Anyone starting chemo in Aug. 08?

Hi to everyone - hope everyone is well!  I read your posts but don't have time to respond to everyone today.

Had 2nd Chemo round Friday and the SE's are wearing me down this week - but I am at work today!  I left early Monday morning - I couldn't do it - wanted to then felt like a big baby because I had ot go home - But, I know better than to be so hard on self. Hair is continuing to vacate - bones are hurting, headache all day, earache, mouth sores -

I did see my Surgeon yesterday to set up all the follow CT's, MRI etc.. and to discuss the dreaded tissue expansion/reconsturction.  Well I am dreading it - he told me rather bluntly that that is the most painful part o this current process -

Be mad, be happy, be anything that is true to you - Jude

Jude,

Maybe I am a lucky one, but I am finding the tissue expander not bad at all.  Granted, I am small to begin with (A) and I had a mast. on 7/2 with the expander put in at the same time.  I am so glad I did this-the PS filled it a bit at the surgery, and I have had two more fills since then.  This "foobie" is now more perky than my real one.  I have been able to wear bikinis to the pool and a bra with all of my regular clothes.  Get this-my friends are constantly teasing me because they say I still look better than them in a swimsuit and I am the one that lost the boob!!  You don't feel the saline needle going in too much for the fill because your nerves are gone.  The first fill left me feeling stretched for a couple of days.  Now, I have had no problems with the fills, last one being two weeks ago.  I am hoping to do the exchange in December to be a small B; I finish chemo on 10/2.  I am not telling you this to brag-just to give you hope!!  Am I looking forward to having it out? Honestly yes-but only because I have been told that the implants will take up less space than this circular disc that covers most of the area and they should be much softer.  Could I keep it for a year?  Yes, I could put up with it, but I am looking forward to my bonus foobies!!  I think the key is in finding an experienced PS.  I really like mine.

Hope this makes you feel better about that process.

~Misty

Hi Stacy ~  Just returned from #2!  YEAH!  2 down!!!  Everything went very smoothly.  The Benedryl really hit me hard today, so I kind of dozed through it, even though my adrenaline is pumping because I am soooo thrilled to be halfway through the tx's!I

While there, I picked up 2 interesting bits of info' I thought I'd share. First, I asked my onc how long the chemo actually stays in your system.  I was curious because I was trying to gauge if there would be an overlap effect and possibly more severe SE's this time.  Anyway, the answer is -- 15 hrs.!  I was shocked. The analogy he used is it's like being punched in the nose.  The punch only takes 1 sec., but the residual effects last for a week or more. Anyway, I thought that was very interesting and worth sharing.  The other tidbit I overheard in the infusion room -- one of the nurses responding to a man  a couple of chairs away re. severe constipation -- is to use warm prune juice.  I know it sounds disgusting, but she said it works like a charm.  Warm in microwave -- and be very careful it's not hot enough to burn your mouth.  

Okay ...  I'm wired right now... gonna run out and do some errands to burn off some of this Decadron high   (Hey, never thought about it before, but those Smileys are bald, too!)  

Take care all -- Deanna

Hood1980 - I was at the onco today for blood work and told him that I had a hard time with the bone pain after the Neulasta shot.  I told him I had tried the claritin and he made a face at me and asked if it worked.  I said I really wasn't sure since I waited until the second day of pain and by then it was subsiding somewhat.  I had the shot on Wednesday and by Friday it felt like a mac truck hit me. Anyway he said that sometimes we just need to take some pain meds and gave me a scrip for Oxycodone.

Do you have an expander?  I ask that because you mentioned the DIEP.  I also have been thinking about removing the other breast prophylactically and would be interested in your research/thinking.   I also have ILC as you know and probably had it for 7 years or so (not ONE mamagram showed anything suspect)

Monique

Glad to hear all the #2 tx went well today.  Keeping my fingers crossed for no SE's.

