January 2016 Chemo!

MissBee123

Zinny, ask them about a DIEP and PAP flap, that's what I had. DIEP is from your stomach but PAP is the backs of your thighs, just below your buttox. That's how they made enough tissue for me to keep the size I am at (D cup)

Sheri64

Well I'm done last TC today, yah. So glad to be done with chemo have to say not as bad I had thought. I worked the whole time. Now on to 36 radition treatments in 3 weeks.

kellychameleon

I'm having a double mastectomy on 6/1 with expanders put in at that time and will have the diep flap about 8ish months later. I didn't think it was an option to have the actual reconstruction done at the time if you're having radiation. My mom had a mastectomy 11 years ago with immediate reconstruction, and the radiation totally damaged her new breast. She said there was miscommunication between her surgeons and is still irritated about the whole thing.

I am so excited to have less than 3 weeks until my last chemo treatment! My best friends from college are coming in town this weekend, and my husband's going to be on kid duty the whole time while we relax and have fun. I can't wait.

CONGRATS ON YOUR LAST CHEMO, SHERI!!!!!!!

fightergirl711

Immodium is your friend.

I start AC tomorrow. I hear Colace will be my new friend.

DFWFLYGIRL

Paxton and Sheri- Congratulations ladies.......done and done!!! I love that ladies are getting to the end of the chemo phase and can help cheer the rest of us on )

Kelly-sounds like a great weekend ahead with friends and you are almost done too!!! WOOP WOOP

Fightergirl-you will do better than you likely are imagining... and those of us who had AC already will help you anyway we can. Yes Colace, Miralax..whatever your preference but take it to avoid the alternative. My MO had me start it always the night before so you might want to get a jump on it Good luck with tomorrow.

fightergirl711

DFWFLYGIRL You're the second person who told me that so I am doing that now!

And congrats to those who are done or almost done!

MissBee123

kellychameleon, I've never heard of expanders and a flap surgery??? I thought expanders were just for implants? Look at all the things I'm learning!

My understanding from my plastic surgeon (back when I was going to get radiation) is that sometimes radiation can change the size/shape of your breast and make it a little smaller. My surgeon said if that happens it's easy enough to correct the other breast to match and he wasn't worried. A friend of mine also had radiation, said her breast changed dramatically, but then after about a year it returned to it's pre-radiation state and was normal again.

LoveMyVizsla

Fightergirl, drink lots of water with it. I take a stool softener on top of Senakot. I got stopped up with each round.

LoveMyVizsla

Paxton, can you describe your unhealed port incision? Mine has developed a hole. I still need to use it for three months! The doc just said to keep an eye on it. It opens up when I'm not wearing a bra, as the weight of that breast pulls it open.

Paxton29

LoveMyVizsla, we may be port twins. I also had a hole in my skin--about the size of a pea at first, then got bigger. You could see the catheter. My team believed it was due to being thin but my surgeon agreed with me the weight of the tissue expander (all 280 ccs) could have contributed. My mastectomy incisions healed fine but the port incision never really did and then the hole opened up. To avoid infection I kept a transparent film dressing over it and kept it dry--for six weeks. I was told not to wash it. My surgeon was reluctant to operate so soon after chemo but the fear of an infection outweighed that concern. It bled lightly for the time I had the hole, mostly at night, but towards the end it stopped. I had a couple of fevers during chemo that had my onc put me on Cipro in case I was getting an infection.

You have three more months? That would make me nervous, just because my team was so concerned about infections. I was definitely tired of babying that area.

zinny

Hooray Sheri and Paxton!

Thanks, Miss Bee - will look into the PAP flap.

I too had diarrhea with Taxol #2. Was expecting to feel much better day 4, and instead felt pretty much like crap all day - but woke up fine the next day. Did not have imodium with me ( will next time) but managed to drink a lot of gingerale, and ate chips for the electrolytes!!

Over the hump, feeling great, two more to go!

Had an awesome ski trip with the kids - sunny and hot today, had to ski in T-shirts with gloves off. Snow was heavy, but I felt great. So pleased to be able to live these wonderful moments where BC is the furthest thing from my mind.

LoveMyVizsla

Paxton, how did you keep it dry when you showered? Transparent film like Press 'N Seal? My hole is small, about 1/8", but still alarming to be able to see in there. I put some neosporin on it this morning

Paxton29

I kept it covered all the time with those clear square film bandages. You can get them at Walgreens and they're called transparent film dressings, with a peel-off backing. I was told I could wash around the area (but not the hole itself) with Hibiclens antibacterial soap. I changed dressings every couple of days. The chemo nurse who discovered it initially (she knocked the scab off I think) put Neosporin but my surgeon told me not to do that.

And yes, it is weird to see inside! It wasn't pretty.

LoveMyVizsla

Thanks for the tips!

LovesToFly

day 3 after taxitore number 2.

I'm off the steroids today and absolutely exhausted, and having a bit of tingling in my mouth and lips.

So far though, no bone pain! Let's hope that lasts.

Cathytoo

LovesToFly...same here for me, Jill. It's day 4 since my fourth Taxotere infusion. During the day I've felt like a vacuum just sucked every bit of energy out of me. No other side effects. Are you taking Claritin for none pain

LovesToFly

Yes I'm taking the Claritin, I did last time too but still had significant bone pain. I'm hoping it doesn't come back!

