Chemo June 2010

SKD - you got MAC makeup at the Look Good Feel Better seminar??? Wow -so lucky! I got a few cool things in my bag.  I like the daily eye cream I got (Dove) and they gave me 2 of them!  Congrats on not needing radiation and being done with treatments! 

Kittycat,  sorry for your scare!    Have you tried anything like Ensure?   I like the chocolate ones and  (when going through separation & divorce)   drank those when I had no appetite.   I've got some on hand now but  (thankfully)  haven't really needed them.

Nobody told me not to eat lettuce.   I've had several salads from restaurants and enjoyed them very much - whoops!

I think my taste buds are fried and I've been craving very flavorful things such as mexican foods, bbq,  sour hard candies and a lot of juice.   

Hello I hope it's ok to drop in here. I have not started my chemo but wanted to read about people who have gone through it. I am getting 4 treatments of CT. It is so great to see you all sticking together through this. I wish you all well.

SKD...Great news that you won't need rads!  That must feel great, to know that you have been able to skip that long process.

Kitty...Glad your DH was there to catch you!

JFV...Happy that your drive to rads tx will be shorter. Mine, too. I'll be going 35 to 40 minutes each way vs. 75 to 90 minutes, so I'm elated to cut down on the drive time. I originally thought I was supposed to get 25 rads tx but looks like I'm in for 33. Lucky me.

About fruits and veggies...Early on I was instructed not to eat any raw fruit or veggies, not even some you can peel. Bananas were OK and apples, if peeled, not tomatoes. And nothing green and leafy. I cheated, bought a good salad spinner and washed iceberg or romaine at home (but only ate it occasionally), but nothing cut up and packaged or in restaurants, not even on a sandwich. My oncs instructions were that while you are so immunosuppressed you should avoid the foods that are the greatest risk...like ecoli from organic spinach that killed a number of people a few years ago and the packaged, salad greens that so often have to be recalled. (He also told me to say clear of ground beef since that is the biggest animal source of ecoli. And he said to limit the meals I ate in restaurants to places I really knew kept a clean kitchen).  I'm glad no one who has been eating fresh stuff has become ill. I've missed big salads and I'm back on fresh fruit and veggies now that I'm post chemo and my WBC are running on the high side. I actually had a lobster roll yesterday with fresh celery in the lobster salad with a lettuce leaf under it. Felt human to order something without telling the waitress to leave off this and that. My dietary restrictions now are really just to help stave off the GERD...so nothing fried or spicy or citrus.I suppose that will help me to diet since I've gained weight, not lost it, during the chemo.

JFV I do not take steroids at home, I get a dose in my IV at each Taxol

Dmom - thanks for the info - so if i was only going to get one book, would you recommend the sonoma book over the cancer-fighting kitchen book? could you also take a quick look for me please and tell me if one is much more "american-centric" than the other? (in terms of ingredients that are hard to find outside of US, and only-US measurements/temperatures etc.) thanks a lot!

i'm so happy that some of you are finishing up chemo already - today i reached the past-halfway point in my taxol -only 5/12 tx left to go. today i sat next to someone who is 4 weeks ahead of me, with similar tx and dx, and we had such fun talking. ieven forgot to take my ativan before the tx and didn't notice it! the time flew by.

Hi All,

I hope you are doing well and that many of us have come to the end of our chemo treatments or are getting there. I have two more Docetaxol left. One tomorrow and I must say after being SO sick with febrile neutropenia I am nervous. I am hoping it goes ahead though cause the one tomorrow will be my second last treatment and I want to get chemo over with. That will leave me with one treatment to go in early Oct. How are the rest of you doing? Any of you Docetaxol girls let me know how you are doing with your treatments.

Take care,

Trusting 

Tmarina.how it go today? mine went well so far (knock on wood) ihave 8 more to go, im getting there. i hope you have a great week!

Grney5600, how are you doing? i hope things went well and you good!

JFV, im sorry about your ONC, im not to thrilled with mine, there office is so messed up, they lost 2 ONC so things r backed up, its a mess! but i hear from everyone she is the best, either way im stuck at this point lol, yes im feeling much better about things, well as good can get dealing with this. yes, im waiting for mine to go as well, can u get fake eyebrows, that like stick ons? my are so dark everyone will notice!!the eyelashes i cover with dark liner on the line just above and below low the eyeball i dont know what that thin line is called

Dmom, thank you for all the info, your right im feeling much better! its time to look into eating habits now. no more sugar for me. lol

latte, im so glad your almost there!! yea!!! i have 8 more outa 12, right behind you,i cant wait to be done!!! i dont have to have rads, but should ask why? i know women who had MX's and have had rads,hmmmm

gin2ca, in so glad your done with chemo,not till second week in  November for me, good luck with your rads!!!

