Starting Chemo in April 2014
Comments
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Hot flashes/sweats - hate them!! Although they do seem to be less often now than they were. I sleep in wicking danskins exercise shirts and shorts that I bought at walmart. They really really help me - moves the moisture away from my body to the outside of the garment where it can dry without waking me. SpecialK suggested wicking PJ's and the danskins is what I found that day at walmart and decided to get them and give them a try - they were about $12 for a set - I now own about 5 sets.
Tuesday it will be 4 weeks since my last chemo - my taste buds seem to be normal. I still have stomach distress - indigestion etc. Still extremely tired and muscles still burn and ache with very little exertion. Hair on top of my head still none existent but I think the legs and chin hairs are returning - oh joy. Still have twitches in random places in my body. Mentally I am depressed - worried about work, worried about starting the Ai's - worried about my liver function, worried I didn't do enough chemo, ugh. I cry for no reason - went to see my GP on Friday - he is ordering a battery of blood tests including D and my A1C for my diabetes. Talked to him about how I feel and he said lets get the results of all this and lets see how I can help you through this. It was the first time I saw him since I went to him about the lump in January so we had a lot to talk about. He is really good about suggesting supplements and vits etc to help with things. I can take whatever he suggests to my MO and see what I can do.
makelemonade - I hope everything is ok with your breast and that it doesn't delay your schedule - it is so hard to face delays especially when you have plans. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
FBN - glad that your SE's and minimal - rest as much as needed and don't be hard on yourself if you can't do some things. I am going to try to take a small walk here in a bit and see how far I can go before the burn is too much - I really need to feel like I am not a 90 year old!!
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makelemonade - sorry you are going through that pain. Not something you need to deal with on top of everything else. Just wondering, the event in October in California, does it happen to be Dreamforce? If so, I'm trying to time my radiation for that as well and will end 2 weeks prior. I have been freelancing doing Salesforce.com admin work, but just got a call about a job I had been interested in, and it looks like it's gonna happen. This would definitely require my going to Dreamforce so now I'm all excited and motivated, but of course worried. If you've been there before then you know the amount of walking that's necessary. Not sure that I can keep up.
Linda- don't beat yourself up, I think we are all worried about everything. How can we NOT be depressed? We are dealing with surgeries, pain, chemo, no hair, no energy, our lives are turned upside down, our friends look at us with pity and sympathy and all we want is to be normal again. I'd say that's the perfect recipe for depression. As you can see, Im also have been very emotional. Cry at the drop of a dime. I'm just done with this part of my treatments. I want my hair back, I want my eyelashes to stop falling out, I want to be able to walk to my laundry room without having to rest at the dining room, and I want my life back! That said, Im grateful for these treatments and the ability to be cured of this horrible cancer, so I deal with it the best I can. I can mask the struggle pretty well and to be honest, I don't know if that's good or bad. I had a breakdown yesterday and my husband said that he didn't realize my daily struggle because I hide it so well. He said he will do more to help and was happy he knew exactly how I was feeling. Back to you, it's great that your GP is going to try to help you. I hope he comes up with the perfect solution for you and you start to feel like yourself in no time!
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ladies, have any of you tried false eye lashes? I am thinking of checking them out at the local Ulta store today. I am pretty sure by the end of next week what is left of mine will be gone. I have a family wedding on Friday and I would really like to look as nice as possible. It is really hard to get my eye makeup to stay on because my eyes are always watering I presume due to the increasing lack of lashes.
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mmtagirl - I bought them, but haven't tried them yet. Mine are thinning so I may have to try them soon. Im afraid that my last treatment is going to wipe them out.
let me know how you make out. -
mmtagirl - the runny eyes are a SE of the taxotere. It is actually cause your eyes are dry and they are over compensating by producing too many tears - make sure you tell your MO about this as it can, in rare cases, lead to a more serious eye condition - at least that is what I was told. Mine seemed to fluctuate between being really watery and feeling very dry and I hate the twitches. I also bought some fake eye lashes but haven't used them yet as I haven't had anywhere to go that I thought I needed them. Do you know someone that has worn them in the past? Or do you know a beautician? I bought them and then thought - how in the heck am I going to put these on myself and then decided if I needed to I would ask my DH. But then had dreams of eyelashes on my forehead LOL
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reactivated my membership at goodlife today. Felt great to go! Went on the elliptical for 30min and did 3 different weight machines.
Having some tummy trouble - flirting with constipation. Had a bit of bleeding today. Taking the med that my onc gave me - guess I should increase it a bit
Feeling pumped!
