Starting Chemo March 2015

Trvler

I hope this is an easy one for you, Katy. I hate that Dex stuff, too. Just took my last one and I am already starting to feel the jitteriness.

The cardinal flew in and quickly left. We'll see what happens. I might put a camera by me and try to snap a pic. He's a fast little devil. And as the tree blossoms, it gets harder.

BBwithBC45

Kathy - good luck in the chair today. May it go by quickly and may the SEs be easy on you.

SC - that's how I've felt many times since diagnosis; I wanted to fall asleep and wake up a year later after all the surgeries, chemo, etc. And I felt guilty about wishing the time away, since it's limited for each one of us. I guess that's why they always say we should take it one day at a time.

BBwithBC45

Ladies, I'm struggling with nausea this time again. It hit me sooner than ever. My spa day was on Tuesday, they doubled my Zofran in the IV, but yesterday at 10 am it hit me like a ton of bricks. They keep telling me that Taxol shouldn't cause so much nausea. I don't care that it shouldn't. Something is causing it, I'm not imagining it. I'm working from home, but it's hard to concentrate with all that nausea. I cannot look at water anymore either.

Italychick

Ladies, good luck in the chair today. I had no. 4 yesterday, and feeling okay today. I was able to poop, yay! Ah, the little pleasures in life, rofl. Slept six hours last night, even with the steroid.

bBwithBC45, so sorry about the nausea. I hate when they say you shouldn't be having side effects, but you are. I feel like saying ok, you are wrong, now what? Have you tried any probiotics or yogurt? Just wondering if that would help settle your guts down. Small little intakes of food seem to help me. It is like your stomach needs something to work on. I start the day with about 4 or 5 bites of a goat yogurt.

molly1976

bb, my MO asks me every time if I'm having any nausea so don't let them tell you it can't happen! It must be a known side effect even if rare. I'm sorry you're struggling with it.

I complained about my terrible skin to my MO yesterday and he is going to call in a cream but also said he can decrease or eliminate the steroids too. As much as I hate them, now I'm nervous at the thought of not having them!

BBwithBC45

Theresa, yes, I've been eating Greek yogurt (plain only, can't stand anything sweet), drinking plain kefir. I'm taking priobiotcs pills too. Cottage cheese helps me too, but only while I'm eating it. 5 minutes after I'm done eating, nausea is back. I think I'd have to be eating it non-stop.

Molly, after the first few infusions I had the worst acne of my life. It not only looked horrible, but my face was hurting from it. It would last for a few days and would calm down just before the next infusion. They never prescribed me anything for it; I guess they didn't want me to take any extra drugs just to help me feel less ugly? Also, they never saw my face in full bloom, because by the time they saw me, most of the acne was gone. Now I still get some acne the day after infusion, but it's just a few zits here and there. I hope they cream they give you helps. I ended up using just the OTC creams.

Jackbirdie

BB- I feel so bad you are struggling with nausea. It's the side effect I fear above all others.

You must call the MO now. They have always said to me you have to stay ahead of it. So ask them to try something new for you.

Have you tried the patch that Bekah has worn and talked about? Sorry I can't remember the name. But your MO knows what is out there to try. Stay aggressive with the doc. They aren't going to lean back in their office chair and look dreamily out the window saying to themselves, "gee, I wonder who I could help with SEs today?" You have to be the squeaky wheel to get the grease.

Start making some noise....LOUDER,

xo and hugs.

Katy

Jackbirdie

Joanna and Leigh- good luck in the chair today, I'll be right there with you....in spirit. And effing solidarity. Somebody else is today, but I can't remember who. I've reviewed a couple pages of posts and it's probably staring me in the face.

Whoever I've missed,please accept my apology. I'm with you even if I can't exactly remember details right now.........

SpecialK

BB - if you are having nausea through the Zofran that means it is not working - it was completely ineffective for me.  One of the reasons they usually give you several anti-emetic options is that these drugs work by differing mechanisms.  If one is not working you should have additional ones at hand to try.  Zofran did nothing for me except give me a wicked headache, but Compazine worked great.  I was also given Ativan as a third line anti-emetic but never had to use it because the Compazine did such a good job.  I also got Aloxi in my pre-meds.  There are a number of oral drugs they can also try - Kytril, Reglan, the skin patch mentioned above is Sancuso, but it is prohibitively expensive so they usually use it as a last resort. 

slothabouttown

Katy, Here's a little gift for you in the chair today all the way from 1985!

