Starting Chemo October 2009

Sorry I had to jump off the computer quickly to help DH take down the Christmas lights. I don't know if your hubbys are like this but when mine decides to do stuff around the house (very rarely)no one else can sit around and enjoy thier coffee.  He always needs help!

Congrats Jean on finishing chemo - enjoy your holiday!

Alicia - good to hear that you are having a nice family break in Vermont.  My ears are cold for you though!

JoJo - I too opted for a break after chemo and before RADS.  I start the week of March 8th. Enjoy your time off!

Anita & Michele - congrats on starting RADS.  Michele you're haivng 25?  I'm having 25 - 28 not sure which I'll have to discuss this with my RAD ONC when I see him next.

Shelby - great news on the mammogram!

Valerie - I heard about the aspirin thing too while I was in the US but nothing here in Canada (I checked with a friend). Another friend of mine says she takes a baby aspirin with her Tamoxifen to offset blood clots.

Mary - So we shouldn't add aspririn to our daily supplements then?  Not even as a "just in case"?  What would it hurt?

I had my CT Scan/rad planning session 2 weeks ago and I was surprised at how dark the tattoos are.  I have one on the side of my torso and another right spot in the middle of my cleavage.  Do these stay on forever?  Maybe I can get the cleavage one removed when I have recon?

I hope everyone is doing well and mvoing right along on to the next step in their journey!

I've now got to go help DH with washing the cars!

Marie

hi girls

big hugs to you all - it is great to see how much things are moving forward and lots of discussion about rads and post chemo.

Well I am back in internet land (it is really difficult to get online much back in Yangon at the moment) so that also means back in chemo land!  Yuck.  I am also so far behind everyone, but happy to say that chemo 6 is now done.  Onc is worried about my anaemia though so a bit concerned about what will happen to 7 and 8, but we'll have to wait and see.

Mary - I woul dbe delighted to get my smiley face for Tx 6 - thanks

Hugs to you all - now let's see how the SEs manifest themselves - especially after the Neulasta shot tomorrow.

Philippa

Marie ~ hope you didn't work too hard but glad you seem to be feeling pretty good.

Shelby ~ I'm with you on the cold.  We are back from our family vaca in chilly Vermont and I now have my daughter's cold brewing.  YUCK.  Hope you feel better and get some of the homework done.

JOJO ~ I dread summer coming here but look forward to it at the same time.  Hopefully I can get some of this weight off.  I am a puckered mess.  Hope you enjoyed a swim at the beach.  I can only imagine how beautiful it is there.

Philippa ~ Congrats on chemo #6.  You are getting close to that finish line.  Hoping your SE's stay to a minimum.

HI everybody!

Good to read how every one is doing. JoJo - The beach is for acting like a kid! Do you remember when you didn't care what u looked like ? you just had fun? I try to get my flabby self into that head and when i can do it I have the BEST time. I know you can do it - just remember winter is just around the corner (You guys do have winter right?)

Phillipa, you are so brave to get on that plane and do the do - I had a hard time getting in the car to go!

Marie- yes- hubba bubba is the same but ususally he says he just wants "points" for his efforts.

I think I am getting a cold also - not scary anymore tho...

Have a beautiful day ladies- love, Valerie

MarieK, I know how you feel.  My best friend went through chemo and rads last year. almost a year to the day before I was diagnosed.  She had stage 1 BC, had a lumpectomy and 4 rounds of TC and then rads.  A year later I get diagnosed with BC and of course, it has to be triple negative BC so we have to throw the kitchen sink at it.  So here I am getting 8 rounds of chemo, had to have a bilateral mastectomy, one of my Te's got infected so it had to come out so who knows when I'll ever be able to go ahead with recon since now they're debating whether or not I have to have rads even though I had clean margins and no lymph nod involvement.  I'm glad to have a friend who understands what I'm going through but it just seems like I'm having to go through so much more than she did.  Don't get me wrong, I love her and am so glad her treatment was less and her outlook is good.  I just can't help but to get a little jealous when I think of all the treatment I'm still going through and all I've lost in comparison.  I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I just want to be done.  2 more chemos and who knows how many months till I can start the reconstruction process.  I need a break but won't be getting one anytime soon.  At least chemo will be over on March 18th.  It's hard to believe I've been doing this since October.  I know I'll get through it and you guys will be there to for cheer me when it's over.  Sorry for the rant, I'm just getting a little burned out.  Hang tough, Dee, 

Hey Ladies;  I am sorry I have not been around these past few months.  I am so glad to hear that everyone is doing so well and pretty much done with the chemo.  I finished my last round in Jan so Mary please, please  give me my happy faces.  I am so thrilled! 

