March 2012 chemo

Alice72

Galena, I was having the terrible indigestion too. Got a script for Nexium and have felt so much better since then. You wrote about a month ago, so maybe things are resolved for you. I don't know if meds are same in New Z. Nexium is a proton pump inhibitor. So sorry if my post is too late.

Alice72

Ps. How do you add your name to the list of gals in this forum?

lostinmo

triplem-sending you a big (hug), you somehow have read my mind. I have NEVER teared up and cried as much as I have lately. Personally I hate it, it's not me. If we weren't so far away from each other we could at least keep each other company while our families had fun.

Corky-glad the MO was thinking positive, I'm on his side.  Thanks for the encouraging reminder of everything coming back. I don't know about the spelling though, spell check has become my friend. 

TrailGirl

Well crappy day for me today. I should have been waking up to no SE's, instead, I woke up to a spinning world and a trip to the ER!



This morning I turned over in bed and my head started spinning like I had sucked down a bottle of tequila last night. Dr said it was prob dehydration/nutrition issue and ordered labs and fluids and told me to eat/drink. She said to go to ER if I couldn't get an appt at infusion center and if the food/drink didn't help.



By 1:30 I was no better and the IC didn't have room for me until tomorrow. So off we went to ER. Still here at 6pm...



Waiting for CAT scan results to rule out brain issue...labs came back with 22k white cells, which is pointing towards infection. They are going to take blood cultures (not using PICC line this time), to narrow down infection. And the nurse said to be prepared to stay overnight. Shit!



Still spinning out...DDP made sure they put both rails up on the hosp bed so I don't fall out. She thinks she's funny.

IndigoMont11

TrailGirl - so sorry this is happening for you! Sending purple energy, hoping you stop spinning and get sprung loose from the hospital soon.

KCB

Trailgirl! That sucks! Hang in there and please keep us posted... Thinking of you.

MichelleMassey

Trail-I had the same thing and when it was all said and done it took a couple of sudafed to calm it down due to fluid in the ear. Keep us updated and let us know how you're doing. Take good care my friend and hang in there!

Januaryice

Trail Girl - so sorry to hear your new problems. Sometimes life really sucks!!!!! Cancer and it's treatment is bad enough but to then put up with all this other crap is just too much. I'll scream at the world for you!!!!!!!! Please keep us updated as with this group I kind of feel we all know each other probably better than some of our friends not in our BC world.

When were you scheduled to go for your next tx (# 2or #3) and will this change your schedule. Maybe they'll give you a week off from SE's.

Januaryice

Question - anyone doing the B-6 complex what dosage is it per day? I know I read a while ago in back posts but can't seem to find it real fast. ( probably just being lazy)

Thanks for the help!!!!

When I started Taxol was told that it really did not help but when I just had my visit with ONC and told how bad I was after first tx she said that a nurse in the office believe it did help. How crazy is that? Must be something that she can't recommend but can make reference to nurse using it. The other thing she told me is that the pain anyone is feeling after Taxol is really all related to the nerves and not muscles. Of course that does not factor in the reactions from the Neulasta shot.

It is interesting how they all seem to differ in different ways. I have lots of confidence in her but still do lots of reading to educate my self and ask lots of questions.

I thank everyone on these sights again because I have found out sooooo much info from all of you. Needless to say I have also found so much love and support from everyone and it has made this very hard journey so much more bearable.



Again-----THANKS ----- and all my love and support back to all of you!!!!!

lostinmo

TrailGirl-sorry to hear your in the hospital! Hope they get you better quickly, thinking of you. Keep us posted!

tellie_savalis

Trailgirl- sorry about the trip to ER.  Please let us know how it goes.  Man I hate CT scans.  It seems like every time I turn around they are pushing me through that silly doughnut while I tell myself I am not really peeing my pants. 

Januaryice- I just take a B complex along with my multi-vitamin.  My MO told me it couldn't hurt, might help.  I think it falls in the claritin line, works for some.  I don't know if it is time or the B but my toes are getting better.  Before it felt like the Kebbler elves had taken little hammers to them. 

Alice71-I think it was Sissydi doing the adding.  There is something about it at the begining couple of pages.  Maybe send her a PM. 

Gemmie

gemmie start 6/13/12

Gemmie

Trailgirl, very sorry to hear about your really bad day. I begin chemo next week and have no idea and lots of fear about what to expect my personal experience will be, so it wasn't happy reading for me, but I do feel for you.  Hang in there. Hope all is better now.