Welcome to our group Rosemary.  This is a lovely bunch of ladies and we are all here for each other.  I too was feeling the same as you about treatment.  I went for a second opinion and decided after that visit that I needed to do whatever I had to do to beat this beast.  Like you I didn't know if I would make it to my first treatment because I had myself so worked up.  My Dr had them give me a seditive before my treatment started and it really helped.  If I didn't have that I know I would have stressed the whole time I was in the chair.    

Had a few strands of hair coming out yesterday so I'm thinking the hair will be gone by the weekend.   Its a bummer but I know I'll get over it quick once it's gone.

TX #2 tomorrow

Ouch, On day 4 (Sunday) of TX #1 I had these random shooting pains. In my stomach and ovaries and female area, also chest etc.. mostly just that day. They would make me jump. Some numbness in my toes and hands, a little sore throat and a couple really tiny mouth sores (not enough to affect appetite). For the most part I had a good week other than that one day. I worked all week and have TX #2 tomorrow. I hope it goes well....

I had a 3 hour MRI of the spine today....that was a long time to stay in that tube thing!

Praying for a great week and holiday for everyone! 

teresa

Stacy - yes to the burping!  I've been burping a lot of small burps and thought it was kind of weird!  Nothing painful yet.

I was told to drink lots of fluids to flush out the chemo drugs.  Also read somewhere (here?) to take a laxative the day of and after chemo, so I took exlax that night and until I had a bowel movement.

My sister came to visit today, she works for a cosmetic company and brought me some false eyelashes, one set has some silver lashes amongst the black.  I don't know if I'll end up trying them.

Glad to hear of everyone going through their 2nd treatment!  I'm feeling good now, back to "normal".  Eating better, went down to the beach with some family for ice cream.

Teresa - yikes a 3 hour MRI!  That must have been hard - I had trouble staying still for a bone scan for about 20 minutes!

Seems like reconstruction is pretty popular.  I haven't even considered it, anyone else not doing it? I just don't want to go through any more discomfort / surgery than I have to! I did ask the surgeon about removing the other breast but he said lets just deal with this problem for now.

Nico- Glad youre ok now, that must have been scary! Curious to see what they will give you now. Hang in there!

Stacy- I just thought the burping was all those fluids! Never drank so many fluids in all my life!

Jude- Hope SE are getting better for you

Hood- Good luck with youre Neualasta shot and moving your son. My DD is 19, 2nd year college but withdrew this semester (against my wishes) to help me. She did a Maymester so she wont be too far behind from schedule.

DFOnt- I had recon in 2004 but was a Tram Flap. It was done at the time of mast. surgery. I have been extremely pleased with the look and feel. I hardly took any pain meds and it healed rather quickly. Drain tubes were a little annoying but once out it was a breeze. Whether to do any recon is a personal preference, but once it was over and your done It felt and looked great. Silver in the eyelashes might be fun lol. Im worried about eyebrows. I cant draw for anything, im just imagininng them all crooked with a sideways wig . Wonder if theres some kind of semi permanant pencil that you wouldnt have to do every day! Im going to check at the spa along with eyelashes!

 Deanna- Glad TX2 went well for you. Steriods are amazing if they just didnt keep you up all night!

Anybody got any ideas for pain meds for me...ive never really been able to take anything just advil. It all makes me nauseated..the codeines or anything with Tylenol base.

Off to #2 in a few hours...anybody else today?

 teresa

Started chemo on August 7...I'm 31 years old, have three children, ages 14, 10 and 6, a wonderful husband, the greatest friends on earth, no family history of breast cancer... and yet against the odds, I'm fighting the battle...

Rather long... but my story:

I found the lump myself (while sweeping bread crumbs out of my bra!) in mid-June.  It felt almost like a walnut.  The next day I looked up breast lumps on the internet, and must admit that I felt relieved that most likely, it was nothing.  I called my doctor, who saw me the next day, and she said she was pretty sure it was nothing, but didn't want to take any chances.  I had a mammogram and ultrasound done a few days later, and that's when the tiny voice started telling me that it was cancer.  Of course the ultrasound led to a core biopsy, which ultimately led to my diagnosis on July 7.  I kept telling myself that it was nothing... but that little voice never went away, and I guess that somewhere deep down, we always know.

