Starting Chemo Feb 2010?

My DH said tonight, "your hair is getting darker."  It is definitely longer on the sides now. 

Hang in there, sisters.  Good to hear you are done, Sunny, and you will be soon, too, mebrown & vmarie.

Rads going well so far.  Hope you have a good rads team, faithful.

Done Done DONE!!!!  But why am I still bald??? I feel good except the 10 lbs I have gained and I have most of my eyelashes and eyebrows but I just want things to be normal again!!!!  I'm tired of cancer.  I'm even done with radiation..the HDR straws came out on Friday and I'm done...now for tamoxifin....I miss my period.  I miss sex.....UGH!!!

hi all, had my 3/12 taxol tx on monday. the first 2 tx was ok except this time, i broke into cold sweat when i reached home and was so dizzy that i nearly passed out. anyone experienced this?

i have very fine short hair too, onc says its only after my taxol tx that the thick hairful will starts to grow. still having my eyelashes and brows and oh please let them stay!

was back to jogging yesterday, managed to complete 2km and oh, it feels so so good. cant wait for my next marathon

congrats to those who completed their chemo! cant wait for mine to end too. another beautiful day here in singapore and wishing everyone SEs free week and many more brighter days.

Done with chemo as of yesterday. Not really feeling celebratory, because I'm waiting for the SEs to really kick in (still on steroids and Emend today), plus I have Herceptin and Avastin tx until February and radiation in July and August.. but still it's a big relief to know that once I recover from this round, I can really recover and not face the firing squad again.

Same with the weird hair stuff. Still have hair on arms but almost no public hair, although that's pretty recent. Lashes pretty strong still, brows fading more, but they're still there. Some fine hair growing on my head, mostly enough to make me look insane.

Anyway, one milestone crossed. Three cheers to those of you who are almost done!

Hi, Everyone - I've been watching everyone's postings and it's great to see so many of us finishing this part of our treatment.  And, to those who are still in the thick of it, I wish for side effect free days ahead of you.  Moved on to Herceptin once every three weeks until February - started that yesterday.  Very strange to just have such a quick infusion - just when I found out they had endless supply of popsicles at the center!  Apparently a patient at my center who was obsessed with Sex and the City saw where the one who had bc loves popsicles during her treatment, so she went out and donated a large freezer and keeps it stocked with popsicles and will do so into perpetuity - she's obviously got some extra money - it was really nice to hear the story.  Tha'ts one thing I've seen through all this - people are genuinely awesome and so supportive - just not when they're driving! 

My hair is very scary, as someone else said - some two inche pieces, bald spots, and strange patches.  No leg hair, pubic hair or underarm hair, but still have eyelashes and some of brows.  It's just such a look - had my husband take one picture for future reference so I can look back at this and marvel at how crappy I looked but know that it's all worth it for a long life ahead.

Hope you all have a great holiday weekend and enjoy time with family and friends - that's another thing I've learned - I truly do what I want to do and with those I want to do it with rather than wasting time on things that don't mean a lot to me.  That said, I'm off to my garden!!!  Got the clearance from my onc yesterday that it's okay to go play in the dirt now so I can't wait!  Take care - Best to all - Mo 

yay writer, so glad you're done! woohoo! I am SO looking forward to my last treatment. I am a week out from my #5 - I told my sister this morning that, I'm not sure if I feel any worse than the ones before, but I am losing my patience with it so it seems worse in some way. I still can't taste anything - food looks so good, then I put it in my mouth and want to spit it out and I waste so much food ordering it. I soooo like to eat and enjoy food, so this is slow torture. Feeling grumpy today. I see people enjoying food and wine and I just want to scream.

 kshep, I too enjoy a glass of wine. I am not an overindulger. My onco and my other doctors say, hey, have a glass from time to time and don't beat yourself up over it. There are those who take from one study or another study and decide best to eliminate 100% and totally take it off the table. I myself don't think our TN is spurned by one environmental thing; if it were that simple, they would've found a cure by now... I suspect its a complex, thorny, ugly, dasterdly and confounding thing that will unravel in time. Until then, I am young so am going to live some moderation (healthier eating, more exercise, relaxating) and am going to live my life on full volume where I can while I can.  The one thing I think we must all avoid is stress - it's a killer, one way or another... *easier said than done huh?*

I had my last treatment today. I got real shaky afterwards and they took my sugar (it was 255). They hooked me back up to a saline drip, gave me some insulin, and an antianxiety drug. I'm doing better and am a bet tired. So glad I do not have to have more treatments.

