Chemo June 2010
Comments
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Angelwoman, I meant to address the dizzyness, sorry I forgot. Are you taking any of the hormone blockers because my Femara makes me dizzy a good bit but has gotten a little better now that I have been on it for about 3 mths. If you are taking any of them--check the info sheet to see dizzyness listed on that. If you are not taking any blockers then definitely take all meds to see your doctor(I recommend your chemo onc,,,,they are better at SE's from meds)and let them evaluate things. It does not pay to assume anything after being diagnosed with BC. Good luck with everything and hope this helps!!!!!! I also found taking it at night instead of in the morning helped me tolerate it a lot better. It really makes me tired and dries out my eyes and mouth also. Ginny
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Happy New Year Ladies! Just caught up on all the posts since Dec 18. We were in Europe until Jan 1, then trying to catch up with work and preoccupied with a dear friend in ICU with pneumonia. Luckily she seems to have turned the corner now, facing the real possibility we would lose her was just dreadful. The moral of the story is, if you have the flu and aren't getting better after a week, see a doctor! She finally saw a Dr on Christmas Day and was immediately hospitalized, sedated and put on a ventilator because her lungs were so damaged!
Anyway, the good thing about catching up all at once is I got to hear about Sherry's suspected spinal cancer and then the benign diagnosis all in 5 minutes! Didn't have to go through all the worry with the rest of you, LOL! Sherry, I am SOOOOO happy it's not cancer. I am also sorry for the loss of you Grandma, but here's hoping we all see 97.
My news is that touch wood, fingers crossed, my rash finally seems to be gone. Haven't used the steroid cream since Dec 31st, so far so good. Of course every time I get the slightest itch there I'm thrown into a panic and run to remove my bra since i think it may be irritating the skin:-) Onc says it's not the cancer coming back on my skin as it responds to the steroid cream, so that's good, I know the rad onc was thinking it was cancer as she wanted me to see my surgeon for a biopsy! My dermatologist thinks its probably radiation recall, just one more possible SE we get to live with for the rest of our lives :-) Wearing the compression sleeve on the flight to Europe was not that bad, and now I've taken 2 long flights with no ill-effects I feel more confident about travelling. An FYI for those of you trying to avoid lymphedema, the PT I saw said she hadn't had anyone with sentinel node get lymphedema from flying, but she had had several people get it after shovelling snow, so take it easy out there!
Julia
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gin- I say stay off the roads till it settles down. No insult intended, but you Southerners don't know how to drive in winter conditions. I don't know anything about Metformin. If you want to look into research or trials on anything, go to pubmed.gov and put it into the search box. This is a government site that lists pretty much all medical research and trials that have been and are going on.
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Funeral went fine and I made it through without feeling too tired. Of course by the time I got home later that evening I was exhausted. We had several people come up to us and say it was one of the nicest funeral services they had ever been too. We just kept the focus on Grandma and her loving spirit.
DMom - I hadn't noticed your new picture until today. Look how beautiful you are!
Getting near the end of tx I think. 2 more regular rads then 5 boosts.
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sherry- I know your grandma was smiling down on you. Your final gift was giving this wonderful woman a beautiful send off. You will see her again someday. Thanks for the compliment. I thought it was time to hang up my ruby slippers for a while!
Cheyenna- Hey girl! How are you doing? Were you able to see your regular family doctor?
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hi ginca - someone on this list is taking metformin as part of a BC trial, but i don't remember who it is :-(. maybe they can give you more info, and since you have to take it anyway then maybe you'll get the added benefit if there is any...
sherry - i'm thinking about you and your grandma, i hope you're doing OK.
i've finished rads #12 - don't know how i will get to #33. i'm already very red and sore :-( but otherwise am doing OK!
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latte- So good to hear from you! I used Calendula homeopathic cream by Boiron and pure Aloe from the actual plant (the bottles have alcohol in it). My Rads Onc was truly impressed with how well my skin held up. Also make sure you use no scented soaps and pat dry, never rub. Good luck! You're on the home stretch now!
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Gin2ca - Hi, I'm on the Metformin trial, it looks like it has a preventive effect by reducing the insulin levels that promotes cell growth, there is lots of info about that that you can google and also on this site. Since I'm on a trial I'm not sure if I'm taking the Metformin or the placebo (keeping my fingers crossed that is the real pill),
Sherry - sorry to hear about your grandma, my grandmother died almost 4 years ago and I really miss her, she was 94. Really happy to hear that the spine thing was only a scare.