Congrats to Jeff Gordon for wining at Indy! It's my birthday on tues and this is a great present!!!!!
:-)
Enjoy your Sunday!
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LOL! I needed that! Thanks!
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count me in for the hot flashes too. My husband says it even wakes him up at night because I am radiating so much heat! Our cat loves me more than ever before. I always uses to be freezing, now I go from freezing to burning up and back again in a matter of minutes!
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Linda, thanks for the info on watery eyes. Mine too are constantly watering but when I wake up they are kinda dry. I will have to talk to dr about this.
I hope everyone is feeling better.
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Ditto on hot flashes, I guess. I wake several times during the night hot and sweaty.
Had my infusion Wednesday. Out of breath and 110 bpm this weekend with little exertion. I don't like not being able to do things. Sounds like it's happening to a lot of us, so I guess it's normal and we just need to be patient with it. I watched all 6 Star Wars movies with my daughter so I would sit still and rest these past 3 days.
Hope everyone is doing ok. One day at a time, we will get through this!
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Feeling so restless, that hospital admission really set me back in what I could do physically, and I couldn't do much!
The bottoms of both my feet feel numb this week which is weird because I didn't even have my taxol this week. I fell down the last few stairs today because of it. Thank goodness I didn't twist/break anything. I am simultaneously hoping that they reduce my dose so it doesn't get worse but terrified that could effect my recurrence rates etc.
Linda- I am also worried about the AIs....
I can't have tamoxifen bc of my clotting issues but I am terrified of the SEs of AIs being only 30. One of my nurse practitioner's suggested I have my ovaries out. I wanted to scream NO and run away.
My 'one bad year' philosophy is quickly becoming more life altering and I don't know if I can handle it. I feel irrational and want to refuse everything after rads. Which I know is crazy. Grrr. No more babies? Such a struggle to wrap my head and heart around that one.
Where is a baked good when I need it?
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DKath70 - no, my event is a national dog agility championship for which I am the secretary. Had it timed to also finish rads 2 weeks before. Now? I would also have a lot of walking but the organizers have access to golf carts so it would have been doable. I was even going to ask someone that I know who moved out there to bring me one of this anti gravity chairs so that I could take a nap if I needed it as we always have really long days.
There is a ton of work that happens before the event and that has already started. I have a feeling I will get to do all of the work but not get to go out there and be part of it! I guess it is good that this happened this year. Last year the event was closer to home so that my husband could come along and we drove the RV there. For the first time ever, I was able to run my own dog at the event - all of the other times I had to fly and went on my own (I won't fly this dog and wouldn't run a dog if I didn't have help - I have too much to do anyway to add looking after the dog on top of it!)
The organization doesn't even know I have breast cancer - now I am wondering if I shouldn't have let them know just in case I couldn't go so that they could have found someone else. But, never in my wildest dreams did I think of this set back!
I have been secretary for 3 trials since breast cancer and missed two of them - and sat (slept actually!) in the RV for most of the one that I DID get to. Did all of the pre and post trial work and had someone stand in for me for the actual events. Have another trial in 2 weeks and now am wondering if I will get to go to that one! At the very least, if my last treatment is delayed a week, that means I will be going through the worst of the SE during that weekend - great :-(
I have been able to be pretty positive for most of the "wonderful" journey. This event was my short term goal and made it all worthwhile. That this now might not be a possibility has me feeling down right now.
One bright side - the antibiotics have taken care of my Big C problems ;-)
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Re watering eyes - have that too. MO said I could use artificial tears to keep the eye from drying out. Really seems to help
Hand up here for losing lashes! Looks mine are starting to fall out. Didn't notice until I read this thread and I took a look. Only have half of my lower lashes. Upper ones still look normal - so far. Oh well, it isn't like I didn't know that would happen :-) One of the Onco nurses said dark haired women don't always lose them so I was hoping ;-). Apparently they are supposed to grow back quickly?
I think I have "warm flashes" not "hot flashes". I don't wake up soaked and hubby hasn't said anything about me radiating heat. I just get warm all over and my head sweats but that is about it. It is just worse at night because it feels like I am constantly taking the sheet on and off my body :-)
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Hands up here too for the hot flashes! Yeesh, those are a PAIN, right? I find mine are the worst the week immediately following chemo and then they let up SLIGHTLY after that. It's 30C (85F) + all week here, which doesn't help the whole "I think I may burst into flames" thing I've got going on. Oh, the stuff they didn't tell us about chemo, yes?
