Starting Chemo in September 2017

PauletteK

Hopebring- get your Imodium and take two pills at the time. After a day if it doesn't stop your Big D call your MO to get something stronger.

I didn't use ice while AC infusion, I used OPI Nail Envy and it worked good, I'm doing ice socks for my taxol, I don't want to get neuropathy.

Tough - I'm going to do my PT next week, I heard many good things from other in here.

Have a good weekend everyone

Cheska

Icedgem, I hope your home was spared too much damage from Irma. I can't imagine having to deal with that on top of everything else. My prayers are with you.

It does sound like our tx plans are the same, with chemo first , surgery and radiation. It makes me feel better that this a protocol used by others too. I too have always had long hair, it's pretty thick so even though clumps have fallen off I don't have any bald spots yet so I'm keeping it as long as I can.

My firstborn passed away at the age of 2 from a form of childhood cancer- Neuroblastoma. My 3 kids now , ages 10,9,7 although they didn't meet their sister know that she had cancer and see pictures of her with her bald head. They associate a bald head with cancer and cancer with death. And that's why I dread the hair loss, they know mommy isn't well but not exactly what is wrong. Most tell me to be honest with them but I haven't had the courage to tell then truthfully yet what is going on

Cheska

Icedgem, I hope your home was spared too much damage from Irma. I can't imagine having to deal with that on top of everything else. My prayers are with you.

It does sound like our tx plans are the same, with chemo first , surgery and radiation. It makes me feel better that this a protocol used by others too. I too have always had long hair, it's pretty thick so even though clumps have fallen off I don't have any bald spots yet so I'm keeping it as long as I can.

My firstborn passed away at the age of 2 from a form of childhood cancer- Neuroblastoma. My 3 kids now , ages 10,9,7 although they didn't meet their sister know that she had cancer and see pictures of her with her bald head. They associate a bald head with cancer and cancer with death. And that's why I dread the hair loss, they know mommy isn't well but not exactly what is wrong. Most tell me to be honest with them but I haven't had the courage to tell then truthfully yet what is going on.

His_wife

I have been reading the boards for the last couple of months and finally decided to introduce myself! I am here to support my husband. He's 38yrs old and was diagnosed with breast cancer in July ; he has completed his 1st round of chemo on 9/18 and will be doing a total of 8 infusions.

There aren't many resources for men with breast cancer and he frequently feels alone in this journey so I'm doing the best I can to help him along. I have passed on your words of encouragement and tips to him and it has been a great help! Thank you for helping me help him.

PauletteK

Wife - Chemo is a lonely journey other couldn't understand what's in our minds. It is a physical and mental challenge, we all hang in there

mkn86

hugs to you Icedgem.

Ewu, sending you strength for your first treatment.

Dear Wife, welcome to the thread. Strength for you as well. we're all here to help out.

JD, travel_girl, hopebringscourage, OCDAmy, hopefully things get better.

I'm beginning to feel impatient with my next chemo. Thursday feels far away. Almost there until next dose and next round of zapping massive amounts of cancer cells into oblivion.

I agree with paulette. it's a mental and physical (and sometimes emotional) challenge.

Hang in there everyone. things may be shitty butWE GOT THIS!

OCDAmy

His Wife, hoping we can help your husband, I'm sure it must be difficult for him. Tell him we are here for him!

Cheska, I can't imagine how hard it must be to explain this to small children. It was hard to tell my grown kids. Are there any resources in your community for support for the kids?

His_wife

Thanks everyone for the support!

Chaska - I totally empathize with having to tell young children. We have 3 (14, 10, 7) and my mom died of cancer a few years back so they also have a very negative outlook on anything associated with cancer. We sat the kids down individually after his mascetomies and spoke super positively. "This isn't what grandma had etc... " There were definitely tears but overall they have been ok. When your ready, you will tell them.