I meet with a plastic surgeon on Tuesday to see if I'm a candidate for microsurgery. I hope so because I do not want implants. My onc says not to have the surgery before August. Be nice if I could have it like the last of July at least but that is how things go.

Congratulations to all who have finish. For those still going I wish little to no SEs.

Michele 

Ah, we're all a little beaten down by this point... I can sense it in everyone's posts. My friends and family want me to be celebrating the last chemo, and I will say I've been very cheerful about all this the last few months, but I just can't get happy about it yet. My intestines freaked out already today, just two days after chemo (it usually takes a couple more days than that), and I figure the next 10 days or so won't be fun. I'm having water and maybe some soup tonight. Woo hoo!

As for the drinking thing, I am not giving it up. Well, I have for a week or two after each chemo, when my digestive system is bad, and I've given up my normal red wine because it doesn't taste good, and I drink wine for taste as much as anything else. But I've had some white wine (more acidic, cuts through chemo mouth) and one or two gimlets, which have a lot of lime and taste great!

Anyway, my feeling is I'll never know where my BC came from. LA smog when I was a kid? Chest trauma from when I was a surfing teenager? (Don't laugh, it's a very serious theory.) Standing in front of the microwave while wearing an underwire bra? (Okay, maybe not such a serious theory.) Who the hell knows? It does not appear to be in my gene pool. 

I'm going to keep the weight off that I lost, because overweight appears to be a stronger risk than alcohol (unless you're a heavy drinker). I'm going to keep up the exercise, although I've always been active. I'm going to watch the stress, and let me tell you, a nice glass of pinot noir with dinner does a lot for combatting stress. No one has yet made a definitive link between moderate drinking and BC, so I'm voting for quality of life. 

And now, back to my glass of water. Maybe I'll live it up and have a Breathsavers mint in a while.... 

writer, thanks for making me laugh with your last post (think I'll have a mint...)   I've hit the wall the last few days - yesterday - a full week out after treatment (I usually rebound faster) - I had lots to do at work and had full on chemo brain (whaa? doh??!), and some nausea crept up on me and my sister called me to say she found a suspicious lump in her abdomen that they will biopsy in June.  I packed myself up, went home, took a compazine, went to bed and pulled the covers over my head until this morning.  Feel ten times better today. Sun is out. Feels like summer. Que sera, sera. What a new day can bring. 

 I am saving my final chemo celebration until after 2 weeks after my last treatment. I want to have a fine meal with my girlies and laugh and have a stiff gin and tonic (and be able to taste it!)

HI All

So glad to see so many of us finishing, are being really close to the finish line.  Getting our lives back!!  Whoo Hoo! 

YEAH YEAH YEAH!!  I had my last nasty chemo yesterday.  I had a bit of a scare when I saw the Doc.  My blood work was great, but my Blood Pressure was 150/100  YIKES!!  It is always 175/80.  So, this was WAY out of the norm for me.  My onc said that I may not get my treatment.  That probably shot my blood pressure up even more.  We waited a while and she took it again and it had dropped to 138/89.  Eventhough this was high, she said I could get my treatment. She said that the Avastin, the Beth Study that I am in, may be causing the high BP.  So, that is something that may be changing.  We will see next time. I was so relieved to have gotten my last chemo.  As we all know, getting this over with is top priority. On 06/07, I start rads.  The rad onc knows I have a huge vacation planned the first of August, so he is starting me early and giving me the boosts first.  So, if all goes well, I should be done with rads on 07/22.

As for the drinking.  I don't have to worry about that.  I quit drinking 10 years ago.  So, that is one loss that I won't have to deal with.  Lord knows we have all had a lot of losses over the past 6 months.  So, at least this is a non-issue for me.

Hope everyone has a nice Memorial Day weekend. 

Take Care,

Verene

February sisters,

I had my last chemo one month ago.  My port was removed on Wedensday.   Yeah!!   It was quite a long PFC month of feeling punky, emotional, and just plain yucky.   But I am feeling better now, not quite so emotional and tearful.   Maybe the worst from chemo is over. 

Now if I could just stop eating too much and learn to live peaceably with hot flashes.  My credo in May was feed the chemo brain, starve the fever, or whatever!!!  

Best wishes to all who are still in treatment.   I keep you all in my prayers.

I am trying to be brave so I will have the nerve to take that first pill and begin my 5 years of Arimidex.

Take care all.

