Starting chemo January 2009?

May I join you?

My second treatment is tomorrow.  I'm having 4 rounds AC, 4 rounds T. So I guess I'm 13 days from first treatment.

Treatment 1 was not too bad but I'm bracing myself for #2 since I've heard it gets worse. (people love to tell me that!!!  If I hear the word cumulative one more time I'm going to belt someone.  And this is friends and family, not even medical people or even other bc ladies, LOL)

So far the hair is hanging in there but I guess it's just a matter of time now.  Getting ready to take control of that one.  Hopefully tonight if the wig comes in I'll be having it buzzed and start wearing the wig.  I wouldn't be able to handle the clumps.  I've done pretty well emotionally and I would hate for that to be the thing that brings me down.

Stay well!

Diane 

Hi Diane,

              When poeple who really don't know tune them out, most of my big scares from listening tooo much turned out to be not true, I am on my 3rd a/c with four tx to follow I think the same as yours my last ac is next week.

                  So far and I hate to put this in writing no side effects except hair lost!!! I will keep my fingers crossed for you!! Pamela 

Just posting another post since we were at 666...sorry to be superstitious!

oh...by the way...i want to join chemo angels...sounds nice!...what do i do?

BerkeleyKim and ddlatt, thank you so much for telling me about the MUGA scan -- things don't seem nearly as scary when you hear others talk of their experiences.

Yes, I was wishing my bowel would make up its mind which way it wanted to go. Every morning I had a glass of Kiwi Crush, which is frozen mix of about six kiwifruit (I think you call them Kiwis in the US) that you mix with water. It got things going to the point where I had to lay off it completely on day five and now I think my bowel and I have reached a happy medium! Goodness, if you'd told me this time last year that I'd be sitting here now discussing my bowel movements with women I didn't know I don't think I would have believed you!!!

Ddlatt - your blog is absolutely fantastic. I found myself reading it and recognising myself all over it! I would recommend it to everyone here. I also had chemo brain before starting the chemo! I just think our brains get so overloaded with information, there's no processing room left for simple tasks.

It really has been great to see some people either with no side effects or dealing well with the side effects they have. It brings tears to me eyes to think of everyone going through this at the moment, but I guess one positive side is seeing the strength and humour that comes out, even though I'm sure we all have our low moments.

K.

PS - BerkeleyKim, am so jealous you've been watching Lost. I don't think it starts here in NZ until Feb!

PPS - Jess, my FEC-buddy, hope you're doing okay.

Went to work for a couple of hours, then off to the clinic for blood work--wbc is low at 1.32 but everything else was "close to normal" and there is no rise in temp. so the nurses called the doctor and he said, "Go home and stay there." So I did....just tired, and have a horrible burning in my stomach....eating Rolaids like crazy!

Just hanging out.....hope everyone continues to "hang in there."

Hi January Jewels.  I hit the wall at work today.  Just got real tired and had to sit down.  It was just like anything I read about fatique: it's like you hit a wall. I felt fine-no nausea, no headache-students and i were laughing and suddenly I just couldn't stand, think, look around .  I just had to sit down.  Very strange.  I did sit and thank goodness, the bell rang. 

Bev R- So sorry you still have to wait at home.  I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop-I guess in a way it did when I suddenly got so tired.  I felt nauseated in the morning and drank a 7 up just like I used to when I was sick as a kid.  Surprisingly helped and was able to get through the day, till my afternoon 'hit the wall" episode.  

KM47-  I am okay.  Has your doc said anything to you about taxotere?  Mine seems to think that is when I will have to stay home.  Guess maybe he figures it will be hard on me because of the culmulative effect.  Btw, my wbc came back okay!  Whew!!!  Onto day 8 and counting the days till 2nd tx in February. 

Well, eyes are burning.  Time to really rest. 

Hugs to all and you go you Warrior Women, January Jewels. 

The hair thing is kind of fascinating, sad and amusing at the same time...Seems like a new hair style every 20 minutes. This morning I looked like the bad guy from The Incredibles...this evening sort of like a condor chick. I think I will watch it disappear naturally. My 15 year old decided to learn cook while I'm in the shedding faze. I have a few scarves but haven't figured out how to tie them yet.

Hi all:

Well, white blood counts were within normal (but CBC was just 2.9?), but instead of getting the neulasta like last time I'm getting 3 neupogen shots each day. Much more painful than the neulasta--about 2inches of stuff to inject. Hope they work.

I love reading the posts. Pam--yes! I look like Golum too (not that skinny, but the head!!! And did you see the Ellen with George Clooney finally? I missed it. Ellen looked so cute in the Aretha hat.

BookGirl, I'm letting the rest fall out as it may. Condor chick-right!! And my 14 yr old is worried about hair in the food too, so I wear a cap (and she doesn't want to see the Condor look yet).  I did help the shedding process by sitting in the sun and just pulling out handfuls.

Renrel-I I agree about the boob vs. hair, for me at least. I don't miss my breast, and sorta wish I did both. I just wanted the cancer outa there. I never fussed too much about my hair--but now I do miss it.

Jess, hope you feel better.I often sit when I work with the kids, but running to the bathroom as needed might be hard. I think I'm going to try for next week, by just trying to hang out for a day unpaid. My Onc. told me people seem to tolerate the T better than AC--I was telling him its so hard to plan. I'm doing 12 weeklies, so maybe the dose will be lower. .

km47-can you watch Lost on the Internet. I had to finish it online today cuz the double episode went too late for me.

