February 2011 chemo pals

Hi All,

For all you about to start I had a completely normal weekend except for mouth sores which did not slow me down.  Went out to dinner last night with friends and DH and I had brunch this a.m., shopped and did errands - FELT NORMAL!  I am 1 1/2 weeks out from the first tx.  The moral of the story is you may feel not so great in the coming few days - but then that will cease and you will feel pretty good.  Keep repeating that to yourself.  I was very fortunate that my Neulasta did what it was supposed to and kept my white counts above normal so I could have one last really fun weekend with hair!

Safari - my DD drove over to West Palm last night to visit a friend, I was thinking of you!

Golfer - make sure you take the Claritin/Zyrtec at least 1 hr. before your Neulasta and continue to take it for a couple of days after.

Cindy - Could you be just retaining fluid?  They might be able to give you a diuretic.  It it on the same side as your back/hip/leg pain?

Salma and M1nn1e - Good luck, I will be thinking of you.  If you are receiving Taxotere please ice your toes and fingertips during your infusion to prevent nail lifting.  I just brought frozen peas.  And drink, drink, drink day before and during.  You need to flush out your systems ASAP.  I probably brought too much stuff with me to the first appt.  I had a book, DVD player, laptop.  I looked like I was moving in.  I was on edge enough I didn't even pull anything out of my bag.  A couple of magazines might be better so you can read in snippets.  There was so much activity I couldn't concentrate on much.

I also had trouble eating meals - was better with "grazing" but found I needed to eat to take all the pills or it made my tummy worse.  Also, don't be afraid to layer your anti-nausea meds.  If the first one doesn't work, go on to the next.  Ativan will help you sleep if it is one of your scrips.

Michelle - LOL the Charlie Brown Xmas tree analogy!  Hilarious!

Kathie

Hello ladies,

Hope all have had a wonderful weekend.  Here in the south it is near 80 (sorry snowbound ladies) and Friday night sat on my back patio and let my husband buzz the hair to stubble.  I'm glad all the birds at my feeders can use the hair to feather their nests!  Although I'm wearing a cotton sleep cap or soft scarves at home I am losing the stubble inside the caps and the neckline hair on my pillow.  I don't have to worry about ANY hair anywhere else...it rubbed off in the shower as if I had used Nair! I did have a melt down later Friday evening but hubby gave me a pedicure and held me like I was a baby.  Does anyone else know when the hormone thing kicks in?  So we're all being pushed into menopause from the chemo....had an ablasion years ago so no periods for me as indicators of when this event takes place.  Don't know if the meltdown was hair/esteem related or hormone precipitated.....

Grandmagolfer....get your Claritin over the counter and make sure it is the 24 hour formula.  I still have major bone pain and chills...especially in the arm, shoulder and shoulder blade where it was dispensed.  I'm probably going to ask for something stronger from the onc tomorrow during labwork.  Don't know if I'm immune to the Claritin ( I have taken it for allergies in the past) or if it is just me.....

I can say that I do fatigue and tire easily.  I've never been one to take a nap or slow down but am using this as an opportunity to do those things that I typically wouldn't take time to do.  Babyswim, write that book!  I've been working on church children's curriculum for a couple of years and many have said to begin my writing career.....my children (20,21) are also wanting a cookbook of my recipes with pictures of them in the kitchen with me over the years......

Fever for me wasn't indicitive of low white counts....just the way my body reacted.  My NP said that more than likely if it did it the first time it will the second (by the way the next labs showed 16-so the Neulasta does work) and that will just be the pattern for these first EC treatments.  Remember two months for a lifetime!!!  Then maybe the T treatments won't bring low counts!

 Praying for high WBC tomorrow!

Have a blessed Sunday!!  

Mary, I'm sure each child processes these things in their own personal way.  My son is an only child, and I think he worries we'll withhold information from him to "protect" him. But I've always been up front with him on everything, including telling him the day I discovered the lump in my breast, up to the Stage IV diagnosis.  He just told me today he's grown up a lot in the last coulple months!  He took a day off from school a couple weeks ago just to absorb everything that's happened since Dec 22.  He said that really helped him.  He went on line and looked up something like "cancer success stories".  He read them and it gave him hope.  I was glad he is looking for the positives.  He found out one of his classmates, also an only child, experienced something similar when her dad was diagnosed with some form of cancer a couple years ago, her dad seems to be doing okay now, and that has helped him process things somewhat.

Pejkug3:

So sorry to hear your ordeal but you are not alone! I am 37 and had my head shaved yesterday! It was so difficult but had to be done and I feel SOOOO much better! These scarves are beautiful and sooo comfortable! They are already wrapped and truly amazing!

http://www.4women.com/fabrics/silk

Make sure you are measuring right though! They give a tape measure on this site but measurements came out being much larger than when I took a string and wrapped it around, then held that up to a tape measure.

I went to a wig store which is best to get it fitted correctly.  I bought mine a month ago and went back yesterday so she could shave my head and refit the wig.  It will fit much differently once you lose your hair.  I have to say that my wigs are beautiful and actually 10x nicer than my hair! The scarves are beautiful and we can only do what we can to get through this one day at a time!

I feel your pain and am so sad and feel so ugly but we WILL beat this and it WILL grow back and I personally am going to strive to get my butt in shape so I can feel a bit better about myself!

Treat yourself to some of these beautiful silk scarves (check clearance too) and go find a great wig shop! Good luck! Thinking of you HUGS

Mary

Good Luck to all you gals doing Treatment today!  our group has grown so that I cant remember you all by name.  Just know you are all in my thoughts and prayers today.

Good Morning!

Thanks for the encouragment Beth! I can't wait to be in your position.

