Any May 2009 Chemo Starters?

Debbie,

  Sorry that you had such difficult SE's.  The Neulasta hasn't given me bone pain, just a stiff neck.  I've tolerated the t/c that I've been on pretty well.

  The other night my husband told me that I look better now than I did before my diagnosis.  I said "You're telling that to a bald, browless woman with one boob.  I looked better before?"  Pretty funny.  

  The truth is that I'm probably happier on my "good days" than I was pre-cancer.  I appreciate the ability to get out and do ordinary things--even grocery shopping is a treat.  Maybe that's what he picked up on.

  Hope everyone has a good week,

Jo Anne 

Hi May Marvels, I have been missing in action also. Had number 4 last Monday and it was the worst so far. I was extremely tired and had to work more hours then I usually do on chemo week.Still pretty tired but hanging in there. Think I had chemo brain last week cause I was not thinking very straight.Hope everyone is doing ok .Has any of you started rads yet? I have two more chemo treatments ,ending the last week of August.My son will be coming home sometime in Aug.for three weeks.He is a Military Police Officer and will be going overseas when he goes back.Its been pretty stressful knowing that he will be going over there,but I am so proud of him . Hope you all are getting through se and feeling well. Take care Julie

Hemen- So glad to hear from you and all the MIA's  Horray on your last infusion i will be praying for you to have minimal SE today. Hope you dont have to have the shots maybe your counts will be in the normal range and you wont need them, i too have the terrible bone pain with the shots and the only thing that helped was pain pill, hugs to you!!

Jaeslne- LOL it cracked me up what DH said sounds similar to what mine said to,insert foot in mouth lol!!

Glostagirl- Sorry you been having a bad time with the infection, im surprized they did chemo with open sores, when i had my mx i had an open wound in my chest that didnt close for a couple months they had me on high antibiotics and wouldnt do the chemo till it closed, glad you are one of the ones that DIDNT have bone pain! The only thing i can tell you about thrush is i have asthma and use a inhaler i get thrush the dr. told me to rinse with warm salt water, a few times a day, but with mouth sores from the chemo i use prevention it helps alot, there are all kinds of washes out there but i like this one

Julie- You should be very prould of your son, i will say some prayers for him to be safe(hugss)) I heard that the 4th one is a lot harder, especially for you and all the ladies who are working while going thru tx, hope you are able to rest and feel better soon

Hey there gmp-hope your not working your a $$ off while camping!  Have fun

debbie

• Hey May Marvels! I am home from my weekend away. Missing the beachy sunsets and the sand. I have my first of 12 Taxols tomorrow. It almost got postponed as my hemoglobin is low. Onc said he would go ahead with treatment though. It's only slightly low. They think my iron is probably low. I am going in early tomorrow for more lab work to see if I need an iron supplement. I'm nervous about the Taxol. Everyone keeps saying it is easier. I hope so. I had my AC routine down though. I'm nervous not knowing what to expect from the Taxol. Sounds like the first one will be a long day. Especially since I have to go early for more labs. They took four vials today. You would think they could use some of that!

Everybody might remember that I was having some issues with painful bowel movements. Onc prescribed something called proctofoam and it was a godsend. Really has helped with the pain. I know a few others had the same problem so thought I would pass that on.

Thinking of all of you. Nice to see some of the missing and catch up with you. Hope everybody is well.

Hugs, Mary

Mary - I think Taxol and Taxotere are somewhat different drugs -  yet have similarities. I have found after one run of Taxotere (3 doses will be 21 days apart) that the side effects really are much less than the previous drugs (FEC in my case). You may be pleased to know that it brought diareah instead of constipation! No nausea and a whole lot of tired. Also some joint pain but only for a couple of days and, for me, solved with a Tylenol.

Hi Marvels

Just dropping in to say Hi and have a wonderful Wednesday. I am okay, had stomach pains yesterday and getting mouth sores. I thought I had got off lightly. Still working but have cut hours back as I get too tired. Doing about 5 hours a day at the office. Hoping to go to golf today if it is fine weahter. We had rain all weekend and it has been very windy down here.

Pink Hugs to all Susie

Hi all,

First Taxol went pretty well. I was at the hospital forever though. They asked me to come in early so they could run more lab work and check my iron levels. Onc added an iron supplement even though my lab work came back that my iron is fine. I had to wait on lab results, wait on appt with onc, wait on orders to come through and wait on drugs to come. Waiting is not something I am good with! And this was my first chemo I did without Xanax. For all of my AC, I took a Xanax the day of chemo to keep my blood pressure down. Today, we decided I better not take one because of the Benadryl. I would be a zombie!!

Anyway, I feel pretty good. Tired, but I feel like the steroids and the Benadryl are fighting it out. I'm tired, but I can't sleep. LOL  Onc did warn me there might be bone pain and asked if I still had any Vicodin left from my surgery. I do, but I will only use it if it's really, really bad or at night if I can't sleep. Glad to have one down, 11 more to go!! Ugh...that sounds like forever but it will go fast.

