 27 rounds of chemotherapy. She breaks down the process, covering common chemotherapy side effects and offering practical chemo tips she wished she'd known. This patient-focused episode is packed with honest, actionable information to help you navigate your cancer journey and learn how to survive chemo.

Discover strategies like the “nausea combo” (Zofran, Compazine, Olanzapine), steroid tapers, bamboo sheets, Epsom salt baths, meditation, acupuncture, and more. Every tip is grounded in lived experience and compassion, designed to help you find comfort and hope—one breath, one story, one day at a time. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Disclaimer – not medical advice
• 0:19 When you hear “you have lung cancer”
• 0:34 Meet Tina & why she created Lung Cancer Strong
• 1:48 Welcome to Lung Cancer Strong
• 1:52 Part 2 intro – chemo hacks I wish I knew
• 2:49 Survival basics: real rest, not superhero mode
• 3:41 Bamboo sheets, clean linens & post-chemo showers
• 4:32 Sunlight, fresh air & one lap outside
• 4:50 Clean air: filters, plants & open windows
• 5:23 Epsom salt + baking soda baths & Tibetan music
• 6:29 Chemo drains your mind too – reconnecting to yourself
• 6:44 Walking & light exercise to shift your mood
• 7:06 Section 2: Meditation (Joe Dispenza 10-minute practice)
• 7:39 Reflexology foot massage for relief
• 8:25 Acupuncture for nausea, relaxation & healing
• 9:09 Biomat & infrared heat for recovery
• 10:35 Infrared sauna – why Tina invested in one
• 11:25 Section 3: Hacks for the worst chemo symptoms
• 11:56 Nausea med trio: Zofran, Compazine & Olanzapine
• 14:06 Steroid support: Dex (dexamethasone) 3–2–1 taper
• 15:17 Staying ahead of constipation (Senna & Dulcolax)
• 16:47 Preggie Pops & other gentle nausea helpers
• 17:30 Cannabis for sleep, comfort & anticipatory nausea
• 18:25 Homeopathic helper: Nux Vomica
• 19:16 Hair thinning: topical Nutrafol, shampoo & conditioner
• 20:47 Wrap-up: there is no trophy for suffering more
• 21:17 Share this with someone starting chemo
• 22:13 Final disclaimer & how to contact Tina

Transcript

0:00

This podcast is strictly for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your oncologist, doctors, and medical team for questions specific to your own health, diagnosis, and treatment. If you're listening to this, you or someone you love has just heard the words, you have lung cancer. Right now, you might feel scared, overwhelmed, shocked, or even numb. I know because I've been there. Hi, I'm Tina Powell, stage four lung cancer survivor, thriver, and patient advocate. And when I was diagnosed on January 16, 2023, I had a thousand questions and nowhere to turn for real answers from those who have lived it. That's why I created Lung Cancer Strong. Here you'll find things I wish I had from day one. Real stories, honest answers, and the tools and hope to face every moment ahead. Here we get real about treatment, fears, setbacks, small victories, and finding purpose, even on the hardest and the most crushing of days. Here we get strong through information, inspiration, and community. And most of all, we get through it together. Because this is a place of true connection, compassion, and unfiltered strength. So whether you're newly diagnosed, fighting with everything you've got, or standing by someone you love, this is your invitation to live intentionally, powerfully, and with hope. One breath, one story, one day at a time. Welcome to Lung Cancer Strong. Welcome back to Lung Cancer Strong. I'm Tina Powell, and this is part. Two of my chemotherapy sessions. In part one, I walked you through exactly what to expect from chemo. The physical side effects, the emotional highs. And lows, and the truth that no. One, no one prepares you for. But today, we're going to go deeper. Because once you know it's coming, you need to know how to survive it. I've been through 27 rounds of chemo and these are the hacks that I wish that someone had whispered in my ear before my first infusion. In this episode, I'll share the nausea combo that actually worked. The three, two, one steroid taper that changed everything for me, and the one thing that helped with my hair thinning. And yes, I'm saving the big ones. The ones that stop my three day nausea spiral from. For section three, let's start with the basics. The foundational hacks that made the hardest days survivable for me. Number one, rest. The real kind. Chemo fatigue is not your normal tired. It's. It's bone deep. It's cellular exhaustion. The moment I stopped trying to push through and give myself permission to rest, everything got easier. So. So don't try to be a superhero or A superwoman during chemo. Actually, I just had chemo yesterday, I swear to God. And it took me a lot to wake up today. I gave myself time to just, like, lay in bed. Normally I would be up and I would be moving really quickly. Thank goodness that today I have a day off, so it allowed me the rest that I need. Please make sure that you take the rest and you don't feel guilty about it. Number two, which kind of might surprise you guys, bamboo sheets. There's bamboo sheets. You can order them on Amazon. It sounds really simple, but bamboo sheeps really help to save my nights. They're soft, they're comfortable, they're gentle on the skin. And sometimes with chemo, you feel like a little bit irritated and a little bit hypersensitive. I know that that's how I felt. The other thing I would