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Thank you every one for your support and help. Sherry sorry about your grand ma. We are all here for you! I am sorry I did not reply sooner,but some of the updates went to my spam! We are getting snow in Missouri. But did not miss my number 6 radiation. God Bless all and hugs and kisses.
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Gin: So sorry about the diabete. How did they diagnose it? Were you having symptoms? I feel like I have become more sensitive to sugar (which I rarely eat) since my chemo.
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I finished rads today! I am soooo happy!!! We went to dinner to celebrate! It's hard to believe that I've been dealing with cancer treatments for 7 months! It's a long journey, but I am so glad that I had all of you along the way! We have a great group of gals!
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yay kittycat!!!
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Congrats Kittycat! I will be joining you in three days. It will be 9 months of continuos treatment, can't believe it has been so long...
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HOORAY KITTYKAY!!!!!!! A big WHOOT !
Love the picture DMom.
Gin so sorry to hear about your complications. We are up to our knees in snow. CNN said last night that 49 of 50 States have snow. The only State without is Florida. How is your weather Bon.
Latte- Rads are tough. It's like "Ground Hogs Day" with pain. Cotton t shirts, no bras and go easy on yourself. We are counting down the days with you!
Like a dummy I went out and shoveled without my compression sleeve. I have pins and needles in my arm and soreness on the back of my hand. Hope I haven't messed myself up.
Good to hear from everyone! Are you out there Chey ?
Go easy on yourself Sherry. You need to recuperate physically and emotinally.
Hi Danielaes and Angel toni and Julia !
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Congrats Kittycat!!!! And Congrats Danielaes on being almost done! Wow!! We sure have come a loooong way since last June! I am SO PROUD of all my June gals--you ladies are AMAZING!
latte--my rads onc gave me a break for a few days when my skin got real bad. The clavicle area was especially bad, so he gave that area a break by doing my boosts a few days early, then finishing the regular rads after the boosts. My scar area peeled, and is now soft and pink, and the whole area healed great with very little soreness.
Cheyenna--thinking about you!!
I had another Herceptin infusion today (#13, I think). My heart function has increased from the bp med I'm on, so it seems to be working, and I haven't had to miss any Herceptin infusions! I will have my last one Aug 10.
I will have a mammo and mri in April for the bc, and a ct scan and another MUGA Feb. 21st. The ct scan is for the colon cancer. Onc wants me to have them every 6 months for awhile. He said I'm young and if any cancer comes back he wants to catch it as early as possible. But then he said because we were so aggressive with treatment, he doesn't think I have to worry about it coming back
After the bc tests in April, I won't need another mammo or mri for a year. The best news is I won't need another colonoscopy for 2 more years (3 years from last one) Hope everyone is having a great day! Stay warm and safe!!
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Congrats, Kitty. I'm right behind you. I finished regular rads today (#28) and get a few days off before beginning my boosts on Monday. I have been in tx 7 months tomorrow.
I feel like I finally turned another corner this week. Not only do I feel good (except for the SE's of radation), but I feel so much stronger FINALLY! I have done laundry and cooked a couple of simple meals and didn't get out of breath or too tired! Maybe I'll finally get back to normal, though I won't be the same.
I see regular onc on Monday and see what comes next. I know I will have to be on some type of aromatase inhibitor, but he hasn't indicated which one. Been trying to eat healthier - my New Year's resolution. I didn't really eat bad before, but I researched what foods are good for you to eat when you have cancer and am trying to concentrate on those. I've even gained weight finally - 2 pounds! If I can continue to gain a little in another couple of weeks, I might not look like a refugee any more!
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Sherry--so glad to hear you are doing better! Hoping for many blessings for you this year!
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kitty- What a celebration! You have had some journey! I'm doing the happy happy dance!
tmarina- You sound positive and happy! I have never had a colonoscopy, know I should. I'm trying to get up my nerve.
sherry- I'm so very happy that you are feeling stronger! Good for you focusing on nutrition to get yourself back to normal. I liked the book " Foods to Fight Cancer" by Beliveau. It is scientifically based, evidence based recommendations. If you have a healthfood store nearby, try drinking some fresh green juice. It's like eating 2 pounds of greens and carrots in a drink! Power-packed vitamins!
cheyenna- Hey girl, where are you???? I keep hoping you are going to pop in and tell us you have been away on a cruise or something!