Today will be #21 of 25 radiation tx.  So finishing that on Friday.  My feet will definitely be doing the happy dance.  My skin is reacting with some major redness/burning but no blisters yet.  Using 99% pure aloe gelly & cortisone cream but my clothing is still driving me crazy rubbing against it.  I am down to wearing a couple of cotton undershirts layered for warmth (still cold here in Nova Scotia) but still irritated.  I CANNOT wait for this all to be over. I will also be taking the tamoxifen for 5 years.  I will start this week and try it for 3 weeks.  If I have strong reactions to it than I will stop it and not bother taking anything else.  My estrogen receptors came back neg but my ong wants me to try it.  He figures the side effects are so minor compared to chemo and I want to have as much chance as possible for the bc not to come back.  I am pretty high risk for a recurrence so at this point will go for it. Time will tell.

I just want to share with you all something that my natural path has directed me to.  She is suggesting that I try as much as possible to eat a low glycemic diet.   Foods high in sugar, which turn into insulin work like estrogen towards cancer, feed it and help it grow.  So if I can cut my sugars back this could help hugely in the "recurrance" issue.   Even if I do not stop drinking wine (alcohol is extremely high in sugar but I just love my wine way too much)  but change my eating so that I am aware of the sugar contents and work accordingly will help. And yes I will cut back my wine intake....  There are lots of lists on web sites that tell you the sugar content of foods but the info sheet my Dr. gave me seems to be the best I have come across.  If anyone would like a copy of it please send me your fax number and I will send it along.  Please send it to info@bikeandbean.ca (note "ca" for Canada....not "com").

Now that the chemo is over I have started rushing back into my old life and work and find I am not spending the time on myself that I did when I was going through the chemo.  I am not walking as much, meditating or taking some down time to read and this is bugging me. I know that I have to slow down from work and life or else I will end up being sick again but just can't seem to make it happen.    To quote a friend of mine...."we cancer survivors have been woken up and it is up to us not to fall asleep again".  But I feel like I am falling asleep.Is anyone else going through this as well?  Is this just a normal reaction to having energy and feeling like we are joining the real world again?

Guess I am also heavy on the supplement thing but a few things for those of you starting tamoxifen (according to the naturalpaths)

Melatonin & 2 tbsp of flaxseeds are synergetic (good)  with tamox (10mg of melatonin at nite is good

CoQ10 enhances the effectiveness of tamox 

vit D3 in high doses interfers with tamox so don't take more than 1000 IU a day 

Once I am done the radiation I will be taking daily the above as well as:

multivit; Vit C

Omega 3

Vit E

Vit A (which helps against long term damage of radiation)

Milk thistle tea & green tea or ECGC

Sorry I am taking so long but I did want to share this with you all and it has been a long time since I have written.

Hang in there all!  Everyone is doing so well!!!!

All the best, Marilou 

Marilou

Yep I'm with you on when all finished up with chemo your feeling good so going gunho back into the swing of life what is was like befor  b/c then hello all puffed out after around 6 days of going hard out then you remember oh my body has to heal from being assaulted with poison for the last 5 mths , yep just happened to me so now I'm going to been kind to my body and be a beached whale for the next few weeks and no running around for any one .Take care of your self so you heal properly

PRINCESS JOJO

Hi All!

Michele - loved the comment about "putting cancer through college"!

Mary & Dee - thanks for your encouraging words!  I know I shouldn't compare myself to anyone else but it's difficult not to.

Marilou - thanks for the nutritional info - very informative!

JoJo - enjoy your beach days!  Mine are yet to come but I did have some sun last week that should tide me over.  I hear you on the body changes - I feel so bloated these days.  It's not the usual spare 10lbs around the middle for me it's the 6 months preggie look! 

Speaking of hair - my first chemo hairs are almost 1 inch long!  I'm seeing a lot more dark hairs mixed in with the clear/white hairs now too almost like 5 oclock shadow.

I would say that overall my hair is like when I first had it trimmed off - 1/4 to 1/2 inch long at this point and I've got good coverage.  My kids inspect me everyday and tell me the top is much fuller than the sides and back.  They jokingly call it my mohawk look!

As for hair changes it's hard to tell but I think this hair is much straighter than my pre-chemo hair.after my shower my hair stands straight up like a baby kewpie doll.  My hair before chemo was very curly so it will be interesting to see what I end up with.

The colour - I won't kid myself - looks to be mostly white/gray with some dark and I don't see that changing.

Well I'm off to the surgeon for a follow up. I hope you all have a good day and enjoy the sun (natural vit D) wherever you are!

Hugs to all!

Marie

Hi Jean!

My nails are yellow 1/2 way down and have tons of ridges in them but are still strongly adhered. I keep them really short and put oil on them 2x daily but i don't know what else to do!

Good luck, V. 

I didn't lose my nails on FEC - they did get really dry and ridged but they held on.

