November 2009-Starting Chemo

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  • BeccaS
    BeccaS Member Posts: 19
    edited January 2010

    My Onc says I'll have a choice between arimidex (I think that is the one he mentioned) and tamoxifen too... but we won't decide until after rads and more tests to know which will have the least worst SE for me.

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  • micheleboots
    micheleboots Member Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2010

    Melinda, once again you have me laughing...I am now picturing you with those tacky trucker babe mud-flaps hanging down...you know the ones with the profile of the pointy titties and long flipping hair...not sure I like her so much...boobs and hair...yah I hate her...but on your a** she looks good..I think the anal mud flaps would be noisier than o-natural.

    Nette, I agree this is quite an emotional ride...we should be able to cry at our oncs office and not feel like we are insane...I am sure they see this every day..

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  • micheleboots
    micheleboots Member Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2010

    Becca, my onc has me scheduled for a bone density test, to help with the decision making...havn't heard of getting that one from any other ladies..hmmm so many doctors so many tests..

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  • JustmeAlicia
    JustmeAlicia Member Posts: 1,529
    edited January 2010

    Thanks for the laughs everyone all the goings on down there being bare !  :)  The mud flaps is too funny.  And Michele ~ your so funny, I think I hate that silver mud flap chick too. 

    Sherri ~ I will hope you don't need more CHEMO !  I will be thinking of you and sending up big prayers on 2/8. 

    Can't page back will lose my post.  But to everyone else big hugs... To those who had tx this week hope you are feeling ok, those going today ~ THINKING of U ~

    Oh yeah ~ Nette.  THE cumulitive Taxol sucks.  Round 3 is kicking my butt.... so tired and the joint/bone pain.  OUCH !

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  • Melinda41
    Melinda41 Member Posts: 672
    edited January 2010

    Did you know that there is a pubic hair wig?? It is called a Merkin and it became popular with 16th century prostitutes who shaved their pubic hair to get rig of crabs or to cover STD scars.

    Rumor has it that Kate Winslet had to wear one in "The Reader" movie since she had too little pubic hair (due to frequent waxing) to play a woman in that time period.

    Dita Von Teese may have a line of crystal merkins to go with her pasty collection.

    Your pubic hair trivia for the day.

    I have had to virus scan twice since doing this morning's research.

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  • Cafelovr
    Cafelovr Member Posts: 1,534
    edited January 2010

    OMG...I was at work laughing so hard that I snorted. The office girls thought I was having another mood change...AKA hot flashes. And I have become the farting queen. I can out fart my 11 year old nephew! How's that for being cool...Kiss

    Mouse: I understand almost being done that you wanted to stay away from antidepressents. I however just finished #3 of 12 tx of TH. My ovaries got shut down, I'm having hot flashes, and everything makes me cry. Everything is a calamity. I'm usually so cheerful and upbeat. This is not like me. I don't have a gloom and doom feeling, I'm not depressed, just things make me sad. It's like being pregnant again! So I will be taking an antidepressent through the end of treatment to March. My fight or flight and become cry and flight. I've lost my coping mechanism. And I know I can't do this without help.

    Which brings me to dear, sweet Melinda. Thank you for making me laugh so hard! I finally figured why I pee down my leg. I feel like a friggin dachsund. My pee goes to the right, and it's hard to clean yourself off with just TP. I've got the wet wipes that clean too. I was at home, peed, and it ran down my leg and soaked my pajama bottoms. So I've learned to strip it down to take a whiz. What joy in life!

    Sherri: I'm not sure of Arimidex. I know it's for ER+ only women...leaves me out, but my mom to Tamoxifen for 5 years. Do some research online.

    Kimmie: I am in the same boat as you are. I can't afford this crap! I was awarded a $1000 grant through a partner of Susan G. Komen. Does your cancer center have a breast coordinator? Talk to them or talk to the billing department. It doesn't pay for medical bills, but they will pay $1000 towards my car, or phone, utilities, etc. At least I can get one bill paid. And call the bill collectors to set up payment plans. Even if it's $10, it will keep you out of collection. Good luck, and I know this is hard!!!

    Becca: You get an extra huge bear hug for me!