SKD, yea!!! no rads, im happy for you

bon, how is mom doing? ive been thinking about her,

kittycat, wow what a scare! i hope your feeling better, im thinking of you. oh, i assume DH is hubby? i have been meaning to ask, what does it stand for?

vicky,we miss you!

as for me, im feeling good, i  had # 9 Taxol today no probs  so far but. i know i will sleep all day tomorrow since its 1 am here now, must be steroid high? all blood counts good, the office is a mess' worse then before. i was told today, i dont see ONC next Monday just blood but the following week they said they dont have an appt to give me before my chemo on Monday for blood just ONC visit? the could test my blood on Friday but that is 72 hours before chemo!!!! a lot can happen to blood in 72 hours. my ONC told me when i started Taxol she would not ever test me on Fridays( easier for me) cause she not comfortable with the time frame?? but its ok now? im a lil pissed off, i need my blood tested the day of or the day before, i asked the hospital where i get my chemo, they r so good to me there but they said they wont give me chemo unless is 48 hours or less, hmmmm what do i do? guess i will call the office nurse, she told me once before i had my teeth cleaned just come in anytime and they will test me to make sure counts r up? i really hate that office though the nurse and girls who take blood are great!! i guess i have 2 weeks to work it out with them, my sister just looked at the girl and said, how does she get her chemo then? she just looked at her and said we r just so booked up!! REALLY! lol i will make sure its not a misunderstanding before i complain too much

ok i hope you all stick around cause my chemo dont end till November, im soooo happy so many of us almost done but i dont want to lose any of you!! ill be the only one left in the june chemo thread lol

im thinking of you all and pray no SE's

love to all Chey

Chey-I know what you mean about the steroid high. I have #5 TCH tomorrow and I had to start with the pre meds this morning. I know I will be up all night!

I had my last fill yesterday! PS said to schedule my exchange surgery for November. I finally see a light at the end of the chemo & tissue expander tunnel. I walked out of there smiling

Mimi:   I get my last Docetaxel on Thursday.  I meet with the onc later today. i was going to ask for a dosage reduction because of the bone pain and other side effects. But it's my last infusion, and with gabapentin last time, the bone pain was for only five days... maybe I could just be brave and deal with it. I don't know. I found the neuropathy much more intense and lasted for days and days this time, on my hands, feet, and face. This is rough for sure, but after hearing about you and Trusting with the febrile neutropenia, I am thinking I got off easy.

Yesterday I got the results from the tumour board. They are definitely recommending mastectomy.I have already had 2 excisions, they got the IDC, but not all the DCIS.  I have a consultation with the surgeon in November to review options for reconstruction.

How long does it take to recover from mastectomy?

Northern Girl - I had a mastectomy on the right side and the PS did the implant at the same time. In fact the two surgeons wound up assisting each other. Because of that, I have not been able to do much exercising...the PS doesn't want me to put any pressure on that side - in fact I can't even sleep on that side. I also had 15 nodes removed so that also impacts recovery time. Hoping to get back to playing golf and swimming soon... Good Luck to you!

I had Taxol/Herceptin #3 last Friday - am having lots of bone and body aches..anyone else having this on the weekly treatments?They seem to bother me more at night. Taking tylenol, but it's not really helping that much. I'm happy to have my appetite back but not looking forward to 9 more weeks of body aches.

Blood counts are back to normal - didn't need neupogen shot #3 Monday. 

Cheyenna - glad you are feeling better. 

Hugs to all. 

Hello ladies,

I had to get my emotions under control. I had gone into a depression... just got tired of looking like a stranger.. I don't even recognize myself anymore..

I will be going to my last treatment tomorrow.. Mixed emotions... dreading the side effects but will be glad when this is all over.. I know I will be on steroid high and full of pain.. the benadryl does not even put me to sleep anymore.. so I am actually watching the clock..I think tomorrow I will ask for something that will make it go fast.. I will be by myself, husband has to work.. the eye brows have thinned out a whole lot and the eye lashes appear to be the same.. I thought my hair was growing back but that was wishful thinking.. the hair on my legs well I haven't had to shave all summer and still don't..on my arms it is really thin.

I will be stopping at marc's on the way home for those 10 dexamethodone pills.. and 15 vitamin waters.

I will have to try the Mac counter and then have someone show me how to draw them on..

 I missed a lot while I was away.. but I want all of you to know that I did pray for each of you while I was gone... I will be glad when this journey is over for all of us..

@Chey, the journey is over but not the voyage.. Honey I don't think any of us is going anywhere.. this is just the begining...

We will still need cyber hugs...

Hi Chey!  You sound so much better--hope you continue to feel better!  I have Taxol #3 next Monday--this past Monday was just Herceptin.  Taxol has been giving me lots of aches and pains, but my onc gave me Percocet and that works pretty well.  Other than that I am doing pretty good!  This week I'm feeling much better!

Northerngirl--I had a lmx w/o recon and it took me about 3 weeks to recover.  I had it doen May 24th, and I didn't have much pain or problems.  I took Percocet for a few days, but after that I just used ibuprofen and tylenol if needed

To you Canadian girls on docetaxel--I'm thinking about you this week!  Hoping this one goes MUCH better than the previous ones!!

 Vicky--sorry to hear you've been depressed. I hope you are feeling better today.  Let us know how the next tx goes--I'll be thinking about you tomorrow!

I'm starting to lose my eyelashes.  The last few days I noticed there were some missing on the lower lashes and the top ones looked a little thinner, though there were no gaps on top.  Today I was using my eylash curler and suddenly I felt something, and I just went "CRAP"  and "NOOOO!" and I was afraid to look!  Sure enough I pulled out a bunch of lashes--didn't hurt, they came right off.  So now I have most of them missing from one eye, and just a few from the other eye!  Good grief!  I've heard they grow back quickly, and I hope that is the case.  I have had to shave my legs again, although the hair grows very slowly.  I don't think anything is growing on my head.  For the first time, I felt like hiding for awhile!  But, then again, who cares what others think??

Tina