2005 ROCK-TOBER CHEMO GIRLS

Jane! I am planning to go wig shopping tomorrow, may get my hair cut short too. We will have to compare notes after our shopping trips! I had my chemo class today and got my drain removed. Came home feeling pretty yucky (haven't even started chemo yet!) and sore. I hope I feel better tomorrow so I can go shopping!

Brenda....I'm not having a port put in either because my oncologist said she likes how my veins work. She said she avoids any foreign object if she can. If my veins end up not being good, they'll put the port in and I'll go back and get the chemo that one day. It's funny...I was more scared of the port than the actual chemo! Hopefully, my veins will pull through!

-AMY

HI,
I would call your insurance company and find out which wig salons they recognize.... because insurance covers them! You get an Rx from your doc for a Head or Cranium Prosthesis and if you go to a salon that is authorized you usually only have to pay less than a third. A good wig can run $300 and up.

Your onc's office will also have places to suggest.

My suggestion is to get one that matches your hair- they even have highlighted ones- and then have your stylist cut it while it is on you to your regular style. You never miss a beat that way and when it is hard to get adjusted to it in the beginning seeing a familiar face with your normal hair in the mirror is so comforting.

All prostheses are covered by insurance- so if you had a mast and no recon your special bras and prothesis are covered.

Ruth...so great that your first treatment went so well! one treatment down...what a good thing to have!

-amy

Hey, Ruth - I started chemo last Friday too, and pretty much the same experience. I've had some headaches and some nausea, but so far it has been too bad. The worst thing I've had is itching from where they put my port in, but that seems to be getting better - plus I feel a little "foggy" now and then.

Glad to hear you are having a reasonable time of it too. I think all the love and support I'm getting from friends and family has helped. And all the good words from others on the boards here that have been through it helps, doesn't it?

Plus my daughter called early this morning to give us the news she passed the bar exam!!! What could be better than that?

Hope you continue to do well with your treatment. I'm going every three weeks - how often are you going for treatment?

God Bless and stay positive!!

Lynn

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Hi Ladies,
I asked them why I wasn't getting a port, and they said it's because my veins are good. Does that sound right? Should I be grateful?

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It must be a personal doctor preference sort of thing because I think my veins are okay, but my oncologist said she wanted me to have one and I agreed. Maybe it's because I'm sort of a wimp when it comes to needles, pain, surgery, etc.

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Where do people go to buy wigs?

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I looked in the yellow pages under wigs. There's one place in town that specializes in wigs for Chemo patients. I was thinking of going today, but didn't

Jane

Hair adjustments: I went to pull my hair back into a pony tail, but then remembered I couldn't because it had been cut--I guess that's a first step toward accepting the "no hair" thing?

--I ordered and received in the mail a couple of skull caps from Sparkling Earth. They have some cute fabrics--although I'm still not looking forward to needing them. I figure I may not always want to wear a wig . . .

Just random thoughts only you folks would understand,
Jane

Congrats on the news of the grandbaby - none of my three children have yet to produce any offspring for me to spoil - so I'm practicing on all my nieces and nephews - ought to have it down to a fine art pretty soon!!

I almost wish I were getting the two week dose so I could get through this sooner - but hey, just glad I'm doing well so far!!!

Stay positive!!!

Lynn

Well, I thought I'd be starting chemo in October, but it looks now like it will be toward the end of October. My surgeon told me today that I'm nowhere near ready for chemo as I have much more healing to do (my surgery will be two weeks ago tomorrow). I do have an appointment with someone at the oncologist's office on Monday so we can at least discuss my options and maybe work out a schedule or something.

I'm feeling pretty low right now. I'm hurting and am about out of pain meds and muscle relaxers. I had a bad experience at a store with people refusing to help me move a chair but cramming fingers in their ears while I pushed/drug the chair to where I wanted it. My husband is acting like he's losing patience with me when I ask for help. I'd just do everything myself, except for the fact that the pain in my chest and under my arms keeps me from being able to reach where I need to reach. I have to have help in the bathroom if I do more than tinkle (sorry, I know that's TMI). I have to have help showering . . . or at least a chair to sit on half-way through. I have to have help drying off because I can't reach back far enough to dry my back by myself. I desperately need to start my Reach to Recovery exercises. I've asked him to help, but I have a feeling I'll be totally on my own on this. It's breaking my heart because I was my mom's caregiver and she never, ever had to yell to get help. I have to yell repeatedly and then I get yelled at for yelling. I can't win for losing.