    Love to all! (Hugs)

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  • MeNeverMind
    MeNeverMind Member Posts: 42
    edited January 2010

    first = i hate the mud flap girl, hubby has a tattoo of her on his arm.

    second = the people at work think i keep having some sort of serzure with all the giggling from all the fart, pee and missing hair talk.  and yes i pee crooked, fart WAY more than i did before and lost all the hair down below and all but peach fuzz on top.

    third = i will look into all the cance center for help and information and i will look on line for grants and the such. thanks

    fourth = i feel good after the 3rd Taxol.  if i get enough sleep i am ok all day.  hubby is having trouble with the fact that i go to bed a 7:30pm and he just can't go to bed that early.  and he still wants to "do it" but i am not there just yet.  i feel better about it then i did on the AC.  we have been snuggling much more in the last few weeks.  over all i like the Taxol so much better.  the 3rd day out is the worst.  i just feel like crap and then the 4th day my mouth just full of salt. 

    so that is all with me.  must get back to work.  thanks and have a great day. Love Kimmy

    happy farting LOL

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  • micheleboots
    micheleboots Member Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2010
    I am now all done with chemo...yah me...oh yah my picc line is out as wellKiss
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  • JustmeAlicia
    JustmeAlicia Member Posts: 1,529
    edited January 2010

    YEAH !!  Congrats Michele ~ you DID it.

    Linda ~ sorry you need meds, but glad you got them.  Whatever it takes to help you through this I say. 

    Kimmy ~ Glad you are doing ok on the Taxol.  LOL at the happy farting, I just let out a huge belch. 

    I too am finally feeling like my female parts are shutting down.  The hot flashes are now in full bloom.

    :) 

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  • mabelle
    mabelle Member Posts: 80
    edited January 2010

    Michele - yippee! so glad to hear you're done! 

    Melinda - my daughter came running in to see why I was laughing so hard! Tears streaming down my face. I wasn't sure how to answer her - so told her is was lady stuff... I agree with all your complaints though I hadn't associated them with the pube loss, now you mentioned it, it makes total sense. I like the merkin info too. hilarious. When our natural pubes grow back, there is a product ... MUFF MAINTENANCE

    Land down under, lady business, love box—whatever cutesy name you have for it, it requires some tender loving care. Enter I Love My Muff.The Vancouver company has created a four-step system for keeping your secret garden smelling fragrant. The wash, spray, lotion and on-the-go individual wipes that make up their maintenance kits ($38) are all natural, hypoallergenic and paraben-free. There's two aromatic blends to choose from—a “blue” fusion of lavender, clary sage and patchouli or “green” mix of vanilla, grapefruit and ylang ylang—and both smell good to enough to, um, eat.Now that you're so fresh and so clean, you can rule out dubbing it “the dirty south.”

    When I showed this to my husband he laughed, but made it perfectly clear he didn't want his woman smelling like patchouli!! 

    AC tx #4 has been WAY easier. Onc prescribed my ondansetron and dexamethasone to be given through IV, and I also got a prescription for emmend (friggin expensive!). The combo seems to have done wonders!!! The only complaint is that my hot flashes are a lot worse than they have ever been - and I thought they were bad before. So, they finally got the meds right for my last AC tx - nice timing!!!! But I sure am glad to be done with the AC. I'm scheduled for my Muga scan in a couple of weeks, then its on the the paclitaxol and herceptin. Yippee.

    Good night ladies, happy hot flashes! 

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  • Melinda41
    Melinda41 Member Posts: 672
    edited January 2010

    Mabelle: Thanks for the info, I think I will be celebrating my Muff when it returns. Maybe I'll dye it or bedazzle it! Hot pink and sparkly!

    Disclaimer: I am not a freak with an unhealthy obsession with pubes, but it has been a fun distraction. I have my scan today and I am having scanxiety.

    I woke up early this AM and realized I CAN sneak in some coffee before my 6:30 AM cut off. (I may have an unhealthy obsession with coffee!).

    I almost of a tinge of jealousy when someone reports they are done with chemo. But then I feel like we are all in this together and when one of my team mates gets done, then the goup, myself included, are one step closer to done.

    So knock 'em out, Ladies! Woo Hoo!

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  • micheleboots
    micheleboots Member Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2010

    Melinda, I get jealous as well when others finish. NORMAL...you are right we are all sisters in this together...we are like those barrel of monkeys game, swinging each other on a long cancer monkey rope...some of us are on the edge of the cliff looking at those monkeys swinging but we are all there as a group to grab hold of the last bald monkey to pull her to the cliff and give her a hug..  Ok perhaps that is a weird thought...I too have an obsession with coffee...and that is not wrong..

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  • Melinda41
    Melinda41 Member Posts: 672
    edited January 2010

    Great visual Michele, another bald Monkey on the other side of the wall!

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  • littlebird75
    littlebird75 Member Posts: 120
    edited January 2010

    This little monkey mistakenly thought she would be able to go to work today. Somehow the pain seems a day early but my DH is telling me it's been Friday each time. Short term memory loss on my part.

