Chemo starting in December 2010

 HI All,

(MSJAG) I start chemo on the 14th and my onc thought we should try it without the port.  I'm having 4 rounds 3 weeks apart with cytoxan/Taxotere.   Was starting to wonder if I was the only one having chemo without the port.   I had a Masecotmy on the right side the 10th of November, then back in a week later to remove the lymph nodes.  Luckly they all came out clean.  I really did not want to go in and have another sugery to put the port in.  I really don't want to loose my hair, but o-well.   I will get through it.   We all will.  Trying to stay positive.  Love and Prayers going out to you all.  

Hello all.  One done!! Yeah..did ok during chemo it self, no apparent allergies,  took about 4 hours with premeds, and one emend to take by mouth,.  I am starting to feel a tightness in my lower back,, called  my nurse and she said it was probably from sitting, even though I did get up often (like 6 or seven times to use the ladies room. anyone ever have this?  I am being told to go ahead and use advil/heating pad and to monitor and increasing discomfort.  I guess reality has hit, this was chemo and side effects to follow!!  I will tell you all that I took a fun friend, and we laughted so much, she surpised me with a purple feathery tiara to wear, and she brought a funny hat. Tthe chemo/infustion area was fun for all today!!  I took all your advice! Chewed ice, soaked in ice!! etc.   Appartently no one every used the ice for the nails.  Some one had to be first.  Veins did great, they did not feell a port would be needed right now to get the port for the three other visits. 

Hope all of you had a great chemo today, or are continuing to having good days from your chemo.

I do not have to have the shot tomorrow, blood will be taken each week before my next 12/3 and if needed then I will get the shot.  will jsut be monitoring my temp/s/e. I'm trying to stay awake and  just rest, so I will sleep tonignt!!  

 Big hug to everyone!

JoAnn

Hi Ladies -

   I'm new here but I have my port surgery tomorrow and am starting chemo on the 7th.  Everything is moving super fast.  I'm doing chemo before mastectomy since they think it might shrink the tumor to a more manageable size.  It seems like everyone else has had surgery first?

   I figure I'll be in bed for the next few days so that will give me time to read up on all of the fun things to expect in this crazy new adventure.  I stopped by the wig store the other day.  That was weird - I'd never even seen/held one before.  Contemplating cutting my long hair short but I know will make me cry just as much as losing it.  So I'm not sure which one is better.  I thought if I cut it off and donated it to one of those charities that makes wigs for kids then I'd feel better about it.  Like there would at least be a purpose.  I also saw that you can use your own hair to make a wig for yourself.  I'm not sure how weird that would be.  Its expensive though.  I guess I have no idea how I'll feel or how self conscious I'll be without hair so I don't know if I'll even want a wig.  Probably at least for work.  I teach so I don't want it to be weird for the students.   

   Anyway, glad to know there are some other people out there who are also embarking on this crazy ride.  I'm dose dense AC x4, the T x12.  So almost 5 months of this before surgery.   

 All the best - Nola 

First one is done!  All in all it was not bad.  I feel ok right now, just a little tired.  Last night I took the steroids (2 @ 4) and could not sleep.  I was wired.  I took a sleeping pill at 9 and it did not work.  They gave me a script for Ambien today to see if that works better then the generic one. 

I went into my doctor's office, had my vitals checked, and then went on to have my port accessed.  They had a hard time getting it in and then getting a blood return..I had to stand up, bend down, put my arms up and cough to get it to give.  It did not hurt that much when the stuck it.

I went downstairs to the chemo unit and had my own private area with a recliner and a view of the lake.  My dad and my boyfriend Eric were with me.  The premeds took about a 45 minutes with a 45 minute wait after.  Then the taxotere for an hour.  I slept for 1/2 of the taxotere until I woke up coughing.  It wound up to be nothing.  Carboplatin was 30 minutes, and herceptin was 90min.  I read my Nook, checked facebook, and looked at trashy gossip mags.  I was told to drink a lot, so I had to get up to go to the bathroom several times.

I'm off to nap for awhile.  Will check in soon.  MsJag glad to hear your session was alot of fun!  It's great to have a fun girlfriend who makes you forget about it.

Hello to all of you,

I am feeling better today. and the port thing is not a big deal.  I have been tired but think it may be me overthinking this whole thing as well.  Reality seems to be setting in that I am a week away from them putting this poison in my body.  Don't get me wrong I know it is supposed to be a good thing but it still scares the crap outta me to have this stuff injected into me.  I have never done any drugs and this is weird. 

Shelmel - Glad things went well today.  Reading about all of your girls first day experiences has given me great hope.  Although the hair loss is my biggest fear, now that I know it is inevitable it is just figuring out the logistics of the cutting my hair and transferring to the whole wig look.  My next biggest concern is the fatigue because I know that can be a pretty common SE and I am a pretty on the go (usually independent until now) person. No one on this end had heard about the Claritin thing either and so did not recommend.  As with you I will ride it out and just see I guess.

