Starting Chemo March 2015

slothabouttown

Eileen congratulations on the new job, that's exciting! And Allison I'm so glad to hear from you too! Regarding eyebrows and eyelashes, mine pretty much jumped ship this week. I've all but completely stopped looking in the mirror. What a wreck.

SueH58

Special K - OMG! Thank you for sharing your nightmare with us. How can so many things go wrong for the same person. Prayers for your soon-to-be FABULOUS breasts!!!

Katy - I sure hope you're feeling better soon. I agree with Tryler (I think) that you should not stay lying down any more than necessary. My daughter is in the health care field, and told me the lungs have different linings in the bottom than the back. The bottom can deal with fluids, but not the back (that's used for breathing). I know she'd shake her head at my rendition of what she told me, but the bottom line is that folks often develop pneumonia from lying in bed too much. So that should encourage us to get up and out.

Alison - We're here with you. I'm SURE you'll be good as gold very soon.

ninjamary

My port will be taken out after my last Taxol. I've calculated that as July 30th. So probably early August. I want all borg like instruments removed from my body ASAP.

ksusan

My MO said the port can come out about 4 weeks after chemo assuming all is well and there isn't a reason to retain it. My BS says 98% do it in-office as a 30-minute procedure with an anesthetic shot. It's not as much of a big deal as when it goes in. I can't wait--the port is still uncomfortable at best and painful at worst (though I'm grateful not to have my arm in use for chemo or draws).

Jackbirdie

Thanks everybody on the good feedback on the port removal. I made an appt.,with my surgeon's PA and will go into it smarter for your comments.

I'd like to say I feel better. If anything the death rattle is worse and the coughing is wracking my poor beat up body. I took heed, however, of not laying around in bed and got up and did some housework and walked down the long driveway (commando) to my mailbox.

And what should I encounter but a random act of kindness. Our Diane, who could little spare the energy, put together this care package and a beautiful card for me.

How do you think she got Jack to pose for that refrigerator magnet? Wonders never cease. I know you people would really love to see more pics of my sick blotchy face, so here are the earrings on. They are totally me, hair or no hair. How lucky am I?

slothabouttown

Katy you might feel like crap but you look great! Good work Diane!

shaz101

congrats Eileen!

Great to hear from you Allison, and very sorry to hear about the stress you're under. This DX just keeps giving.

Katy, I wish with all my heart that you are over the worst. Please drag yourself around the house to get your lungs clear. I'm sending you a little more energy. What a lovely gift you have received and I love seeing your mug posted on here.

Ive had migraines for the past 2 nights. Not as severe as before, but god damn annoying all the same.

Karen we love to hear the good and the bad, so please post anytime you want to. The good inspires us and the bad brings us together to support and understand each other better.

SpecialK

Eileen - yay on the job - it sounds like a great situation for you!

jackbirdie - you look great and the care package was so sweet!

sueh - I am long past wanting fabulous, I would settle for having two relatively similar looking things on my chest.  My right side has a 650cc implant and I am fairly petite, so trying to match a prosthetic is a challenge that I am kind of over.  But, I so appreciate that you want them to be fabulous, lol!

SueH58

Special K - Well if it makes you feel any better, I had a lumpectomy and a double breast reduction. They turned out really well, and I'm nice and perky now. However, I'm a large person, now with "petite" breasts. Oh well, going to SOMA for a custom fitted, padded bra. I feel the girls deserve it!

BBwithBC45

Ladies, did any of you have the tumor marker test done? From what I was told and from what I read, it's not something that can be relied on completely, but I'm curious if any of you had it and what the result was. Mine was done recently only because I have a painful, swollen node in my neck and we cannot do MRI because my TE is not MRI-compatible.

I had the CT of neck and head done yesterday late afternoon. Head results are back and all is good there. Nothing on the neck yet, and this was really the part I was worried about. I keep checking the patients' portal obsessively.

I'm almost done with my chemo and eyebrows have been falling out for the past week. Right now I have maybe half of my normal brows. Trying to fill it in, but I'm not any good at it, since I've always had full eyebrows and never had to do much with them. Thankfully my bangs are covering some of it. Eyelashes are still hanging in there.

Hoping for a nice, peaceful and SE-free weekend for all.

BB

---

SueH58

BB - so glad you got results already on the head scan and that it's good!!! I haven't had a tumor marker, so I'm no help there.

Jackbirdie

BB- I asked my MO about tumor markers and he also said he felt they weren't terribly reliable and he would not be doing them with me at this time. I'm glad your "head us clear". Waiting is the worst. Try to distract yourself. Of course, it has to be the weekend now. Dang. Thinking if you.

SC_Coqui

Glad to hear everyone seems to be hanging in.

I'm thinking I'm a glutton for punishment but I decided to go with my son to the neighborhood pool today and meet up with a friend to play. My husband is busy helping the guy who's working on leveling out our back yard and that's an all day task. I guess I'll be soaking myself in sunscreen!

So far so good with the Taxol and Herceptin. Just a little tired but nothing like AC!

Trvler

BB: I am so glad the results came back good!

Avmom: Nice to hear from you. I hope you get to go to the concert!

Special: I can't imagine going through all of that and you still come back here to help us.

Katy: LOVE the Jack magnet.

Does anyone else think LGBT every time they read that LGFB thing? lol

SC_Coqui

Allison- yup! You're not the only one! LOL!

avmom

BB, waiting is hard. Glad the first results in are good.

