The Chemosabe March Cruise

taurie

Ok well I guess I started it, climb aboard. I should be starting mine within a week and a half tops. 4x AC + 4x Taxol. The ship is about to sail, so who will be my dancing partners in the Captains Chemo Ballroom. Hurry aboard, because we are about to sail.
Love you all!!
Dawn

Cynthia1962

Hi Dawn,

I'm here...I see my onc tomorrow for my tx plan. To say I'm scared would be putting it mildly.

Love the name of the group!

Cynthia

lindaDK

Im climbing aboard kicking and screaming all the way...!! My first is 3/8, 4 rounds of taxtore/cytoxan 3 weeks apart. I'm with you Cynthia, scared is putting it mildly.

I also love the name of our group!! Dawn, I love your imagination. We'll all get through this.

rosebud1962

Ok..I'm aboard but this ship better not sink..LOL I'm getting a PET?CT scan soon then I meet again with the Onc but I'm sure I'll be starting in March...Rosebud

GrammyNancy

I've got my passport and am ready to board captain! Second opinion Tuesday, March 6 and should start chemo the following week. I too am very frightened, anxious....it will be great having others in the same boat to talk to.

Let's go girls!!!!!!!!!
Nancy

lindaDK

Anyone have there port in yet or doing one? I got mine in yesterday and its pretty sore and looks like its going to bruise pretty good. I had a easier time with the bi-lateral. go figure...

Cynthia1962

Hi Fellow Cruisers,

I got my chemo itinerary today - 4 AC, followed by 4 Taxol or Taxotere every 3 weeks beginning March 19th. Will be having a CT scan, MUGA, and bone scan before I begin the cruise.

My onc is kind of funny. He said I was stage II, so I told him that the surgeon said I was stage III and he asked why she thought that. So, I told him it was because of the 4 positive lymph nodes. He looked at the path report again and said that the positive nodes weren't that big, so he considers me an advanced stage II. So, I guess the classifications are just guidelines. lol

Cynthia

HollyHopes

please, please...can I come too? please???

seriously freaked out today when 10 days post-op onc scheduled first chemo for 3/9. have been crying off and on ever since 1pm pacific time....

taurie

Cynthia, I had one positive node out of 18 taken out and a 3 cm tumor, Dr. told me in the hospital I was stage II and when I went to see him he said no stage IIIA. This is why I hate the staging thing, I think it depresses us too much to dwell on it, so all I think is, ok I have cancer, and now its out of me (hopefully) and I am getting treatment so it doesnt come back. End of story, I have just as good of a chance as stage one as far as I am concerned, I am not going to let it get to me. And Holly, chin up no freaking out on this cruise, we live, we laugh, we love, we survive, but no freaking out.
Hugs,
Dawn

maxgirl

Quote:

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Anyone have there port in yet or doing one? I got mine in yesterday and its pretty sore and looks like its going to bruise pretty good. I had a easier time with the bi-lateral. go figure...

---

Gulp! I'm getting mine on Tuesday and start the Chemosabe cruise next Thursday, March 8.

I'm new, and of course, I'm more than the fact that I had a 1.3 cm tumor, triple negative, 2 positive nodes, with a lumpectomy. I'm doing the dose-dense AC-T -- chemo every 2 weeks for 16 weeks. Wish I'd found this site during the earlier agonizing weeks, but I'm glad I'm here now. Shuffleboard, anyone?

Max

Edited to delete staging info, cuz I agree it just makes us nervous wrecks!

lindaDK

Max, looks like me and you go dancing on the same day! I'm glad you found us, we'll keep each other sane through all this. The port is sore but it is tolerable. Don't let it scare you, from what I hear it is really worth it.

Staging doesn't matter, I'm stage 1 but have a very aggressive tumor and it scares the living day lights out of me. Everything about mine is 'poor prognosis'. So don't let the stages get to you at all.

Holly Hopes, your dance is the day after mine and Max's. We all will be holding each others hand and we'll all get through this. I have been taking valium to help ease the tension, I will probabaly be a druggie by the time this is all done. But I'll deal with that later. We have to do what ever it takes to help us through.

My issue is they're still trying to figure out if I am HER2 + or not. The IHC came back as 2+ which is borderline, the FISH came back 2.13 which is still considered borderline. sigh...

Anonymous

Hi! I just had to check you all out, saw my name - Chemosabi! Good luck to you all with your chemo.

