Calling all TNs

HeidiToo:  Thanks for sharing all of this!

Claire:  I had the same TC x 6 and was wondering the same thing!

Babs37: My onc told me not to take Tylenol cause it is hard on the liver. She told me it is best to take Alieve.

Teka: I am doing Avastin. The side effects are mild thank goodness. I have been tired and do get nosebleeds. My onc told me to use a saline spray for my nose and rub vaseline on the inside to keep it from not getting dry and it has really helped. Everyone is different though as we all are finding out.

Tifj: Yeah for being negative. What a blessing. To not worry about our children and cancer. Which once you have it you cannot help but worry no matter what.

MBJ; so far my liver has been coming out good. I will check on the milk thistle. I am doing chia seeds they are amazing. Get for being regular has lots of fiber, proteins, omega 3's, vitamin B's, calcium, copper, zinc high in antioxidants. People who have heart problems should not take these. You can put them in all your foods and cook with them they keep you hydrated. They can replace 1/3 of the fat in your recipes. Amazing stuff. Just thought I would share.

Have a wonderful day....TNBC Sister 

I had adrimycin/cytoxan first and then taxol.  I wonder why my Med. Onc. did not know of this information, that is to give me taxol first.

WRT T before A: Ya know what I think? I think if we wait another five minutes they'll change their minds.

I'm such a cynic...

Hi! ebann,

I've had no side effects from Avastin, and 4 treatments to go before the end of March.   I was always able to have chemo and radiation treatments on time.   I was in misery with AC+T, and severe radiation burn under breast for 31 days.   I enjoy (PT).

Yes, the conflicting information is incredible.  I truly believe that my docs mean well, but don't really have a clue.  Not because of any lack of skill on their part - no one has a clue.  I will never forget my onco telling me, right before I was to start chemo, "If it comes back, it comes back."  Way to show your confidence in this crap.

Don't get me wrong.  She is great.  That was her way of telling me not to worry and stress about it right now.  But what I heard - which is never good for a control freak like me - is this is completely out of your hands and, oh by the way, we have no idea if this treatment is really going to work.  She is extremely easy going and laid back.  I am not.  It has produced an interesting, and at times hysterical, relationship.

I agree.  I could never do what they do.  It would be too depressing and it would absolutely drive me nuts trying to treat people when I have no real way of knowing if what I am doing will work. 

It's all a roll of the f'ing dice, no matter what they give us, what our stats are, whether we have nodes or not, etc., and we just go through hell - first with the diagnose, then the treatments, then whatever damn testing we may need (and go through hell and back again waiting for results), and then for the rest of our lives, sit and wait and wonder if the other shoe is going to drop.  I'm ending this now, before I put myself into a major depression.

HeidiToo - I am also like you, I am a perfectionist by nature, so not having my questions answered is frustrating, very frustrating, but I am not depressed about all of this anymore.  I have a "oh well" attitude too.  Right now, I just want my hair back. I am shiny bald, as my last taxol was 14 days back.  I am just waiting for the damn thing to show a tiny little growth, but it is not showing yet.  And tomorrow I have to deal with the fact that my med. onc. wants to prescribe Aridimex and Zometa to me.  Zometa is for bone loss which is caused by Aridimex.  I am TN, with 2% progesterone positive.  I am wondering if any of you TN's took any hormonal drug and something like Zometa (which seems to be a serious drug given by infusion to people who have bone metastasis).  I don't have any metastasis or node positive at this time........

Any TN's taking any of these medications, please do tell me about it.  Will this make money for my med. onc.?  He never explains anything to me, nothing, for instance, what would be my risks versus benefits.  I hate having to make these types of decisions.

I am like a guinea pig.  I never used to take any prescription medication, and now all this?  I hate Side Effects.........I don't know what the hell to do.

I shaved my face !!   I couldn't remember if a year ago I had that much fuzz, and I read where someone else did it, so.....thank goodness I didn't get razor burn because I realized I didn't hav anything resembling shaving cream, so used a nice lather of soap.  Made one swipe in the same direction (not against) and it was gone!  The best part was my forehead, right above my eyebrows.  They've come back bushy and uncontrollable, so I got rid of the 'overbrow'.  Now I can quit looking in the mirror obsessing if I have too much facial hair!

Titan:  You kind of just summed it all up for me-thanks!

HeidiToo:  It is a crap shoot in many ways, isn't it?

Lovelyface:  You must ask your Onc what those percentages are and what the side effects are so that you can make an informed decision.  No one else can do this for you and if he can't answer your questions then I would consider changing Oncs.  It's your right to know about these very serious treatments we are getting!  Your hair will start growing before you know it!

TNBCRuth:  I had to shave the "fur" off, too.  Really strange looking before.

slcst12, thanks!!!  I love the pink bracelet idea...may have do this too...Im going to take all my hospital bracelets and burn them when i finish....such silly things....but they make us feel better...

Great Sugar - it's nice to have a good appointment.

I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary of diagnosis and am finding myself feeling anxious for no particular reason other than that it has been a year. I thought I was feeling better, but find myself checking my scar lines now (no reconstruction). Elizabeth Edward's death made me afraid that I might have a recurrence, too. I'm sure I'll feel better after I'm past this hurdle, but it's difficult for me right now.