Brenda-glad to hear from you--I was wondering how it's going. Does your test coordinator visit you? Mine is very concerned about ses etc. Does your face turn red the day or 2 after tx? I wonder if that's avastin or something else we're getting.

Hugs to everyone else as we pull through this!  Sister 3-just saw your post. I was ok after tx 1 AC. A bit dizzy and queasy, but didn't throw up. Look through the posts, and you'll find a few on our first AC experiences. Seems like everyone is doing ok with it.

Berkleykim- My infusion nurse said the flushing was from the decotron (sp) when DH asked about it at infusion because he was worried it was the flush of an alergic reaction to the Taxotere. 

Brenda from Florida - Sounds like you really took the bull by the horns and are embrassing your cancer experience proactively.  Hats off to you, no pun intended.

Wecome Sister3. 

I am wondering how much I will miss just the sensation of running my hands through my hair as a nervous gesture sort of thing.  I am taking alot of pleasure washing my hair while I can.  Usually I am annoyed at how long it takes to rinse because it is so thick but for now I am just appreciating it while I can.

My doc does not do blood tests or Nulasta unless there is a sign of a problem.  Sort of a relief.  For some reason those shots were worring more then the chemo infusion.

DH was exposed to some bug at work today and decided to sleep in the libary tonight instead of with me.  He had to put curtains on the windows and inflate a bed. I hope he is not too uncomfortable. I will miss his presences in bed tonight.

DS made me a card at pre- school earlier this week and they mailed it for him so I got it yesterday.  So sweet.

Time to go to bed.

Hello all and an extra shout out to the Jan 2 Jewels since we are are all about to have tx 2 tomorrow.

I aslo wanted to give thanks for all who are a tx ahead of me.  LisaLisa comes to mind, but I know there are others.  It's nice to have a bit of a "coming attractions" in terms of what you are experiencing.  It also helps in being pre-emptive, which I've found helps a lot rather than having to play catch up with the various side effects.

The hair thing...I have to admit that I also find that whole process weird and interesting in a clinical way.  Clumps of hair that simply come out when you run your fingers through it.  I hear Johnny Carson in my head saying: "That is some wild stuff..." every time I look at the hair in my hand.

Also on the local news in Southern California, they reported the first case of this season's flu.  Just the news you want to hear when you know your immune system is compromised.  My onc gave me a bit of good news with my last bloodwork results saying that my levels were such that it was if I never had the chemo, so I'm hoping that continues.

 As I go through this whole process, my heart and admiriation goes out to all of you with children.  I'm single and found that on the worst days, there was no way I could have handled the demands or the energy needed to deal with anyone.  I snapped at my cat once who wanted his daily "treats" and didn't appreciate them being late...and then felt guilty...okay, it was a really tired type of guilt, but the snapping was also really fatigued, so...

 I was wondering if any of you had weird food cravings the day after the Neulasta shot?  On my first tx (on Sat), the day after, a friend mentioned to me that he had a Subway sandwhich for lunch.  It has been years since I had a Subway sandwhich and it was all I could think about.  Fatigue started to hit me as well, and my neighbor was nice enough to drive me to the nearest Subway where I ordered like I was never going to eat again...double meats, all the toppings.  It turned out to be the dumbest food choice I could have made with it sitting in my stomach just as I was feeling constipated from Vicodin which I took to ward off bone pain. 

Well, if nothing else, it gave me a note to self:  watch what you eat on days 2-4 after treatment.

Here's hoping for as minor se's as possible for us in the coming week!

Catherine

Hi Everyone.  I hope I can still join the group.  I am a little slow getting chemo started.  I had a bilalateral mastectomy Dec. 3rd.  I had reconstruction right away and am fully expanded, but have to wait until after chemo to get implants.  I ended up having two types of cancer, oneside non aggressive and the other her2+++ and E+,P+.  I was offered choices for chemo so my husband and I have been researching for a week.  I am going to participate in a clinical study using Taxotere/Cytoxan every 3 weeeks for 4 cycles plus herceptin from the start once a week for a year.  I am nervous, but reading your postings has really helped and I will be prepared. 

Happy Friday Morning to all of you!!

        My boss had cut my hours to having thur and friday off.............. this is the second week and I think I am going to go crazy...I like being busyTo schocked you had a port placement in the morning and then  chemo in the afternoon??? wow that had to be a day.

                 Does anyone else think that it is strange at how many differnet drugs we are all being offered, my oc has not offered me anything, strangly so far I have had no s/e's........... my fourth a/c is next thursday.....then off to mr. taxol.

                  By the way .....not to brag  but my hair is growing back, it is really fun to watch it is about 1/4 inch so far, so their is hope,  my previous set of a/c before surgery was Nov 17, so about 8 weeks..............of course since I am starting all over again, this hair should start falling out soon...boo,hoo. 

             I still find this place amazing......... welcome toi all of you new ones!!!

             Talk later Pamela 

ddlatt, do you have the smoothie everyday? Constipation has been my worst side effect so far. What do others do? The Onc nurse recommended stool softners everyday and a mild laxative as needed, but if I get that far the laxatives ALL give me cramps----hope this isn't TMI but I'd really like more ideas.....

The cancer clinic called with my lab results and my WBC is 3.2 and the nurse said it will have to be at least 3.5 to get my 2nd AC Tx on Monday.  Has anyone had this happen?  She said I am close so they will redo the bloodwork on Monday before my chemo appt and let me know then.  I really hope I don't have tx delayed.  I read if you eat certain foods like carrots, yogurt, strawberries, oranges, garlic and some other things, you can increase your WBC but not sure if that really helps.