Anyone starting chemo in Aug. 08?
Comments
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She Ree, your thoughts and feelings are not unusual. It is like residual fear. Thank you for sharing them. It sure helps to know that someone else is feeling the same things.
Bette, I hope that you are feeling better.
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Wow, i have not written since the 26th. Time sure does fly by. Had the most wonderful Thanksgiving ever. i actually had it at our house with 13 people. i made most of the food and felt overwhelmed with gratitude for all the Lord has done this year. The best part of the whole day was when we all took turns giving thanks for what we were greatful for during the year. My Dad was there and he is now 86. He was weepy when he looked all around the table knowing that all of his children are serving the Lord and said, "At 86 I can say...I AM A BLESSED MAN" What a wonderful credit to him. He certainly has gone through alot in 86 years. That being said the food was great along with the fellowship.
BetteLou, I am so sorry you are having such a hard time on Taxotere. I really hope that you can feel better. I am going for my very last THC chemo on the 9th. I cannot wait till it is all over. I am actually looking forward to the second surgery and rad's much more than next Tues.!!!
SheRee, Went to my onc this week and she warned me that when chemo is over about 4 -6 weeks later some people go into a depression. It is common and not unusual. Some people go through it hader than others. So be on the look out!!
Feeling good this week dreading next week (SMILE!!!) Rehydration really did help so I asked for it for the last treatment and they said yes.
Hugs to you all and hope everyone has a better week with me.
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I really think I started freaking myself out yesterday morning. I've had this awful cough for a few weeks, then this past weekend I started having shortness of breath... worked myself into a tizzy because those are symptoms of lung mets, and I just finished chemo. Maybe I'm weird... either way, I went to the doc, and they thought maybe pneumonia. Had a chest x-ray, and (phew!) I'm okay!! I have a sinus infection and bronchitis. I smiled the rest of the day. Most people wouldn't understand, but I'm sure you all can... I'm so grateful to know that although I feel like crap, it's something NORMAL!
Hope you're all doing well.
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Hello everyone,
Been busy these last few weeks. My cousin's hubby passed away. Renal & heart failure at 45. It's been so hard for her. She was married for 22 years.
My arm is slowly getting better though. I still can't raise it straight up but I have better mobility. Does anyone know how long the numbness lasts?
Sheree: I hope you're feeling better. Sorry to hear that you've been down for sometime. I'm to start Taxotere in a few weeks. But don't read the Mets forums! Not good. They got me rallied up before. Think positive thoughts.
Allibug. Hooray for you! Only a 10 more Rads left? Wow. You're almost done chickee.
Bettelou: Thinking of you too always.
Deanna: I've read and heard the same about eliminating animal proteins from your diet. I've turned to organic veggies and stopped eating the lunch meats. Trader Joe's sells lunch meats with out the nitrates too. The one thing I can't give up is the sugar. That's work in progress.
Misty: Ha ha your DH will LOVE giving you those massages.
Wishing everyone well with minimal SE's
Jeannine
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Wow! We've been a busy group the past week! Too many updates to comment on individually, so love, hugs and prayers to all!
Had rad #2 today. Only 31 left...I don't see onco again until Feb. 23! I started a new job today doing TAKS (state test) remediation for 5th graders. I will work T, W, Th for 6 hours a day. I will still sub on M and F. The bonus is that it is at my kids school! Life seems somewhat on track to the "new" normal!
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Stacy, that's great news!! Good for you going to work at school. I am so glad you are getting back to a normal life.
Jeannine-is the numbness a result of surgery? Did you have all of your nodes removed or just a few?
Sheree-hope you are feeling better!!
Have a great day, girls!
~Misty
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Jeanine, I could not raise my arm up for a while after surgery either. My surgeon told me I had to work at it. It took a while though. I had 5 nodes removed. I still have a bit of numbness but I was told that it takes a while for the nerve cells to reconnect.
Stacy, congrats on your new job!!!!!!
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Stacy, are you using anything on your skin to help prevent damage from the rads?
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Hey girls! I had my first round of radiation today. I wasn't nervous... just excited. 1 down, 34 to go!
My cough and shortness of breath are alot better, but my muscles still ache like I've ran a marathon. Hopefully this will get better in a few more days.
Jeanine - My surgery was in July and I had 6 or 9 nodes removed (my signature says 9, but that seems wrong for some reason!). I still have numbness but I hardly even notice anymore.