IntegraGirl

His Wife, there's a guy from Australia on this site: Traveltext. You can find him on the IBC board. He has IBC and is an advocate for men with BC. If you haven't found him already, I expect he'd be a great contact for you and your husband to make

MzPriss

And I'm back from Disney! It was the perfect trip. It was a good week. Just needed to nap every day that we went into the parks. My hair departed while we were there...I won't lie, it was sort of gross, just seemed to all fall out at once. My husband ran to target and bought clippers and shaved my head for me. I rocked hats the remainder of the trip. My ears are always cold now! Need beenies, stat!

The Big D has not stopped for me, but has slowed. Today is my 2nd round.

Welcome to all the new people! I leave a week and have 5 pages to catch up on.

His_wife

integragirl- thank you! I just headed over there and found him. He had alot of great links about male breast cancer. Male and female breast cancer is medically treated the same way but there are different social and psychological impacts.

We definitely would like to increase the awareness to the fact that men get breast cancer too.

jeeves67

I just had my first infusion yesterday, 9/22/17. Not feeling toxified yet (it's 9/23), but I'm braced for it. I hope you're doing okay.

jeeves67

Toughcookie_21 I totally hear you on how anti-intuitive it feels to submit to being essentially poisoned with chemo. I also did my best to eat organic and keep a detoxed home. I thought it was my fault for a while, like maybe I enjoyed too much red wine ( ), or something. But, mutations are random. Sure you can lower your odds, but only odds, not absolute control of events. And I do feel like I'm getting/choosing the best care, in spite of my reservations. We'll just have to work a little more after all the treatment is over to keep up the clean and healthy living.

Travel_Girl

JD -- my recommendation is to paint it on and just try to avoid your scalp as much as possible-- use that Clairol natural stuff - I would expect you would be fine? Regular hair dye has lots of chemicals, so just go with something natural with all that you have going on.

Day 11, post chemo #2 -- biggest thing I can tell is that I am more tired. Not take me out tired, just slightly shorter days tired, I can tell it is taking me a few more days in the cycle to snap back to what I call normal, might be my sleep patterns, as i had a crazy one this week. Last night full night with no 'assists' - woohoo!

Also, I am slipping on menu and maybe not pushing liquids enough. So that is my 'back to focus' -- I think I let it slip. You get a little comfortable that last week (if you are on 3 week cycle) and didn't have it top of mind every moment (while I am sure that is a good thing ... ) I forgot a few things to focus on.

I have to remind myself my primary focus is getting my immune system as strong as possible for the next round.

So for me menu planning, exercise and mediation are high on the list for this weekend. I have 10 days to get as strong as possible to ride the wave of #3. I am adding acupuncture to the mix this week as well.

Hope -- I lost weight the first cycle as well (and prior - I don't eat when stressed..so that was probably part of it). Try liquids with more calories - boost drinks, etc.

I also started drinking bone broth, like tea, etc. I think I am evened out between cycle 2 &3. We shall see.

Happy Healing to everyone.

Icedgem

Cheska - I was extremely lucky with my home in the hurricane. I honestly thought when I evacuated that I would never see it or any of my things again. My house is still standing with no flooding or structural damage, the outside is another matter, but over time we will get straight again. The last thing I needed was to go through chemo living out of hotel rooms!

I am so sorry about the situation with your children, this illness completely sucks on every level..I totally understand about trying to keep hold of your hair. Mine too was very thick and I lost the weight from underneath first, you may be able to hold on to a short style rather than shaving your head altogether.

Today my scalp is very sore, and even the hairs left in my shaved head are starting to fall out and I have bald spots appearing everywhere. I still have my eyebrows and eyelashes though, and I am desperate to hold onto them. Does anyone know when these usually start to fall out?, i pray that I keep them along with my fingernails which are still looking good.

I wish everyone well and enjoy the weekend without too many side effects

ewu

I had my first chemo yesterday. It was very rough for me, but today I feel much better. I am bracing myself for the SEs to come. Does it come the 2nd or the 3rd day? Anyone can share?