  Alice7-1, I also want to be added to list at top.  Let me know if you figure it out.  I am new to the site and still learning how to navigate around.  I will try to locate Sissydi, and thanks fpor that tip, tellie_s.

IndigoMont11

Hi Gemmie!  Lots of ladies here and also on the April/May thread are getting the same chemo cocktail as you - and I'm sure can give you plenty of feedback.  I have found the info from the boards to be even better and more thorough than what I've gotten at my visits with the MO - during which, I tried to think ahead of time and write down questions to bring, but between being emotional and just not remembering everything, it's great to have a place to ask a question any time 24/7.  We all go based on our own experiences, which you do need to keep in mind, but I'm sure you'll find it all as helpful and supportive as I have.

I see you recently had your surgery.  I was more anxious really about starting chemo than I was about my surgery - partly because I had more time to think about it ahead of time.  But like most things about this rollercoaster experience, thinking about it ahead of time is actually mostly worse than going through it.  I am doing it - one tx at a time - and you will too!  

Hugs to you.

Gemmie

Thanks, IndigoMont11.

 I do know we all have own personal experience but it is also nice to hear from several of you who have been there already or will be.  This is my second time around (recurrence) as in 2009 I had lumpectomy followed by radiation.  Unfortunately, recently a mamogram found that demon cancer had traveled up to my lymph nodes, thus another surgery and this time-- chemo.  But I am grateful that I live in this day and age becasue I know I can survive this with the proper treatment and attitude.  It just sucks for the time being!

   For those of you who have already done the chemo thing, or currently are, i was told by a friend who's been there that for her the first week was the worst of the three week cycle, then the next two not so bad.  Yet my MO tells me Days 10-14 are lowest blood counts and most vulnerable time for infection and/or fatigue.  How did you gals feels around that mid point time, days 10-14?

  I think you are probably right, Indigo, that all this thinking about it ahead is actually worse then going through it.  I almost welcome the start up next week when I can see for myself what it's like and stop wondering what it's like!

Blessings,

Gemmie

lostinmo

Welcome Gemmie and sorry you here for a second time. Day's 10-14 are the days I feel the best. But day 15 is when I go for the next tx so then I start over.

Getting ready for tomorrow, tx #6.  I can hardly wait. Getting laundry and housework caught up so I don't have to think about it for a few days. 

Hope everyone is having a good day. 

QuinnCat

Trailgirl - I'm sorry you are having such a rough time. Please update us as soon as you can. Xxox

kltb04

Hi ladies...I have missed you all - been trying to keep up on my phone.  You know how it is when you are away for a day or two though, I will not even try to catch up!  Except to say to Trailgirl - so sorry you are going through this and it sounds exactly how I felt a few years ago and the only diagnosis I ever got was "vertigo"  It is a miserable scary sensation.  Your analogy was perfect - it feels exactly like you have had wayyyyyy too much to drink and the room won't stop spinning.  Keep us posted.  And Corky, glad your MO poo pood the bone mets   I totally agree, from everything I have read about bone scans, they show up every little thing, which can be attributed usually to old injuries, arthritis, etc...

Welcome to the new folks!

Well, we are still here on the beach.  The original condo deal I was so excited about turned out to be a bust - it was old, not very well maintained, etc...and I really just flat out did not feel comfortable there.  DH knew that if I was unhappy all week, then there was no point of being there so he made some calls and luckily we were able to get out from under the original deal and upgrade to a condo in a complex on the beach.  Really nice but the water has been really rough this week.  Red flags on the beach so there is no ocean swimming.  Which is fine with me...I have read a lot and enjoyed some wine - the first since diagnosis, I figure it won't kill me

Here is a photo from the balcony.

(((HUGS))) to all...

onvacation

KLTB - enjoy the wine and books! 

Sissydi

Beautiful ktlb! So glad your enjoying yourself! It looks so relaxing!

TrailGirl

Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long for an update, but we were obviously up late and I just crawled out of bed a short while ago.

So they released me after about 6 hours, even though the ER doc looked like she would rather I stay. She gave me the option and of course I chose to flee!

Diagnosis.....wait for it....vertigo. Really, vertigo, after all that??

When they finally got the oncall Onc on the phone, he told them that the Neulaste shot (7 days ago) was probably causing the high white blood count and he wasn't worried about it. 

The ER doc did find a urinary tract infection, but my head scan and everything else was normal. So she gave me Keflex for the infection and Meclazine for the vertigo and said I could go home.

I still had slight spins when I first woke up this morning, but nothing like yesterday. So hopefully by tonight, I will have said goodbye to the spins! I see my onc on Monday (before Tues tx), so I guess I'll find out then if I get a delay in tx due to the infection.

