Chemo June 2010

Tina - congrats on finishing chemo - WOO HOO!!!

Sherry - I hope your pain subsides.  I get pain in my hips, too (my sister did on chemo, as well). 

tomorrow is Taxol #9.  Only 4 more to go.  Yeah!!!

JFV...I'd love a convertible with loads of seats. But unless I get a convertible stretch limo I think most have only 2 or 4 seats at most. We'll all just have to take turns having the wind blow our newly grown hair. I don't know if wigs will stand up to a convertible breeze!  And Joan...prayers for your DMI, Betty. I'm sure she is frightened and I hope that her anxiety is eased soon, since that alone can cause elevations in blood pressure and glucose.

Sherry...hope the pain subsides soon. But yes, I do think that SEs from chemo last for a long time, even past three weeks. My RO told me to take Advil for pain. I need to ask MO is he agrees. I would rather take plain old aspirin but they seem to think that interferes with blood clotting more than the rest. My arthritis pain is back. Could be the chemo drugs leaving my body and allowing old aches and pains to crop up again or it could be the cooler weather and lack of humidity making my joints more painful. I don't think I'll ever know the answer to that one. How long can I blame chemo for everything? Well, I still use the excuse of 'chemo brain' when I forget a name or a word or a million other things. Sounds good to me for now...Any excuse except for old age!

Oops...gotta go now to get 12th rads and then to get Herceptin IV. Busy day. And I have clients, too. Trying to keep all the plates spinning.  Hope none of yours hit the ground, either!

Has anyone been having feet cramps with the Taxol? When I go to bed or put my feet up, they cramp up and are very painful. I have to get up and push the foot flat on the ground to get relief. 

Bon - I watched that movie with my DH about a month ago. We are very lucky that the doctor refused to  give up and we have Herceptin today. 

Bucket List - Ireland, Paris - I've been to both but want to bring my husband.  Also getting old with my DH and 3 sisters and holding my great grandchildren!

Hi girls, im doing great!!  5 Taxols left, so far no se's, ive been off the board for awhile, i went back to work, can you believe it? im outa the house! lol I seem to sleep a lot more then normal, but i have been getting to the soccer games and shopping by myself, the mornings are kinda hard for me cause i dont know what to do with myself but i think im doing soooo much better!!!I have 5 taxols left.. YAY!!!

Tmarina, wow, you did it!!! i cant wait till im done!!! im excited for you!!!! im doing good, thank you for thinking of me, im just sooo ready to be done with chemo!!

sherry, you poor thing, and your still hanging in there, my heart goes out to you!! you are a true inspiration!!!

JVC, your done too!! yay!!! wow i cant believe how many of us are done!! i knew i would be one of the last to be done, but the more of my sisters that finish the closer i am, 5 more for me.. Betty will be in my prayers and thoughts!!!!

kittycat, im right behind you, we are almost there!!!! im so ready to be done,im worried about the se's that might start kicking in though.

Dmom, im gonna start my bucket list today!! my chemo brain is so bad my lil guy tells me he should drive cause he can remember where he is going and i forget, lol i found my keys for the 10 time this past two weeks, i wish i could forget to eat!! ive gained 10 lbs,lol

lizzyann, ive had no pain yet with the Taxol,but i know getting a cramp is the worst!! im sorry..

bon,hello you,it seems the rads go so fast, how is your mom doing? i was thinking about her, i pray all is well!!! 

i love this time of year, the breeze is coming in and its starting to feel like fall, i love it!!!

love to all, Chey

Hi All,

I am so glad for those of you who have finished. Chemo just is not fun. I had my last Docetaxol yesterday and I am now done with this chemo crap too  Now all I have to do is weather the SE and let us hope they are minimal. I look forward to my hair growing back along with my eyelashes and eyebrows. Now it is on to deciding upon unilateral or bilateral mastectomy and then radiation. The journey continues as it will for all of us. I felt so good walking out of chemo. I do not want to do that again!

Take care,

Trusting 

congrats to everyone who is finishing chemo! I have 2 taxols to go, and today had an ultrasound where they can't see the breast lump at all, and there is one lymph node that is 1.5cm (don't know if this is good, but it was 3cm before chemo started).

lizzyanne and mimi - my dr told me that leg cramps can be caused by a lack of magnesium. next time you have a blood test, you should ask to get magnesium levels checked, because it is easy enough to fix if it is too low.

latte, thats is great news!!!!!!!! plus you only have 2 left, ill be thinking of you on Monday!! i have 5 left.

julie yay!!!! your DONE!!!!

trusting, make that a double YAY!!!! it seems everyone is almost there, its been a long road,im so glad its coming to an end!!!

Lizzyanne: Yes, my right foot is cramped - the three middle toes - at night is the worst.  I went to an accupuncturist and I can't say that it's way better but it may have helped a little.  It's SE from the Taxol. Congrats to all the ladies who are done with chemo- WOO-HOO!

