Everyone of course is different.
My injections were a no pain process. Uncomfortable for sure. But no pain involved. Some people do have difficulty with this and need a port. If I were to do it again, I'd still just use the IV. No negative effects.
The cold sensativity is very real. Microwave anything you drink. 20 seconds for an 8 ounce glass of whatever worked for me. Warm stuff was outstanding. Ice cream was awful(I was dumb enough to try). Went down real good after being completely melted in the microwave
The cold sensativity lasted about 5 days after the iv.
Nausea and sickness? I didn't really have that at all. I drove myself home 20 miles after each treatment.
I had the same exact treatment regimine as you will...six rounds...injection of oxi and two weeks of using Xeloda. After round 4, my WBC count dropped and my dosage was reduced by 80% and round 5 was postponed a week. That did the trick and I was able to finish all six rounds.
After each of the first three injections, I took the first week off work, and then worked the last two weeks. After round 4, I tried to go back to work. I went home sick after a few hours and did not return for almost two months. The chemo made me incredibly tired...basically I could do nothing. Zero energy. Getting up in the morning, eating breakfast, and taking a show took around 5-6 hours. So I stayed home and watched movies. I couldn't even play video games due to the final side effect....
Tingling in hands and feet.
That said...it wasn't overwhelmingly horrible. Just sort of....like you are waiting for the time to pass. I guess things were pretty brutal but it really didn't seem that way at the time. The neuropathy, sensativitiy to cold, lack of energy...were just kinda more annoying than anything else. Nothing really hurt. Just sort of uncomfortable.
This part isn't going to be a very popular statement here, but to some extent the terrible side effects you might read about are mind over matter type issues. No doubt a small percentage of people have really awful reactions to the chemo(poison). But when you are reading people describe the same side effects I had and saying how horrible it was....its to some extent outlook and personal pain tolerance.
Point being that for most people its just not that bad as its made out to be. Several people here went through oxy and didn't even have the extent of side effects I had....some even continued to work during the whole process. Everyones different.