Thanks for all the comments, you are the BEST!

**Note to self: Just because you are starving at 10pm is NOT a reason to stop at SMASHburger on the way home! You are not 20 yo anymore and cannot eat a burger and fries after 7pm! 

kltb04

Yay for "just" vertigo! What a relief. Lol on the Smashburger. I don't know what that is but it sounds delightful! Hope there are no delays in tx for you.



P.S. if I don't slow down on the wine I may have my own spins

IndigoMont11

Hi again, Gemmie!  Yes, for me, the first week is the worst as far as how I feel.  Mostly just that killer, virtually paralyzing fatigue, but for me, it doesn't last much beyond days 4-5.  I've been told that nadir, or the time when white counts are the lowest, occurs approx. 10 days into the treatment cycle - but I can't find any connection between that and how I feel, or ay other SEs I've had.  I suspect that unless you are anemic or come down with an infection, in most cases you won't feel worst when you are at nadir. 

I have had a little bit of trouble with mouth sores, but they don't start until around the second week, and have healed up okay with just the salt/soda rinses.  

Today is day 8 of my cycle - and I feel a bit queasy this p.m., which is unusual up to now - but I think it mostly has to do with me deciding I just had to have Taco Bell for lunch...  It might also have to do with all the tornado warnings we had last night; two funnels reported within 5 miles of us and the sirens blaring until 12:15 did not do much for me!  

TrailGirl, glad you're better and I hope your "inner mom" hushed so you could enjoy every bit of your late-night Smashburger, lol.  I hear rumors that In and Out is making its way to Colorado - if it does I'm going to see for myself what the hype is about. 

lostinmo

TrailGirl- glad your better and at home.  The idea of a burger sounds good, hope you went ahead and enjoyed it.

kltb great view! glad you having a good vacation, have a glass of wine for me.

Indigo tornado sirens are no fun. We have a weather radio that goes off when we are under warnings. Scares the daylight out of me when it does.  Taco Bell sounds good right now.

Gemmie

I am just glad to hear you can still have Taco Bell  or Smashburger or whatever cravings while in the cycle! There's hope yet!

MichelleMassey

Indigo-I love in n out! I think it's what you grow up with though. My DH is not all that impressed with it. But he grew up in Texas and loves whataburger.



Trail-glad you got to go home. Meclizine made me so tired. When I get dizzy now I take a 24 hour sudafed and it knocks it out for me. It somehow dries the inner ear out.



Klb-awesome view! I'm jealouse! Glad you're getting to relax and not have to deal with home stuff rot now.



Gemmie-welcome! Sorry you have to be here though. I'm not on the regimen you're on but I'm sure there's a bunch of ladies here who will gladly answer your questions. We were all where you are just a while ago. And we were all petrified! Hang in there, you will get through this.



Well all, I'm now craving a cheeseburger! Have a great night!

kltb04

Gemmie, I am on week 3 of my fourth treatment and my appetite came back full force this week.  I have had shrimp, fish tacos, more shrimp, Mexican food, shrimp again...you get the idea.

Michelle - they have Whataburger down here (FL) but not where we live so DH is dying to go to one before we leave.

Tornado warnings - boooooo....we have had a relatively mild storm season in AR, knock wood. We don't have a weather radio, but I am signed up for one of those services where they call you when there is a warning in your area.

I decided to play with the others and go down to the beach this evening.  I don't mind being there in the evenings once it has cooled off.  I just hate walking down there.  And walking through the sand, lol.  And then walking back.

Bonus of having no hair - no hair to wash sand out of   I have been wearing a big sun hat but I have carried it around so much it has gotten misshapen and too floppy.

lostinmo

Well Ladies, I am up before the sun. getting ready for #6 today.  Hope everyone has a good Friday! 

Januaryice

Lostinmo- GOOD LUCK ..... I just did my #6 yesterday and so far so good. Some bad digestion problems but should clear by tonight. Just hoping the aches and pains to hit in the next couple of days are not too bad. My best to you and hope you have very little SE's this tx. Just think only two more to go!!!!! I can't wait to have them behind me. Never can remember but do you do rads after this? I see that doctor on July 16th.

Thinking of you today !!!!!

Januaryice

Trail girl - hope you're feeling better! Bad enough having to go though all this cancer crap but you would like our bodies would give us a break with all other problems. My DBIL gets vertigo all the time and it can be quite a problem! Be very careful how you get out of bad as certain movements can bring it on.

Thinking of you and hope all goes well!