Forgot to mention I think that I went to the boob store yesterday. A very interesting experience. I am a 34 to 36 band. A or B cup, mostly B. The fitter started out with a 40 bra with a cup that Dolly Parton couldn't have filled. My mom and I just busted out laughing. We went down from there but never really found a bra that fit well. She tried one on that was a pretty good fit but was an A cup and still a little large. She is going to order one in a AA and we think that will fit well. Should take two weeks to come in and she doesn't want to fit the foob until we fit the bra, so I am still the unaboober. I have no idea why the fit is so different from my old regular bras. She said it had something to do with the fact that I have a lot of muscle there and also because my boob hangs low. Well. of course it does. I'm 47 freakin' years old!!!   

Hope everybody is doing well! Love and hugs!

Mary

Mary- LOLOLOL!! you crack me up, thnaks i needed that!!  sorry you had to wait so dang long at he hospital, some places are different i guess, when i go in for lab work they run it thru right there in front of me and give me a copy within minutes, who knows! anyway, hang in there i hope the nest 11 go by fast

hugs to all

Hi ladies

I made it through my last infusion!  Onc gave me 25% less taxotere as I do have grade one neuropathy-- tingling and pins and needles in hands.  It was either cut back on dose or postpone chemo 2 weeks... as I have to go back to work week of Aug 17 it was a no brainer to take 25% less.  Have to take multi vit and B6 for neuropthy and report back if it gets worse... bummer. Have to do 4 neupogen shots (at least it's not 5) -- it was kind of funny as my DH was trying so hard to negociate no neupogen for me:)  Too sweet, but onc won out!  Actually feeling worse after this treatment-- I think the multivitamin is making me nauseaous and I've had no nausea until now--blah. Fatigue is awful as I cannot sleep at all between hotflashes and bone pain-- might be time to ask for sleeping pills.  Now waiting for rads schedule... fun fun!

Jo Anne: I know what you mean about appreciating the good days now-- this process really gives  us a unique perspective on life and appreciating it.  Take those iron pills!!!  I hope they work well for you and keep you on schedule.

Julie-- hand in there and enjoy every minute of your son's visit.  I pay he will be safe on his tour.

Geri-- fatigue is definitely so much worse now I agree-- I am wondering if the rads is just going to do me in--hope not:)

debbie6122: Time to endure bone pain again-- but you are right--just keep ahead of the pain with the aleve /advil claritin and I sometimes do vicadin at night if it's really bad...  I cannot wait for the day when i don't walk around like an 80 year old woman....

Deb6563 and Mary: Hang in there through the taxol-- you are amazing.  I hope it is easier than the A/C which sounds so nasty. Mary-- I will say a prayer that your iron counts are good....  I imagine iron pills must give you some kind of nausea, no?

Mary and Becky-- AKA unaboober and lopsy-- you are killing me!!!!  I too only had a lumpectomy so am not having to deal with the foob and reconstruction. 

Viki-- abeautiful song for a bunch of beautiful women.

Sorry if I missed anyone--( I am such a bad typer that writing these posts is a challenge as it takes forever -- and I've lost a couple of posts as a result!).  I wish you all a beautiful day and I send hugs to everyone!

XOXOXO

helen

Deb, you are just too funny!  But I know exactly what you mean about the constipation! 

Has anyone heard that with Taxol you feel your worst right before your next treatment (unlike the A/C where you felt your worst right after treatment).  Just wondering...read it in a book tonight.  I just had one Taxol treatment last Monday, so I was wondering when the "good days" would be. 

Janet

This is just my situation, everyone seems to react differently.  I had my first Taxol on a Thursday, 2 weeks ago and began to feel my side effects kick in on Saturday.  By Saturday night I had tremendous bone and body aches which continued into Sunday.  Sunday I began the neuropathy of bottoms of feet and all my fingertips.  I normally would go to work on Monday after the AC's, but I still could not muster the strength to go in until Tuesday.  I began to feel better daily; however, I have not lost any of the neuropathy.  About 6 days before my next Taxol (which is tomorrow) I began to feel just fine other than the neuropathy.  Needless to say, I am hoping tomorrows (the 2nd taxol) chemo will not be any worse than the last one.  So far, if you could omit the Neulasta shot, I would take the AC over the Taxol any day.  Again, we are all different, why it's effecting me the way it did, onc can't say, but she has seen that before, so at least I know I'm not alone.  I am sending wishes for you that your Taxol goes "like a walk in the park" which I was told mine would!

Linda 

Morning all.

Just a quick check-in. I'm on day 3 of Taxol #1 and I feel fine. A little tired, but that is it. So far, this has been so much easier for me than AC was. Like Deb, I go weekly also. No bone pain yet. A slight little neuropathy but that started with AC for me.

I hope everybody is doing fine. You are all always in my thoughts and prayers.

Whoops just realised today is Friday, is that dumb blonde or chemo brain? Haha

Hey to all May Marvels - haven't checked-in in the last couple of days.  Yesterday was my last chemo (YEAH!)  It was a close call tho - almost didn't happen as my WBC count was below the cut off of what they will usually allow but onc gave the ok since it was close.  I would have been so dissappointed if I wasn't able to get my last one.  I feel good now but I am worried that this one will cause a crash since I was low to begin with.  I have been getting Neulasta with every tx so I don't really have that to rely on if I would "crash" .  I don't know - do they give another one if need be?  Also got set up to start rads on Aug. 17th so I am anxious to see what that is all about!  my PFC party is scheduled for Aug 15th I am calling it Boobapalooza!

Hope you are all doing well - take care and hugs to all!

Lori