say is just sheets of any kind. You need to change your sheets often during chemo. Your skin is shedding and you've got all of those, like, all of those cells. You need to wash your hair after chemo and you need to wash your body too. And you need to make sure that you are changing your sheets as often as possible. Number three, sunlight and fresh air. Again, you guys, this might sound really obvious, but I'm telling you, three to five minutes outside, even you're. When you're feeling like absolute crap, okay. Will help to just shift your mood. What I try to do is one lap in my development, and that really helps. So try to get that sunlight and fresh air as much as you can. Number four, a home air filter. This made, I think, a real difference. In my home, we've got an air filter in the bedroom. I've also have live plants in the bedroom too. So, you know, opening the windows today I actually open the windows during the day. Make sure that the air in your room, wherever you're spending the most amount of time recovering from chemo, the air is circulating, right? Get like fresh air. Move, moving. Do it through a home air filter and do it through plants. Number five, this is a really good. One here, especially the night of chemo or the day after chemo that you first come home. Epsom salt and baking soda baths. This is a combination that's used for inflammation, joint pain, and for detoxifying. Make sure that you have plain Epsom salt and baking soda in your bathroom at all times. The other thing that I'll recommend along with the bath is Tibetan music on YouTube. You all you have to do is Google it and you'll find it. It is so relaxing. So again, the salt with the baking soda combined gives that detox effect that will help you tremendously to recover from chemo. So again, those are the survival basics. Those things will not cost you a. Whole lot of money. Most expensive things are the home air filter. Actually, the filter is not. The machine is not as expensive as the filter because you've got to like, you know, keep up with the filter. The bamboo sheets, you know, you could look on Amazon. So good luck with all of those things. So chemotherapy doesn't just drain your body, it also shakes your mind. So these are the things that I've used these hacks to reconnect to myself. So I hope that you find some value in here. Walking in light exercise. I talked about it before, you guys. It is really key and essential. You have to move your body and I know it's hard when you're feeling sick and nauseous. Just getting out and doing a little bit of light exercise, even if it's a 10 minute walk, will help to shift your mood. And once your mood starts to shift, you will start to shift. Which brings me to section 2, 2 meditation. Meditation is huge, you guys. You don't need to be an expert at it. It's okay during medic meditation that your mind wanders. What I recommend for meditation is to do Joe Dispenza's 10 minute meditation. You can do that sitting in a chair and if you do that once a day, it will help to make a gradual shift in your mental state, which is really important for recovering. Number three, reflexology. Reflexology is the pressure point massage that you get on your feet now a lot. At least where I live they have foot spas. So it's very easy for me to walk into a place and get a 15 minute rub. So hopefully they have a couple of places by you. If they don't, then, then don't do this particular thing. But for me, the reflexology is. And again, all of the things we're talking about today are things that I do in combination with one another. There's not one single bullet that I'm going to be able to give you. But in section three, there are a lot of silver bullets there. So number four is acupuncture, you guys. Acupuncture has changed my life. Mind you, I'm going once a week and I'm going once a week for the session lasts for about 30 to 40 minutes. I found, thanks to my friend Denise, I found a phenomenal acupuncture here in. The the next town. What I Will say is acupuncture, when done correctly and when you feel good, puts you in almost like a trans. Transcendental meditative state. It is. It is huge for relaxing. And for me, it's absolutely help with nausea. I tell my acupuncturist how I'm feeling, and I said to her, sharon, I feel like crap. I feel nauseous. She knows exactly where to put my needles. She also, too, will take my pulse. When I suit, when I first get there. So she'll be able to say, oh, you know, your immunity is a little low. Oh, your heart's beating a little too fast. Oh, you know, she'll be able to. Send certain things that. That I can't. So acupuncture, Try it. If you haven't, you guys, it is. It is the bomb out of all of these things. Like, I could. I can't live with acupuncture, live without it. That's how important it is to my healing and how it will be to you, especially all of my survivor friends fighting cancer right now. Okay, number five, something that I was introduced to my acupuncture from my acupuncturist, and that is a biomat. A biomat. And they're all different. Mine combines infrared. I have a picture of it right here. Biomass are expensive. They are an investment, I will tell you that. But once you have them, you pretty. Much have them for life. They are essential in healing. They're very soothing. And on chemo days, especially for me, the biomat helps to recover a little bit faster than what I would normally do. And I'm