WOW!  So many of you wrapping up the chemo train.  I can't remember all of you (chemo brain you know) but I am very happy for each one of you!  I hope this doesn't mean our online friendship is coming to an end.  That would make me very sad.

I did get to have my first chemo tx today.  I had mixed feelings, but wanted to get it started.  I couldn't look at the Epirubicin vials when they did the push because it reminded me of Adrimiacin.  It was red and it seemed like she had 50 vials of the stuff!  The nurse did tell me that my onc decreased all my chemo meds by 25% in the hopes of minimizing the SE's. I was light headed and felt weak by the time we left today and I came home and slept HARD for 5 hours in spite of having decadron in my pre tx bag!  

I also have to have Nuelasta the day after each tx and I wasn't aware of that.  My onc didn't mention that at my last visit.  That scares me as much or more that the tx itself.  After all, it was the Nuelasta shot that put me over the edge I think when I started out and I ended up in the hosptial.  But I will take it and just have to hope for the best.  I am slightly nauseated tonight but I have taken Phenergan for tonight and tomorrow morning will take my Emend, Zofran and Decadron regardless of how I'm feeling.  One question:  do you guys take the Claritin before or after the Neulasta?

I'm sorry my last few posts have been more complaining that being uplifting.  I'm finding it hard some days to stay positive.  I'll just have to work harder on that!

 Chey:  glad to hear you're well enough to go back to work.  I think it helps mentally and physically.  I feel stronger after going back to work.  Now at the end of the day I don't feel stronger, LOL, but I do think it has helped.

Love you guys.  Phenergan is beginning to kick in.  Hope I have a good sleep tonight.

Kitty-  thanks for sharing about your MIL and FIL.  I can relate.  It is so so hard to watch them live in denial.  My MIL is her own worst enemy and I get angry at her and feel very guilty for my anger.  Her angiogram has been delayed for 5 days because she has a skin infection.  None of it sounds good.

beau- I know the worst of the SEs are done for you now.  But, maybe you should call your Onc or a chemo nurse and relate your symptoms.  That way if there is another chemo cancellation you could have a plan to fight the side effects.  Cancer is hard enough without all that extar stuff.

renee-  Welcome and feel free to vent.  I think this is the only safe place to let it all hang out for many of us.  Only another woman in the middle of the BC fight can really relate to your struggles.  Share with us what you want whenever you want to.  We are here.

Sherry- Don;t worry about sharing your bad feelings with us.  Chemo world truly s*cks.  We are hear to cheer you through.  We all have bad days.  In fact I had a really bad day yesterday for no apparent reason and already yelled at my husband today. 

Gonna' try to keep busy today to keep my mind off my problems.  Praying for all of you!

I won't be going anywhere either. I have Herceptin through June of next year. I'm here to stay.

Also, my exchange surgery is scheduled for December 1st. Trying to think of an appropriate take on "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front ______"

Beau, I had almost a "steroid rage" when taking the steroids as a pre med.  I just completely lost it on my family one morning over some really trivial matter.  Steroids can actually cause pychosis is some people.  After that, my onc cut my steroid dose in half and it made it much better.  Also liberal use of ativan at those times is helpful

Trusting, WAY TO GO! I was so happy to see the last of the Docetaxol too.

Thanks for all the suggestions on foot cramps.  I will try them all. I certainly won't be going off this board.  I need all of my new friends to get through not only active treatment, but the support for after treatment as well.  I am here as long as you are. We still need to plan a get together at some central point when we are all through treatment and recovered.

Love and Hugs, Mimi

HOORAY and a big fat HAPPY DANCEfor all who have finished chemo!  Yippee for you!  And for those of you still plugging along with the infusions, we are all still here for you, cheering you on, drip by drip. I think that when the last of our wonderful sisterhood on this board finishes with chemo we all have to make a pact to go outside that night and let out a big loud howl at the moon!  A collective "YAOOOOO"...we're done with chemo! I was happy when I finished mine but will be thrilled when we are all through with chemo and moving on to the next phase. So, what do you say? Are you with me on the howl? Whomever is the last to finish here has to keep us posted on the date when we'll be letting that old man-in-the-moon hear us roar.

I try to read your posts but am so tired lately that I can hardly keep up with them, let alone reply in any intelligent way. The rads tx (13 done, 20 to go) have finally kicked my butt and I'm just exhausted. I'm still trying to keep all the plates spinning and have my days filled from before dawn until dark, but I just collapse when I get home and haven't any energy to do much but feed the animals and crawl in bed. This week the RO told me to cut my schedule and rest more. So as of next week I'll try to work smarter, not harder. Plus, my dear friend from the Keys is coming tomorrow for a week to help out. I am so blessed to have some really wonderful friends, near and far, who have helped me in so many ways. My song for today is "I get by with a little help from my friends...a little help from my friends."