March 2010 Chemo Start

hmh23

Dublin4; Raquel and Libby, great names as well.  I have a personal friend named Libby and she is as sassy as any Raquel that I know.  Heather

MNLinda

Sandie, thanks for posting the thoughtful ruminations on positive thinking.  Yes, that's exactly it.

Another writer who really hit the nail on the head is Barbara Ehrenreich, who was diagnosed in 2001.  (She wrote about her experience in an article called "Welcome to Cancerland" - you can read it online at http://bcaction.org/index.php?page=welcome-to-cancerland-2, and it is also included in her book "Bright Sided", which I took to many of my appointments for waiting-room reading.)  "So pervasive is the perkiness of the breast-cancer world that unhappiness requires a kind of apology," she writes.

No one, patient or caregiver, should have to apologize.

Sandie, I am interested in what you have learned about Zometa and what kind of diagnoses it may be considered appropriate for.  If you have too much detail for a general post, please send a PM.  TIA.

LillyC

Feeling good today!!!  I knew that this day was coming and am glad to report that I feel wonderful. My next treatment is on the 28th, so I anticipate feeling better each day until then.  So glad the days of the SE's are behind me.  My main complaint this time was intestinal problems, no bone pain.  Someone told me that chemo attacks the fast growing cells-  cancer, hair and intestinal. Well, it must have been working! 

It's beautiful here in Virginia.  I plan to spend some time planting summer flowers. In short order, they will be blooming and the treatments will be over!!! 

Wishing everyone a great weekend - SE-free!  Love to all!!!

horsedoc

Well I had my second tx today of my total of 4 TC, so I'm half-way done!

It did not go smoothly though.  I am not kidding--it took FOUR nurses FIVE sticks total to get the IV.  If the last one didn't get I was going to get a port.  Now I'm already stressed about my next treatment.  Hopefully they will put a comment on my chart so I can just request one of the nurses who was successful. (My first treatent took two nurses.)

I'm hoping I do better with this treatment in that I at least feel like I know better what to eat.

Hope the others who had treatments today had better IV sticks than me, and everyone is feeling ok!

Dublin4

Horsedoc, I too did not have a good day.  But mine was a really bad allergic reaction.  I had one with the first but it was very mild and they got it under control quickly.  Today it was really bad, so bad they were discussing sending me home and having me come back on Monday so that they could change my treatment plan to AC.  We stopped, and more pre meds and started the drip up slowly and I was able to finish.  Thank goodness.  I could not believe it.  But we are half way done!!!!   Hope you have minimal se's.

Good Luck!

hereandnow

Good Morning friends,

Lilly I am so happy that you're feeling better. Me too. It's like I woke up on day 7 and it was OK again. Just imagine how we're going to feel when we're on our last treatment.

Horsedoc, I'm with you on the IV sticking business. I have a plan for the next one. 1st, now that I'm feeling perkier, I'm going to go to the gym at least 4 times a week for the next 2 weeks, and I'm going to do some light weight work with my "good" arm - hoping to stimulate arterial and venous flow, and re-invigorate my veins which seem to have packed up and shut up shop after the last 2 treatments.  And 2, I'm going to really focus on hydration before chemo - going to wake up early, and drink at least 2 litres pre-treatment, but also do some cardiovascular exercise to get my tissues warm and the blood pumpin'.

The sun is shining in Melbourne today, and I'm going to do some Autumn planting. My beans have gone bananas, and the silverbeet are crying out to be eaten tonight. I love your idea Lilly of planting flowers for blooming when this is over, there's got to be something that flowers in Winter

Strength to all in the middle of / coming up for treatment.  xoxoxo

horsedoc

Dublin--I'm so sorry to hear about your reaction. Do you know what the plan is for the next tx?  Are they sticking with TC and ust planning on more aggressive premeds?

Thanks for the arm exercise idea, hereandnow.  I think I'm going to do that too.  I drank NO caffeine and was well over-hydrated for the over 24 hours before my treatment.  (I was having to pee every 1.5 to 2 hours.)  They heated my arm under hot water before hand.   My mom is coming up from Florida to be with me for my next treatment.  She is going to have me put some heat on my arm on the way there.  

Good for doing some autumn planting.  I got some spring planting done over the past week.  I'm so excited to see my flowers coming up.  I also mowed my two acres with a walk-behind mower.  Don't think I'll feel up to that for another week; I think it will last til then!

hereandnow

Dublin, That must have been frightening to have the allergic reaction. I hope you're feeling no effects of that now. it seems to be not that uncommon, but they have ways of getting around it. Congratulations on half way through! Great milestone.