trying to use the biomat all throughout the month, not just for chemo. Number six, which is also too. An additional expense is the idea of an infrared sauna. Mark and I happen to have an infrared sauna in our house. It's not for everyone, but it uses dry infrared heat, and it is you. You have to work up to it. But even 20 minutes, 30 minutes in an infrared sauna. I know that many people have infrared sauna spas that, you know, you could rent for, you know, a period of time. I would say try it and see if it's for you. The reason why we invested one in our house is because we did the math. The sessions can be very expensive. So we just said, hey, these are. How many sessions we would do. And for us, we made an investment. Can or can't be for you. What I would say is try it a couple of times. Renting it before you actually buy one. The section that you have probably been. Waiting for the hacks that helped me get through the absolute worst symptoms. So here, this section you're definitely going to need to talk to your oncologist about. Again. Again. You guys know me. This is lung cancer. Strong. What worked for me may or may. Not work for you. So, you know, we're all. We're different. We're all an N of one. What works for one person may or may not work for the others. Number one, Zofran, Compazine, and Olanzapine. I'll say it again. Zofran, Compazine, and Olanzapine, they are all nausea heavy hitters. Each one works differently, and you need a prescription for all of them. Zofran is my number one go to. That's my standard anti nausea medication. Zofran. I believe in it so much. And if you're a chemo patient, you. Might want to do this too. I have a supply in the car. I have a supply on me at all times. Because nausea is this crazy thing with chemo, you guys. Some days you're going to feel it. You could even feel nausea, like 10 days. You don't know what's going to set you off. But Zofran has helped me tremendously. Yes, it has a side effect. Talking you through that in just a minute. Okay, Compazine. Compazine is like Zofran's sister. The thing with Compazine, it has a different effect. So it's more what I'll call medicine sedation. So it gives you the feeling of kind of being tired, whereas Zofran doesn't do that to me. So I tend to take Compazine at night and Zofran during the day. It's actually what I did. I actually already took my Compazine for the night. Okay, so Zofran and Compazine. The third is Olanzapine. Okay, Olanzapine. And I talked to another stage four cancer survivor that's doing the same thing with Olanzapine. Olanzapine is actually not an anti nausea drug. It's an antipsychotic medication that is used for chemo patients, for nausea. What I do is I take Olanzapine. The day before chemo and three days. After, I take one pill and I take it at night. So that has helped me. I didn't start off taking Olanzapine, but when I was talking to my oncologist about this, like, general sickness that I was having, almost like I felt like was in a backseat of the car that was moving with all the windows closed. So then they said, hey, you Know what? We're going to try olanzapine. And it definitely worked for me. Number two, another prescription that we layered on dexamethasone. Dex, also called dex. Okay, you guys are probably getting dex when you get your chemo infusion as one of the pre meds, right? Dexamethasone is a steroid. They give it to me on the day of my infusion and then I do a three, two, one taper, steroid taper. What that means is I take three pills the day after chemo. Today was day after chemo, so I. So I took three on two days. The second day I take two pills and on the third day I take one pill. So the dexamethasone helped me tremendously, you guys, with this chemo regimen. I was throwing up violently. I throw up, I don't know, every now and then, but it has been minimal, almost non existent compared to like the first, how I felt with the first sessions. Okay, so dexamethasone, check it out. That may or may not be the thing for you. Number three. This is really important with chemo, you guys, with the chemo hacks, because if you're taking Zofran Compazine, chances are that you will be constipated. And constipation, it's real and it's brutal. Do not do what I did and wait until you feel like that until to get some relief. There are two things that I do religiously that have helped with constipation. Number one is senna. S E N N A. I'm showing. It to you right here. You can buy it over the counter or you can have your oncologist write you a prescription for it. Senna is a laxative. When I take it, it's. It's a minor laxative. So I'm not running to the bathroom every single time that I take it. So I want you guys just to know that it is helping me to go. Okay, I will say that. So it's a mild laxative that has been a difference maker to my world. Number two, Dulcalax Dulce lacks. There's two forms. There are the suppository form, if you want to go very quickly, it has like a 20 minute activation. And then there are dulce lacks pills that takes effect like anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. So again, depending on what your cycle. Is doing, you've got a mix of. All of these things, you know, two kinds of pills and a laxative to help. But do stay ahead of the constipation. Because that is your best chance. And do stay ahead of the nausea as well, too, on both of those things. Number four, Prego pops. Prego Pops are a homeopathic