Starting chemo August 2017 - would love some moral support!

Clearpath

Hello everyone - sorry I have been absent for a while. I was quite ill with a virus in October and had a high fever, but they kept me out of the hospital and I have recovered. Feeling ok with 7 Taxol treatments to go. I am tired and my white blood cell count is low, but I am functioning. I have been icing during treatments and so far, no neuropathy, My oncologist wants me to complete all 12 Taxol treatments - hopefully, I will be done before year end.

Love the pet pictures - unfortunately we do not have any pets, so I don’t have any to share.

Wanted to wish everyone well - hang in there! We have made a lot of progress

Cherry-sw

I thought I posted a reply this morning but cannot see it now.

Clearpath, sorry about your infection, hope you will get better in no time. I am thinking to do an EC two weeks after my final Taxol, which will be next week, EC is an antracycline similar to AC, his was your AC compared to Taxol?

Stage2ire, well, it sounds pretty similar to me, I had problems with my back before but it usually got better but now it is very annoying and I will go on with this scan. I wish I would have done it earlier, I am sorry they are not offering it even where you are, it s same here, you have to push to get it. I have an old school friend in Galway, a scientist, I planned to visit her this or next year, but right now I am not up for travel. She does not know about my diagnosis, we are keeping it private.

I have shaved my hair about a week and half ago, when I did it I noticed some fluff on top of my head that was too soft for the razor. At that point I just thought that it was something I just had there all along but know I see that it us getting longer and start transforming at something that loks like hair. I started shedding after my 3-4th Taxol but I did not lost it all, I may be had 10% left when I decided to cut it off. My eyebrows are thinned but the lashes are still there but I have red that they usually are the last to go. If I will go on with EC I will lose all hair. I lost almost all the hair on my legs, I stopped shaving it when I started Taxol and my ladie’s parts but not the small light hair on my arms for example.

I also asked both my oncologist and the nurses about whether the drug is working if one does nor lose its hair and have been told that there is no correlation. The nurse told me that there are regimens where there is some but not for Taxol.

SimplySammy, I am glad Heather is doing well on Taxol and it is working for her, hope it will whipe it all off. Only 20% of hormonal sensitive tumors reach pCR so it sounds that Taxol is doing its job, after that there is Tamoxifen that is a very powerful treatment too.

I have set traditional French cassoulet in the oven, never cooked it before, but tried it at restaurants. And I have gumbo file delievered so I will try New Orleans’ gumbo, I gained a lot of weight.

Hope everybody is doing great, I have been looking at the pets’ pictures, so sweet they all are. Getting to know you all is the only positive thing I am getting out of this journey but it is huge, I am do glad I joined this thread and found this community in the first place

Cherry

VL22

Why does it seem no one gets the Neulesta shot on Taxol? I'm just curious, since so many of us are battling low WBC counts. At my center it seems if your counts are low, you skip a week. My MO is acting like there is no way this isn't going to happen , which annoys me, because I really want to be done by Christmas

Cherry-sw

VL, I have been told that they do not give those shots for weekly Taxol. My wbc has been ok of what I seen when they drew the blood work, eithin the range at least. Nethertheless I had a lot of zurs and pimples on my face I normally never had so I attribute it to the immune system being weakened. Zinc is good for wbc, so oysters would be great. Kidding, I know. Since we should avoid any supplements the next one, even though cannot be compared to oysters, is beet root. We eat a lot of it and now when my mom is here I always have it in some dish. You can just boil it, peel and then grate it, either mix it with very little mayonnais or sour cream and garlic. I like it, it is sweet, garlic is good for wbc too Cherry

PauletteK

I will see my MO in two weeks after chemo so I will check with him am I going to have PET scan again. From what I heard if clean PET scan then they will pull the port. I know he might have me to scan my kidney because on my last PET I have a nodule there. He said it is common but he said we will do a scan.

Leatherette

Wow, Paulette-port removal is so symbolic of moving on from chemo! I'll likely keep mine until next July when I finish herceptin infusions.

Sammi, so glad to hear that things are working better for Heather. She's been through so much at such a young age. What has she been able to do that she enjoys? I hope she gets some happy moments in there.

VL, when I asked my MO what would trigger adding neulasta to my regimen, he said that even though my WBC counts get really low mid-cycle, they always recover by the time my next infusion is due, and that's the progression they want to see.

Cherry, cassoulet sounds good! I think I'm going to look up a recipe for it right now!

Cherry-sw

Leatherette, Seriouseats, I got my recipe from there, I chopped the veggies, otherwise I just followed their recipe and cooked it in my Danish oven for five hours, I was trying to get that crust, I did not really succeded but it was the furst time I made it. It turned out really good, so delicious. I cooked some rice to it because it is too fat otherwise.

