Starting Chemo March 2015

SpecialK

On the Hair Watch 2015 - often when new hair comes in right after chemo it has a "fishing line" look - almost like it is clear.  This is temporary, but often new hair that grows is more gray than your previous hair.  Or, it may look more gray if you have previously colored your hair.  I was blonde until I was in my 20's and my hair darkened - I also started to gray at that same point so I colored my hair starting then - mostly highlights.  As time went on and I got more gray I had to return to being a blonde so that the gray would mix and I wouldn't look like a skunk when my roots grew out.  I had never really seen my natural color - which is now apparently mostly gray - until my hair grew back in.  I have to say it was a bit of a shock.  I colored it as soon as my hairdresser would let me, but she would not apply anything other than brown to it initially.  She said if she tried to foil it or balliage it I would look like a cheetah. When I had enough to highlight it I did - and looked like my old self.  Keep in mond that the new hair you are growing has been affected by chemo, and often won't take color very well.  I know nobody wants to hear this but when it is long enough you should actually cut some off, the old chemo-damaged hair.  It also helps to shape it and make it look a bit more intentional.

trvler - happy to help in any way, and thanks!

eheinrich

That's how mine looks Theresa. I'll have someone take a pic today

Leighrh

STOP IT WITH THE HAIR....... LOL.. Just kidding.... I just have ZERO!!! I stopped looking cause it ain't there!  All of yours looks so
LONG to me!

pboi

Katy...thx for all your support it means so much to me. Glad to hear you're feeling better.

Theresa....glad to hear you feeling better today too!

I'm home from my thyroidectomy surgery, it went well. Unfortunately, I had hoped the cancer was contained in the one nodule but they found extracapsular extensions. So more treatment for me...having my own pity party today 😢

PB

Trvler

Theresa: Are you able to distinguish if that is all new hair? I have some long hairs (like maybe 3/4 inch) which I think are leftover but I think I have fuzz that is newer.

Oh, PB. I am so sorry. What does the treatment involve?

mysunshine48

SpecialK......thank you so much for your information. You are so right when you said the first MO meeting is so unreal anyway, that for myself, and maybe others, we don't know what to say or ask. I will reread your post and make notes on everything. This is all so scary. Thank goodness for the information I learn here. I am told very little otherwise, and, then, only if I have questions. You are so valuable to all of us.

Trvler

Question for you, K. I THINK my MO told me that my hemoglobin level needed to be over 15 before they could remove the port. I need the port out because I need to get off the blood thinners before surgery. The appointment to have it out is 1 week after last Taxol and I am now wondering if that is even possible. I am confirming that with her to make sure that is what she said. My level now is 12.1 which is pretty good but I am only 6 treatments in. And the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if she thinks this is not even possible anyway.

wpmoon

Looking good, Katy and Theresa!

Trvler

I said the wrong thing. It is the absolute neut (WBC) needs to be above 1500. I don't see this item on the CBC.

SpecialK

mysunshine - glad to help - PM me if you have questions also.

trvler - port removal a week after last Taxol could be dicey - that is awfully close and healing or infection may be an issue.  My Hgb is never over 12 - either before or after chemo.  When I used to donate blood I always had them check it before they asked me the 75 questions - half the time it was too low for me to donate - I think the cutoff is 12.5 or 13.  Are you seeing a neutrophil percentage on your CBC?  You find the ANC by multiplying your WBC x the neutrophil percentage.  An example would be WBC of 8,000 x neutrophil percentage of 50% = ANC of 4,000. 1,500 is the bottom of the range of ANC, so not an unreachable number - what is your current WBC?  Sometimes WBC is expressed by a single to low double digit number - just multiply that times 1,000 to get the larger number.

Italychick

Allison, the longer ones never fell out. The new growth is mainly the blackhead looking stuff and a bunch of hairs that are about 1/3" long and black, and a ton of white, fishing line looking hair (as SpecialK said). But there were areas on my head that felt slick (not sure how to describe), and those areas all now feel fuzzy. I had my husband take some close-ups, below is the best we could do. I'm thinking I should trim the longer ones down and see how it looks.

I think if we were betting, Bekah would win, her hair growth is amazing and uniform!

ThePrincess

I'm dying because it's nice to know I'm not the only one with goofy shots of my head!!! :-)

Italychick

ROFLMAO, whatcha trying to say? I have worse ones, like the photo where I tried to take my own pictures, and ended up with a shot of triple chins which I Somehow created by bending in an awkward way. When this docudrama is over, all those pics are going in the trash. I already learned to remove them from iPhoto because my screen saver uses my iPhoto's for the screen saver, and I had some very interesting pics come up.

And my husband, the jokester, when I asked him to take a pic of my hair growth, took a pic of my butt and said how is that? With clothes on! I said great, I wanted to see hair growth, and you showed me how fat my ass has gotten, thanks for that! Then we both laughed, how can you not? We have to poke some fun at ourselves!