Take care everyone...
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I had 4 nodes removed and the area is still numb to the touch as is the area where my lumpectomy was done. SNB was on 7/24 and numb still...
Roya, I was prescribed Xclair cream to apply daily after rads Tx. Starting to notice a teensy bit of skin tenderness to the touch, but nothing major. 3 down, 30 to go!
Misty- How's the "massaging" going? You cracked me up!
Good day ladies...back to work!
Stacy
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mommy3abm - Shee-Ree - keep going - I know you've heard it before but the time will go by fast!!! I only have 7 left - Today was my 1st booster and it was painless just like all the other ones!!!! LOL My boob is pretty dry - doesn't hurt but is dry - my rads doc said for me to use aloe vera gel or lotion - nothing with alcohol though so it wouldn't dry it out anymore. The time has gone by pretty fast for me - I am still just ready to stop being poked and prodded!!!!!! Misty1 - my hubby too would looooooove to have daily massages with my boobs!!!!!! You are too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loves to all...................
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My port a cath was removed today! Feels like another milestone done and over with.
I'm sooooooooooooooooooooo happy!!!!!!
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Yeah to all of the rads girls who are knocking out those TXs!! It must be nice to knock one off each day instead of every three weeks! Your time is going to fly by.
Roya, good for you-IYou should be soooooooo happy!! had mine out two weeks ago at the implants surgery. Feels nice and smooth now. When I went for Herceptin today, she just put an IV in my hand.
Jeanine-when I have three nodes taken with my mast, I had little range of motion. I used to "crawl" my hand up the wall each day, going farther and farther each time. I think I was back to normal within a month or so.
As for the massages, my poor DH feels like he is going to massage the wrong way and ruin the foobies. So, I will do it first, then he will follow...
Is anyone going to be taking Tamoxifan? I started it last Thursday. So far, so good. No unusual SEs-still in menopause-hopefully this will keep me over the edge. That is a nice bonus-just have to figure out who I will give all of the extra "female supplies". My SIL and her daughter were joking about inheriting them from me. The onc said I have to go one full year without it before it is more conclusive. So, other than the fact that I had to lose my hair, I got bigger boobs and lost my monthly friend for now out of this whole deal. Ha-ha... LOL
When I went for my herceptin today, the nurses shared the treats I baked them with the other patients. So nice!! There was a girl across from me getting Herceptin, too. She just finished AC in Aug and is now doing the Her. with rads. Guess how old she is? 25!!! I couldn't believe it. What is it about this nasty disease that is affecting such young women. She made me feel old at 41.
Anyway, enough from me-just trying to add some humor to your evening!
Love to all~Misty
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I'm back!
Discharged from hospital this afternoon after 4 days in isolation with low white blood cell count. Tom did not have a cold, so he was allowed to visit. It was nice to have a private room while he was there, but otherwise kind of lonely.
I have been told by my doctors that it is likely that this will happen again after my last chemo on December 17. So I may be spending Christmas in the hospital. I take comfort that it will be the LAST time.
We all started in August and here I am still doing chemo while the rest of you are moving on. I guess my turn will come.
Wherever I spend Christmas, I will give thanks for the gift of life.
Love to all,
Bette
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Bette-so sorry to hear about your hospital stay. Don't worry about others finishing. We are all still here cheering everyone on. You are right-your time will come and we'll be celebrating with you!! Dec. 17 is just around the corner and that is your LAST one!!
You can do this!!
~Misty
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Could you all understand if I just vent today??? I just got off the phone with a supposed friend. We were talking about ADD and ADHD and how too often Dr's are quick to jump to that conclusion when she came out with the statement that Chemo kills. "Alot of people will not get chemo because it kills more cells than it cures." I told her I had to go and am crying my eyes out. I am a firm believer that chemo saves more lives than it kills. Is there someone out there that will just reaaure me I made the right choice. Thanks
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Corinne6 - I agree with you TOTALLY. Chemo does kill BUT it saves more than it kills. Even if that "friend" felt that way she should have kept it to herself - at least I think she should have. As much as I didn't want to do chemo - I wanted to be as BOLD in my approach as possible so chemo and rads it was. NOT being either was NEVER an option for me. I know it is a choice I guess I just can't imagine why people would not want to be as bold in their treatment as possible BUT I do know if I was OLD I would not have done it!!!! But being 33 when I was diagnosed with 2 kids I didn't have much of a choice. I FEEL that WE ALL DID THE RIGHT THING and I couldn't have did it without the help of ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!! So THANK YOU and Corinne6 please ignore that comment - us girls here are all LIVING proof that chemo doesn't kill!!!!! Loves to all.........................