MakeLemonade - I have lost half of my upper lashes and about 3/4 of my lower. Also about half of my eyebrows (they're still there, but very thin). And then they stopped falling out. *crosses fingers* I have heard that SOMETIMES the remaining lashes and brows will fall out following the last chemo treatment, but I'm pretending that that is FALSE INFORMATION. *places head neatly in the sand* Sorry to hear about possibly having to miss your dog agility championship.
AGAIN, no one really tells us how much we have to give up throughout chemo treatments. In fact, so many of my medical team assured me that I would "bounce back quickly" and to "live normally". I'm guessing those people, while they mean well, have never been HERE, in THIS PLACE. And then there's "those people" who tell everyone that they "breezed through chemo". While I respect their journey, I also hate them a teeny tiny bit. 
BlesseMe - LOVE that photo - thanks for the smile this morning.
I will keep you posted regarding the fatigue. I have a trip planned to visit family (my husband's grandmother turns 101! WOW!) at the end of August, and I am hoping I'll be relatively close to normal by then. Or at least have the ability to fake it. clarrn - sending some comforting hugs your way. Wish I could do more or say the words that would make it all better.
Well, I am now about 10 days post Round 6 and I'm FINALLY feeling mostly human gain. FINALLY. The fatigue and the digestive issues have been, BY FAR, the worst this time around. Also the swollen, sore taste buds, and the whole tongue turning black thing were back, so eating was an issue. I am SO looking forward to eating things that are not mushy and bland. Like STEAK. Oh, how I miss me some steak. And fresh garden salad. Basically, any food with FLAVOUR and TEXTURE - I miss it. I have some BIG MEALS planned for later this week - YUM.
Sending all those in the chair this week hugs and prayers. And to those in the Dark Place right now, we're right here cheering you on.
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Cold - my head is right there with yours in the sand .... and hoping I don't lose any more ;-) Looks like about 1/3 to 1/2 of my lower lashes are gone and the upper lashes are thinning. Eyebrows are thinner than usual, but that is ok ... I have THICK eyebrows that I constantly had to work at :-)
I am SO happy with my breast surgeon ... he wanted me to leave him a message today with my status (marginally better, but no worse) After he got my message he looked into how the culture of the aspirated fluid was doing and also spoke with the infectious disease doctor at the hospital. NOT positive for MRSA but there IS something there. Am going on an additional heavy duty antibiotic in conjunction with the augmentin he put me on yesterday. He even called me back to tell me that he had called it in, but the pharmacy didn't have it in stock but they are calling around for it. He is trying to keep me out of the hospital for IV antibiotics!
In addition, he walked down the hall to speak with my oncologist as well (they are on the same floor - it has all been very convenient) but that doc was with a patient. He is going to discuss my case with him later today.
I will still probably be going in tomorrow ... even if I don't have the last Taxol, I probably can get the weekly Herceptin and my weekly blood draw. Just really wanted that last chemo over with ... this just delays things!
Feeling a little more positive after speaking to the BS - in a cautious way ... like I have a little ray of hope that things aren't going to go totally south on me!
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hi all!
Went to gym yesterday and today. Felt awesome! Today I did the stepper for 30min then weights. This wed is round 2 of taxol. Ugh!
I must admit that my side effects are minimal. Fatigue. Taste buds off a bit. Don't really have the big c but hard stools. So I'm taking my meds. My butt feels like it's been ripped apart! Guess I'll take a sitz bath. Got "tucks" and baby wipes. Hopefully that plus my meds help
Last night we confirmed a gig on sat oct 25th mississauga Ontario. Hoping to have 4 bands. Now the work gets started to design a poster, print tickets, tshirts, ask for volunteers to run a silent auction, get stuff for silent action and stuff for small giveaways! All to raise $ for cancer research etc
Hope that my SEs don't get too much worse. I still have a few aches and still get so hot at night. I haven't slept one full night since I can't remember when. Hopefully exercise will help!
Enjoy your day!!
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Hi all. I'm feeling better mentally and emotionally than I was last week. But my body hasn't caught up yet. I get tired so easily. It took me 2 days last week to unload the dishwasher. And yesterday all I could manage to do was walk 3 blocks to the farmers market and also do a load of laundry. I thought I could go to the movies and maybe vacuum, but no. Cancer has robbed us of so much! After putting my life on hold to spend a year working in Afghanistan, I arrived in DC last September looking forward to living in the States again and enjoying a nice quality of life. But not long after I unpacked, I was diagnosed and had to put my life on hold - again. How many special occasions and fun events have we missed or not truly enjoyed because we can't travel, or we're in too much pain, or are too tired? It sucks. I can't wait to feel healthy and strong again.