And horsedoc, I cannot believe you mowed 2 acres with a walk behind mower. oh my giddy aunt! Now that's a workout - you go girl.

horsedoc

yeah it was so refreshing for me to do the yard, but after planting some flowers too I was pretty much DONE by afternoon, and had to sit around on the couch to recover!

frosty1

Good idea on the heat on your arm, horsedoc.  That's what I did when I had my last surgery.  Between no fluids (restriction for surgery) and being cold, my veins just shrank right up.  They put a warm pack on and that made a huge difference.

My onc nurse this go-round was another great one -- I've been really lucky.  She had a lot of natural suggestions -- for the leg swelling, which my onc believes is the Taxotere, she suggested putting lemon in my water on the morning I first know my legs will swell.   Oh wait.  I think I said this already.  Argghh.  Chemo brain.  As Gilda Radner would say "never mind."

Day 3 - fatigue starting to set in tonight.  I will be fine until tomorrow about 5pm and then the stomach cramps kick in and Sunday is down day.  Then start back up the hill to feeling this new normal.

Enjoy your weekends! Take care of yourselves!

Charley

Lily C - Glad to hear you are on the upside!  I am feeling better too and hope to have a very productive weekend! Especially In light of the fact that the next weekend I expect to be bottomed out again. You've got to plan for these things!

Frosty - I like that - the NEW NORMAL! Yes, it's not quite normal but I will take at this point. And you know I don't remember you saying that about the lemon ... maybe you did but it's chemo brain for the rest of us too ... ;-)

I'm glad you guys are getting to some planting!  Heck I'm still trimming my bushes and cleaning out from the winter!! The goal is to get it done this weekend and think about planting ...

Hugs, Charley

teemee

I'm so sorry Dublin, I had a much worse allergic reaction during my tx#2 Thursday too. The first time I had the hives, shooting pains down my body and they gave me more benadryl and solumedrol (steroid) and then ran Cytoxan first. I lasted almost 5 minutes.

Tx #2 on Thursday they gave me the double benadryl and the solumedrol with the pre-meds. I lasted six minutes. Ended up with a third benadryl, and two more steroids but they got it in. It took at least 2.5 hours. Oh, and the oxygen tank too, what a production. I think  they plan to stay with the TC for me--I certainly hope they can for you too.

Went in for my neopogen shot today--after the quarantine from low WBC last time they are trying to head that off. I'm so grateful my mom was in town to drive me, nausea's way worse this time so the less I move the better. Praying for day 8 (my magic day) to come soon!

Hugs to all.

Julia257

Frosty, sorry for your trouble but my treatment is Adriamycin and Cytoxan.  Thanks, Julia

Dublin4

Thanks to all....The plan is to stay on current meds.  I don't want to switch half way through.

I have to say the reaction I had was very scary, contractions, breathing, etc.  Don't want to do that again.  But I am 50% done!   Surprisingly my counts were higher this time then before my first chemo...so no shots for me.  I guess that is good...

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and get through any and all se's.

hunter11

Hi all

Add me to the March 2010 chemo list

ACx4;TH x12;Herc x13,RADS

undecided8

Wanted to give anyone on this regimen some positive results. When I was initially dx. in 2008 I did 4 rounds of A/C, followed by 12 rounds of Taxol/Herceptin, followed by 9 months of just Herceptin. When I had my recur in Feb. of this year, my Onc. who's been an Onc. for 32 years was SO disappointed because I am his very 1st patient to have a relapse on this regimen which mainly included doing the Taxol weekly versus every 3 wks. He is an extremely busy Onc. with 3 different offices and anyone within 75 miles of me only uses him so he has A LOT of patients that have used this regimen. He said even though I'm Her2+, had 7 positive lymph nodes, was stage 3 at diagnosis he has such high hopes that I wouldn't have a recur because they have seen remarkable results with this chemo regimen. Go figure I'd be his first to relapse! But just wanted to give those of you doing this chemo regimen some positive news that it must be doing a great job if out of all the patients this man sees I'm his 1st to relapse.

Suzanne E.

hereandnow

welcome Hunter11, glad you've found us, this is a great group and such a supportive place to drop into and share what we're going through.

Suzanne, thanks for sharing that information.  I'm just glad that so many really clever people and teams are researching the management of breast cancer all over the world, and constantly updating each other on the latest nuance which gives us advantage. Here's wind to their sails, and ours.

badger

Hi all, four days post tx #3 and I've turned the corner back to OK.  Only drove in to work Friday, worked at home Thurs and none Tues & Weds.  But halfway done, 3 down 3 to go, woo hoo!

I'm reading Anticancer by David Servan-Schreiber and am fascinated so far. 

Hope everyone has a good weekend!  {{hugs}}

Joj129

Hi Everone,

I have had my head shaved for less than a week and have a rash. Any suggestions? Has anyone used special shampoos? What kind of cap is best to sleep with? I wake up with a seam digging into my ear!