MsJag- Sounds like you have an amazing friend.  That makes it that much easier to have someone to laugh with and make the tx seem secondary to the rest of the day.

Lisa - I hope that you are feeling good after your shot.  I am thinking of you as I have heard both sides good and bad.

Good night to all and good rest to all of us

Hello fellow December chemo cancer warriors.

I thought I was going to start chemo this week, TC x 6, however, I still have a drain (5 weeks post bmx-had output of 70cc yesterday) and I have a spot that is not healed, so onc. said we will wait a week or two.  He was considering letting me have chemo with my drain (said he had never done it before, but doesn't know why it couldn't be done) but then he saw the quarter sized hole in my other breast and said that must heal first.  It hasn't heeled in 5 weeks, so I'm not sure what makes him think it will heal in the next week or two, but I am ready to move on with my journey.

It looks like almost EVERYONE has a port.  My onc also said that we would try it without a port and see what happens.  What worries me is that I had three nodes taken out of the arm that they will be using for the chemo and blood pressure and weekly blood work.  (the other arm had 22 nodes out, so they won't use it)

I am worried about LE since I had nodes out of that armpit.  The oncologist did not seem concerned about that.  Am I being paranoid? Should I insist on a port, or just see how it goes?

Good luck to everyone out there ahead of me,  Thanks for posting your experiences.  It makes this whole experience seem more 'doable' reading about others who are living through it.

 Cathy  everything seems ok for me as far as the veins, no port.  A tech did tell me to drink lots the day before and the morning of any blood test, IV stuff and to keep that hand warm before the tests/chemo.  It really worked, I could see veins in my hands/arms that I never saw before!! One stick and the nurse was in!  Usually its two or three..and painful. 

Steriods had me up every hours, but I kept drinking and hopefully flushed these chemicals away!! Feeling pretty good, water taste funny, am eating fine, a little at a time.  so far no nausea, or hand/feet issues. not sure when that would kick in.  Hope everyone is doing well today.

 Now I am wondering today why I am not getting the n shot after treatment, my onc wants me to wait a week and test my count to see if its low, to see if I even need the shot.  Does that sound reasonable? she took a blood count before treatment. Seems like everyone else is getting the shot after the first T/C treatment. 

Decided to take today off and clean, and start some holiday decorating...or maybe curl up on the couch and read!!!  Sending positve, peaceful thoughts to all.

JoAnn

Jo-

Waiting for Neulasta....

This is also what my Onc is doing....seems to be an option in the standard of care plan...

Hi All - I will be starting chemo this month also, a bit behind most of you it sounds like.  Have my appointment with the oncologist this afternoon but have already decided on neoadjuvant (unless there's a good reason to do something else).  I have Triple Negative and one positive node.  No other spots on the PET so I am hoping that is fairly definitive that it hasn't gotten anywhere else. 

I didn't realize there was a shortage of the A in A/C - how many of you are impacted by that?  

I appreciate everyone's tips about preparing for chemo - I've got a shopping list for this weekend.  I hope to get started soon!  not sure yet about a port - friend of mine highly recommended it but it sounds like it's not a huge deal for those of you that don't have one so plan to talk to the onc about that too as I like the idea of one less point of infection to worry about.

Glad to know there's a group to go through this with!

Donna

There is quite a group of us here and I don't want to leave anyone out! I hope everyone is having a good day!

My night was rough, but this afternoon I am coming around. EVERYTHING tastes funny. Yesterday at Chemo they told me not to eat my favorite thing for supper, because alot of patients have said they never want to eat it again. All I could manage was a bit of chicken breast anyways.

JoAnn you are my inspiration today after reading your post. I have been doing some laundry and housecleaning.. got a little sidetracked on cleaning the top of my gas stove! I am looking forward to Christmas and wanting to get the decorations out maybe this weekend. .

I get the shot this afternoon. I don't know why they are doing mine early..I just returned and she said it was just to boost my white blood cells before the next treatment.

Kim and Shel- also am getting the gene testing, mainly because my Mother was an only daughter and she is 89! (I was an after forty baby) The records going back to my Grandmother and her sisters wouldn't really show anything..everyone died so young back then! I would do the same Kim, less worry for you. I agree, I have three sisters and I am doing it so they have a heads up. Ironically,  today one of my sisters is going back for more mammogram pics.

What really astounds me is the difference in treatments among doctors medical groups. I feel so lucky I was sent to a new facility through my primary care physician. My sister who has a doctors group in the area do not use the facility. It seems so old fashioned..she has to wait wait wait. I am upset because they aren't doing an ultrasound, which was what found mine. I had the mammo and the ultrasound the same day!  I knew when I walked out that I had cancer!  I am trying not to get her too alarmed, but I feel frustrated. I guess I just needed to sound off a bit!

hugs to all!!!! Cathy

Hi Everyone -

I really want to respond to everyone, but I'm feeling not so good. 