OCDAmy

Ewu, what type of chemo are you getting? Seems like side effects and when they start is different depending on chemo regimen.

Iced, I have been using Essential Eyebrow Solution and my brows are hanging on. No new growth so I haven't had to pluck. I've lost a few lashes but they are hanging on too through two Chemos.

ewu

Amy, I had AC yesterday. I logged it in my treatment, but somehow it doesn't shown on my post.

PauletteK

ewu - you need to click on public.

ewu

Fixed it, thank you PauletteK.

PauletteK

ewu - my bad days for AC was Day 4 to 6, day 7 is doable then it's going uphill

Kiwi-in-Thailand

Hi Folks... You guys have been helping me a lot and I figured it's about time that I made a contribution :-)... Quick background.. I'm 58, from New Zealand, live in Thailand, work in Jakarta Indonesia and am getting treatment in Singapore. I had my first chemo (TC) 10 days ago and have to say that whilst it's not a walk in the park, it's doable.... so much so that I was back at work on Day 7 and hosted a function that night complete with dancing!.....

I had two lesions in the same breast which were removed with the same lumpectomy and have done/am doing cold turkey from HRT which I'd been taking for 17 years following a hysterectomy etc (endometriosis)... Oncotype came back at 20 which meant decision time. I figured that it's better to do it now than regret it, so am doing 4 rounds of TC & Neulasta to be followed by radio and then AIs.

The prospect of the first chemo was actually worse than the event... It did take about 6 hours as I had a major allergic reaction to the docetazel and it was like watching paint dry as it dripped there for a few hours :-) I'd read of course about the SEs and that the worst days were likely 3-5, but the not knowing what was coming and when was, and still is, the worst for me... Top tips from this site that have really helped me so far are: 1) Drink water ++++ 2) Medicated wipes for the bid D (when it happens) and it did from the first day 3) No spicy food .. 4) Mouth wash as often as you can do it ......

Ewu, hopefully this will help: So Day 1, I was really dizzy and had serious munchies... I couldn't stop eating. Mild-ish diarrhoea, apparently I also looked as if I had two black eyes (that went away quickly!) but otherwise OK-ish... Day 2 had the Neulasta shot... still dizzy, my mouth felt like it was full of cardboard and my taste buds seemed to go on strike. Diarrhoea slightly worse but not totally awful. Still really hungry. Day 3... steroids started wearing off - my mouth felt like it was about to erupt into an ocean of blisters (it didn't), really tired and the bone pain started in full force. Day 4 was the worst day, really tired, bones randomly seemed to hurt but the big D was getting better, still couldn't taste anything except lemons and bananas, not hungry at all. Day 5, bone pain and basically slept all day. Day 6 same, but not as bad. Day 7, taste getting better, mouth started to feel a bit more "normal", bit more energy.. Day 8 onwards to now (day 11) a bit better every day.

What I've found is that I seem to have a mini cement mixer implanted into my abdomen which lets me know when it thinks I've made bad food choices. It's like it can't decide whether its make hard stuff or liquid stuff and sometimes decides that producing a lot of air is the best option :-).... It gets cross when I feed it anything interesting to eat (read spicy) and calms down when it gets bananas, ginger tea, green tea (shame, because I really don't like green tea!) it also seems to react well to garlic, chicken, fish but not cheese, dairy products or any form of alcohol. I've had mild nausea but nowhere near as bad as morning sickness and I wasn't that sick then either. Overall, the worst for me are the HRT withdrawal symptoms... Major hot flashes every two hours or so. Good sleep is a historical concept as its like having a newborn where you're up every couple of hours. Still, as many on this site have said, the flashes mean that I'm not feeding the nasties any more and my MO tells me that whilst it'll be awful for three or so months I'm doing menopause in one heavy hit and even the AIs won't have as dramatic an impact as they might for some. Here's hoping.

