anyone starting chemo in Nov 2005

Hi Kaye-
If you're results come back Her2 neg as well as ER/PR neg, its called a triple negative and you might want to take a look at this thread: Receptors Negative and HER2-Negative in the Recurring and Metestatic forum. I'm not familiar with CAF. I'm triple negative, had a lumpectomy with clear margins and neg nodes, Grade 3, Stage 1. I got three oncologist's opinions on treatment options -- 2 said go as aggressive as possible (4 A/C, 4 Taxol all dose dense), one said not so aggressive (4 A/C only). All said follow up with radiation. I'm taking the aggressive approach as insurance against recurrence.
Sorry you have to join our club, but you will find strong and inspirational women here!
Take care,
A day at a time!
Lana

I will be starting on Nov 30th. I regretted the decision after I got home, thinking I should have started sooner. My husband thought we should enjoy thanksgiving first.
I will be doing 4 cycles of Cytoxanand and Adriamycin. I am not looking forward to this but I know it is necessary.

Hi there, everyone. I see some newcomers tonight..welcome. Well, my first AC was today. I had to be at the hospital for the RVG scan at 9am. I never heard the word MUGA scan before, so I asked the nuclear medical gorgeous guy, if the tests were similar, he said EXACTLY. just differnt names. That went fine, was done by 10:30. then had to wait around until my 2pm appt with the oncologist. ugh, that ran late. 3pm finally got in her office. she told me what to expect from the chemo, and the drugs she is giving me to counteract the nausea. Then we talked about my pathology from the quadrantectomy/lymphnode dissection. A complete pathological response to the herceptin. No sign of any invasive cancer left. She feels we can do the 4 rounds of AC, and skip the Taxol. WOOHOO..... , That cuts 12 weeks out of my treatment, I am excited! I will get to the radiation, then the remaining 39 herceptins. So my bi-lateral/reconstruction can be done sooner, than I thought. Yippee,,,,get that DCIS off of me, that is left!!! Got up to the infusion floor by 4pm, had saline for a while, then the Adriamycin push, then more saline, then the Cytoxan drip for an hour, then more saline to flush good. It didnt bother me at all going in, and i havent felt funny or sick. i wouldnt want to drive though, because of the decadron and zofran, i am a little spacey. i was told to stay on top of the zofran, decadron 2 times a day, morning and night, even if i feel good, for 3 days. and use companzine in between, if i get any periods of nausea. and the ativan to sleep, if i am jittery from the decadron. I just spent $67 at the pharmacy getting the 4 prescriptions, plus senecot and colace. the over the counter stuff is for constipation, which the decadron causes. so this day is behind me, and i am glad it went so well so far, except for the long waits. I hope the next few days go as well, I will stay ahead of the meds, so as not to get sick. water water water, constantly, to flush the stuff out. she told me the cytoxan causes irritation to the bladder, and no bladder infections allowed!! the adriamycin makes you pee red/pink/orangey. and yes it has started already! recommended to gargle with warm water and salt. to keep mouth sores away. so much to learn!! so that is my story of my first day on A/C. looking forward to hearing the other reports! Rhonda, where are you??? Miss seeing your smiling photo! Take care, LynnZ

Lynn-
You got great news!! How wonderful -- much shorter treatment! Hope you're still feeling well today after your first treatment!
Wendy- Sounds like you did well with your first treatment too!
Chins up!!
;-) Lana

Hey Everyone, I'm back!! I'm sorry I haven't been back on here since I got home from my first treatment. I can't believe how much I need to catch up on in just a few days!!

First off welcome to Liz, Stacey,Wendy and Kaye.
Liz your dx and treatment are almost identical to mine.
Stacey, I hope you are doing well. I know how hard it is having young kids I have 3 of my own (girls 9 6 and 6) I think this is the hardest part of it all. They are actually doing really well I haven't lost my hair yet I think my oldest will have a hard time about that. They know I'm going to but I don't think it has really sunkin in with them.

Grace I'm glad to hear your treatment went well and you were able to keep your appetite!!

Lynne, That is so AWESOME that you get to cut out the Taxol. I am so happy for you. I am glad you are feeling good too.

I have actually been doing pretty good. My friend was here for the first few days that was nice she kept me company if it wasn't for her I probably would have stayed in bed and felt sorry for myself wondering and waiting to see if I would get sick.

