Starting Chemo March 2015

Italychick

Allison, yes, I have a rash/ scabs on the back of my head, and a few on the top. But nothing that is that big of a deal. I just won't go without my do rag yet until they go away or are covered by my hair. But I did get folliculitis when my hair fell out and had to do topical antibiotic cream. Those are the remnants, but they really don't bother me. They could also be from sweating on my bike rides, it is amazing how much sweat I have to deal with since there is no hair, and greatly reduced eyebrows. It runs into my eyes and burns

I just want hair at least half an inch long lol. The funny part is it seems like the bangs area is the last to grow in, which makes for some weird looking hair dos for awhile.

molly1976

Theresa, your hair looks awesome! I have soft fuzz all over but it is just now starting to be visible from a distance. Almost like a 5 o'clock shadow effect, so my husband says. There's more on the back and sides so it's hard for me to see.

slothabouttown

So proud of everybody's hair! I've decided as soon as my scalp isn't shiny underneath my stubble that's when Ill ditch the hat and call it good enough. Molly, my eyebrows are a five o'clock shadow! Is everyone still having head sweats? Is that just a thing now? I don't care much for it at all.

Laying low this weekend binge-watching Shark Week. Next weekend camping at the coast (hopefully not shark infested!) Tuesday is my first visit to my MO since I finished chemo and rads. I'm assuming ill be leaving there with my tamoxifen prescription.

Anyway here's my kinda creepy eyebrows and my fuzz head. I ran a clipper over the top last weekend to get rid of the baby bird hairs but I can see some new ones persist.

IndyGal35

Man, I hurt tonight. I had a bad allergic reaction to Percocet, and my on-Q came out today, so I spent 8 hours living off of extra strength Tylenol. It didn't make a dent in the pain. The doc finally called in Tramadol, so I'm taking that with Valium and playing catch-up.

Fever was up to 101.7 tonight. The on-call doc thinks I'm not getting enough oxygen due to sleeping so much, and he wants me to use the spirometer every two hours. If the fever, with Tylenol, doesn't improve, he wants us to call back. He even gave us his cel number, and I thought that was very sweet.

This is the most I've hurt since surgery 4 days ago. Hoping I get some relief again soon

Jackbirdie

oh Lee- so sorry about the pain. I hope this new cocktail gets you caught up soon and your fever comes down. Thinking of you tonight. Gentle hug and mojo on the way

eheinrich

I had a dream a few weeks ago where I was "chasing" 2 people - well not quite chasing but I couldn't find them & needed to. One was clearly Katy & the other kept shifting from person to person. It was you. My sisters. I woke up missing you all.

Today I was at the gym and a woman at the very front row of equipment was clearly in treatment. I wanted to talk to her but it wouldn't have worked w out being in her face and tapping her on the back. Burt I wanted to.

Thank you. All of you. xo

pboi

Love the hair pic Sloth, and your facial expression!

Lee - so sorry to hear you're hurting tonight. Hope the meds you're getting work soon. Don't be a warrior now, take the pain meds now to stay on top of the pain, the pain is easier to control that way than to wait to take something when you're really hurting.

It's not uncommon to spike a temp 3-4 days post-op. I dislike that incentive spirometer but it's important to use it every hour or two, so your lungs get some deep breathing. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids too!

So sorry this is happening, but am praying that you get over this hump and that tomorrow you feel a lot better.

PB

molly1976

I always have my nails painted but took the polish off to repaint and look - you can see the line of post-chemo healthy growth all the way across. Our bodies do bounce back!

ksusan

Great to see all the hair and nails!

ninjamary

Sloth - that's a lot of hair! Much more than I have.

Allison - I think people promise things because it makes them feel good and in some cases they can brag that they are helping a cancer patient...yes it's all about them. I have one neighborhood friend (sort of) who lately has been cooking me meals weekly. It was out of nowhere, she just started bringing meals every Thursday. I tried to get her to stop and she basically said "F you" I'm doing this. I know she's not bragging to everyone it's just her good nature. My close friend bought me a kettle bell (I can't even pick it up) and a brow stencil set. Very sweet, but she is busy with life so I understand. She is the one i vent text too which is awesome.

I am still getting head sweats. That is one of my biggest complaints along with the tiredness. Right now...just got a hot flash. Someone told me this can last up to 10 years!

SueH58

Mary, head sweats from the chemo?

slothabouttown

Sue, a lot of us got the head sweats as a SE of chemo. I'm almost 8 weeks pfc and still get them. I wonder if it's chemopause/menopause and we just live with it now? Mary, sounds like that's what you've read. It's most bothersome at night when it wakes me up every two hours.

molly1976

Yeah, I have been assuming that's a chemopause hot flash thing. I start Tamoxifen on Friday and I asked my MO what side effects I should expect and he said, "nothing except maybe more hot flashes than you already have right now." I don't find them too bothersome at the moment so I hope they don't get too much worse.