Cherry

Stage2ire

i will get neulasta after Taxol, but perhaps that's cause I will be doing it biweekly for 4 dose dense treatments rather than 12 weekly.

It causes the area around my mastectomy to hurt like hell!!!

Folate good for stimulating wbc I read. Good sources dark green veg, broccoli, kale and if you like them Brussels sprouts. I try make a kale, banana, oat milk and either pear or pineapple smoothie when I'm feeling up to eating. Maybe it helps the wbc, but it def sorts out any constipation issues lol

Loving the sound of your dinner cherry!!!

PauletteK

Cherry - you must be a very good cook, I am such a lousy cook and I need to learn.

Sammi, I really feel for Heather suffered so much in early age. I hope once she passed this journey she can enjoy life again.

Cherry-sw

Paulette, voilà

Castigame

Sisters,

Kale aka, spinach baby diarrhea did wonders for me.

Last chemo 06/26/17

09/29/17 WBC 5.37 at MO chkup

10/16/17 elbow lump removal surgery

10/30/17 laparascopic total hyst

10/31/17 post hyst WBC 8.59

The only thing I did diff in Oct was eating two large bags of cooked kale.

DodgersGirl

castigame- how is recovery going??

Hope all is well

PauletteK

Cherry - yummmmm ..... if I eat in your house I will gain weight.

Mimi - are you okay?? Now you got me worry about you. I haven’t seen you for awhile,

SusanGA

One week from my last TC and boy do I Still feel worn out. I have pretty numb and sort of burning feet and two,legs that don't quite work. They are very weak. I'm trying to really hydrate as suggested but maybe I need to consciously up my protein intake.

The pictures of the cats are wonderful. They are all so pretty. Thanks for sharing.

Once again, hats off to those of you with young children and still working. It must make it all so much harder. I have the freedom to indulge myself and I'm still wiped.

I hope you are all having a good weekend

rdeesides

VL22, my WBC counts droppes low on weekly Taxol and my doctor is giving me Granix shots 3x/week. It’s a hassle because I have to go to the hospital to get them, but I’m not working so I don’t mind.

SimplySammi11

Yeah, I was curious about the WBCs being so low. Heather’s last labs showed she was at 2.6. Although all the other counts seem within normal range. She was 1.3 when she was hospitalized so why aren’t they more concerned?

Cherry: Heather web surfs, reads and colors mandala and other adult coloring books. She actually went shopping other night with my cousin but it wore her out. She has also started doing some yoga and mild exercising when she can.

She keeps herself busy trust me.

She’s suffered from mental health issues since she had a breakdown in 2006 at 19 while in college. Sadly, we’ve struggled to get her through that and it’s an ongoing process so throw BC into the mix and needless to say it’s unbearable at times. The steroids get her manic and even a bit delusional. She’s in antidepressants and anxiety meds but mood stabilizers seem to make her worse instead of better so she doesn’t stick with them.

I had mentioned this when I first signed onto this site because so many ladies were wondering why I was the one so involved in researching and asking questions regarding Heather. I felt I had to explain it at the time. Since I’ve been around you gals, I feel it’s ok to let you all know now.

She’s had so much to deal with in her young life and it breaks me. I am hoping that this BC experience helps her to realize how fragile life is and helps her get the therapy she needs to really tackle all she has going on and come out stronger and better adjusted afterwards.

You gals are wonderful and I feel for you all daily. I pray you all come through this journey and live out your lives healthy and happy without having to look back. Love & Light

Sammi

PauletteK

Sammi, your love to Heather is unconditional, I feel bad for her she is such a young girl going through so much health problems. She is always in my prayers also. Someone talked about drinking bone soup helps wbc maybe you can give it a try.

Willow22

Sammi, what an overwhelming combination of health problems that Heather has to deal with, and so much worry and heartache for you and your husband! My son (now 24) was diagnosed with bipolar mood disorder his first quarter of college - a period of mania followed by a very long, severe depression. Lots of treatment, lots of waiting to see if it was going to help, lots of worry that he was so hopeless he would harm himself. He's still at home with us, and while things are better, it's nowhere near the life he/we had imagined for him. It's been a rough road - i can't imagine trying to deal with cancer treatment to. You and Heather are incredibly strong women - keeping both of you in my prayers.