    I must be mentally processing some emotions about all this - last night I dreamed I was in an "oncology ward" of some sort. I was surrounded by other patients but felt alone and for the first time mourned my diagnosis with a flood of tears. I know I must have been crying in my sleep as well because my eyes were glued shut when I woke up this morning. It was a strange dream - a little creepy really considering I'm this far along the road now. 

    Some of you may have read my post (http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/6/topic/734703?page=12#idx_352) called "the kettle". For three weeks my dear friend and I have not spoken. I am happy to say - she called me last night to put our dispute behind us. I'm grateful for that. On Monday when I was so terrified about that potential blood clot the fight with my friend was the one thing bothering me. 

    I'm going to take my swollen percocet self to the sofa. Thank you every little monkey that has been helping me. For every little monkey still swinging on the chemo rope - just hold on! It'll be over before you know it. 

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  • Melinda41
    Melinda41 Member Posts: 672
    edited January 2010

    Cindy: I am so glad that you and your friend were able to get things resolved. I am having a dispute with someone and it sucks to have that hanging over my head.

    Had my CT and PET scan today. During the CT part, the dude comes to me and says "Have you had a kidney removed?". WTF!! Is my kidney missing? Is it eaten up with cancer? AAggh. They seemed to have found it later, but of course they can't tell me how anything looks. So I won't know until 2/9 how everything is in there.

    I am not going to stress. I will assume both kidney's are still in there and not eaten up with cancer nor have I had a kidney removed during an alien abduction. Cuz an alien abduction might complicate my treatment plan.

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  • GrandmaMickey
    GrandmaMickey Member Posts: 41
    edited January 2010

    Finished with AC Yeah!  that was horrible now I'm on Taxol and Herceptin - other than some horrible charlie horses - I'm doing ok.  How did everyone else do?  Surgery is still the scariest and hardest decision for me.  I don't feel I have all the info I need to make an informed decision.  The TRAM flap scares the heck out of me (out of shape, overweight Grandma) but we'll see what the plastic surgeon says.  Good luck to everyone!~

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  • GrandmaMickey
    GrandmaMickey Member Posts: 41
    edited January 2010

    Mouse, take the anti depressants.  They work wonders.  I have the severe depression during AC - could not stop crying, thinking the worse, etc - saw a local shrink and he was great - gave me some pills/support techniques and I feel a hundred times better.  Also being off the AC is helping - herceptin/taxol doesn't seem to have that affect on me.

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  • JustmeAlicia
    JustmeAlicia Member Posts: 1,529
    edited January 2010

    All I know is I must be some WHIMP ~ TAXOL is kicking my butt.  TX #3 was this past Monday.  (after 4 AC's)  My legs hurt so bad STILL.......  I feel like amputating them.  Also I now have lost almost all of my eyebrows and eyelashes.  NO more need for mascara.  I look so awful it is depressing me even more.  Sorry to be such a downer.  I don't even want to be seen by anyone or leave the house !!!!!!  The most I do is the Dunkin' Donuts drivethru for an iced coffee now and then, that is my BIG outing other then running the kids around.  I am trying to just take Aleve for the pain today ~ and I am dying.......  I seem to be the only one suffering like this.  I feel like such a  whimp. 

    Glad everyone else is doing good.  Congrats on being done with AC Mickey ~

    :)
    Alicia

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  • MeNeverMind
    MeNeverMind Member Posts: 42
    edited January 2010

    Congrats Michele for being finished.  We will all get there someday soon. 

    Thank you Alicia.  I thought I was nuts.  I looked in the mirror this morning and there is a hole in my right eyebrow.  I suspected for over a week now that my eyelashes were falling out since so many are ending up in my eye and I was suspicious the my brows were thinning but the doctor said that if I hadn't lost them on the Ac I would not lose them.  As my husband say "Just another thing that stupid doctor doesn't have a clue about."  I think I agree.  But it nice to know that I am not nuts.  But it is sad that I am losing them.  Oh well, I didn't really like my eyebrows anyway.  Never thought they worked on my face.  I haven't been wearing mascara in over 2 months, ran out and never got more. 

    So I had my 4th Taxol yesterday and it went great.  My port worked perfect and I was in and out within 2 hours.  It was perfect.  I didn't know what to do ith the rest of my day.  I almost could have gone back to work, almost.  Just being a bum today which is nice.  I think my hubby is getting sick so he isn't in the mood to go out and I am all ok with that.

    Hope everyone is doing good today.  I am sending good vibes to everyone for pain free days and nights with no hot flashes and peacefull sleep. 