I expected to really breeze through my frist chemo treatment. I had it yesterday (T/C) and the pre-meds wiped me out. They gave me so much stuff!!!! Decadron, steriods, Pepcid and even ativan. I actually slept through almost the entire treatment. Bummed me out because I really wanted to read my new Nook Color that my sweet hubby got me as an early Christmas present.

Anyway, got home and crashed. Everything was tasting funny. I went to bed early and woke up this morning feeling pretty good. And it all went downhill from there.

Took my Neulasta shot today and as the day has worn on I'm feeling worse and worse. Bones are hurting a little. When I was getting my Neulasta shot today the nurse asked if I had been checking my temperature. I told her no - was I supposed to? Apparently so. She explained that when we're taking chemo we feel like crap and won't know if we're running fever. So, ok. . . I'm checking my temp and I have some. 99.4. They told me to call if I run 100.4. Problem is I don't know who to call. LOL 

Anyway. I'm feeling frustrated and upset that I'm not bouncing around and being my usual type-A self. Angry that the house isn't clean enough. Don't wanna give my 4-year-old a bath. Just wanna hole up in my room and cry. I haven't cried through this entire process, from diagnosis until today. I don't feel sick - I just feel completely and utterly wiped out and useless. 

I hope none of you guys who have had your first chemo treatment in the last day or two feels like me. I'm sorry I'm being such a pessimist. It's not my normal, typical behavior and I'm ashamed of myself. I don't like feeling this way. I'm a "glass is half full" kind of gal. Nothing gets me down. I'm proud to be happy and peppy no matter what the circumstances. And today??? I'm completely worthless. 

I'm sorry. I don't want to bring you guys down but I don't know where else to go to get rid of these thoughts. Ignore me and this post please. I'll be fine. I just need to vent. I hate being sick. I have no patience. I'm not the type to sit down and let other people wait on me. I'm the type who gets ticked off if the dishes aren't loaded into the dishwasher right. Ok, I'll admit it - I'm a control freak and I guess really, that's what's wrong with me. I'm out of control. I thought that by taking the chemo and moving forward and fighting that I would feel in control and it's just now hitting me that I am absolutely not in control - - and that's a scary feeling.

Again, please ignore this long/rambling post. I'll be okay. Thank you for letting me vent. I'll be back on tomorrow with a new attitude and outlook. That - or I'll be the girl in the corner giving myself a time out.

I hope everything is having a better time adjusting to this than I am. God's blessing to you all. You all are my heroes.

Shelle 

Hello everyone, I want so much to welcome the new gals and respond individually but I am now hitting the wall.  I was great all day, had some constipation followed by the exact opposite, so I switched from senekot to immodium.  My sense of taste is gone.  Not metallic, just not there.  Everything tatses flat.  I guess the steroids gave me energy, because I ran errands, took a walk in the am, and ran 4 miles in the afternoon (although I will say, I can usually run 4 miles easily, this was a very difficult run.  I huffed and puffed, but felt great afterwards).  At 4:30 I went for my neulasta shot. I am now very tired and my sense of smell is thru the roof.  I have searched the house for "bad melon"! I am starting to ache a little all over.

I am going to sleep now, but wanted to give Shelle a big hug.  It's ok, because this sucks and you are allowed to feel anyway you want.  I screamed at my mom last week "I am sick of being the pollyanna of cancerland!".  Come here, vent, get it out, then get back to kicking cancer's ass.

Much love to all of you.

Jen

My first treatment was first scheduled for 11/23 but was postponed because the Oncotype DX wasn't back after 2.5 weeks.  (Oncotype DX finally came in as a 33) I hate waiting! ar-r-gh!  Treatment pushed back to 12/2, then 12/8 and now finally 12/15.  My Onc can't get the drugs for my treatment until 12/15... shortage!

After reading many of the above posts, maybe I'm okay at waiting.  This is my last year of teaching Jr High Science after 35 years.  Taking time off is difficult.  Did anyone work the next day after treatment?  How about the following Monday or Tuesday?  I never minded going to work early in my career but since cancer, I really look forward, enjoy going to school because my kids, the other faculty members, getting my mind off cancer, lifts me up!  We break for Christmas on 12/21 so my goal is to only miss school the day of treatment (12/15) work the following 2 days, recover during the week-end and then only 2 more days before break...  Is this realistic or is it just a pipe dream?  

I'll get 4 rounds of AC two weeks apart, followed by 4 rounds of T also two weeks apart.  I wanted to participate in a clinical trial and but my insurance initially refused to cover costs if I did the trial but I appealed and won.  I will have an 80% chance of receiving a shot of bevacizumab after each chemo treatment.  The study is testing the benefits of the antibiotic, bevacizumab, to reduce reoccurring cancer.  It is used in prostrate cancer to reduce the chance of the cancer from coming back.

Hope the best to all, Take care!

Love, Sara