I feel completely and totally confident in my surgeon, and he suggested a partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) with radiation as opposed to a mastectomy.  On July 15 I had the lumpectomy and a sentinal node dissection.  Everyone (friends, family, coworkers) kept telling me that it was good that I caught it early, and of course they all know someone who only had to have a lumpectomy with radiation, so in their opinion chances of me needing chemo were very low... except again, I just "knew" that chemo was in my immediate future.  Surgery findings indicated that there were microscopic traces of cancer in my sentinal node, but the margins of the lump were clear, and the cancer measured 2.5cm... Stage IIB.  I had just gotten my annual exam a couple of months earlier (seriously, at the end of April!).  How much bigger would it have been in a month... for the first time ever, I was grateful to be absolutely addicted to carbs...if I hadn't been eating that sandwich and dropped crumbs down my shirt...wow... scary thought.

Trying to be optimistic, I tried thinking "well, at least I'll lose a few pounds!"  I know that's awful, but really, I was trying to hard to deal with it with humor.  Unfortunately, my oncologist informed me that most people gain weight while  undergoing chemo and promptly busted my bubble on that one!!  So, great... now I get to lose my hair AND get fatter!  One of my best friends assured me that it would be okay... that they would all just call me Buddha!  I couldn't help but laugh.  I can so imagine people stopping by to visit, and rubbing my big 'ole tummy and bald head for luck!

My plan of treatment is 8 rounds of chemo, 2 weeks apart (4 Ellence/Cytoxan, 4 Taxotere), 7 weeks of radiation and then an oopherectomy. 

I had a port put in, and started my chemo on August 7.  The actual procedure wasn't as bad as I had feared, but after getting the Neulasta shot I had a severe headache that lasted for over a week.  The narcotics they prescribed for the headache caused nausea and vomiting... and basically it was a MISERABLE week.  There are days that I can't remember, like everything's all fuzzy, or I was outside my body or something.

I've since had one more chemo treatment, and this time I was only down for about three days.  However, everytime I THINK about getting it again, I get this horrible taste in my mouth.

This past Sunday, my hair started falling out in huge chunks... so, I let my kids go at my head with the scissors, then my husband shaved it all off.  I thought I was prepared for the hair loss thing... but turns out I wasn't.  I felt physically sick at my stomach when I'd touch my hair and these huge chunks just FELL OUT!  I'm not liking the whole bald thing, and my middle child is taking it pretty hard.  I'll save that for another time.

I'm sorry to be so long winded.  I was so excited to finally find a place where people can really understand what I'm going through, and just wanted to share my story.  (I also posted this in the Young Women's forum.)  I truly look forward to getting to know each of you as we take this journey... and my prayers will be with you all.

She-Ree this place is a GODSEND!!!!! I am glad you found us - we all stick together and it is good to be able to vent to others than your family!!!!!!!  You are a young one like me (I am only 33) and young or old it hits us ALL hard!!! I only have 4 rounds of chemo every 3 weeks and my next one is tomorrow #2 will be done and I am 1/2 way done!!!! Thank goodness!!!! Hang in there and we all are here if you need us!!!!!  The hair thing - everytime I talked about losing my hair I cried - Monday morning I shaved it and though it was HARD - I did it and didn't shed a tear - it helped my 13 year old was right there telling me she didn't care about the hair as long as I was around to watch her grow-up - it put it in perspective for me.  I still think it was hard on her though she didn't show it - she is tough like her MOM !!!   Hang in there and know we are all praying for you!!!!!  

Other girls - keep up the encouraging words for the #2 tx - mine is tomorrow and as I am not scared like I was for #1 - just worried about those darn side-effects!!!!!!!  Hopefully the gods will be good to us ALL and keep them away!!!!!!! 

Wow!  I'm so behind in reading everyone's posts....DH and I took our eldest to the movies alone last night, so just catching up now.

I too have had the burping...precription Nexium fixed it for me really well.

 Senokot S has worked wonders for the constipation...it has a laxative and stool softner in it and you just take two before bed.

 Having a good week this week...much better than last week.  My second round isn't until September 8th.  Anyone else going around this time?