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Hi, everyone!
Corrine, you just have to know that some people who are not going thru this have no idea what they're talking about. They have not done the research that I know all of us have, and are not closely involved with it the way we are. As far as I can see from your info, what else could you have done?
When I was first dx, I sent out a mass email to my family and friends with the details to let them know what I would be going thru. I got wonderful responses and support from almost everyone. My DIL, who has been like a daughter to me, told me her mom was shocked that I sent that email to everyone, like I was weird or something, and that she would never do chemo, because her hair would fall out and she'd rather just die. This hurt me so much, and I was so depressed at the time anyway, I would find myself crying at all times of the day over it. I still have not recieved a phone call or anything from her. My DIL was distant to me for about a month, but has been better since, and I think our relationship is growing again. I never told my son about any of this, as he would have gone ballistic!
Anyway, there's nothing you can do about ignorant people opening their mouths, and I think it's sad that one of the discussions with the most hits is the one "stupid things people say". Thankfully, most people say the RIGHT things! With God and our special family and freinds, we'll all get thru this, and maybe help others to get thru it, too.
I felt pretty stupid last week when I found out my lymph node had little change, since I must have misunderstood, because I thought it was not in my lymph nodes. I looked back on my Path report and there was nothing about it. They aspirated it during my biopsy, but my onc said she is not too worrried about it, my tumor shrunk a whole centimeter. Nice to know the chemo is working. My next chemo is next week, and I'm already dreading it. One down, three more to go.
Thanks to the ones out there still posting after chemo and surgery, I'm learning a lot about the things to come. Please continue to post and let us know how it's going.
We're doing it! Deen
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Corinne ~ You absolutely did the right thing. Before I was dx'd with bc, I thought that if I was ever in this position, I would never do chemo. But, when faced with the decision, although it took me weeks to reach a conclusion about what to do, it was pretty obvious to me that the women who came forward to tell me about their bc experiences had all had chemo and rads. And they were all long term survivors -- most dx'd in their late 30's to mid-40's -- and are now 10 or 12 years disease-free. And some of them were also very into natural healing before their dx. And then there were stories I read on-line about women who refused tx and had quick recurrences, as well as two dear friends (including my nextdoor neighbor who was 48 with 2 teenage boys) who had other types of cancer but refused chemo, went the natural route, and didn't make it.
I don't think your friend meant to hurt your feelings or upset you. And I also don't think anyone knows exactly that they will do until they are faced with the situation themselves -- which, obviously, none of us ever thought we would be. And if anyone has the faith to proceed in another direction without chemo, that's their choice, although I think it's foolish after seeing what happened to my friends who tried that.
We have all absolutely done the right thing by doing chemo. I don't have a shred of doubt about it, and I say that even though I am still dealing with a couple of lingering SE's (damaged cells, as your friend called them). But, hopefully, chemo also damaged every bad cell in or bodies, and the good ones it got in the process will repair themselves eventually.
(((Hugs))) to you, and just be glad that we are now more enlightened than your friend about offering our advice (or not) to others in similar situations. Deanna
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I cannot thank you enough for all the encouragement!! I needed this so badly today!! Thank you so so much!!! I hope that if anyone feels or felt like I do today this helped you like it helped .me!! God Bless you all Corinne
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Hi Misty, I've been on tamox for a month now. So far, so good. I'm having hot flashes, but I was having them before tamox while on chemo. and they do tend to keep me up at night.
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Just a quick note to say - I AM DONE CHEMO!!!!!. Yayyy!!!! Had my last taxotere today, it went very smoothly and the nurse took out my Picc line right after. I have to keep it dry and not lift with that arm for a couple more days, and go back for a follow up in a few weeks to check my blood work, discuss hormonal therapy (I thought I was going on Tamoxifen but saw a different onc today and he wasn't so sure), and then my radiation set up on Dec 23, then on to 25 radiation treatments starting in the new year. Just have to get through the side effects, keep healthy for the next couple of weeks!!!! I'll come back and catch up on everybody later.....just had to share my excitement!
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Go DFOnt! How exciting to be done!
I will celebrate my last Taxotere on 12/17/08.
