Chemo June 2010

CEBsMOM, i had mine taken off!!! i know that we could watch me close for if the cancer was to return in my breasst, but for me, i never wanna go through another biopsy again, or finding that lump!! i could careless about the pain, it was the emotional and mental stress that i dont ever wanna face again!!!! but the Mastectomy was not painful, the drains were no fun but not painful, now really my only worry is that that cell is not floating around in my body, im hoping if it is, the porolonged chemo ive chosen will wipe it out!! and i still have a 9 outa 100 chance it will return... the do great reconstructive surgery now a days... whatever you decide will be right for you... good luck,

latte, i hope your head heals soon, you poor thing. i sending you hugs and good thoughts!

well day 5 out from having #2 AC still have a head full of hair. what r clumps? i can pull a few strainds? but no clumps yet? my sis ordered me some cute scarfs and hats..

Workmother-->Glad to hear you are starting to feel better!  Hope your blood counts are good! 

My bp was something like 99/45.  I've never been that low before.  I'm waiting to hear from my onc. to see what he thinks is causing it.  Its probably just a se from chemo?  What did your onc say about it?   I'm hoping we won't have to change the chemo at all, yet I don't want to go through this the last 2 rounds either. Feel a bit better today, but have a bit of a fever. (It was 99.7 earlier, and usually I'm around 97.5 in the morning).

My onc. nurses give me a cup of ice chips to chew on when they are giving me the Adriamycin.  I haven't had bad mouth sores, but the inside of my mouth starts to feel chewed up and rough about a week after chemo.  I haven't had the "burned tongue" feeling--so maybe it helps?

Is there a cafe where you are? May you can get a cup of crushed ice?  Or fill a big insulated cup with ice chips--maybe some of them won't melt before chemo?

~T

To Sherry:

 I think the mistake in charting your weight could be very significant, Sherry. I was told at my treatment center that my weight/height would be checked every single treatment, because the exact numbers are critical in compounding the correct dosage for treatment.

If indeed the pharmacy compounded your treatment for a 271 lb woman while you weigh half that, you could have been overdosed at your first treatment, and that casts your extreme side effects in another light.  

Please check into it further. 

About me:

My right boobage where I had the lumpectomy has turned red. I should NOT google, as it looks exactly like the pics of inflammatory breast cancer. I called my onc's office last week, and they told me to continue with anit-biotics since I had no fever, and I'm scheduled to go in later today. I'm guessing infection (a stitch that didn't dissolve, a pocket from the lumpectomy?) but it is strange that I have no fever. I'll be glad when I find out what the heck is going on. IBC couldn't just show up overnight, could it?

Julia-->so sorry you are having a rough time with this.  I was so upset when I first found I had to have chemo--because I knew I'd lose my hair this time.  (chemo I had last year just caused thinning).   I've always been self-concious about my looks!  I think I'm ok with it now because its actually a little freeing for me to be able to look a little "different".  I have no choice, so I've been trying to have a little fun with it--colorful scarves, silly haircuts, etc.  Its sooo unlike me!  I wish I knew what to say to you--its just so dang hard to deal with sometimes!  Yes, it will grow back, but that's not always what we need to hear!  Just know that many of us share your pain, and are thinking good thoughts for you.

I just heard from my onc's nurse and he wants me on an antibiotic.  Other than that, she didn't say much.  I will see him on Monday (for #3 ac)and discuss everything then.  I keep hoping the Neulasta back pain will kick in, which means its working at building up my wbc!  SOOOO annoyed that I'm missing out on the few goods days I usually have between tx!

Sigh,

T

cebsmom-  if you are considering a mastectomy, I think they don't do RADS all the time.  Usually they do rads with lumpectomies.  Only you can make that decision, but be sure to talk to your Onc, as I think it might change or eliminate your RADS.

tmarina-  I'm so glad you got checked out.  I know the last thing we want to do is see a doctor (when they are not scheduled).  We are all so sick and tired of being sick and tired.  It must be a relief to get the good news about your heart.  I hope your Onc calls SOON with a good game plan.

It's over 100 degrees in NYC and my biggest prayer today is that we don't have a  black out.  NYC without AC in this heat would be scary.  I heard Toronto had a brownout yesterday when the Queen was visiting.  Her hotel went dark.  Wonder how she can find her hats!

Hi Mimi9186 and SKD,

 Thank you for your responses to my hair loss question. I am now on day 15 and starting to shed like a dog. I will wait till I thin a little more but I can see the inevitable is just around the corner. I will ask my husband to buzz my hair soon. He is bald and shaves his head. I bought some awesome hats for those of you who do not mind spending a bit try Lillie and Cohoe Hats. Their hats are funky and awesome. I think it is worth it. I may get one or two more today.