Be careful with false eyelashes.  I was told by my oncologist not to use them...something about infection risk?

Picked up my wig today and I'm so happy!  My four kids all tried it on and we had a good laugh.  This is me wearing it in the picture.  So close to my real hair I was shocked.  Not losing any yet but I'm on day 10 post 1st tx so should be any day now.

 Welcome Sheree. My kids are 4, 6, 8 and 10yrs and are not taking the hair loss lightly either.  They were excited today to see my wig though...have you gotten one?  I told them we could get some matching bandanas too if they wanted, like Stacy has done with her kids and that too seemed to help.

My story is similar too, found lump on my own and was told all along it was a cyst.  They found a second tumor during my surgery that was missed on u/s and mammogram, so still had a lumpectomy but now waiting for results on the breast MRI I had last week.  Hopefully it will be clear.

Hope everyone has a great SE free day.

Dawn

Oh SheRee,

You'll figure out what works for you and your family.  That's terrible that your daughter has to deal with taunts...how insensitive of those other kids!

I know I wasn't too keen on a wig either...so I understand.  My two daughters (6yrs and 8yrs) both cried when we told them my hair would be falling out.  They said they didn't want me to look different from the other mommies.  Our kids shouldn't even have to be dealing with any of this!  So frustrating.  I went to look at the wigs initially for them.  Now I'm happy I have one.  It's so close to my real hair that I hope it'll help cushion the blow.  I too plan to be bald at home though.  The wig will be for work, school, outings, etc....especially if the girls want me to wear it.  Your hat idea is a great one...I'll have to try that too.

Hang in there.  You're in my thoughts and prayers.

Dawn

Nico

Hello all,

I'm back from convention in Branson and all went well other than DIARRHEA every day.  I was almost afraid to eat, but food and I are great friends.  After my first round of T/C it was constipation, I wonder if it is going to change every time or what.  I find it amazing that nearly each of us is so concerned about our hair!  I keep telling myself, at least your alive!!  Maybe I'll get used to it.  My husband buzzed it before I left, but even more came out while I was gone.  He was so happy to see me.  I was worried with the extra hair loss if he would even want to kiss me, but quickly found out that was NOT going to be a problem.  My son comes home from college this weekend and he is the one I have been most concerned about with my hair loss so I hope all goes well.  I have been lucky enough to not have to take the neulasta shot.  My onc. aid we aren't even drawing blood until my next treament because my counts came  up so well last time.  Treatment #3 September 11th and the chemo is 1/2 way done, then on to radiation.  I can't wait for Christmas!!! I will be all done by then barring any trouble in between.  Best wishes to all!

Hi, everyone - Well, about the gas -- me too.  And, I've also gained 5 lbs.- yuk.  I'm not eating any differently, so I'm sure it's just water retention, but not fun on top of being almost bald and kind of head-achy after today's Neulasta shot.  Oh, well ... it could be so much worse.

Stacy - I love the photo of everyone in do-rags.  Very cute!  Dawn - Your wig looks great!  Has anyone else been noticing other people's hair more?  At first, it was just hair envy when I saw a beautiful head of it.  Now, it's looking closely to see if I can spot a wig.  Kind of silly, but I'm almost hair-obsessed!  I've been doing scarves and hats for the past few days.  Instead of buying a scarf pad, I figured out one of my son's beanies works great under a large silk scarf to give it more shape. 

SheRee - Glad you joined us!  So sorry it's for the reason it is, but the humor in your post was refreshing.

Wow, Nico!  What a scare!  That story would have scared the daylights out of me if I was reading it pre-chemo, as I'm sure many will.  I'm glad you got fast medical help and are okay.  But what a shame your onc's nurse didn't take your earlier complaints more seriously.  Sounds like the crisis might have been avoided if she'd really been listening to your escalating symptoms.

Hood - Just FYI, I had a Diep flap in May.  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions after you go to JH.  I marvel each day that I've had a mast yet still have a breast, and I can't wait to get through chemo and possibly rads so that I can get the finishing touches done on it.

Thinking of you all ~  Deanna