Bette
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Diedre ~ Congratulations on finishing up chemo!!! Yay!!!! It looks like we will be on a similar rads schedule. I am getting my measurements done this coming Monday, but like you, will actually start after the first of the year. And I'll need 5-1/2 weeks.
Stacy ~ Good to hear that you've gone back to work!
Bette ~ You have had such a rough time of it! We will all be celebrating with you on 12/17!
Deen ~ Your DIL's mother could learn a thing or two from you. It's incomprehensible that she hasn't contacted you, but it sounds like she has real issues. Kudos for not sharing the whole thing with your son. And I'll be thinking about you next week. What day is your tx?
I am 8 weeks from my last chemo tx and my eyelashes and brows are just now starting to thin really badly. On the other hand, I am back to shaving my legs every other day. Why can't it be the other way around??? Deanna
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Hello all,
Roya & DF: So happy to hear about you 2! No more port and no more chemo. Hooray! You're both almost there girls.
Corrine: I'm sorry to hear that "friend" hurt your feelings. I echo Allibug & Deanna. She really put her foot in her mouth but doesnt know what we've been through and how greatly we've progressed from this drug. As a TN, I am so grateful for it. BUT if I were in my senior years, I probably wouldn't go through it. My DM already has said if she gets it, she won't go through chemo.
Bette: I'm happy to hear you're out of the hospital. I hope you're feeling much better. I'm also still on the chemo wagon until February. ( I'm probably the last one
) but we're all in this together.Misty: I have a friend (67 yrs. old) whose been on Tamoxifan for almost a year. She's doing wonderful.
Oh by the way, they removed 20 lymph nodes from me!! I am doing much better and/or getting used to the numbness.
Hugs to everybody!
Jeannine
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Dierdre, congratulations on finishing your chemo!!!!!
Bette, you have been through so much. Sending lots of positive thoughts your way.
Corinne, there is a lot of ignorance and misinformation out there. Now we are in a position to educate others about BC and its treatment. As you can see by people such as your friend, there seems to be lots of opportunity to get the word out. I agree with Deanna that I don't think she meant to hurt you.
Jeannine, glad the numbness is easing up.
((((((((((HUGS))))))))))) to all
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Hi,everyone!
Thanks, Deanna. My next tx is Wed., then I carry around this iv pump until Fri, then Nuelasta on Sat. By the way, I tried the ES Tylenol you mentioned before the Neulasta, and I have not had any pain at all from it. Thank you so much, I was really scared about that. The FEC tx caused a lot of nausea and a little fatigue. I did try the ginger snaps, and I think they helped a little bit I have had no hair since Sept., but I lost my eyebrows/lashes only 3 weeks ago. Wierd. The two weeks without chemo caused my hair to start growing again(big sigh of relief!), but onc says it will fall out again:(. I do love not shaving, I have to say. Shower time is very short, too. Sounds like we'll be ending chemo around the same time, yeah! Can't wait!
BetteLou- hope you're feeling better. Take care
Jeannine-hang in there! We're right there with you:) I haven't had surgery yet, but I've been following everyone who has. Glad you're feeling better.
Deidre- congrats!
Hope everyone has a great SE free weekend! Deen
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Corinne-I am so sorry that your friend made you feel so bad. You made the right decision. maybe your friend didn't really know she was hurting your feelings the way she did. I was so against chemo before I made the decision to finally go through with it. Now, i am so relieved to know that I did all I can to prevent recurrence. You ( and all of us) are so strong to have gone through what we have.
Deirdre-CONGRATS!!! Another girl has survived this!!! Way to go!!! Just think, you will be over the SEs from this by the time the holidays are here. (mainly the taste buds)
Hood-glad the tamox is going well for you, too.
Hi Jeanine-I didn't realize you had so many nodes removed-no wonder you feel the way you do.
Deen-You'll have another TX finished soon.
Everyone, I did start to have thinning eyebrows right at the 7th week out of chemo-just like all of the women on this site claim (but the docs tell you that they won't go away-what do they know!!) but three weeks later, they are already filling in- still missing some eyelashes. So now, I have hair coming in everywhere, except the tops of my legs-which is a good thing for now. Have a nice weekend!
~Misty
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Misty, I too will be starting Tamox as soon as I am done with rads. Did you have the blood test to see how you would metabolize it? I didn't, but have read where many have...just wondering!
Stacy
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Deen, I am confused. Why did the dr tell you that your hair would fall out again?
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