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Kitty - Congrats. I finished rads yesterday, so joining you for the happy dance. Sherry - I agree with you - it's back to the gym for me and 7 servings of fruits or veggies every day - yuck. But first, I'm going to St Croix to sit in the sun for 5 days. I'll eiither get lots of Vitamin D or melanoma. LOL Then I start with Armidex next week. Kicking cancer's ass.
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Congrats Toni!! Being done is AWESOME! Enjoy your vacation--sounds wonderful!
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Hey ladies ! Just saw my Onc and my tumor markers are normal YAY ! My white blood cell count is low but they were not concerned. Said it could take up to 6 months post chemo for that to normalize. Will have a PET/ CT scan in April which is about my one year cancerversary. Celebrated my son's 20th birthday after doctor visit. Was feeling happy but then my mother showed up at the birthday party having an asthma attack and did not know how to take her medications. I showed her what to do and then asked her to show me what I just showed her and she couldn't remember. I know I am whining but I don't know if I am ready for this next problem.
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JFV - Just focus on the good news - congrats on a normal read from your onc. Toni
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Hi Ladies, Glad to be finishing up this week at work. We have had a strange week with all of the snow and bad driving conditions, but we made it.
The way we knew about the diabetes was that I started tracking my blood sugar daily for 3 wks before starting chemo. When I had the first chemo my fasting sugar was high and has not come back down to normal since. My fasting sugar before chemo was always normal. My sugar fluctuated between 120-200 during chemo. We waited 3 months and it was still high. So my PC decided to do the A1C test that gives you an average for 3 months of what your blood sugar is and my number was not good. It indicated that I was diabetic so I am now on the metformin. I have been taking it about 2 wks now and am doing pretty well and my sugar level is coming back to normal slowly.
Danielas, I hope you are getting the real thing. One way you could probably tell is you usually lose a little weight on the metformin. It also produces a slight change in bowel habits by being a little more frequent and most people have more problems with gas. (Hopefully, not too much info.)
Congrats to Kittycat and toni on finishing rads. It is wonderful to be on this side of treatment. To those of you on hormone blockers I sympathize fully. I am having the worst problem with dry eyes, dry mouth, just plain dry all over inside and out. I also get extremely tired at night after I take my Femara, but we do what we have to.
DMom, You will be glad to know that I was not among the 2000 wrecks in SC this week from the snow and ice. I did have to drive back and forth to work and it is 60 miles round trip, but I made it unscathed------YEAH!!!!!! Now they are talking on the weather about having more snow. This has not even finished melting yet. That is unheard of for us in SC to get more snow on top of the other. It feels like I am back in Wisconsin where I lived for several years in the early 80's. I really grew to appreciate the snowbirds survival skills up there.
Joan, No more snow shoveling for you. Rest that arm and use that sleeve. It is important to be conscientous about our arms all of the time. Hope you did not do any permanent damage.
Chey, Where are you????? Please let us know you are okay!!!!!
A big HHHHHIIIIIIIIII to everyone in June chemo. Have a great weekend!!!! love ya, GInny
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Hi girls, im here, im so sorry to worry you, im good, i keep losing my internet and had no pc for awhile due to a virus
all is fixed now.. im doing good, dmom, i did see my own Dr and thigs are going good,i seem to let my mind run away but i am learning not to do that anymore,sherry im so excited to hear your news,you have been through way too much!!! im very sad about your grandmother,i lost mine 4 years ago and still breaks my heart. stay strong!!! gin2ca im sorry to worry you,i promise to not be gone so long, next time i will go buy a new pc, lol... it was terrible not having internet... i hope your snow lets up..kitty and toni, YEA!!!!! your done, im so happy for you..joan what great news!!!! i cant stop smiling for everyone but,stay outa the snow..Tmarina, you sound great!! i have my 3 month check up first week in Feb and im scared to death!! lol i dont know what they do on the check ups? i cant believe its been 3 months..julia i hope you had a wonderful time out of the country and my thoughts are with for your friend..latte im thinking about you and hope your wellim doing good,im keeping out of the dark place, i miss my mom and grandmother so much though.. im going to start making some calls to find a good reconstruction DR, i still have to take my left breast and they will put in expanders at the same time... ive waited cause im so tired of DRs lol but i think it is time now
im tired of leaning to the left,lol im so glad to be online and with you all againlove to you all
Chey
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chey!!! Welcome back! We missed you! I was sure you were going to tell me you had a great time in Tahiti or something. Glad you are staying away from that dark place. Just focus on the big, beautiful, bright light and it can't get you! My first check ups have been no big whoop! They just sort of checked how I felt and that was it. I haven't even had bloodwork which I think is weird. Don't they wonder if my white counts are back up? I meet with my Onc Tuesday and am going to request a full bloodwork panel including hormones and cholesterol, blood sugar etc... I know some women have had big changes due to chemo. I want a baseline.