Speaking of fat ass, getting ready to head out for a bike ride. Burn fat baby, burn!

Italychick

Pboi sorry to hear it. What does more treatment mean?

Hugs, so sorry!

pboi

Thx Allison and Theresa. I will need radioactive iodine treatments, not really sure yet what it all entails exactly. Mentally I'm having a hard time dealing with this all, it's so overwhelming.

Sorry to be such a downer, with all this exciting hair growing going on!

PB

Italychick

Never apologize. One minute we are in hilarity, and the next in the dumps. And somebody is always there to pick one of us up when we fall into the pit.

Not sure what will be involved, but please share as you go through the process. I am here for you!

pboi

You are so sweet, thank you Theresa for saying that. I thought about not sharing this as it really has nothing to do with BC but I'm so overwhelmed by this and needed some support, not really sure where else to turn. I knew you awesome ladies would understand.

PB

DavisD

pboi-I'm so sorry you have to go more treatment. Please lean on us as you go through the process. None of us know what's around the corner so we need to be there for each other. Sending you my most positive wishes..

Jackbirdie

PB- I'm glad you shared this with us. It would be impossible in my mind to separate one more stress from the rest. You don't deserve this and I'm really sorry

Trvler

PB: I think my MIL had that treatment. I think she had to stay away from other people for a week. Did anyone say anything like that? Don't feel like you are out of line at all bringing this up here. We want to support you whether it is this or something else.

Theresa: Yeah, I think my hair is doing something similar but I have a lot of white/grey/blonde. It's funny because the remaining hairs from before seem to ALL be white. They seem really course and thick like grey hairs. It's strange. I might try to take pics. My DH still hasn't seen me bald.

Special: I got it and it was exactly what you said. My current number is 3.9. What was throwing me was they were saying 1500 which of course I now know is 1.5. Is there anything I can do to boost it?

SpecialK

trvler - white cells are hard to boost - thus the Neulasta/Neupogen.  If we could do it ourselves we wouldn't need those, but your thread-mate SueH58 had a post earlier in this thread I believe about boosting white cells.  I will link it for you:

http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2013/12/30/5-ways-to-increase-white-blood-cell-count-naturally

I don't really know if those things work - or work fast enough, but the usual fix is the "tincture of time" which would be OK if you had a longer time to wait for the port removal.  High protein foods are selenium rich, so that is helpful to all of your blood counts.  Are they flexible at all if you are close - and they give you a prophy antibiotic?

Beachbum1023

Does anyone have any info about shingles? I have a strange patchy rash on my hip with little blisters, but it looks like shingles. Not on my to do list..........Cheryl

Italychick

Allison, my husband gave me shark liver oil. It seemed to help me, but may be a subset of 1. I got the Neulasta, but my white count and baby whites stayed crazy high through chemo. Interestingly, he got my baby whites to double before chemo started. MO and staff never noticed it, but I kept a running chart of my blood work.

I also just buzzed off the long hairs, and my step daughter says I look like GI Jane now. I figured they weren't doing anything except make me look haggard, and my head looks better with the longer hairs trimmed down. More like I did it on purpose instead of scraggly.

Bike ride today was more like my old self - finally! Only died on the hills because of the extra weight.

Cheryl, only thing I know about shingle is my ex husband got them once, and they were incredibly painful, he said like his nerve endings were on fire. Hugs, I hope it turns out to be nothing.

pboi

Thanks for your support everyone, it helps so much. I'm really an emotional mess today!

Allison...yes been doing some reading today, and I think after the treatment I have to stay away from people for a week or maybe longer? I'm so sad at the thought of being away from my kids that long...

PB

SpecialK

beach - very common to get shingles post-chemo because of the assault on the immune system.  Sorry you are having trouble - have you notified your MO - I believe you can take the same antivirals given for Herpes.

Beachbum1023

Thanks italychick! I hope it turns out to be nothing too, but if anyone would get them I would hope it would be my ex instead of me. I have had enough weird things already!

Paddymom

Beachbum- I developed shingles after my second round of TCHP. It was an unfortunate side effect but my MO gave me antivirals and pain meds. Honestly I don't remember the pain being too bad. Hoping shingles are not what you are developing. Best.

SueH58

I also found that brazil nuts are extremely high in selenium. Go grab yourself a big ol' bag and munch away!

SueH58

Beach, get to the Dr. ASAP. You can get meds to help alleviate the symptoms if found early enough.

SueH58

pboi - I am so sorry for your new diagnosis. Are you still in chemotherapy? The thought of this happening at this point in time in incomprehendable to me. Did you say it's not uncommon for patients with breast cancer to get this second cancer?

Please keep us posted. We are all praying for you!

Sue