Jackbirdie

major head sweats here too. I thought I was through menopause. Had hot flashes for a couple of years, and they stopped. This feels quite different.

I suggested to my MO what you all recommended, to wait at least 30 days more to start Tamoxifen. Give my body a chance to recover. He said fine, good idea even. So thanks. I will start around August 10th or so.

Here are my nails. I'm kind of surprised by the fact that there doesn't seem to be a ring for the last chemo and I never saw the delayed chemo show up as a wider space between the rings. Anyway, they have become quite sensitive. They were before and I stopped noticing. Now i am being very careful with them, as they do feel like they could come off. For some reason this freaks me out way more than the hair thing. Eyelashes almost all gone now too. I feel like that affects my appearance more than lack of hair. I guess because I can put a head covering on, but I can't do anything about the lashes.

Sue! How was dinner last night? Need pics!

The light and angle make it look like the first two are fine, but they look the same as the others.

Jackbirdie

Molly- keep us posted on the Tamox SEs. Very interested. It will also be weird and interesting to see if we all vary in SEs as much as we did with chemo. We all need a break. I hope we all tolerate it well.

eheinrich

So far I'm good with Tamox. I've been on it maybe 3 wks. I have some fatigue but that could also be from my ditching one of my psych meds. Some head sweats, but no hot flashes. No periods either.

IndyGal35

Quick question for you gals that have already gone through surgery:

How long did you have to wear the tight compression bra?

This thing feels like a boa constrictor is squeezing around my foobs!

Pain is much better today. Still sleeping a lot, but I feel like I'm finally on the upswing! Hooray!

slothabouttown

Lee so glad you're feeling better today.. I woke up from my surgery in this pink flowered compression thingy. It struck me funny because im not the pink flowery type. It looked like a tube top with a Velcro closure. I wore it until it started to drive me nuts, about 7 days after surgery. for the first week it actually felt better on than off but once I hit the one week mark I couldn't handle it anymore.

IndyGal35

Good to know.

Mine looks like a corset! No lie. I think I'm going to switch to the Velcro one after my bath this evening and see how it feels.

BBwithBC45

My PS took off my velcro tube top 3rd day after surgery and told me I didn't have to wear it anymore.

pboi

I'm about 4.5 weeks pfc and mostly get the head sweats at night, every couple of hours, which makes it difficult to get very restful sleep...ugh!

Lee - so happy to hear you're feeling better today!

Katy - how are you feeling, better I hope?

I will be joining some of you on the Tamoxifen. My MO said I can start while on rads but have heard others wait until after rads. What to do? I too hope we all tolerate this with no/minimal SE!

PB

Jackbirdie

Lee- so glad you're having a better day today. Istill wear compression to this day.... But one I can adjust and doesn't cut in. For some reason I have less pain with a little support there.

PB- I'm feeling a bit better. The last couple of days, itty bitty steps in the right direction. Thanks for asking.

wpmoon

my tamoxifen will start after rads. One condiment of the shit sandwich at a time.

I finally decided I should do something about my weight gain rather than just complain about it. So I went for a hike today. Barely made it back up.

Jackbirdie

wishing Shaz a good start to rads down under. She starts Monday there. She's 17 hrs ahead of me PST. So I figure she just might be starting to get ready.

Good luck and smooth sailing

SueH58

So my brother is here from New Jersey to visit. Wouldn't you know that my dad comes down with pink eye yesterday. They're very apprehensive about being around me for fear I'll get it and it will delay my treatments. I'm thinking that within a few days of his being on drops I should be able to spend time with the family. I'll check with the Dr. tomorrow.

Katy, the sauerbraten dinner was great. Unfortunately, I didn't get pics of the main course (too much activity), but I did get a pic of the lucious chocolate croissant bread pudding. Was a great night.

SueH58

Jackbirdie

Sue- OMG my mouth is watering! Glad you guys had a great night.

I think you do need to be be very careful with your dad's infection and you should follow up with MOin the a.m. Especially since you're already fighting an infection. Can't be too careful right now, delaying treatment is very worrisome and you don't need that!

SueH58

Katy, I agree. My folks think I should stay away. Maybe an innocent eye infection for the normal folk, but on chemo, may amount to way more. Great timing, huh?

Trvler

PB: I would want to delay it until after the rads to isolate any SE's. I think it is important to be able to do that. But I don't know what standard is. Maybe K can weigh in?

SpecialK

Usually starting hormonal therapy is the last step in treatment. Some start during rads, some wait until after for the very reason trvler stated - to isolate and attribute SE. This is one of those things that varies from MO to MO. Generally, the SE from rads and hormonal therapy are different - rads can separate the SE of chemo and hormonal therapy, which can be more similar. That is the reason I would advocate a buffer between chemo and hormonals if rads is not needed.