Well I never got sick I am on day 5. On day 3 and 4 I was a little tired. I went to get my WBC shot Wed. Morning I was a little tired when I got home so I took a 2 hour nap. Stayed up till around 5 then layed back down when Martha Stewart came on my hubby came up and turned the tv on so I would watch it. He knows thats one of my favorite shows. I thought that was nice of him.

Thursday my oldest daughter was being recognized for being an A honor Roll student and was also preforming in a jump rope dance in front of the 3rd grade classes. And the school was having Thanksgiving Lunches for the students,parents and grandparents so I stayed and did all of that. I was pretty worn out when i got home.

Today I went and did some x-mass shopping. I wanted to get some of that done before I loose my hair. I swear I think that is going to be so hard to go out the first few times!!!

Kim and Debbie, I will probably be loosing my hair on Thanksgiving too. Have you guys cut your hair at all?? I haven't. I just feel like I want to look like me for as long as I can. Not sure if that s the right thing or not??

I think the worst thing for me so far has been headaches!! Has anyone else had them? The only medicine I have had to take so far is Sennokot (sp) My onc never gave me meds to take before treatment and only gave my Zofran for after so far I haven't had to use it. Iv'e been eating fine maybe not as much as usual. I heve been munching on Oyster crackes alot.I craved cheese pizza yesterday. Ate 4 slices I know it's not healthy but it tasted good!! And drinking water.YUCK!!! Oh, I have had a little bit of the medal taste in my throat. And I noticed today I think my head is feeling a little tingly is that normal does that mean it is getting ready to fall out???

I am glad to here everyone is doing good. And I will go back and read more of the post that I missed this week.

Lynne, I love your picture and will send you my reconstruction photo right now.

Talk to you all soon
Rhonda

HI Nov ladies, Here is my update for the week
1. Be prepared for the depression after the steroids- I had a few VERY BLUE days. while understandable my onc also blamed on steroids!

2. Had 2nd A/C on thursday- went much smoother than first- I had streaking first time, so we slowed it down, gave me 1/2 decadron before 1nd second half after. I get woozy when they finish Cytoxin and remove needle- had to wait 1/2 hour for BP to go back up.

3. My chemo reaction is complete crash that night- no phones, no remote, just veg and sleep- next days are tired but better

4. Day 14 hair started to shed- I already had a wig, so went to my salon, had him buzz my scalp (GI Jane look now) and trim my wig- I AM READY TO FACE THE WORLD- I get my 2nd wig on Wenesday and also have losts of scarves, caps, etc to wear around. I am very proud of myself, since when I forst picked out my wig I had a complete anxiety attack and could not get out of bathroom of the salon!

I am doing OK- people keep asking me "really?" like they want to hear the horror stories. I think I may make some up just so they feel better- JK!
Praying for a smooth journey for all of you
Susan

Hi nancy,
Streaking is when you have a bit of an alergic or skin reaction to the adriamyacin. I do not have a port, so we use a vein. The area around the vein and up my arm had red marks and was a little itchy. they changed the Adria push from 10 minutes to 30 minutes and it really helped.

Not very common- I guess, I am just sensitive. good news was they used the same vein both times and was still good.
Take care
susan

Glad to hear...so many of you are doing fine with the chemo. I still dread my first day. I am a real baby when it comes to this kind of stuff, especially when I am so sensitive to drugs like Vicodin and Percocet. I only seem to be able to tolerate plain old Aspirin. I do take Xanax, have for quite a few years, always had anxiety. I am a high stress person.

Well the 29th is creeping up fast....so will let you all know how it goes.

Thanks for letting me know about the triple negative thread. I did check it out, and thanks also for the survivor movie.

Kaye

Kaye, I just wanted to mention to you, that I too am unable to take most narcotics. this was a big concern for me, having the surgery. My mother and I dont tolerate things, and end up throwing up all the time on them. I opted for a paravertebral block for the surgery, and it worked great. My surgeon found a great narcotic, that typically doesnt cause problems for nausea, Dilaudid, it is considered very strong, but in small doses works great. i was apprehensive using it after surgery, but did fine with it. No sickness at all. of course I couldnt drive,and had to just lay low, but it was a great thing for me. Maybe you could mention this your team, and it could be something for you. good luck. LynnZ

