November 2019 Chemo Club

JRNJ

Oh, yes that is strange. Mine was 3 weeks after stopping. Mne is also at night when lying down, and more the right hand. Glad it's working for you.

Eigna

Charliebug- nice to hear from you. How’s the return back to work for you? I will begoing back end of June.

Charliebug

Hi Eigna! Although I have "returned" to work as of Monday, I am currently taking 2 weeks' vacation time. My first day working from home will be the 15th. I am really looking forward to that paycheque lol. My employer has shipped me my laptop and all brand new peripherals so I am good to go In the meantime, my fiance and I are heading out camping next weekend to a fairly local village about 2 hours away. I am really looking forward to getting out into nature again after so long.

In other news, there are only a couple lingering side effects from treatment that are still hanging around. I have numbness/tingling to varying degrees every day in my fingers and toes. I know this is from Taxol and I only hope it will eventually go away. The other side effect is waking up every day sore. It usually goes away fairly quickly once I get up and start moving around but it still surprises me how old I feel every morning before I get out of bed lol. Oh well, if those are the only things I have to deal with I am pretty darn lucky!

Are you excited to be returning to work Eigna?

Is anyone else getting back into a routine after treatment?

Eigna

Hi Charliebug, Nice to hear from you. I will be going back June 22nd but two weeks after I'm on vacation....lol! I didn't plan it it just happened like this. I'm looking forward in going back To work but I also have my fears. The thing is my hair is still short so I'm not comfortable going without a wig. I don't know if they will realize that it's a wig. I have kept this whole ordeal secret. Only admistration and my boss knows about my journey. Then there's this pandemic which is stressing me. So lots of things to worry about. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
As for side effects I have some tingling numbing sensation on my right hand.I've told my doctor,he doesn't think it's related to chemo. He is suspecting carpal tunnel syndrome. I only feel it at night when I lay down. I bought a wrist brace and I'm good now. No numbness felt and I can sleep well.
When are you getting married? Do you have a date? I'm sure planning a wedding during this pandemic is not obvious.

Charliebug

We had originally planned to get married September 19th but we decided to postpone the wedding until September 2021 due to the pandemic and also because we are currently looking for a house and it seemed like a lot to happen all in one year. We don't have the date picked but it will be September around the same time I'm sure.

Eigna

Charliebug- sounds like a good plan 😉! Wishing you all the best. Good luck with house hunting!

amyhey

Hi! How is everyone doing who has started with aromatase inhibitors? I have been on Letrozole for a week and it’s not horrible. Hot flashes are a little worse and I’m having some mild headaches and bone pains. My bone density test showed mild osteopenia in my spine. I’m trying to decide on which calcium supplement to take...every decision has become such a big deal

JRNJ

Hi Amy, So 3 weeks on Lupron and 1 week on Aromosin and 2 weeks back to work. It's been rough. Headaches, dizziness, severe agitation and insomnia, fatigue, aches and pains, congestion, rashes, but I'm feeling a little better than at first. At least I can kind of function. I think the Lupron is worse than the Aromosin, but the Aromosin is contributing. My bone density test showed osteopenia also. I have prescription vitamin D, I've had it for a while, and I just started a generic calcium 1000 mg I think. And magnesium for bone pain as recommended by mellee on another thread. My hot flashes were unbelievably bad during chemo (chemo put me into menopause), but have calmed down and have not gotten worse since starting Lupron and Aromosin. Which worries me that the Lupron is not working as it could actually increase estrogen in the beginning.

Eigna

Sorry for changing the subject but I’m just wondering how’s everyone’s hair doing? Mine is about an inch only. I wish it was longer. I’m going back to work in a week and I’m not comfortable going back without the wig yet. The other thing is that I’m wearing the wig at home during the day for my kids so I’m wondering if that affects my hair hair not growing so fast.

amyhey

Hi Eigna. My hair is about an inch long as well. I know some people who finished treatments the same time we did that have a lot less hair. I stopped wearing wigs a while back because they are too uncomfortable. I can’t wait to get my hair back, but I miss my eyelashes kire

JRNJ

I have about 10 percent of my hair in a tiny ponytail and a lot of curly frizzy 1 to 2 inch pieces. I dyed it and put cream in it every morning to keep from looking like heatmeiser, lol. Luckily I'm working from home, and i used to wear my hair in a ponytail so they can't really tell how small it is on a video meeting. The wig and fake ponytail are too hot and heavy.

RadQueen

Hi Guys just a quick check in.

Congratulations to all who finished Radiation. Keep strong and work on healing.

I am still not back to work yet due to the Covid situation, my WBC is not back to prechemo numbers and am still a little anemic. My MO said stay home and keep away from crowds. I am really getting tired of this social distancing, most of us have been doing it since we started chemo. I miss hugs from my grand children and friends the most.

My MO put me on letrozole it's not that bad, have some joint pain sometime, but WOW the hot flashes at night are intense. Like wake up go get a towel and dry off intense. Just something else we have to deal with.

I have my scar revision surgery scheduled for July 16, had to put it off due to no elective surgery's in April or May and July was the soonest it could be scheduled. I am looking forward to getting this last surgery and having my port removed at the same time. Should be back to work by August. Hopefully my WBC will be back to normal and the Covid crap will have calmed down some more. I feel the Covid will be with us for a long time. My friend is a ICU nurse and she had a lot of Pts with it, she said there is nothing that compares to it. You can't tell who will do OK or who will die from it. She had over 30 pts pass away from Covid in April/May. from 28 years old to 88 years old. Yes it makes me scared to go back to work in the ER.

Just another update my hair is about 1.5 inches long now and came back mostly grey. After two months I could not take it anymore so I bought some henna and colored it with it. Now its a nice shade of auburn. That was the color of my hair when I was young, it had gotten darker over the years. The henna worked out great, but goodness is it messy, it says it will last four to six weeks, we will see. My hair looks like a pixie cut now and I can not wait till it grows back out. My eyebrows and eyelashes have come back so that is a comfort.

Peace and Blessings to all.

JRNJ

Hi RadQueen, I've been on Aromasin and Lupron for over a month, and the first 5 weeks were horrible, headaches, agitated. And no hot flashes, which i got really really bad during chemo. I don't think the Lupron was working. It can actually increase estrogen at first. I feel a little better now, but have horrible aches and pains. I told my Dr. I want to try Femara, but he is reluctant to switch yet and would prefer armidex for "insurance" reasons. So sick of Drs.

RadQueen

JRNA I get the Femara through Good RX 90 day supply only 21.00. If you get the Gold plan 6.00 a mo it's only 14.00 for a 90 day supply. My copay with insurance was 19.00 for only a 1 month supply. The Gold plan is only worth it if you take other medications lots on there list and moste cheeper than copayment. . I am taking a antibiotic for a eye infection and it saved me over 15.00 a month. So for me it was worth it. Look it up and see how the prices compare.

Keep the faith all and Blessings stay safe....R