Starting Chemo in June 2005

Glad you liked the pictures. I haven't put any of my peony portraits up yet. I am glad I have painting to turn to during this period.
Today looks like it will be another O.K. day. I am not sleeping much but my energy seems good.
It is very hot and humid here so that could be the reason. Also persistent heart burn.
eww.
I spoke to two woman who have survived BC yesterday. One is in year 3 the other in year 7. They were both very gracious and said I could call again.

Hello Ladies,
I hope the sun is shining bright and there are smiles on your faces!! JoMac, the fourth treatment was much easier for me also. I was sick,just not as for long.Like you I will take this.Nosurrender,if you click on JoMac's picture or name it will take you to her website and her hubby's. Her hubby plays banjo(very well apparently) and I love the banjo.
Hubby got som corn and okra out of garden today so guess we will have fresh veggies tonight. Sure be glad when the tomatoes turn ripe. I love garden tomatoes.
My son's little girl has always copied the Six Flags man that dances. They call him Mr. Six and he is on all the commercials for Six Flags. They came over this week-end and I had found an old pair of black-rimmed classes that belonged to my Dad. I put those on and with blad head shining ran out and started dancing like Mr. Six for my grandaughter. It was a roit. She as well as the rest of family laughed until they cried. Bad part, husband said I looked just like him. It was a fun thing to do for my grandbaby. Just thought I would share.
Have to go to dr today for neulasta and fliuds. Hate the drive.Suppose to be 94 here today and humid. Not the most ideal weather to run arround in.
Ladies have a great day and will post tomorrow.
Maureen

Jo I loved your pictures,will go back when I am not in chemo fog. Just had treatment #7, found out that no one where I am has made it through all 15 A/C treatments and they were more interested in Taxol reaction anyway. HELLO!
This past week has been hard. We went up to MSU to become a MSU parent. It was nice. I had my wig on but saw another lady with just her hat so decided to join her in hat support the next day. Never got to talk to her but did get a piece of advise we would have thought of-getting a credit card in our freshman's name but not give him the cards-just the numbers and so forth so that if he has to fly home quickly he can get a ticket online or phone. Sure he looked at me and thought of getting home fast. Also all those parents should thank me. Because I pooped out around 2:00 and was dozing in the back we got blow-pops to wake us up
The trip aside this has been a tough week. I finally got to take one of those nausea pills and thanks to the lump in my thoart and hiccups I get yet another test DH having a hard time with my energy level. Keep reminding him what I am taking. Was wondering does anyone else's house come to a stand still just because mom isn't able to keep going?
Nosurrender I am so trilled with your news It is great.
Going to float around in the sea-wearing light clothes so I don't go to the bottom. Maybe if I don't take my tank I can stay up here with the rest of the world

I am still doing well after #4-6 days out so keeping my fingers crossed. My eyes are watery and blurry at times and I have not slept well but very little nausea and think my energy level is better than it has been. Bev I am also curious about your regime...I think we are in the same study but I was not clear on the dose of the weekly AC. And in retrospect I know I could not have done this weekly! Need to go get ready to take off tomorrow so probably won't post til next Monday.
KimB

I'm gld you like the pictures. I am working on pictures of peonies now. Great big white ones.
Today I will try some red ones for a change of pace.
I wasn't sleeping well so I broke my Ativan tablets in half and took one at bedtime and another around three in the morning. That worked better.
At my house I feel like if I am in a good mood the rest of the family will be too. sometimes I think moods are catching like a virus and if one person has it pretty soon the whole family feels the effects.
Yesterday my daughrter came home with her boyfriend. she said he wasn't feeling well and she was making him a cup of tea.
I don't know if this was right or not but we sent them both over to his house. I was worried about getting sick.
Did I overreact?
I'ts not like he and I have any close contact but I couldn't bear the idea of getting sick on top of this chemo treatment.

So, Bev, then after 8 weeks of A & C you will have had the same dose as those of us who are doing 4 tx dose dense... then are you doing Taxol for 8 weeks at 1/2 our dose? Apparently it still takes you 16 weeks of treatment, just like us. So what is it they are trying to prove? Better effectiveness, or fewer side effects/ better tolerance?

Heartburn, indigestion, yes. So bad that normal remedies don't touch it - have to go to old faithful, the old home remedy: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda stirred in a half glass of water, followed by another half glass of plain water. Tastes terrible, but works every time!!!

has anyone had such terrible aftereffects after a/c #4? The reason that I ask is because I have #4 last Friday and from Sunday on I have been sick. Monday I was throwing up and running a fever. I have gone in the last two days to have iv fluid pushed and am still feeling really run down. I have had this cough that has been acting up and has of course has got my mind racing. Has anyone else had this problem after #4??? Can anyone tell me if I will experience this with Taxol???? I just feel like complete shit, excuse my french! Please help!

Cathi

Oh my, my, my!