Like most folks, I'm waiting for THE HAIR.... I simply cannot imagine having a wig in the heat and humidity here, so I've got a selection of scarves and hats (a lot from Headcovers.com) which my friends in Indonesia are looking forward to helping me tie and be inventive with. I had a very short pixie cut once I knew I was doing chemo as it got people (and me) used to a shorter haircut and also gives me something to aspire to next year.

Unlike most of you, I don't have a port, likely because of the infection risk in this climate. I'm told that there is a chance that I'll get "staining" along the veins where they inject each time and they'll give me some cream next cycle to help prevent that. If it happens then hey, I'll have a war wound and worse things can happen.

Keep on keeping on folks, this stuff will get better and lets not forget the reason that we're actually doing all this... For me, I'm lucky to have a great support network - they want me well and thriving and that's what keeps me going.

ewu

Kiwi, thank you for reply. Yes the anticipation is the worst. The day before yesterday day I was anxious about the first chemo treatment, now am waiting for the SEs to come, and of course the hair loss. I am prepared myself for the hair loss and hope it will be easier to accept it when it happens.

Wish everyone here has less and less SEs.

hopebringscourage

My bad days.....were 3 through 7 so far. My stomach is a mess. I'm still so hungry for real food but don't dare to venture beyond the BRAT diet-because of the diarrhea.

PauletteK

hope did you take Imodium or call your MO? Most of us have constipation problem.

toughcookie_21

Hopebringscourage, I can finally say that the horrible diarrhea I had is clearing up and I've been able to venture far away from the BRAT diet for the past few days. We even went out to eat on Friday and I was ok today. I hope yours goes away soon too!

His_wife, Jeeves, cheska: welcome. You're in good company here! Sorry if I missed anyone, things are moving fast on here!!

hopebringscourage

PauletteK-Yes, Imodium, Pepto and Tums🤤I also had a friend bring me Ginger Beer-no alcohol! But it seemed soothing along with a banana.

Last night was the 1st night I didn't get up for the big D "fingers crossed". I was so hungry for something good and I have a mealtrain set up by friends every other night someone is bringing dinner. I had the tiniest sliver of manicotti before bed SO good! and its still in my belly.....YAY! it's the small things. Thanks tough cookie!

I am hoping for 2 good weeks before another round of this Pac-Man game. At this point its nauseating to think about it. But hoping I will have better tools and knowledge to help with SE.

Anyone having issues with dry skin on your face? What is everyone using to moisturize? My Oil Of Olay is not really working/ My lips are so dry. Maybe I'm dehydrated but I'm trying to guzzle atleast 40 ounces a day.

Have an amazing day ladies!

70charger

Morning ladies! in regards to losing your eyebrows & lashes you will likely get watery eyes before losing your lashes. Kind of a forwarning..here it comes symptom. As for eyebrows, not everyone loses them. I lost only half of one, don't know why.

As for nails, they grow slow so u may not see anything for awhile. I had a wave in my nails for each infusion. It wasn't til 6 months after I was finished treatment that I lost toenails. No pain, nothing gross as there was a very thin nail already under it. The white moon part kept growing more towards the end of the nail & the nail seemed thicker. Once the white moon got to the tip the nail just popped off.

Soon some of you may start to think you are coming down with a cold because you have a runny nose. This is the sign you are losing your nose hair. It runs like crazy at first but does get better. So bad you leave puddles if you bend over. I was tempted to tape a pad under my nose or stick a tampon in each nostril!

You are all doing great, it will be in your rearview mirror before u know it. Keep supporting each other & pass it on when you are done.

_ipcoder17

Hi!

I'm new to the forums. My port was placed Thursday. I start on 9/28/17 as well. Sending prayers for everyone!

PauletteK

Ipcoder - sorry that you joined us, this website is very helpful and supportive, good luck to your infusion. Perhaps you can put your profile to public so people could answer your questions easier.