Starting chemo January 2009?

I admire all of you teachers who are determined to continue working thru your treatments.  Teaching requires a lot of energy and commitment.  I'm planning on working as well but my job has the flexibility to allow me to stay home if I'm not feeling well.

Today I went to buy Claritin D which is suppose to help with any bone pain from the Nuelasta shot and Senekot to help with constipation.  I'm trying to make sure that I'm armed with every single thing I'll need to treat the side effects.  I need to start working on getting a decent looking wig. 

 BTW, is anyone else getting chemo treatments before surgery?

Hello, tomorrow is a big day for me.  I will see my onc. and will find out if Tuesday is still the launch day for chemo.  The healing problem is going to be the deal-breaker.  Today, I'm going to begin floating myself in water just in case.  A few questions:  many of you have referred to Muga; are these the series of ct scans for possible metastisis?  Before the Neulasta shot, are your onc's suggesting the Claritin or Claritin-D to be taken and are they pushing Tylenol or Aleve for the joint/bone discomfort SE from the shot.  I'm just curious since some of you have already had your first treatment.  I have been told I will be on Taxotere/Cytoxin treatment and I have been reading a lot on that topic under the Chemo forum.  Today, I'm trying to sort through all my notes and make out my list of questions for my onc. and hopefully I'll leave there with a shopping list for a drugstore.  My ability to organize seems to have dissolved.  Best wishes to you all, January Jewels....... 

Baby C: Good luck healing! The muga scan is to assess heart functioning. My doctor wanted me to do it because I'm doing Adriamycin, which can rarely affect the heart. Also to make sure I could do the Avastin clinical trial.

The PET/CT scan was to "stage" my b/c, to see if the cancer was anywhere else in my body. I guess cuz I had 3 pos. lymph nodes.

Hawaii: Is Claritan a pain kiiller? Not an antihistamine? My onc said I could take tylenol  or advil after neulasta. Hope I don't need either, but then I already have aches and pains and haven't even started chemo!

Lisa-glad you're feeling better. I just started really long walks again and feel like I"m reclaiming myself. I'm determined to keep it up after chemo when I can.

and Jess, I know what you mean about getting out of the house. I finally started groc. shopping again just a couple weeks ago and felt like an alien in a way, but taking my girls to SEcret Life of Bees was so healing, and I hadn't thought I could brave a movie out. I've had  ups and downs  processing this whole damn b/c thing and remembering I'm still me.

Berkeleykim - I also thought it was odd about the Claritin but my onc said that they have found that it helps.  I also read about it somewhere on this board but the person said it didn't help them.  Oh well, we'll see.  I know what you mean about the aches and pains.  I keep thinking thatI won't know what pains are from the treatment and what I already had.

Hello!

I'm new to the discussion board,as in posting.. I've been lurking for days through all the wonderful information...what an incredible resource.  I had a lumpectomy and SNB on 11/19/08. Path report showed Stage 1 IDC (one area 0.6cm and three other microinvasive) and lots of DCIS, grade 3 node negative ER+PR+ (the oncotype says PR negative) HER2-.  My oncotype score was 29 with a 19% relapse rate...so chemo it is: cytoxin and taxotere X6.   I'm still a little unclear why I need 6 cycles instead of the usual 4, but I see a few others here are getting 6 too.  Think it might be the multifocal high grade nature of the cells.   I get my port on Dec 30th and start chemo on Jan 2.    Thanks to everyone who says this is "doable".  It has to be! 

Stay hopeful. 

Added to the list:

KT57--Jan 2-  TC  x 6

ChrisBern--Dec 29  4x Ac  + 4x Taxol

Hugs to Chris

Mimi, Me (Jess) and Hawaii808--Port time!  Dec 29

Hello everyone,

 I just had my first AC treatment this morning and aso far so good! My first SE are: my head is a little bit dizzy and I have some nausea. I'm feeling like my anti-nausea meds are trying to overcome my chemo and prevent me to vomit.

 I will reconnect tomorrow.