Cathytoo

LovesToFly...take Aleve with the Claritin. Makes a big difference

DFWFLYGIRL

Jill -.Cathytoo turned me onto Aleve and it helps me a lot with bone pain....Claritin didn't touch my Taxol pain:)) Hopefully the weekend will be better:)))

MissBee123

LoveMyVizla, the nurses or doctors at the hospital should just give you some Tegaderm patches. I have more than I can even use, they've given me so many. You can also buy them on Amazon, if that's not an option.

Up in the middle of the night again. Thanks steroids. Whoever said Taxol was easier than AC...I'd like to have a strong word with them. Definitely getting more mouth sores than I've ever had so upping the frequency of my mouthwash regimen. My bloody noses are so bad they wake me up at night. I've been using moisturizing gels inside my nose (Ayr, Vaseline) and saline spray but they only last a few hours. I then wake up gasping for breath because my mouth is sandpaper and my nose hurts so much. It's very frustrating.

Bone pain is kind of average for me. I feel pretty much okay except for my left hip, which is sensitive to touch. I guess I'm lucky with that one and hopefully it doesn't get worse. No neuropathy yet (knock on wood!).

How are everyone's labs doing? I'm still being treated and my MO says my labs are within the safe range, but I'm watching my WBC count drop fairly significantly ever week: 11.2, --> 6.2 --> 4.3 --> 3.8. As of this past week I'm out of the normal range, but she said it was still safe to administer Taxol. My neutrophils remain good so perhaps that is more important?

Anyone doing anything silly/fun for April Fools?

LovesToFly

I took aleve and Claritin last time, still had a lot of bone pain. This time I havent! Exhausted but no pain!

DFWFLYGIRL

MissBee- I am up too..slept only 4-5 hours last night due to steroids from infusion yesterday. Sorry about the mouth sores...I like you have dry mouth and some bloody noses..using Biotene everything, Ayr and Neosporin in nose.

Bone pain is a bit better once I started the L Glutamine, B6 and Lipoic Acids...and like you have mild tingling but hoping to keep neuropathy at bay.

My labs are like yours..dropped to 3.9 for WBC as of Taxol 4 yesterday but Neutrophils good so I proceeded. I agree Taxol is no walk in the park for some of us. ...but we thankfully all keep moving forward.

Hope you are enjoying Colorado..I was born and raised there (CU Boulder alum)...beautiful place to live. No April Fools ideas teed up yet but thinking......lol

Jinx27

Hello Ladies, Happy Friday!

I hope everyone is going great and progressing on!

Chemo number 7 of 8 is today. I also meet a Radiologist today for a consult, radiation is def in the works for me.

Sending positive energy to you all!!

LovesToFly

taxotore is way worse than FEC was for me, with the FEC as long as I stayed on top of antinauseants I was mostly fine. This is awful, no matter what I take I feel tired and buzzy and gross. I think the higher steroid dose is definitely part of it, because the crash is so much worse. I am glad that I'm not having much bone pain this time around, let's hope it keeps up.

My white blood count has been getting lower, but neutrophils continue to stay high so I haven't had any stalls in chemo

jensgotthis

Miss Bee, are you using cool mist humidifier when you sleep? Might help alot in that dry Colorado air.

i asked my team about Aleve for pain and they said it can make blooD counts drop, just mentioning here in case there is a connection for anyone's. If you're in Normal range though, they were ok with it if Tylenol wasn't doing the job. I'll be trying it this time since my hios start to really ache from the lack of estrogen. Need a longer term solution though since this ache wilL be ongoing on the Tamoxafin.

I had my fifth taxotere Cytoxan dose on Wednesday and am starting to feel the come down. Thank goodness only one more of that treatment

buttaflydiva

went For taxol #2 today and my port has flipped. After 8 tries we firmly got a vein and I'm getting treatment. ill have to go back to surgeon this week to see how to get it flipped back over

JCS28

MissBee123 -- have you tried Prevention mouthwash for Oncology patients? I got it on Amazon. It's the ONLY thing that got rid of my mouth sores. My first round was AWFUL. My second and third rounds were better after using ice chips but I still had some painful mouth sores. I tried Magic Mouthwash, salt water rinse, baking soda rinse, salt and baking soda rinse, hydrogen peroxide rinse, canker covers, no citrus, and no tomato. Nothing totally took care of it. And then a chemo nurse told me about Prevention mouthwash. I started using it the day after my 4th treatment and used it twice a day. NO MOUTH SORES THIS TIME. Not a single one.

buttaflydiva -- That's awful about your port! The last 2 times mine has been "rolling" but they could still access it. They said sometimes they stitch them in place but others times they don't. And they said the stitches can come loose after a while. I've had mine for 7 months.

LoveMyVizsla

Is the bone pain you are all experiencing from the taxol or from neupogen/Neulasta? I'll be taking paclitaxel and neupogen didn't cause me bone pain, but Neulasta did.

My cutoff for no treatment is 750 neutrophils.

phaila

for everyone on TC chemo what day would you say was your hair loss day?? Is it generally the same across the board

Cathytoo

phaila...my hair was gone by the second infusion...maybe day 3 or 4. I didn't shave my head. Got a buzz cut. I have fuzzy hair all over my head (just did #4). I have no idea if it's growing or not. I look like a plucked chicken. Very attractive. LOL 😱