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Toni - congrats on finishing rads, too! It's so nice to be done with these treatments!
Chey - I'm so glad that you're staying out of the dark place. It's very easy to go there, I know.
I saw my onco yesterday. Everything seems to be okay. They did blood work on me. They're watching my vitamin D closely because it was low. My onco said it's really important to keep it up, esp for bc patients. I go back and see her in 3 months. I get my port out on Monday! Yay!! I'm getting another ultrasound on my ovaries on Tuesday. I'll probably get my oopherectomy/ hysterectomy in April. I'm really not looking forward to that. At least chemo gave me a precursor on what menopause feels like. I'm still getting hot flashes! My onco prescribed Garbopentin for them (plus I have trouble sleeping). Well, I woke up all dizzy and tired this morning after taking one last night. I'd rather have the hot flashes. I guess I'll look for some natural alternatives for the sleep thing.
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend!
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kitty- Good your Onc is monitoring your vitamin D. Lots of good info on optimal levels that we should have, supplementing etc on vitamindcouncil.org. You want to make sure you are using D3. As new research seems to say we should avoid soy (unless we grew up eating it), make sure you look what oil they use, most are soy. I found one in olive oil. Sorry about the sleep issues, but I agree that it is not good if the meds make you dizzy and groggy. A lot of ladies are using Melatonin (natural) and are sleeping like babies.
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Kitty, have them watch that Vit D. I wanted you to know because of you I contacted Susan G Komen and I am going to a meeting in a couple weeks to become a speaker for them. I thought about and wanted to try and pay it forward.
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Yay Chey! You sound so good! Don't worry about the check-up. It's mostly to see if you have any leftover issues from chemo, and maybe some bloodwork. Your onc will probably schedule any follow up tests--MRI, Mammo, etc. I like the doc visits--it's somehow reassuring to me to know I'm still being watched. I'm still deciding what to do about my remaining right breast. I wanted to have it removed too, but not sure I want to go through with recon. I'd probably have to do some sort of flap thing because of radiation. I want to meet with a ps soon and discuss my options. I'm leaning to the right! lol!
Kitty-My vit. d levels were just a little below the normal range, and my onc has me take 2000 iu (?) a day. Other than that he told me he only recommends a multi-vitamin, so I'm on my own as to what other supplements I should take!
Jackie--so proud of you for stepping up like that!! Let us know how it goes!
Hope all are enjoying the weekend! My baby girl just left to return to KC for college--I probably won't see her again until March!
I'm thankful my other 2 live close by, and my grandson as well. Well, I'm off to church now where I get to see them all! Have a great day!Tina
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Thanks for the good wishes ladies. I am truly happy about my tumour marker test and even a little happy to know about my low WBC. I had been wondering why I still hit a wall of fatigue every few days. Now I can blame it on my neutrophils ! My onc also checked my Vit D level and it was low. My previous Onc was very concerned with my Vit D levels and had me on 50,000 units once a week. This onc is not as concerned and wants me on 400 units twice a day. After wandering the vitamin aisle looking at all my Vit D options I went with a multivitamin that has 800 mgs Vit D. I am afraid I'll forget to take it twice a day. The Onc wants anther blood test in three months pre PET scan I was just looking at the blood test orders and it looks like this will just be a complete blood count in April.
Kitty I am jealous about your port removal. I have been promised that if my PET scan is OK the port can come out. The oomphrectomy sounds like it will be a big surgery. Is it ? Once that surgery is over are you done with treatment ?
Jackie- Congrats on becoming a speaker. How are things going at work ?
Dmom- Is everyone watching the Jets game ? My husband is all settled in to watch. I think the whole neighborhood is glued to their TVs.
TMarinna- Hope you enjoyed church. I haven't been in awhile. Hope your daughter has a safe trip back to school.
Chey- We love you baby !
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