    Love and ((((((HUGS))))) Kimmy

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  • micheleboots
    micheleboots Member Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2010

    Kimmy, glad things went well today...I havn't used mascara in a long time...didn't want to rip any more out taking off the mascara..Besides I only have three on the bottom right and about 8 on the left...who cares...

    Alica hang in the girl...I feel your pain.  I had my last Taxotere and am waiting for the hammer to fall...we will hold on together..sista.

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  • JustmeAlicia
    JustmeAlicia Member Posts: 1,529
    edited January 2010

    Kimmy ~  Glad your tx went smoothly yesterday.  HOPE you are feeling ok ~

    Michele ~ hopefully the aches and pains will stay away post your LAST tx.  REMEMBER these pains will be your last.  Then onto rads for you right?!  AND I hope that goes easier then chemo for you.

    Thanks for the support girls.  I truly couldn't do this without you all.  As it is hard for others to understand that have not gone through this.  Your all the best ~

    Hugs !

    Alicia

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  • Mouse6694
    Mouse6694 Member Posts: 88
    edited January 2010

    AliciaI too have the bad pain tx 2 I took percocet days 3-5 but didnt like being groggy so this time been taking advil and using heating pads and am doing ok. The pain really gets me down but I feel like I can pull through this.

    I have anxiety about going back to work not looking forward to that. I had so many things I wanted to get done while I was off but always felt like crap so nothing got done except killed cancer cells so I did accomplish something.

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  • feistybluegecko
    feistybluegecko Member Posts: 133
    edited January 2010

    hey sisters

    had a lovely smile and cry with all your updates.

    After a week's delay i finally had my first taxotere today (Brenda, I should have told you as my next tx will be 21 Feb at the earliest, also my overall plan was 4 EC followed by 4 Taxotere - sorry)

    so now awaiting the delights it sends as side effects. I am way behind you all, I still have 3 tx to go :( I also get my first Neulast shot tomorrow :( - another flaming needle stick!!

    But for now one more is done and i owuld be very happy to be a bit past half way

    hugs to you all

    philippa

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  • joanneasiata
    joanneasiata Member Posts: 719
    edited January 2010

    HI THERE LADIES

    Ive been reading through all your posts and i carnt stop laughing you girls have got such a good sense of humour  then to top it of ALICIA  wants to chop of her legs  lol please DON'T do it it might start up a trend .

    Ive got 4 more sleeps till my last chemo  and the last time that i will be feeling like  a piece of dog shit that someone has trodden on ,so just enjoy the hot flushes ,the sore bones the feeling like your not even human and the bottom of a bin mouth cause it ant going away till we say good by to chemo .

    PRINCESS JOJO

    SOON TO BE JOJO JUST BUT FOR THE LAST TIME AHHHH CARNT WAIT !!!!!

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  • 1marmalade1
    1marmalade1 Member Posts: 308
    edited January 2010

    Has anyone taken just Taxotere for chemo (without Herceptin thrown in)?  I am doing 6 rounds of Tax - no mention of anything else being added, unless I missed something!

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  • micheleboots
    micheleboots Member Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2010

    Marm, I believe you only get Herceptin when you are HER2+...I am not getting it. Thank goodness. 

    Jojo, Can't wait to pull you over the finish line with us..

    You know I find that now that chemo has ended for me, my Dh  says I can't use that card any more...how mean is that?  I only have a few more weeks to use it then it gets tossed with the trash..Hmmm.

    Philippa, I found that the Taxotere went fast...I think it was because the SEs were worse and I didn't have as much time to get over them before I had them again...Now this could be seen as a negative thing, but I feel like the time flew..none the less...Thank god.... And besides look at it this way..it is only a few short days out of your life...I am sure there were many great weeks that can make up for the crappy days, right..

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  • cat60
    cat60 Member Posts: 61
    edited January 2010

    micheleboots,  I am HER2+, wondering why you said Thank Goodness you are not getting Herceptin??? I will be starting this Friday on Taxol/Herceptin...Sometimes I feel like a loner being HER2+, anyone else out there feel that way ?

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  • micheleboots
    micheleboots Member Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2010

    Cat, just want to end this treatment crap  ...one more treatment I want to avoid...don't know to much about it...sorry..

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  • Melinda41
    Melinda41 Member Posts: 672
    edited January 2010
    Cathy: I am also HER2+ so I will be on Herceptin or maybe new drug. Don't feel alone!
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  • micheleboots
    micheleboots Member Posts: 1,993
    edited January 2010

    Melinda, when did you become a Super Model?  LOVE LOVE LOVE your new pic.

    Having a bitchey day today...first day without my roids...my poor family..oh well. I am almost over the hump now.

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