Nicki

freethought

Hi LindaDK and Max--

Your ports should "settle in" after a while... I had mine put in on 2/13 and had my first chemo the next day. Pretty sore and the coloring was spectacular, but after about 10 days, I only occasionally remembered that I had it in. Keeping pressure off of it (elevating my arm, sleeping on my back) helped, and I'm sure an ice pack would have helped too, if only I'd thought of it! And really, it is much easier than the vampires digging around trying to find a vein. I'm really more a Feb. Chemo Cruiser than a March Chemosabe, but I happened across this, and just felt compelled to let you know it will be ok, and the port is really pretty easy compared to the rest of the "stuff" up to this point...

Good luck to you all!

ducky1

Hey Girls;
Am only meeting my onc.. wish I didn<t have one... on the 15th so I don<t think I will make it into your group. I am scared to death since I got the call with the appt... had LOTS of wine last night to push down the fear. When I spoke to the receptionist, I thought she said that I had to take a HUGA test... lo and behold, from reading this thread, I discover that it<s a MUGA... so I guess that indicates that they want me to have chemo... maybe I<ll lose a few lbs.:)
What a way to do it... ok, so where exactly does this port thing go.. that really scares me too.. ok, I<m just scared..
and it<s only 8:00am!!!I know for sure I<ll be in treatment come April as I want to enjoy the spring break with my kids and maybe do something totally wacko! I got bumped at work (accidentally)in the boob so I decided to make light of it. Bought myself one of those shell bras with flowers, wore it under a jacket and wash flashing all my colleagues at school
...then I wore the thing to a dinner theatre (under my jacket!!) and flashed the waitress..asked her if she wanted to borrow it.. so she wore it the rest of the evening. Good Fun!
Wish you all the best...will keep checking in on how ya<ll are doin<.. I love this site
Cath

maxgirl

Glad to meet a dance partner, Linda! I'm getting the port in at noon on Tuesday. Is it ridiculous to think I can work later that afternoon?

I have a desk job and told my boss I'd be able to work regular days next week until chemo day, then there was a cancellation so I got called about doing the port and have to do the pre-port visit Monday, EKG and bloodwork, and that should take up the morning. I'm getting the MUGA scan early Tues. morning followed by the port.

Oh, I also read that you shouldn't get dental work during treatment, and I'm due for a cleaning, so my dentist fit me in at 1 pm Monday. So much for 8-hour work days.

Thanks for the encouragement, freethought. I have rotten veins and can use only my right arm for IV because of node dissection on the left side, so I'm motivated. I'm elevating my left arm at night to prevent lymphodema, so I can see me on my back with my right arm up, too, looking like Frankenstein! LOL

Ducky, a woman at the chemo place showed me her port when I got a tour, and it was just below the collarbone on the side opposite her surgery site. (Don't know what bilaterals do.) She swore by it, said it was much easier than IV, but you don't always have to get one.

Loved your flashing story!

I've been taking Ativan and Wellbutrin, and they help with the anxiety and depression. Not that I don't have bad days or nights, but they keep me more stable. I have to put all these other chemicals in my body -- might as well take some that make me feel good!

Thanks for the good wishes, Chemosabi. You should be our mascot or mentor or something like that.

HollyHopes

I get my PICC line in on the same morning as I have my first chemo - March 9th....dreading the whole gd thing...first moment inthis journey where I have felt less than positive...

Do we take the Zofran the night before the chemo or only afterwards? Can't remember a thing the onc told me...

HollyHopes

uh - ok...sorry about the freakazoid thing...just not getting much of a grip right now...

HollyHopes

one more question...has anyone flown (as in taking an airplane somewhere) while in the midst of chemo?? my son's graduation is out of state mid-way through my course...

maxgirl

Holly, sounds like you're having a rough time this week. (((hugs))) I don't know about the Zofran, and I think different oncs may have different plans. I don't get anything until I go to chemo on Thurs. Is there a weekend number you can call?

Also, are you taking anything for anxiety? You shouldn't have to feel so bad.

On the flying, I think you have to think about how you feel and what your white blood count is at the time. Is this a trip you could make by car if necessary? Maybe you could think about backup plans --I know I'd be hell-bent on making my son's graduation!

Have you read back on the other chemo threads where posters started before we did? I think someone on the January thread flew somewhere.

refugee

Hi everyone, I'm starting four rounds of AC this Monday. I got a port placed a little over a week ago, and it hardly bothers me at all now. I'll be getting Herceptin for a year after the AC is done, so the port will be handy.

I'm glad to just get started with the chemo. The whole process started for me after my routine mammo back in August- so I guess I've had a lot of time to think about it!