Leah

Camping away from the real world for 4 days was great!  Oh, and away from the heat-ugh.  Still had hot flashes even though it was cold at night.  Not so much fun, but oh well.

Back to the real world today-bloodwork, then chemo #6 on Thursday.  Fingers crossed my WBC count was good so I can get it.

I start the steroid tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.  Last time really wasn't all that bad.

Sorry for those of you with emotional struggles, and of course, intestinal issues.  Ugh.

I cannot wait to get my taste buds back.  They seem to be getting worse!  The mouth sores from this last treatment have never completely gone away.  I always have at least one spot in my mouth that feels like I burned it on hot soup or something.  I ate like a pig while camping, though.  Felt good.  Put on a couple much needed pounds.

I hope everyone has a great evening!

Hi all...just checking in. It's been 3 weeks since my last chemo. Food tastes great, So does alcohol. Especially Margaritas. I've decided that I enjoy a drink too much to give that up, since its my only vice.  I still have the neuropathy in fingers and toes. Head cold is finally abating. Still get a fast heart rate when I walk uphill. NO HAIR yet dammit. Well,  other than the weird colorless stubble on my head that I've had for a while. Lashes and brows are seriously missing now, and I have no hair anywhere else. I spent the weekend at the beach and it was kind of nice to not worry about shaving my legs though. Didn't have to worry about waxing that bikini line either. And I lost enough weight from chemo that I bought a 2-pc bathing suit, built in cups to hide my flaws, and most of the scars and radiation tattoos weren't noticeable. Big ole Portacath scar was easy to see though. Still had to wear my head wrap. And draw my eyes on. I found if I use lots of eyeliner, the lack of lashes isnt as noticeable.

Had 4 radiation treatments so far, and feel fine. Got 8 tattoo markings total, but they really aren't too bad, mostly hidden under clothing, and they are small anyway.  29 more treatments to go woohoo. Filled my prescription for tamoxifen today and saw the top SE's are bone pain, hot flashes, and hair thinning.  Arrgghhhh.  Had a dream the other nite that my hair was an inch long. Woke up and realized it was only a dream. Double arrgghhh. No wonder I want a Margarita.... 

Writer, mebrown, vmarie, and anyone I've missed--congrats on finishing!! 

Wishing you all a good and SE frree week. Be strong girls!!

Ha ha, Lindee, I've been having happy hair dreams! When I sleep, that is, which isn't enough. After the first five rounds of chemo, I slept great.... now that I'm recovering from #6, I'm having trouble sleeping. I don't actually think it's the chemo-- it's mostly because I am just slammed with deadlines and work, and since it's my own business, most of the stuff I've gotta do myself. I also have terrible twitches after this round.... no longer just my eyes, but my shins, my legs, everywhere. That makes it hard to sleep some.

Anyway, I've had a few very pleasant recent dreams about my short but thick hair... then I wake up to my wispy baby scalp. At least it's fun in the dreams.

The intestinal stuff has kicked in pretty bad, a full week after chemo, same as after #5. Not fun at all, but it's not bumming me out too much, because I know that I NEVER HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN! I'm working hard every day anyway, because I have no choice.

In a week I'll be like you, Lindee, eating again and maybe even tasting food. I'm down 15 pounds from chemo, happily so, so the challenge will be to keep it off when everything starts tasting good, and when I'm tempted to start downing margaritas like it's Cinco de Mayo.

I still have some body hair and some brows/lashes.... not much, but enough. I guess they can still go, but I'm holding out a bit of hope.... if not, so it goes, it's nice to know I'm not alone.

Beth, congrats on tomorrow! You may not feel like celebrating tomorrow-- I didn't on my last chemo day-- but I'm getting happier with each day that moves farther away from it, and closer to the hope of feeling good. 

I agree-I think the thin, wispy hairs are colorless!  Very strange.  And I think I'm losing mine again after my dose of the Taxotere.  I know I'm still losing eyelashes-humpf.

Bone pain, hot flashes and thinning hair?  Are you kidding?  I already have those.  5 more years of it does not sound fun.  My Onc said something about Neurontin for hot flashes, so I may take him up on it.  Why not-let's add another med to all those I already take, right?

So...I'll bring it up.  Anyone out there actually feel like having sex?  I so don't.  I literally have no desire at all.  My husband is not happy about it, but he's being pretty good.  I'm not sure how much longer that will last though.  I think he's more understanding because I have these damn tissue expanders, which are totally uncomfortable.  I'm wondering how the Tamoxifen will effect the desire as well.