Take care,

Trusting

I am having a better day today.  Still some ickiness, but not as bad as the last few days.  Yay!   I do feel like an imposter going out in my wig.  LOL!

Regarding Adriamycin and mouth sores - I take an insulated tumbler with ice chips with me to chemo.  I chew on the ice while they're giving me Adriamycin.  So far, no mouth sores - knock on wood!!! 

I just want to say that I think all of you are so fantastic, supportive, generous and brave.  If I have to be a member of this club, I'm glad to be a member with you guys.  As we are all going through these up and down days, I just came across this quote and thought it fitting:

Seize the day.  Think of all the women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. Erma Bombeck

thank you, i think it was a misprint, im on AC every 14 days x 4 then taxol once a week x 12.. im thinking the AC is dose dense but i dont know, im freaking over my hair now, please tell it gets better!!!!

Designermom, you are wonderful!!!!!

sherry im so glad your feeling better!!! lets keep it that way!!!

I pray we all have a good week!

So, does anyone else have a super sensitive scalp with the hair loss?  mine feels sunburned right down the middle from front to back.  I'm trying to decide if it is infact sunburned, or just another chemo SE.  It was sunny this weekend, but i mostly stayed out of it or wore a hat.

Julia 

Bon,

Do you have attachments for the clippers for different lengths?  Or are you really going for all over bald?  My onc didn't want me to go too short and risk any nicks or cuts, today we did a number 4 blade attachment first, then took it down further with a number 3.

Julia

Sherry- We'll be right here thinking of you tomorrow.  PLEASE follow Kaycee's very good suggestion and confirm they have the correct weight for your dosage.  Call me paranoid (no, I worked in the medical field and saw WAY too many stupid mistakes), I check EVERYTHING, including what they are giving me for chemo. 

Bon-  probably the most important thing when buzzing your hair with your friend is preparing the cocktails correctly.  I hope you drink, otherwise make a great virgin one and whoop it up anyway.  I buzz my DH hair all the time.  With the attachments, you just run the clipper along the head.   I hear you should not shave it completley bald because the little hair stubbs get stuck and can be irritating.  Someone said no shorter than the #2 attachment.  Latte tried using a lint roller to get the little loose hairs and it worked well.

Thanks to all for the ice chips in the insulated mug idea! Why didn't I think of that? My DH is in the kitchen right now banging away on ice cubes to prepare me for tomorrow. Went for my 3rd acupuncture today. I've been going every week since I started chemo. Hope it keeps away the SEs!! Thinking I'm not going to sleep much tonight anticipating AC #2 tomorrow morning.

I think its amazing that neither my onc. or the chemo nurses warned me about the low BP side effect, especially since I'm on meds. At least now I know to check it and adjust my meds if it drops!

Im doing the hair buzz on Thursday after the Neulasta shot. The place where I'm getting my wig is doing it. Wonder if I can bring a bottle of wine with me? Are we allowed to drink on chemo? I never asked.

workmother - i was also on bp meds and my onc never told me low bp was a possible side effect. even when i told her what had happened to me, she sounded surprised. i was quite upset that she hadn't told me. but there's a lot of info on the web about it.

isla - shame i didn't get your buzz cut instructions before i did mine - would have been a lot more fun!

kittycat - i definitely recommend a lint roller to get all the loose hairs out - it's fun, and quite satisfy to see them stuck to the sticky paper :-)

 julia2 - sore scalp is definitely part of the process for hair loss, but it will pass. don't know if you know, but the chemo also causes changes to melatonin (or something?), which means that you can get burnt straight away in  the sun - make sure you always cover up and wear high SPF sunscreen.

cheyenna - every two weeks is dose dense. so maybe your hair is just hanging in there for a bit longer?

Hi Ladies,

I have been off the boards for several days and have so much to catch up on.  First, I made out ok for the first 3 days after my second AC treatment last week.  By Friday though I was so tired I could barely make it through the day.  We went camping for the long weekend and I could barely find the energy to go.  Anyway, I had buzzed the head in anticipation of the hair loss thing but still had a stubble (#2) going on.  Well when I took my hair off Friday I had the bald circle look going on!  I only shed a tear or two and then we went ahead and razored it the rest of the way. 

 Anyway, like several of you I had a terrible time with exhaustion all weekend!  I never ran a fever but definitely had hot flashes that raised the old body temperature.  Then I started with the sneezing and sinus congestion.  Still no fever though.   My blood counts were on the low side but still in acceptable range so Dr recommended as much rest as possible.  Can you sleep your life away???

Well today is one week beyond treatment and I am feeling more normal.  I am just not sure how this is going to work when I go to the weekly treatment for Taxol.  What happens when you don't have a week to recover? 

I refuse to give up so I just keep pushing forward.  Thanks to all of you for the great advice on how you are handling the SE's.  I am so grateful not to have the nausea too.  I send out hugs and well wishes to all of you.