May 2010 Chemo

Hi All,

Just checking in with everyone.  Unfortunately, not feeling great today..stayed home.  Good news is survived #2 infusion of T/C on Monday.  This time I did not have the allergic reaction (think thanks to benadryl and steroids) but did get severe lower back pain so they gave me more steroids and slowed the drip.  So made for a long night...but just so glad to be halfway done.

Fotopet- Thanks for your well wishes.  Check in with your nurse about your arm.  I have Thrombophlebitis...where the vein hardened and looks like a bruise above the injection site from the first infusion where I had the allergic reaction.  I have to put warm compresses on it and they won't use this vein again.

Patricia48- Yoga sounds like just what I need..thanks for sharing!

CTherese-  Thanks for making me laugh...I love the idea of A Big Wig Party!

To All:  Thanks for your posts!  It really helps.  PMA!

Alright ladies... question for those doing neoadjuvant chemo... anyone else experience cramps or pains in their tumor??  I have been - more last week than this week.  My appt with onc is next Thursday, so will ask her then - but curious if anyone else has been 'feeling things??" 

3rd treatment today... 25% done with taxol and herceptin!  Hair not falling out, but those that I pluck are not being held in by much... they come out very easily and I haven't had to shave my legs... hairs on head come out pretty easy if pulled on... going to be a slow out process with the taxol I think... gives me time to get a wig still.  I have turbans and found a website last night that had 27" bandanas for $2 a piece!!  Hoot!!!!

(((HUGS))) all... we are tough, and we can do this!!  Screw this cancer.

Hi ladies;  Welcome to all newcomers.  Sorry you have to join us, but it is a great group to be with. 

I am so sorry for all you guys having mouth sores.  I have had some off and on.  I have gargled with salt water and used the malox/benedryl mixture.  They have both really helped. 

Well this weekend is the weekend for the head shaving party!!  I am inviting a bunch of my close supporters over for munchies and drinks and getting a buzz( not shaved just short).  It is time.  I am on day 15 and the hair comes out very easily. 

Last night at my sons championship baseball game one of our players made an error in a tie game with 2 outs, last inning.  They other team scored and I grabbed the back of my hair and ooops! I pulled a chunk of my hair right out.  I just started to laugh.  That's when I decided it was time to buzz.  I just hope it holds off until then.  I have a party to go to on Saturday at 2:00 and then people are coming over at 7:00.  I will let everyone know how it goes. 

Jeanna9:  Can you let me know the website where you found the bandanas?  Also where did you get your turbans?    The concert was excellent!  My kiddos did a great job.  It's hard to believe a full year has gone by already,

Sacphotomom:  Congrats on being halfway done!!!

Talk to you all soon.   Remember  STAY POSITIVE!!!!!!!

Hi All, I'm getting ready for TC#2 tomorrow, as well.  I've been drinking lots and lots of water and have packed my little bag of chemo goodies already.   I feel strangely nervous even though the first treatment went fine.  I am trying to focus on being halfway done tomorrow and not thinking about any SE's.  I meet with the radiation onc next week to start planning the rads to follow the chemo.   It seems like there is always another doctor's appt to go to!  I'm not sure I had been to the doctor as much in my life as I have in the last few months since diagnosis!

I went to a friend's father's funeral today.  He had liver cancer years ago (but he passed from something totally unrelated) and one of the stories they told was how, after his chemo was done, he had his port removed then took it with him to happy hour, put it on the bar and toasted the end of chemo and cancer.  I can't wait til I can do the same (though not sure I want to look at the port on the bar)!

Welcome all the new joiners, sorry you are here, but it is a great group!  Hope everyone has an enjoyable Holiday weekend!

Thanks for the welcome. I am glad to have joined the group here. My first chemo has kinda prepared me for the rest I would guess. I learned how to get all my water in. As plain water was making me sick even with pills. Flavored water has helped. I also got mouth sours and got all the stuff to treat those. Bad bad hip  and lower back pain. Out comes heating pad with moist towels. My mouth felt like fine sandpaper. And a few days I felt it was hard to raise my head off the pillow. And needed Husband to help for a week to get to and from the car to go get my shots.

So I am better prepared this next go round Tuesday.

My hair started falling out 13 days after treatment. So I shaved my head at that point. I had 2 friends send me different styles of wigs, 4 total. So I wear them with a cool cap when I go out some where. Otherwise I wear a turban or a happy face do rag. I have some pretty colored ball caps. But have not worn them yet. I have alot of time to change my look around. I can got brown hair,blonde or even as a brown with red head. What do I need hair for anyways?. 