Also, anyone suffer from allergies? I have a cough and stuffy nose but no temp. I am wondering if this is normal.

Thank you!

Jo

hmh23

Dear Joj129; 

My allergies are driving me crazy and although I've been using Claritin, I am still suffering.  My doctor has called in Allegra D, I believe is the name.  Anyhow, I haven't picked it up yet but am wondering if through chemo, do your allergies actually get worse because your immune system is weakened.

Sorry no help in the hat area.  Heather

horsedoc

Interesting to hear that about the alleries... I've been having similar issues and wondering what was going on.  I too stayed on the Claritin to see if it would help.  My allergies are definitely worse though now than usual.

Jo--I have a really soft knit cap that I wear at night. I got from a lady on ebay where I also got some head covers.  Her name on ebay is EnglishTraditions.  There are seams but they don't dig into my head at all when I sleep. I have not had a problem with a rash but I'm just using a gentle body wash on my  head; you might want to consider using a hypo-allergenic or gentle baby wash on your head.  

marilyn7

Hi Everyone - I started chemo March 15th.  I'm on TAC for 6 3-week cycles.  So I've been through 2 with 4 more to go.  I'm doing OK, although my arm started hurting and I'm worried about Cording - I need to go back to PT, but it's one more appointment to fit in.  My port is also a bit bruised after my mid-cycle blood work (I use the port for blood work, as I have NO veins).

I'm blogging - http://www.healthywomen.org/womentalk/blog/real-women-real-stories - does anyone else have a blog?

sandiek9

I recommend a hat made by Amoena for sleeping - so soft, it's like sleeping with a teddy bear. I bought mine on The Pink Bra website. Comes in off-white and dark grey. xxoo sandie

frosty1

Welcome to our newbies -- so glad you found us.  We laugh, moan, bitch and have a wonderful time just being ourselves!

I decided to be handy on my sewing machine and made a few hats out of t-shirts.  They are soft and stretchy, have one seam, and are great for sleeping and keeping loose hair in place (what little hair I now have left). 

As for allergies -- I don't have allergies, but I did notice I had a slight cough last round about days 5-6.  Stuffy nose started later.  Onc nurse suggested saline nose rinse to keep the blood clots from stuffing me up.

My brain seems more foggy on round 3 this time than last.  Maybe I'm just tired of doing this ... did a little retail theraphy but now feeling guilty.  Nothing like buying clothes when you are trying to make yourself feel better.

hunter11

Undecided8: Thank you for the info, but I wish you weren't in the books for his 1st reoccurence. Did you have surgery and rads too? I have had the 2nd AC treatment and have been doing well except for the throat and mouth sores, the 1st round --maybe they will be better round two.

hunter11

Here and Now: Thanks for the welcome. I recently rented the movie "Living Proof" from Netflix it was an original Lifetime movie about the doctor who developed Herceptin. The trials and his fight to bring it to the medical community. Revlon cosmetics gave a large donation back in the late 90's that at one point saved the study and they continue to raise & donate money yearly for the cause.

Buy Revlon!

undecided8

hunter11: Yes, I had surgery, chemo, rads, the whole arsenal. For whatever reason it just didn't work. I'm hoping to get some good results from the chemo regimen I'm on now.

LOVE the movie "Living Proof". My Onc. told me about this  movie back in 2008 and I watched it on Lifetime. Such a wonderful movie. It touched me SO deeply that I looked up Dr. Dennis Slayman, and sent him a message personally thanking him for what he did for us that are Her2+. I buy ONLY Revlon products since watching this movie. It's a MUST see! 

Suzanne E.

JLLG

I am now 12 days out from my 2nd TC.  Food still all tastes the same...bad.  The bloat is finally gone...along with my energy....zapped.  Cellulitis of the right shin is now gone, but a big brown spot remains.  The hairy tongue and mouth ulcers also have healed.  I have only eyebrows and eyelashes left.  My voice is really hoarse.  I sound like a man....I really hate this.

I went shopping to buy myself a new outfit thinking it would do me a world of good and make me feel pretty.  Well, I ended up being soaked with sweat.  My headwrap was almost dripping...I hate this...oh yeah...already said that.

Peace to all

horsedoc

JLLG--So sorry you're having a bad time still.  I'm 2 days post-2nd tx. I think tomorrow is really going to suck.  My SE after the first were a lot better by the 3rd week (right before my 2nd tx) so I hope they don't last longer this time.  I did find that the bad taste started up much faster after my last tx.  I am having a hard time drinking enough because everything tastes bad.  I eat plain homemade veggie soup that helps me get more liquids.

Hope you start feeling better soon.

LillyC

11 days after 2nd TC treatment - Am feeling so much better. Can't complain, but have noticed that the palm of my left hand is peeling like it's had blisters.  Anyone else experienced this?  It doesn't hurt or anything - just weird.