Trvler, I did go to the concert, and it was great. The amazing Ms. Krall is playing with a quintet these days - bass, drums, guitar, violin (the fiddler does occasional harmonizing vocals), and a keyboard player. She also had a subset of the philharmonic playing. I can't really think of anyone else who could make a playlist that includes Gershwin, Nat King Cole, BB King, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, the Mommas and the Poppas, Paul McCartney, Crowded House, etc., into a seamless musical experience. She did a 15 minute version of Tom Waits' Temptation that just about brought down the house. I'm so glad I went, though I am paying today. It's about a 1.5 hour drive each way from our rural retreat, so I am very fatigued today, and my pain level is pretty high. Wouldn't have missed it though.

It is rainy (thank goodness, we have been very dry) and cool here,so I'll likely have a very quiet day. It is a long weekend up here in Canada, so DH will likely be golfing both tomorrow and Monday. I can hardly wait for the fatigue truck to move on - I'm looking forward to getting out on the links, myself.

Gentle hugs to all.

TerryMarie

Anyone have to go on antibiotics for an infected tooth during chemo? From what I can gather online, it looks like it's fine.

BBwithBC45

OK, just got the results from the neck CT. It's a very long report and a lot of it I do not understand, but the most important part is that there are no abnormal nodes. There is some stuff going on in my thyroid, but that's old news - I had it biopsied last year and I'm supposed to have an ultrasound for it this year anyway. There are also some small calcifications in the tonsils, but I don't think that's as bad as breast microcalcifications can be, is it? The report suggests only ultrasound of thyroid, doesn't seem concerned about tonsils.

I can enjoy my weekend now.

TerryMarie - sorry about your tooth infection. I do not know the answer, I'm sorry. It's best to check with your MO.

Trvler

BB: ENJOY your weekend! I am so glad you were able to get some relief.

Av: I am happy you got to go and enjoy yourself. Stuff like that is what makes life worth living. We have U2 tickets this summer. I hope we get to go. They are finally playing a venue that is not so huge, like they normally do. They used to play big stadiums and I hate stadium concerts. You have to walk so far to get just from the parking lot and it can be so unbearably hot.

DavisD

eheinrich-the opth doc said my eyes were terribly dry and the scarring is preventing the tears from staying in my eyes. Really feels like I'm crying out of at least one side all the time. Some burning and constant runny nose as well. Eye twitching involuntarily at times. I don't think the steroid drops are helping any. The tearing makes it hard to read because it never really goes away and makes things blurry. Sound like any SE you're having?

I'm so glad the package brightened your day Katy! Hope you get "through" this soon.

eheinrich

Diane - that's exactly it!!! Did they say if the scarring is permanent?

DavisD

eheinrich-He said it could be permanent if the steroids didn't work and if he didn't then "open them up."  My MO RN said "it usually goes away after the Taxotere is stopped."  My bet is with the eye expert and usually isn't good enough for me! I have so many problems with me eyes being dry due to the Sjogren's disease, I don't need anything more. Have you seen an Opthamologist yet?

DavisD

eheinrich-sorry so scattered...I've got about another two weeks left of using the steroids so maybe it will get better.

neverthought

Hi Terry Marie.  I had an abcess after my first treatment and had to have a root canal with antibiotics.  Dentist said I had no choice, so I got the nurse practitioner from oncology on the phone and handed it to him so he could clear it with her.  So far so good (I hope).  He overshot the root with whatever stuff they put in there so am waiting to see if it will settle out OK.  Have dentist talk to your MO.  They ended up changing my antibiotic because I developed a reaction to the first, also extra blood draw before dental work.  Best wishes that all goes well.

neverthought

Thinking of you Katy and hoping you are feeling better soon. 

You are helping to keep me sane and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

ksusan

Our bodies make little calcifications in response to some injuries or diseases. I've had a small calcified spot on my lung for decades. You can look up tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths. Not usually a problem.

Jackbirdie

Thanks Neverthought. I am struggling. I had hoped the antibiotics would work better and faster. I did get up and move around today on everyone's advice. The death rattle and painful coughing is pretty depressing. I want ME back! The rest of the day I think I'll rest, daydream, but try to do it slightly elevated.

The dental thing. I had read somewhere that it was imperative that any dental work needed be completed before chemo. I had very little time so I had 7 fillings and a crown done under IV sedation (cha-Ching) just before chemo started. Just another of the myriad of abuses my body has taken on. It's over now but it was a big deal. Ugh. I am sorry that there are seemingly never ending issues with this crap. I had no idea you could get a shit sandwich with so many flavors

Jackbirdie

The Meyer lemon is blooming!

Italychick

For the eye thing, does anybody notice it being better when taking Claritin? My friend Cheryl has a blocked duct in one eye and she said Claritin helps it a ton. My eyes run like I am crying when I do a bike ride.

Got out on my bike today, went 31 miles (yay me!), but last 10 miles guts started hurting again, so I don't think I am completely over that intestinal thing yet. It is wicked. Cruise ships had to dock at San Diego and be sanitized because so many people got sick. It is a norovirus. We also have nursing homes in quarantine. But hey, funky guts and all, I was able to do it.

Met with MO yesterday, all blood work great, she said no reason not to do rounds 5 and 6. Sigh. Wish it was over, June 17 is last infusion.

eheinrich

Theresa - so impressed with your biking! I am going to take some claritin and report back. I'm also going to try to get into the ophthalmologist this week in case i need the steroid drops. My eyes aren't getting better and are starting to just feel weird.

Alan thought it would be fun to take our youngest and boyfriend to Hawaii for their graduations! So the day after my last infusion I am Hawaii bound! They will be there a few days before me, but I should be heading home right around when the steroids wear off. So I guess we are celebrating Shana's college grad, boyfriend (shortly to be live-in bf) getting his Masters, and me finishing chemo!