I've been checking out relaxation CD's from the library, and a relative gave me a book and CD by Belleruth Naparstek which I've found helpful- http://www.healthjourneys.com/product_detail.aspx?id=4

I'm using whatever tools I can to deal with this. Maybe I'll take a boom box to my chemo and blast out "Ride of the Valkyries" when they hook me up- Bye, bye, cancer cells!

Sheri

jillrush

Hey all. Guess I will be boarding the March cruise, at least I hope. Was schedule to start chemo last Friday, but my onco was out and no one looked at my pet scan I had done on Monday. When the dr. I saw Friday looked at it he said we need to do a mri since it showed something on my lower back. He doesn't think it's anything but I should have it checked out. If it does turn out to be positive it could change my chemo treatment. Scheduled for mri on Thurs. afternoon but I'm going to call my dr. on Monday to see if we can speed things up. I don't want to wait another week. Right now I'm scheduled for ACx4 followed by taxol x4. Also tested HER2+ so I will do hercetin for 12 months.

Dx on 11/28/2006. Had bi-lateral mast.with tissue expander and SNB on 1/8. (only cancer in left breast but opted for bi-lat for my peace of mind.) One node came back positive, had rest of lymph nodes removed and port put in on 1/24. Rest of nodes were clear. Had a problem with my fill port on the tissue expander with led to another incision. That set my chemo back the first time.

Look forward to cruising with ya'll.

lindaDK

Good luck tomorrow Sheri for your first dance, be sure and check back with us when you can.

playwriter

Sign me up for the cruise, gals. I had a lumpectomy mid-Feb, turned out to be cancerous. Have had a CAT scan, a bone scan, and echo so far. On Tuesday, I have a f/u with the onc, and I guess we'll set when we put the port in. I don't know my her2/new results yet, and it bothers me that I haven't had a SNB yet. Surgeon has not been very responsive, e.g "The doctor said to tell you he'd talked to your oncologist." OK. What does THAT mean?
what's a HUGA/MUGA?
looking forward to journeying with y'all. i'm glad i don't have to go through this alone.
terri

playwriter

Cruise Members So Far:
1. Taurie, Florida
2. Cynthia1962, California
3. LindaDK, Overland PArk, KS
4. Rosebud1962, California
5. Holly Hopes, Los Angeles
6. GrammyNancy, Sharpsburg, GA
7. Maxgirl
8. Ducky1, Canada
9. Refugee, NeOH
10. Jillrush, Louisiana
11. Playwriter (Terri), Houston, TX

Cynthia and Rosebud, does that mean y'all were born in 1962? 'Cause I was!

taurie

Called a Muga Scan, getting mine soon too, from what I have read, they take blood from you, mix it with nuclear stuff and put it back into you. Then they watch to see how fast it goes through you heart. (To make sure the chemo will go through it fast enough not to cause damage)
And welcome aboard

lindaDK

I had the MUGA done a couple of weeks ago. Its no big deal, I spent the majority of the time waiting around for the lab to mix the blood. You lie on a table, and this scanner that looks like a X-RAY machine takes pictures of your heart. The actual procedure only took about 20 minutes.

HollyHopes

MUGGA is a heart scan which provides baseline function information such as ejection fraction status. They do this so that if we develop problems with the cardiotoxicity of Adriamyacin they will know what we had to start with in terms of normal heart function.

Hope that helps and welcome aboard!!

HollyHopes

Rosebud, Cynthia - where in Cali do you live??

marshabel

Hey, fellow cruisers - I'm coming on board. I am having a port placed this week, and the MUGA,bone scan, etc., so they are hoping to start my chemo next week. HollyHopes, after I saw my oncologist on Friday, I was in a very emotional state all weekend, too. It just comes out of the blue, sometimes, doesn't it? I am also having ACx4 and Tx4, so it sounds like a lot of us are having the same cocktails on this cruise. If only they came with little umbrellas and caribbean sunshine.....I'm glad we are cruising together!

Marsha

HollyHopes

Can we get our own March Chemo Discussion Group?? Easier than scrolling through all the chemo posts and I'm afraid I'll miss something..

Cynthia1962

Playwriter - Yes, I was born in Dec of 1962. What are the odds I wonder that 3 of us would be born in the same year? It sounds as if you had an excisional biopsy rather than a lumpectomy. That's what I had. Your surgeon will do the SNB when/if he does a lumpectomy to get clean margins. And, yes, it does sound weird to have a lumpectomy after the lump is already removed. lol That's probably also when you'll get your port. How strange your surgeon doesn't talk directly to you. Hope you get some answers.

HollyHopes - I live in the central valley, about halfway between Sac and Fresno.

Welcome new cruisers! Glad I won't be alone on this cruise.

Cynthia