Just before we left on vacation I had pink acrylic and tips put on.  They look fantastic now!!!

My nails have "stripes" underneath, and ridges, and one of them has a dark area under half of it, but they are all sticking on pretty well.  I also kept them very short thruout chemo as I read this would help avoid the lifting issue.  Seems to have worked pretty well.

I had a follow-up with the surgeon today.  He said everything looks good right now, but wants to do a PET scan in 3 months.  Anyone else having scans done?  I also got a referral to another rad onc - I saw one last week, but want to compare his recommendations with this other guy, just to make sure I get all the information I need to make this decision.

Peace... 

Marie - 

I have my first appointment with a urogynecologist tomorrow.  Before BC, I was supposed to go to him for the TVT sling (bladder issues here, as well!).  Now I just figure we can add the ooph as a bonus prize.  hahaha

I am a little worried about the ooph.  Supposed to be equally as effective as tamoxifen, but my doctor wants to add Femara if I do it.  I am worried about stripping away ALL estrogen.  But it is good to know that we won't grow a beard.  I do wish I would grow some hair somewhere at this point, though.

Shelby -

The PET scan is much easier than the MRI.  You might even be able to nap!  The longest part is the injection and waiting.  I swear I will forever have nightmares about MRIs.  On tv they seem so easy.  They never tell you how loud and obnoxious they really are!!  Trying to stay still with that random CLANG CLANG CLANG!!  And the technician who asked what music I wanted to listen to?  HAHAHA  If I have to do it again, I am taking 2 Valium first!!!

Will  report more after appointment tomorrow!  Have a good night Ladies!

Laura 

PHILIPPA

Sorry the Tax is knocking you around a bit take lots of pain killers i just done FEC no TAXO i know FEC was hard, good to hear you going home what country are you from ? get some rest if you can  Oh stupid me just realized your from Thailand  sorry ,my sister stayed there for 3 mnths and loved it ,i cook a lot of Thai food  wouldn't be half as good as over there .

GIRLS

Just got hit with some news today, which makes me mad as hell and so upset all at the same time ,my daughter who's 22 found a lump in her breast a while ago thought nothing of it as she has very big boobs and really lumpy as well before she went on holidays to NZ, she was there for 3 months, when she got back she got her under arms waxed by a girl friend who had  noticed a large lump under her arm ,her gland, and told her to go straight to the docts for a check up, well she didn't tell me any of this until today after the docts who orded a ultra sound and mamo first thing tomo morn ill be going with her F#@KTHIS FEELS LIKE MY NIGHT MARE ALL OVER AGAIN BUT ON MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER  i don't know what to think if it is a swollen milk duct would she have swollen glands under her arm????? I'm so trying not to worrie  but the last thing i want is for any one of my daughters to go through the hell of having cancer give it to me instead PLEASE

Hi chemo sisters, hope everyone is well.

JoJo, I'm thinking good thoughts for your daughter and hoping for the best for her.

Tomorrow is chemo #7 if your keeping score at home.  One more Tx after tomorrow and I'll be DONE.  March 18th is the day.  My nails are holding well up so far but I've only had 2 Tx's so who knows what they'll do by the time I've had 4.

I had to start shaving my underarms.  Lot's of thin dark hair.  I never lost the hair on my legs which is completely not fair.  It didn't grow as fast but I still have had to shave my legs all through chemo.  

I'm so bummed.  I felt fantastic last weekend because it's my last weekend of the cycle before treatment.  We were suppose to start our softball season on Sunday and got rained out in sunny Arizona.  We're suppose to get more rain this weekend too so I may never get to play ball again.  It will be interesting to see if I can get my old, (now fat) ,tired ass moving fast enough to play ball again.  I will check in tomorrow night and apply for my happy face. 

Take care and be well.  Dee 

Philippa, I read somewhere that painting your nails with black nail polish is supposed to help with the nail issues on tax...I think it has something to do with the sun.  It can't hurt to try it!  I hope there are no more delays for you, and that your counts go up.  I know that those low red counts made me REALLY tired, and you with the traveling I'm sure it hits you really hard.  Take care of yourself!  My DH lived in Bangkok for 8 months, and he introduced me to Thai food - it's my favorite now!  He loved the Thai culture, and hopes we can go visit there again someday.  

Dee, there is light at the end of the tunnel!  And I'm sorry you're having to shave, that was one thing I was grateful for during chemo was the lack of shaving.  My hair is taking its sweet time in growing back, though.

Jojo, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your daughter.  If anyone can help her through this, you can!  I know we feel the pain for our children almost more deeply than for ourselves.  

Thanks everyone for the PET info.  I just hope it gives me the all-clear.  I wish I were having it tomorrow and not in 3 months!  But, I guess he wants to wait until rads are over.  I will feel so much better knowing that I am NED.

Peace to all...