Hello
@AHG123,
My chemo was started less than 4 months after my surgery and consequent abrupt arrival into the diabetes malarkey. My BG management was dreadful anyway, at that time, so my recollection of this period is not great.
But my chemo included steroids after each chemo session and they noticeably brought about elevated BG. The nurses and on site doctor were well aware that I was diabetic and made a point of telling me about everything the chemo sessions included - so I knew the steroids were going to affect my BG. I don't know if all chemo routinely includes steroids. Since you are at risk of diabetes, this informal diagnosis may not be so evident to your Oncology team and they might not be so alert to you proactively monitoring your BG. So you might find it helpful to discuss that with them.
The other thing, as
@everydayupsanddowns has said, is that chemo inevitably affects each of us quite differently and the "cocktail" you receive can be quite different from person to person. But the cocktail is a deliberate form of poisoning and there can be no question that your body will see this as a form of medical stress and stress, in all forms, can and usually does affect our BG; usually (not absolutely always) raising it.
So it's not surprising that chemo messes up your BG levels. If the Diabetic Nurse is someone from your GP's Surgery, that Nurse's knowledge of BG management is unlikely to extend in managing someone's "D" in your circumstance of chemo treatment; indeed I suspect this will be true for even a Diabetes Specialist Nurse in a Hospital Team. So don't be too concerned if there is no specific advice on how to manage your D better at this moment.
The vital thing is to get though the chemo treatment phase as smoothly as is reasonably possible, get yourself well and into a cancer remission phase, then get stuck into BG management. Healthy food that you can enjoy is important for your mental state right now as part of this chemo phase; I would let BG management be a secondary issue for now. Being prediabetic is a marker to do better - IN ITS TURN. Getting clear of whatever you need the chemo for is your priority, in my opinion.
Good luck with it all. I was a very miserable chemo patient!! I didn't cope with it at all well.