Hey Tuck!  I had to start drinking some propel water too - with the taste changes about day 2 after infusion, water tastes like dirt!!!  Flavor definitely helps!  Hope this treatment shows you less SE than the last!  GL!!!!!  

nanaof2, my treatment is tomorrow. At 11:30 to be more precise, so I won't probably be home before 5 or so (took 3 1/2 hours last time and the drive is almost 1 hour).

Nanaof2 - (((HUGS))) will be thinking of you tomorrow! 

Day - GL tomorrow for smooth infusion. 

Sacphotomom - grrrr.... some people.... you want to just say, yes, cancer doesn't discriminate and just pick rude people, because if it did.......  ha.  I'm just truly amazed at what people will say.  Has your surgeon called - what does he/she think?  Sounds like your children are going to have lots of fun- and I'm sure thinking of you and missing you and knowing you can go with them later, when you've whooped cancer's butt!! 

Patricia, your granddaughter is beaUtiful!!  How old is she?  You know your family going through this can be a very positive experience.  The perspective they gain, the understanding, and maybe even guidance in life will amaze you.  You might get a doctor/biologist out of this who helps to cure, or even better, prevent breast cancer one day!!  But, they will never, NEVER, be that person in the restaurant who says something so rude and mis-guided! 

Night, night all!!  Got in my "at least 3 quarts" of water for the day... my stool softeners, vitamins, activia, sleep pill and I'm off to a happy place - be back tomorrow night if I have energy left after putting in a day on the Air Force base.   

Victoria, thanks for the advice on the iron pills. I need some of those. I am getting my blood checked tomorrow, and I have a feeling it's going to show I'm anemic. I hope you can get your WBC #s up! Did they discuss neulasta or neupogen with you?

Redbarb, my son plays baseball too, and I can SO see myself doing that with my hair! ARGH! Have fun at your head shaving party. I am still kind of fascinated by my bald head. It's so surreal!

Leanna, thanks for the links!

GolferGirl, I was oddly nervous for #2, too, but it went fine. Hoping the same for you!

njbhwgirl, I'm sorry about your mom, I hope she's okay! That's cool about the wig lady coming to your house--what a great service. I'm having the weight gain and the odd cravings, too. Weird!

Sacphotomom, I really want to see that woman and give her a piece of my mind. I can't even BELIEVE she said that. That is beyond rude. Like what we're going through isn't difficult to begin with. I have some not-so-pleasant names I want to call her, but I'll stop there... I think I need to talk myself back into a good mood like you have! I'm having a weird feeling at my lumpectomy site--I wonder if all these strange feelings are normal...

Leanna and Tuck, I was drinking a lot of Propel too, but got nauseous once, and now I'm thinking I'm ruined for Propel forever! But it did sustain me for a few weeks there. Better than water, for sure!

Nanaof2, I had that same "fear" when I touched my hair. I'm sure you'll find the buzz a relief.

Patricia, you voiced exactly how I feel most of the time since diagnosis--like I've been transported into some bizarre alternate reality. I am about your son's age & have 3 young kids--your granddaughter is just precious!

Jenny - does "is this my life??" sound familiar!  That's my joke around the house when it's something cancer-related that is going wrong... ie constipation... heartburn, etc!!  We just HAVE to laugh about it!  How old are your children?  I have 3 also - they are 17, 8 and 3. 

Spininfool - That's great - her scarves do look lovely - so glad you love it!!  Hey, I just noticed you had 39 nodes... did you have BMX? 

Hi guys,

Something wonderful happened to me on Tuesday and my first thought was "I can't wait to share this with my 'May Friends'... Not enough words to express how amazing the women in my life are! I went back to work Tuesday for the 1st time in a week and hanging from the ceiling of my office were clotheslines full of panties - each one had a note tag with the slogan "BRAS ARE OVER-RATED, UNDERWEAR ARE SEXY!".Almost 300 pairs of panties from family, friends, friends of friends, and people who don't even know me! I was touched to the depths of my heart.

Welcome to all our new friends, sorry you had to join us!

Leanna, thank you for the bandanna link!

Redbarb, have fun at your shaving party!

Question: I woke up this morning with crazy pain in my tail bone. It's been 9 days since my first treatment, is this pain from the neulasta shot 8 days later?

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! 

Summer, I'd say it's probably the Neulasta (though a little late, maybe?) Maybe call your onc just to make sure. And what an AWESOME thing you came back to work to. That is AMAZING! Since my diagnosis, I've found a lot of human kindness/goodness too that I didn't know existed before.

Leanna, Yes, that definitely sounds familiar. I got up this morning, looked in the mirror, and said, in a total tone of astonishment, "I'm BALD!" My husband just laughed. My kids are 11, 9 and 5, and they're taking this pretty well, I think. My 11-year-old is the hardest to read, but the other two are rolling with it.