Hi to everyone. I have read each post concerning your experiences with chemo and found lots of information. I found a lump in July 05, while my husband was recoperating from heart attack # 4 and open heart surgery #2. I went through with biopsies alone, because I couldn't tell him and didn't want to worry my sons. The diagnosis was multifocal ILC 8/05. Mastectomy was 9/05 with 7.5 cm tumor and 1 lymph node positive, stage IIIa. Had to wait longer than I wanted to get my treatment started, but the oncologist that I wanted was on vacation. My chemo finally started 11/7 and I must say it was not as bad as I had anticipated. No nausea thanks to emend, a little queasy, and fatigue. I had a neulasta shot 11/8. The nurse said I could have some bone pain, but didn't notice anything different. I have eaten everything thats not nailed down and been able to work most days. I am very fortunate as far as work in that I can lay down in my office and rest during the day. Chemo #2 is Monday and next week maybe a different story. My scalp has been tingling, but the hair hasn't gone south yet. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Hi Lynne,
I think I've decided not to go to Indy. Unfortunatly my mom is a smoker. My little sister and her 3 kids will be there so I think it would be best if i just stay away. The smoke grosses me out and she smokes like a chimney. It makes me sick!! I could stay with my oldest sister who I am best friends with but the whole purpose of me going is to see my younger sister (long soap opera story)My oldest I think is planning on coming here for my next treatment.

I'm also nervous about Thanksgiving we will be going to Alabama and there will be 2 other kids besides my own.
One of my twins is starting to get sick right now. UGH!!
They only go to school 2 days this week so hopefully we all won't get sick.

I also think i might be getting a bladder infection it is kindof hurting when I pee. Could that be from the Chemo??

I put up our X-mass lights outside the week before my treatment. I'm going to put up the rest of the decorations today and take the girls to get some new tennis shoes. Then come home and watch the COLTS!!! GO COLTS!! We always have family dinner with the inlaws on Sunday so we will be going to there house for dinner. Yummy I think shes making a Thanksgiving type dinner since we won't be here.

Enyoy your day today.

Oh, Are headaches and blurry vision normal

Rhonda
BTW I do have expanders and that is the sguare look. They are starting to be real uncomfortable I went to PS on Friday and he said it's just all the swelling is going away now and I can feel them more. I wish I could just get the implants now!!!

Rhonda, I was told that Cytoxan, can really wreak havoc with your bladder. I am not sure if you are on AC or not, I am . So i have been drinking 16oz bottles of flavored water all day long. the worst thing you can let happen is an infection. Try to pump the water, it is definately a bladder flusher. I hope that is all you have going on, and can fix it on your own. Good luck. i am not a sports fan, but if the Colts are your thing, then GO COLTS!!! Good for you gettin up the xmas lights. i havent even thought of it yet.

Kaye, glad to put your mind at ease about the sensitivity to narcotics. nothing is worse than throwing up, when feeling so poorly otherwise. Ask your doctor about decadron and zofran, neither are narcotic, and shouldnt upset you. if you are having pain, the dilaudid, 1mg, worked well for me, and didnt cause any sickness. it is a 3rd cousin to morphine, my doctor said, so it is addictive in long term use, but at a low dose should not be a problem. good luck.. have a good sunday evening everyone...hugs, prayers, LynnZ

Hello bosom buddies. Ronda, drink, drink, drink. My onc also rec cranberry juice. Lynn is right, a common side effect of A/C is bladder infections, so we have to flush it out of our systems as quickly as possible. You all sound so good. I am at the end of my second week and don't feel any nausea, but am very tired. Went to a 10 Tenors concert yesterday (Debbie, you would have loved them) and slept through part of it (at 2 p.m. matinee). Oh well. My son and grandson both have a cold, so may not go for Thanksgiving--we'll celebrate another day if we must. I don't want to do anything to delay my next treatment on the 30th.

Kaye, I'm another one who is sensitive to anything and so avoid medications. But, I have learned that our bodies need these and the doctors have a lot of tricks up their sleeves if we don't respond well to one.

Looks like no one is starting Thanksgiving week--anyone on another round this week? Does that mean we'll all be enjoying turkey or whatever. The next week looks busy, we have 3 of us starting (Kaye, Laura, and Suave--did I miss anyone?)

Hugs to all of you.

Nancy

Hey Ladies-
I have a learning session on Wednesday this week, then start my first AC on Monday the 28th....just want to get this rolling!!
All of your posts have really helped me to know a little about what to expect and really to see that everyone reacts a little differently!
Chins up!!
Lana

Hi ladies!! This is Sidney Rhonda's daughter. I hope you all
are feeling okay. Have a fun week. I think you all will hang in there. I wish you guy's didn't have cancer.
Stay strong !!
Love,
Sidney