remedy that my acupuncture turned. Turned me on to. That really works. They come in two flavors. They come in a raspberry flavor flavor and a lemon flavor, and both are fantastic. I travel with those Prego Pops. As you can tell, they're used for. Primarily for pregnant women and their nausea. And I can tell you it really helps. So Prego pops, I put a link right over here. You could do, like me, you could buy a big canister of them, stick them in your purse, stick them in the car, and when you're feeling like nausea, suck on one of those things and you will get some sort of relief. Okay, number five, this might be controversial to you guys. Again, my experience and my. My experience only. Cannabis. Yes, cannabis. Cannabis actually helps me to sleep at night. And after chemo, like, I'm just really uncomfortable, and it's not always easy to fall asleep. I take a liquid form of cannabis. I work right here in Marsville with Brady's Botanical Botanicals, and I know the owner. We're going to have him actually on a first on a lung cancer strong video. And cannabis, for me, has been a wonderful remedy to help me sleep during chemo and really after chemo, but even before chemo, guys, because I talked about that anticipatory nausea in video one in part one, which you guys should definitely all watch. Number six, this one has a funny name. Boiron. Nux vomica. Nux Vomika. Okay, I put a link over here, too. This is another thing that you can buy on Amazon. So the pills are like, this is a homeopathic remedy you don't need a prescription for. Helps to take the edge off a little bit of the nausea. It is. You don't even swallow them, you guys. They're like little pellets. I wish that I have it right here, but mine are on reorder from Amazon too. So they're just like little pellets that dissolve in your mouth. And actually, it's made from, like, a poisonous nut. I know it sounds crazy, guys, but it really works. And actually, people use Nux vomika for hangovers and whatnot. So I. Again, works for me. May not work for you. You may want to try it. May not want to try it. Nux vomika. Number seven, the last thing I'll talk about is. We talked about hair thinning, right? You guys? Half My hair fell out. I swear to God. You could ask Mark. It was all over the bathroom floor. It was all over my brushes to the point where the research assistant at my oncologist said, tina, you're. You look like you're losing hair. I said, yes, I am, Linda. And she said, okay, we can let you use the topical, but we can't allow you to use anything in pill form. So she gave me the advice to use neutral fall neutrophil. Comes in a topical ointment. It's really like a topical liquid that I place on my hair. The link is right over here, you guys. I'm also using the shampoo and conditioner, and I highly recommend that's another thing that you can buy on Amazon. So now half of my hair filled out. I wash it seldomly, maybe once or twice a week. And this has really, really helped to preserve the. The hair that I have left. My oncologist told me that I wouldn't lose all my hair from this chemo regimen, but they told me that I would lose a substantial amount, that it would eventually stop. And, you guys know, I lost all my eyelashes. I have zero eyelashes. And they said, okay to use the topical, but not to. Not to use anything in pill form. It's against the clinical trial that I'm on. So let's wrap up here. Thanks so much for being with me for part two of my chemo series. I hope that you discovered that one of these hacks, if not more, bring you comfort in the days ahead. But please remember, there is no trophy for suffering more. Use the hacks that I talked about, take the meds, lean on every tool that makes this journey bearable, guys, because we know it's a very hard journey. If you haven't watched or listened to episode one, part one, please go back. It's the foundation of everything we talked about today. And please, if you know somebody that's going through chemo for the very first time, especially if they're either in the beginning stages of that or going for their first chemo treatment, your one act of kindness, of actually sharing both episodes. Part one, where we talk about chemo symptoms that I wish that people would tell me about. And number two today, chemo hacks that I wish that people would tell me about. Thanks again for listening and subscribing to lung cancer. Strong. I really appreciate you guys more than you will ever know, and I wish you good luck in your journey. If you have any questions, you can email me at tinaung cancerstrong. I always appreciate a kind word or a kind comment, but let me know what other topics that you want to make sure that I am covering with you guys. And good luck and wishing you lots of love. Take care. Bye. Thank you for joining me today on Lung Cancer Strong. Remember, this podcast is strictly for informational purposes purposes and does not constitute medical advice. Always talk to your oncologist, doctors and healthcare team about your individual situation. If you'd like to reach out to. Me or share your thoughts, please email me@tinaung cancerstrong.com and be sure to at least allow 48 hours for a reply. And don't forget, you can find us. On YouTube and on all the major podcast outlets. Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode and get notified when something new drops. One breath, one story, one day at a time. This is Lung Cancer Strong.