Willow

Cherry-sw

Paulette, you certainly would, I love to cook. I know cassoulet looks all this dry and crusts but this is how it has to be, even crustier.Cherry

Clearpath

Hi Cherry - you asked about my experience with the AC treatments. I would not hesitate to take the treatments if your oncologist recommends. Taxol has been easier but the AC is doable - I had more issues with stomach problems and appetite with the AC. However I want to fight the cancer with every weapon possible. Your cooking looks delicious by the way

Cherry-sw

Sammi, yes, I remember you have mentioned Heather being instable once before, my heart goes out to you two, life is so unfair. I am so glad she is keeping herself busy and has this wonderful love and support. I actually red on multiple threads women telling how they came down with bc after long term stress in their lives. For different reasons but they have been trying to cope with something very seriouse, I recognize it because our family, especially me went through a lot lately, we tried to conceive a baby for several years and a year after we stopped I was diagnosed. I believe there are some scientific articles about thrombocites trying to repair a damage caused by loss or stress and finely causing bc. I am not sure but it was mentioned somewhere on these threads. I really hope Heather will recover soon to go on with her life and you can breathe again watching her happy and content.

Willow, I feel the same here, this is crucial for a parent to know that his/her child is happy, has his own family and can simply go on with life on his own. I hope you son will recover soon, he is still so young and a human body is amazing when it comes to mending Itself Cherry

Cherry-sw

Clearpath, thank you for the reply, I believe I asked everybody who had done AC, I am having another call about it next week, on Tuesday they want me to decide, otherwise I was scheduled to remove my piccline on Monday but now we will wait. I am leaning towards, I know EC will be harder, we are getting epirubicin here, but many people had done it so will I. I know I am worn out by Taxol right now, today is the first day I feel better and I will have my infusion tomorrow, but we decided that I will aim at one infusion at the time, if it will be really hard I will do as many as I can, after all I have completed all Taxol, hope it will go ok tomorrow. As you said, we have to throw everything at it. Cherry

Stage2ire

sammi, so sorry to hear Hesther has had some mental health issues. I suffered from chronic anxiety and depressive episodes all my adult life and had bad pnd after my little girl was born last year. I'd just weaned off mymeds and was diagnosed a month later. Its a cruel blow. But with love and support heather will get through this.your an amazing mum,she's lucky to have you. It must be so hard to see her suffer. The thing that keeps me going is that this is not happening my kids. Then I look at my mum and wonder how she finds the strength because its happening to her baby. Your a strong lady and a great mum

KByTheLake

SusanGA, it's been 12 days since my last TC infusion and I, too, still feel pretty weak. I can see that I'm getting better but it is really slow going. I'm only sleeping about 9 pr 10 hours a night, but I also take a nap during the day. I'm teying to eat more but that is really difficult. My appetite just isn't there. I try to remember that my body is busy with some extremely important work--healing!--but I find myself getting annoyed about all the time I'm "wasting" by just laying around.

Clearpath, I'm glad to hear you beat your infection! And stayed out of the hospital!

Sammi, Heather sure has had a lot to deal with. She's a strong woman to be fighting so much at once.

Hope everyone has a peacedul day ahead!

Karen

PauletteK

Cherry - let us know how are you doing. I read how tired you are now and it will be tough to continue with chemo. I can tell you my body is so tired also. There are days I try to do the minimal.

Karen - you are still tired with no appetite after 12 days. The last infusion hit you hard isn’t it ? My steroid crashes is coming so I know my body will be tired soon. Last infusion took 3 days for me to get back to normal I’ll see this time how many days needed to get back to normal.

Ladies have a good Sunday. Rest up.

SusanGA

Sammi you and Heather are so brave. You have had so many challenges but your Love appears to be winning. Hang in there.

Karen, Your post helped me. I’m being impatient and a little scared because 10 days out is so much worse than the other three infusions. I try to push myself but my body feels like lead. You know the feeling I am sure. Hopefully better days ahead for both of u

Travel_Girl

KB - thank you so much for posting (I feel better that it is probably 'normal') - I am still feeling like 'road kill' -- and thought maybe something was wrong - an infection, something - cause this is by far the worst I have felt and I cannot put my fingers on what it is -- I thought maybe I had an infection.

Saturday - Day 11 was rough, slight fever most of the day. Woke up this morning and didn't have one -- so that is good. Just whew!!! Each of these TC Chemo cycles has been different for me.

I wish happy healing to everyone.

PauletteK

I’m on taxol #8 day 3 all I can say is tired. I took my 40 minuets walk this morning, after lunch I took a long nap and still tired. So glad I only have one more to go.

Karen I totally understand.....

Travel_Girl

Paulette - 1 more to go!!!! Yay, I am so happy for you

PauletteK

Travel - good luck to your surgery..... all the pink sisters are on my daily prayers.