Count me in for hot flashes and no eyebrows. My eyelashes are hanging on for now. I have an icky taste in my mouth most of the time. Final round is next week. Every time I think about my last chemo I practically burst into tears. As much as I hate being physically fragile, I hate being emotionally fragile even more.
I had consultations with the breast surgeon and plastic surgeon today in advance of my mastectomy in September. I LOVE my new breast surgeon. She is a BC survivor and used the same plastic surgeon for her own reconstruction. That's a pretty good vote of confidence, right?
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Good Morning All....Had #5 of 6 TCH yesterday and all went well. Go to get the dreaded shot today and have the recliner all set and ready for the roaming bone pain that will start tomorrow night or Thursday.
Steroids are allowing me to only get about 4 to 5 hours of sleep. Ugh! Up this morning at 4 with the sweats. Using Poise wipes to help and they cool me right down but no luck going back to sleep.
I did not shave my head and still have about 10% of my hair that is pretty evenly spread with some new growth coming in. Eyelashes and eyebrows are hanging in there so far, so are my nails. I hope this last.
The fatigue is by far the worst for me and my eyes are draining sticky goop with the right one even spiting goop on my glasses. Have tingling in my feet and the bottom of my feet sweat. hummmmm...... The other major SE I am having is swelling. I am on 40mg of Lasix and taking potassium daily and still having major swelling... I am drinking a ton of water and nothing seems to help. I was prone to swelling prior to all this mess but nothing like this.
But, I only have one more to go and now that is less than 3 weeks away! I can do this!
I hope you all have a blessed day!
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blessedme I wish you minimal side effects.
Tomorrow is round 2 of 6 taxols then done chemo. Can't wait!!!!!!
Today it is my bday. 51. Hubby and I said that we will celebrate once the chemo is over although I did say that of allow him to take me out to dinner this weekend when we see howie mandel. Hoping for major laughs!!
:-)
Have a great day all!!!
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Happy Bday FBN!! Hope you have a great day with no pesky SE's!! I look forward to your pics on stage with Howie!!
Everforward: congrats on a BS that you trust. Soooo so important to have the right caregivers as we have all seen from everyone's posts. Hopefully this puts you on track so you can soon enjoy the next years to make up for the one that has been so interrupted.
I am 7 days PFC today. I am about to take the pup for her first walk in weeks. Hopefully my stomach and feet cooperate! Today I have the Herceptin only and I realized NO more weekly blood draws. My left arm was looking seriously tracked.
Tomorrow I go for sim for rads. Don't think I'll start for at least a couple of weeks. We'll see.
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jhodro tx for the wishes and got making me smile and laugh!! Best of luck with the rads. All will be over soon!!
:-)
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Happy Birthday FBN!! I hope you have a great day!
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football, your resilience is inspiring and gives me hope. I'm day 8 past the fifth T/C and just exhausted. Still having random pains. Needed nausea pills last night along with codeine and ativan for both nausea and sleep.
But I did sleep well.
It's all downhill from here, hopefully.
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happy birthday FBN!
And congrats to all that are PFC
Was supposed to get my last Taxol today, but, as I suspected, have to have it delayed due to the breast infection.
Also had to cancel RAD sim on Friday.
Did get my weekly Herceptin and my blood counts look good. Should have a good week as this will be the first time since April where I have not had chemo every 2 weeks. Once the antibiotics kick in, the tenderness will go away.
Have a good week!
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Happy Birthday, FBN !!
Wishing everyone well. Haven't been checking in as much as I try to get back to "regular" life. I did rads before chemo, so don't have to handle that now. I am due to start arimidex soon. Can't wait.
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TS Eliot, I think it was, who said "April is the cruelest month". It seems a long, long time ago, doesn't it?
It's almost OVER!
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yes it's almost over! For chemo atleast! I dread going for herceptin until next June. I guess that's when I'll consider it truly over but from what I've heard side effects should be minimal if at all
I've gone to the gym the past 3 days and feel great although now that I'm done I am feeling a bit more fatigued than I would have prior to this hiccup in my life
Feels so good to get out of the house and interact with others like I used to
After chemo I plan to integrate swimming into my routine. I miss it to much
Tomorrow at 9 I have bloodwork then in the chair at 11:30. My girlfriend is coming tomorrow but I think that after this I'll try to go on my own for the remaining 4. Did anyone else go this with taxol?
My hubby wants to go to the last one. I just might let him.
:-)
Have a great Tuesday and thanks for the bday wishes!!!!
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Amazing Football. I just walked up from the basement and my heart was palpitating so badly that I thought I'd pass out.
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I feel your pain Timbuktu! It took me 4 trips to change the sheets on my bed Saturday!
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