Sorry. I just needed to vent. I feel like I don't fit in anywhere and I want so badly to be well again.

I'm new here. I was diagnosed with DCIS (multifocal, high grade)in one breast in June, and with DCIS, LCIS in the other in August. Stage 0 disease. Early. No problem as long as I react and all that. I had a bilateral mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction on September 14th. I was told there was a 1 - 3% chance of positive nodes, but they would do a sentinel node dissection on each side all the same. I had positive nodes. 0 of 4 on one side, and 2 of 2 on the other. My pathology report still is not complete. They can't find the invasion in the breast tissue and are trying to get the hospital where I had the initial surgical biopsy to recut the slides to see if there was a tiny tumor in there that might have been overlooked. I saw one oncologist last Friday who said I am now stage III. I cried all weekend. I just lost it. It was worse than grieving over losing both breasts and all feeling there. She called back yesterday and said it's more likely I'm stage II. That came five days late. I'm trying to get my hopeful attitude back. She said 4 rounds of A/C and 4 of Taxol. 3 weeks spacing. That sounds like a whole lifetime! Then radiation. She wants to know if the breast surgeon is going to take out more nodes. He said there is no point, the jury is out on that, it'll only make lymphedema concerns worse. I'm seeing another oncologist today. I'm pretty lost. I don't know about the estrogen factor. Will the pathology report automatically tell me about HER 2? I have to recuperate more from the reconstruction to start chemo. If I had had any idea maybe I wouldn't have put myself through the reconstruction.

Hi Mrs Bee

I'm in the Sept chemo thread, but I pop in here to see if I can help anyone who is following in my footsteps..so to speak.

This phase of your treatment will end, although you probably dont feel that right now.

If you need help...continue to ask for it.
Your needs come first at the moment, and tough if your hubby doesn't like it, just remind him how it would be if the shoe was on the other foot!

I too had to wait for chemo, as my second mastectomy took a long time to heal, but i got there in the end...as you will too.

Take each day, or hour, as it comes.

Take care of yourself

Sending you healing thoughts

Maxine

my husband and i just got our flu shots since chemo is shortly starting (next week!)

today...my husband is completely stuffed up and says he is achey with a sore throat. he's a bit of a worrier about getting sick and sometimes, i swear, he makes himself sick by simply telling himself he is. i think it's a combination of allergies and the flu shot, but i'm starting to freak out. what if he's sick with a cold? what will happen to me... i don't want ANYTHING to keep me from chemo next week because i just want to start...is there anything i can do to keep myself from getting sick before chemo??

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Jane - I didn't go wig shopping today either. I have an infection probably from the Lymph Node Surgery last week. I am running a low grade fever and feeling pretty YUCKY. The Dr. perscribed antibiotics, so I sure hope they kick in so I can go to work tomorrow. These are my last three weeks of feeling normal before chemo, I don't want to be sick!!! I am going to try to go wig shopping on Monday.

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Hi Tracy,
Hope you are feeling a bit better today. Sorry about your infection--what a bummer. I am feeling a bit better today myself. I went to a follow-up appoitment with my surgeon and he said it all looked good. I head out to "Chemo Class" in about 20 minutes. No wig shopping yet.

Keep me posted,
Jane

Hi Brenda,
How many chemo treatments are you having? Maybe you're not going to need a port based on that. What day are you starting on and how long? From what I have heard and read, a port is the way to go. But the nurses will be able to answer your specific questions. As for the "wig thing". I went to a wig store, found the style/color I liked and then went to www.paulayoung.com and ordered one today. Much less expensive than at the wig store. Very important: go to the website and see how they show you to measure your head. The right fit is EVERYTHING. It will make the wig alot more comfortable. The one I ordered is very similiar to my current hairdo, so I don't think my dog will notice the change.

Very funny - my dog has done the same thing to me too since I was diagnosed! I have an adorable little Maltese. This breed has been referred to as the "healing dog". I hope it works! What kind of dog do you have?

I am starting 16 weeks (Dose Dense) on Oct. 26 - port insertion on Oct. 24.

Much luck to you.