 Good evening everyone!

Chris

Thanks Jess! for remembering!  I don't know why this port thing, I really dread it... But I will feel stronger thinking of you and Hawaii808! 

Hi All,

Chris - one down.  You are on your way - one day closer to having this all behind you.

Lisa- Have you tried the L-glutamine or claritin or aleve, like some of the others have suggested,  don't hesitate to call your onc and ask for pain relief.  There are many options.  Hope it's better soon.

Mimi- how did the port go.  I get mine tomorrow.  Will be glad when it's over - I'm almost dreading this more than the breast surgery.  I know it will be way better than getting stuck for blood draws and chemo.  How long will you keep it in after your chemo is done.  My oncologist suggested leaving it there indefinately.  When I said I wasn't too keen on that notion, he said maybe 6 months after I'm done with chemo.  We'll see..my surgeon says he'll remove it in May - so i can get on the golf course again - at least to putt and chip - long shots will have to wait. 

Well with chemo on Friday, I decided to get my wig today and be ready for the inevitable,  What an adventure that was!  My 20 year old son came with - he did an awesome job helping me decide.  It was wild.. this place must have had 400 wigs, most were down in the basement - on styrofoam heads - it was like something out of a Stephen King novel - we laughed and laughed - wondered if the heads talked to each other in the middle of the night.....  too funny.  Well, I put on the wig when I got home, and my hubby had to do a second take to realize it was a wig.  So I think it's going to be just fine.   My co-workers thought a Sarah Palin wig would look good on me, but my son said he couldn;t take the accent for 6 months. 

Well hang in there everyone; stay hopeful.

Kathy 

Snowbird - not sure where the nurse is getting her info, but you might check out the TC only topic - I don't think anyone has reported they were able to keep their hair. My onc nurse has known no one -- hopefully you will be the exception!

Kim - to take to chemo -- a good book, your ipod, a dvd player and a funny movie that you can laugh out loud at - like What Happens in Vegas.  Hand lotion, some hard candy, crackers (if your facility doesn't offer them), a warm blanket.  Wear comfy sweats and take slipper socks. 

I am soooo thankful for my port - I couldn't touch it for a couple weeks, but now there is no recognizable bump and the neck vein is no longer noticeable. 

Good luck to all this week - I am 5 days out of tx2 and doing well.

Bren

My onc told me I would lose all my hair on TC. I hope he is right because my husband surprised me yesterday and took me to a wig store. I ended up buying 2 different ones. One that looks a lot like my hair does now, and a baseball cap with hair hanging down. That one is really cute. My insurance co pays for it, so I figured why not? Although I assumed I would just have scarves, it might be nice to have a wig too.

I have to check out that "things to bring with you" thread and then go shopping for it all. My first treatment is scheduled for Jan 5th. As nervous as I am, I'm also anxious to just get it started and get it over with.

Happy New Year Everyone!

I had a hard time with the port.  Started to have an anxiety attack in the operating room-so they gave me extra "medication".  I guess I was pretty loopy and my friend and the nurses had a good laugh at me because i was waving at everyone when we left the operating room and guessing their names.  My friend said I sounded like I had imbibed heavily while I was in there!!! later, the bandage got a bit bloody so I called the doc on call and he said to expect it. 

I certaintly don't like the port, can't wait to get it out and am now really counting the days till the end of May.  Hope there are no delays in my treatment.

I also went and picked out a wig and got my hair cut short to a sharon stone style--too bad I don't get her salary!  I went with my friend and we laughed at how funny some of the wigs lookI also got tips on make up.  If I go to a day class I can get a back of make up and make up tools for my face........I may go for a bandana if work will allow it-high school and rules for scarves on the head/  It 's a no-no-Yeah, Like I look like a gang wanna be!!!

Auriga- good to know some insurance pays for the wig.  I could really use it since every little penny counts at this point.

Lisa-sorry about your back.  Is it the neulasta?  the low wbc?  Hope the heating pad and just sitting helps.

Hugs to you all

Jess