Gather round Junesterettes,

HEARTBURN-
CLASSIC #1 SIDE EFFECT OF CHEMO!
"But no one told us!"
Well ...I did but I will let that slide-
there are LOTS of things that weren't in the brochure and that is one of them!
Before each infusion and during my entire chemo I took Zantac in the AM and PM. Ask your Oncs for permission before you do.
The DECADRON can cause major league heartburn AS WELL as the chemo. So get help! If it is really bad get something stronger- but the Zantac worked great for me. Also don't lie down right after eating- even though you can't sit up because you are so pooped. LEAN if you have to but let the food get to where it is meant to go!

RAW FOOD AND CHEMO!!! NO!!! Attention! NO!
First- raw is rough and chews up your innards along with the chemo and decadron. But what really can hurt you is the GERMS on it. You gals have no immunity- why play Russian Roulette. EAT ICE CREAM.

TAXOL AND NAILS-
What is this tatooed on someone's forehead??? I have never heard this brought up as much before. From the official cancer book here are the listed side effects of

Taxol and Taxotere:

"Muscle aches, hair loss, numbness or tingling in fingers or toes, and lowered blood counts."

Are nails listed??? The only time I have ever heard of a peeling nail- and that is only ONCE- is from someone who had to do Weekly Taxol with another chemo meant for advanced cancer- she had mets so she had to do it for a year .

PLEASE don't be afraid of Taxol. It is like saying- OMG I have been running up the side of a mountain but I am really scared of the part when I get to stroll down the garden path on the other side. HEY! You guys are finishing A/C- THAT is the scary one! Not the other way around. Hell's Bells, after A/C Bullets will bounce off you!

Good luck Scout with your PET- Stupid rule your hospital has there- if they can't handle a port at that hospital please don't ever get open heart surgery done there!

AND SPECIAL TO CATHI:
IMPORTANT-
CALL YOUR DOCTOR>
It sounds like you have an infection of some kind. Your low blood counts and immunity are fertile ground for opportunistic bacteria- especially if you have been hanging out with Jo eating raw fruit.
Get it checked now- get on some antibiotics before it can get any worse. You are at the end of A/C- this is no time to get pneumonia.

Is everybody clear now? Don't make me go all Towanda on you!

Hi Bev I'm on the July post and snooping in yours to get more insite. I also had the lump in my throat and found I had Thrush. Maybe speak with your onc on this and they'll give you antifunal meds to help. It works. Good luck

Today I have hemmroids. Oh joy! I am paying for eating that lettuce yesterday.
My stomach is all over the place. Just not happy no matter what I do.
So now it has let me know in no uncertain terms.....It's got me coming and going?
Insert pirate sound here.... (arghhhhhhh).

Hi Junians, I'm finally emerging from the murky waters of chemo #3 and I'm glad to see everyone! I haven't had the "sick" feeling so much as a "gloomy" one this time. Just been boo-hooey over the dumbest things, ultra tired (goes without saying) but I'm feeling more "normal" today, thank goodness! I still have the tender nail beds (Dana, I also fear the nail thing, even though NoSurrender is right about it being rare) and the sore spots from my tongue all the way out the other end. UGH. This time I asked for something for the heartburn, and the doc gave me a prescription for Prevacid. WOW! No more heartburn!!

I love Reeny's idea that we should all have a JoMac original painting...as a gift to ourselves for making it through this. Please put me on the list, seriously!

Good luck Watson on your WBC. Good luck Dana on #4, and thanks for looking after me! Good luck everyone else who is going in this week...sorry that I forget who is where right now.

I will probably be putting off my next chemo so that I can go see my son next week. He's going through a really bad divorce and needs some moral support. I want to be feeling well, and it is so worth it to me to have the chemo wait one more week. Not to mention I need the mental break...this is wearing me down big time. They don't call it dose DENSE for nothing...it feels like wall to wall chemo to me and I need an escape. oh, poor me...LOL!!

I was thinking of an anology... chemo is like using Agent Orange on your lawn to kill the dandelions. It just does a lot of peripheral damage, doesn't it? Hopefully, the next generation of women will have a drug that targets the cancer specifically without devastating the rest of the body. Still, I'm glad to be fighting this in 2005 instead of 1965!

I've been feeling really good this week! Even though I was sicker aafter #3 than any of the others, I got past it in record time and this week I have felt normal, and gotten a lot of work done, both in the studio and in the yard. I too am dreading Taxol, I almost feel like this has been too easy for me and I will get my payback in the second half. I feel bad for you ladies who have side effects that hang on into the second week.

Here's a question I'm going to ask the dr.: I was reading about the drugs A,C, and T. A and T both target the cancer during the active (dividing) part of the cell's life cycle. Cytoxin targets it during the resting part. So why is Cytoxin (or another drug) not given in conjunction with Taxol, so there would be a combination active/resting one-two punch during the last half of treatment?

I asked the infusion nurse about Taxol and nails, she said she has only seen it in a couple of patients who were doing Taxol weekly indefinitely because of mets. I think she said she had seen it in a lung cancer patient.