Maybe we should all rush out and grab some Pantene. Remember, it won't happen overnight but it will happen! Okay so we won't hate her because she's beautiful but......

eheinrich

Good luck ladies. Here's hoping for completely uneventful spa days

Jackbirdie

Sloth- your message was erased but it was still in my inbox. My WHAT A SCARY GOOD MEMORY YOU HAVE!!!! Yet again a laugh to start my day.

Eileen- thank you.

slothabouttown

Katy, I tried to upload the video but it didn't seem to work! Just wanted to remind you to not hate her because she's beautiful. The commercial was an exquisite flashback to 1985, Kelly LeBroc and the magical powers of Pantene. I also appreciated her parting comment, "it won't happen overnight, but it will happen." Something we all are struggling to remember right now.

so-she-did

That moment when you get out of the shower with mascara circles under your eyes and you realize that you look like Uncle Fester.

eheinrich

Story of my mornings, Amy. But the silver lining is having eyelashes!

wpmoon

I officially have to paint on my eyebrows since they've thinned so much by the bridge of my nose. Not my favorite look since I've never done it before, but hopefully I'll get used to it.

SueH58

For Katy and others in the chair today, a few more Hummer pics. I promise they're be the last. I am looking for some slouth pics for slouthabout, though. Fascinating to see them sleeping up in the electrical wires, etc.

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Trvler

BB: Is it possible that the Herceptin is causing the nausea?

BBwithBC45

Trvler, I was wondering about Herceptin too, because nausea is listed as one of the side effects. I guess it will be clear once I finish Taxol (2 more to go) and I'll have Herceptin only. Then they will have to figure something out, because I don't see suffering through nausea for another 9 months. I'm pretty sure that I'm immune to Zofran, similar to SpecialK, it is not helping me. My stupid insurance is refusing to pay for Aloxi.

Trvler

If you are having a problem with a drug and another one will work, I would think you could appeal it. It's worth a try?

Trvler

I am trying to isolate the SE's from Taxol. I now Bekah is taking Herceptin too and she is having a lot of nausea. I definitely wouldn't want to see you go through that for another 9 months.

Jackbirdie

Agree with Allison Appeal! Fight!

It is now 2pm and they are still working on premeds.

So not a drop of chemo has gone in yet. It's 2 pm!

And btw, feeling dizzy, racing heart....from the emend? The aloxi? The steroids I took by mouth this morning?

Any bets I'm just plain nervous?

Ugh. Help me Spock. (A Vulcan would not cry out so.)

Italychick

Katy, it's the steroids. They get me too. Racing heart, hot flashes, the works. I will be sitting watching tv and suddenly I feel my heart pounding in my chest, and then I break out in a seriously gnarly sweat. But it happens the day before chemo too, so I know it is the steroids.

BB, unacceptable that your insurance won't pay for Aloxi. Push the MO's office, and make them appeal.

rleepac

Home from the spa. Herceptin and Taxol went just fine today. I am still dealing with nausea issues but the pre-meds they gave this morning have it under control for now. No rash today - yay!

Only 10 more to go...oh and then 9 more months of Herceptin...oh and then 10 years of AI pills...oh and I still need surgery in August...

Light at the end of the tunnel my ass!

Bekah

Trvler

For gods sake, Bekah, go EAT something!

Jackbirdie

Bekah- that's more good news than bad. Except that light you were talking about! How can you see it? I guess I need to get a window installed. You know, like a glass-bottomed boat?

They say I'm going to be here til 6 pm. And they just decided to give me some Ativan. I'm reacting differently than before. I think it may be that round 3 was so much harder than 1 and 2. The bone pain was much worse. Fatigue. So I think I'm expecting so much worse I'm wigging out. Poor Jack at home by himself. No wonder he runs away!

Trvler

Awww…Katy. I am sorry you are having a bad time. I think the Ativan should help. I ask for it every time. I am sure Jack understands.

Italychick

Hang in there Katy! So sorry you are having issues today! I'll eat one of your delicious cookies for you.

wpmoon

you can do it Katy! Sending you lots of love. 💕

IndyGal35

Congrats, Sloth, and please stick around! Yourexperience will lead the way for those of us that will be going through rads and other fun stuff.

I laughed at the Uncle Fester reference except the dark circles under my eyes are from fatigue! I also have a gap in the middle of my right eyebrow. At this point, I think that shaving them may be better than drawing a line to connect the dots.

Zofran is starting to not work for me. I'm not sure if it is a physical tolerance or if it's in my mind, but it's miserable when the nausea strikes. They still want me to take Zyprexa, but adding those side effects to chemo would be pure hell for the next 7 weeks. Why can't they just give me prednisone? We know it works for many SE's, and it's sooo much cheaper than these new puke meds.