Calling all TNs

Juanita - sorry for all that you're going through, but Pam said it best - take it one day at a time.  Adriamycian is hard, but they do monitor your heart with scans and test before, during and after. 

Bubbalu - welcome - you'll find a great support system here.

Cathy - I may not have choosen the right words when I said arm exercises.  It was more stretching and movement to keep things from getting too tight and to loosen up the muscles.  Glad things are going well.

heidi - not sure if you're interested, but my Mom and sister take a lot of supplements and one that my Mom swears by is Milk Thistle, her dr told her to take it years ago.  Recently I've come across several articles saying that Milk Thistle is good for cleansing the liver.  I guess there must be something to it.  But....like with everything talk to your dr first.

Love Senor MacFry and his side kick Baba Looey...

ACK, sorry if I posted in the wrong area....I'm new on here and still learning to navigate and what areas are best for me. Thank you for the guidance.

HI - have not been on the website for awhile.  Kind of been down in the dumps.  Thursday is my 3rd out of 4 Taxotere treatments (was alergic to Taxol).  I had been doing fine with SEs until this last treatment.  Everything from my waist down hurt.  I had chemo on Thursday and ended up spending all of Sunday in bed.  I felt pretty bad the whole rest of the week but I was able to get to and from work.  The onc said it was mostly from the Neulasta shot.  Strange since I had Neulasta with all 4 AC and never had SEs.  Then the next weekend my nose bled every day, once a day for about 4 days.  So, for the girl that was breezing through chemo, it finally caught up with her.  Now I am dreading chemo on Thursday.  The doc gave me a prescription for Vicodin.  I'll see if that helps if the SEs get as bad as last time.  I hate taking drugs if I don't have to -- ha-ha -- too funny from someone who now takes more drugs than they probably have taken their whole life.  Anyway - how about something fun.  I won a trip to Las Vegas over the Labor Day weekend.  Luckily it was in between chemo so I felt fine.  I went for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy telethon.  The company I work for raised over $300k for MDA and they asked us to come to Vegas to present the check at the national telethon.  I was on TV and wore a pink hat.  It was fun, although I left ALL my money in Vegas and since I get tired pretty easy I did not get to walk the strip which I usually like to do whenever I go to there.  But a free mini-vacation is great!!!  Gotta straighten up the house - the girl that cleans is coming tomorrow and I need to go to bed and get some rest.  Take care everyone.           

Monika - yes, I experienced moodiness (.,,just ask my DH. lol).  I think the bulk of the irritability was due to the steroid crash a few days after chemo.  Then I'd return back to "normal".

Kelli,  Sorry about your veins but congratulations on only 2 left.:)

Access Code- here's a snippet from another thread:

 "you would have to look up  under member list  a Timtam.  You pm her and ask her to enter the site, she will pm you the access code.  For confidentiality she checks the posts to make sure that you are a legit. member and doesn't grant access to those who have not been established here.  The process will take a week for her to get back to you."

You could try that OR Google mastectomy photos on-line and select the "Images" link. I've done that before for DEIP procedure photos.

Hi Ladies,,

wow ..very active group here... always something new to read everyday. So far im doing fine.. look like a plucked chicken is all.. head feels very sensitive... my wig feels like a bathing cap ..so I wear my scarfs most of the time.  Hve an appt. on Friday to have my Legs checked again by the Dermatologist....  have that Erythema Nodusum  thingy.  Legs still very sensitive but look alot better than last week thats for sure. funny thing is... I lost my hair, my eyelashes and eyebrows are still there and one good thing is that my fingernails are growing like weeds....  I always was a nailbiter...hence the tips question long ago....now all of a sudden i've stopped biting my nails, and they are growing  and growing..... I love that effect 

Go and figure ??!!

Anyway therapy nr. 3 next week is a go ahead.. then I start with the taxotere therapy...

What can I expect from that?

Hi everyone,

Well, saw my Oncologist for the first time yesterday.  Chemo starts Sept. 16.  In the mean time I have to go have the echo of the heart and the medi-port put in.  His nurses decided my veins wouldn't hold up and I was glad for that because I so hate IV's.  I would be such a basket case if I had to do IV's every time.  They will numb the port, wait an hour, get my blood work, wait for results and then do my treatment if everything is OK with blood results.

I have to have 4 AC, every 2 weeks and then 12 Taxol, every week.  He said the neuropathy sets on at the end of the Taxol stage and if I've had 9-10 Taxol treatments and the neuropathy is getting worse, we'll stop with the Taxol as he doesn't want to cause a secondary health problem.  3 weeks after chemo ends, I start the 33 rads.

He said I will have Emend and Decadron with the chemo through IV and I will be given a script for Ondansatron and Lorazapam to use the days after.  He gave me tips that I will be given ice chips during chemo and he wants me to suck on/chew them throughout treatment and they keep bowls of hard candies at chair side during chemo to help with mouth sores.  He allayed a lot of my fears and I'm ready to get started, to get it over.  I will lose all my hair within 17 days of my first treatment, only I won't.  If I feel well enough that first day, I'll go to the shop after my treatment and have her shave it.  I will NOT let chemo take my hair, I'll damn well do it myself thank you very much!

So, it is here, it is happening.  Grrrrrr!  He told me by being TN, if I don't do chemo I have a 30% chance of recurrence.  With chemo that drops to 12% recurrence.  He told me TNBC is NOT a death sentence and also that my node negative and my 1.1 cm tumor shifted the balance a bit back in my favor and I had an 80% chance of cure.  That odd could be better but it's all I have.

I'm gonna need all of you who have already been through this.  I really want to kick chemos butt rather then the other way around.  I hope and pray I'm strong enough to get through this.

hfheidi- So sorry that you are going to have to do chemo. but you sound ready to put up a fight. You'll do good! I hate I Vs too and that little device was a big help. Be sure to check into the "Starting Chemo. in Sept." topic. It's very helpful to communicate with other women going through chemo. at the exact same time.  My onc. didn't use the numbing cream. When I asked them about it they said they didn't see a need for it.  Anyways, right now it's scary we know, but you'll see, you are stronger than you ever imagined. Hang tough and fight like a girl!

Cathy, that is wonderful news!!!!  Woo Hoo indeed.  How are you feeling now from your surgery?

Luah- I felt exactly the same way you do... walking into the cancer center kind of creeped me out. It isn't a place I choose to be, and it is/was a very big reminder of the most challenging moment in my life. Period. Nope, nothing else like the infusion room... I don't care how nice the nurses were/are.... it is NOT a place I want to be ever again. Which brings me to:

Paulding- I think you confused me with Jwatrlily. I am NOT having chemo.

TEST

Hmmm... not sure what all that junk is after my message...

Jwatrlily -- a little rough.. mostly the drainage tubes suck as the swelling in my chest goes down I can feel them more and more. Noticed my muscles in my shoulders, arms, and chest are tightening but talked to my  surgeon today and he said to start easy range of motion and change to showering in morning when I get up to loosen them up. But overall its going well. My girls are taking good care of me. Of course the fentanyl patch is helping a whole bunch.

Cathy - glad to hear the good news and that you are healing.

Monika - I was also moody.  I was very irritable for a few days, ending with a self pity day and then I was fine.  It seemed to go with the flow of the steroids coming into and out of my system (((hugs))) and have a bowl of ice cream, that always makes things better.

Cathy - wonderful news!

Luah - thanks for asking.  First day went well and I'm in again tomorrow for four hours.  I'm on a gradual return over a six-week period.  It felt good to roll up my sleeves and do a final edit on a project yesterday!!