So my 2nd round of chemo was a little tougher than the first. I'm almost completely bald now and at first it didn't bother me, but when I go out now, I can't decide what to wear....a hat, a wig, a scarf, nothing? Usually I opt for a scarf or a hat without a wig because my head keeps getting really hot...hot flashes? I think so! 

After my first round of chemo I felt pretty good after about 4 days and kept feeling better and better from there. This time though, it seems I also caught some sort of stomach bug or ate something bad, so it was back to bed for me yesterday with severe nausea. Ugh! But I'm feeling better today and hopefully will continue until next treatment. 

I haven't noticed my eyelashes or eyebrows falling out. I'm hoping they won't. But from what I can tell, everyone is a little different. 

Have a great day everyone! Good Luck to those starting or having treatment today.

Oh and I saw where someone posted about the peas during Taxotere. Do it! Actually I only used mine during the Adriamycin but they were still cold during the taxotere and I haven't had the ridges or lines in my nailes yet. And they're still pretty which makes me happy. And I think they might actually still be growing. Next time, I'm going to ice through all 3 of my drugs. 

Anyone else experiencing neuropathy? The burning and tingling in your hands and feet? Mine was much worse this time, but has lessened over the past couple of days. It makes me jumpy like restless leg syndrome. Ouch! 

 Melanie

Minnie  - Just read 'I Still Dream About You" by Fannie Flagg and loved it.  Just went to library today to get another of her books.  She's such a hoot!  Also, "Cutting for Stone" was one of the best books I've ever read.  Good luck.

One other thing I want to mention to M1nn1e and any others in regards to children's reactions and behaviors when finding their mom is has BC.  

About 5 weeks after my diagnosis, it occurred to me to tell my husband, "by the way, you did not do anything to cause me to have cancer."  I know sometimes that crosses people's minds.  They think maybe they're being punished for some transgression in their past.  My husband did admit that he had thought that somehow it was his fault.  And I just said, its not your fault, my fault or our son's fault.  We live in a fallen world and there is disease and I happened to be the one to get this particular disease.

A couple weeks later, the same subject came up in a casual conversation with my son.  I told him the same thing I'd told my husband, that there wasn't anything he did wrong that caused me to get BC.  And he, too, said that he'd felt at some point that it was his fault. I repeated that we live in a fallen world, and disease is something that is part of it, and it just happend to be me to get BC.  That it was not caused by my son, my husband or myself or anyone else for that matter.

You never know if somewhere deep inside one of your loved ones is wondering if he/she somehow caused this upon you.   I just thought I'd mention it as food for thought.

Melanie  Yes the nurse told me today that swelling can happen and it is the chemo (unless of course you do something like fall or twist).  I also didn't know that putting ice on something that is swollen only works if there was some sort of trama, like twisting you ankle.  If you just have swelling you have to just raise the affected area.  My swelling went down yesterday after keeping my left foot elevated for a good part of the day.  Wish they had told me that this could happen before hand.  Maybe they did and I just didn't remember it.... 

 Had my 3rd treatment, so only 1 more A/C to go....   So far so good.  I am tired tonight but not sure if it is from the treatment or my sleeping last night sitting up in a recliner with my lest foot on a chair with a pillow (cause I didn't want it to swell up again) and the leg hanging over the front of the chair.  Needless to say I didn't get much sleep... 

 Three people today commented on my hair.  Said how nice it looked.  I thanked one of them and kept my mouth shut.  The girl sitting beside me while having the infusion said haven't you lost your hair yet and I said yes.  She couldn't believe that what I was wearing was not real.  The nurse doing my infusion said pretty much the same thing.  I am so glad that it looks real to others..

 Have a good evening eveyone

Cindy

Hello ladies,  It's so great to commiserate and share this experience with a group of strong women.  We'll all get through it-- though it's been a tough day for me.  Head congestion, very sore throat.  I must have checked my temperature half a dozen times today while at work and it didn't go up.  But the symptoms have me worried.

I feel badly that I'm feeling very germphobic of my older daughter (age 8).  She wanted me to lay with her in her bed while she went to sleep tonight, but with her sniffling and coughing I just couldn't do it. I hope she will forgive me!

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a healthier day. Good night everyone.

Hi all. My first treatment was 2/16- so I am watching/waiting too. I should be getting close to losing the hair too?

I am working all week and so nervous about it falling out in clumps there. I am on TCH so was thinking that maybe Wednesday is the day? That would be 2 wks from the treatment? I guess there's no way to know for certain.

Hugs to everyone going through this. I too am dreading it. Not looking forward to a wig. I have scarves, hats and caps in the back of the closet- probably time to pull them out soon. I just don't know what to expect..

And I am so thankful that I feel so good today physically! Have one more week and one full day before round two of TCH. 

Thinking of you all- and thankful to be in the presence of such strong women!

My first treatment was only six days ago, and already the shower was full of hair this morning. My hair started thining a lot couple of years ago, so its hard to say whether there's a noticeable hair loss so soon after the first treatment, but the amount of hair I left behind this morning really surprised me.

 I keep telling myself it only means chemo is working even faster and better than expected

I noticed that more of mine started coming out after about 11 days. Then at around day 15, it really started coming out. Just little hairs all over the place...all over my shoulders. If I ran my hand through my hair, I'd get about 20 or so hairs. Then on day 17-18, it was everywhere in the shower. If I put a bobbi pin in, and pull it out, all the hair came out with it. So I shaved it all off on day 18. But I still had a lot more than I thought, even after that. So then for the next 2-3 days, I'd have stubble all over my shower. I still have a little all over my head. It's very thin though. I'm not sure how long it will all take to fall out, if it ever will. But it's now been 29 days since my first treatment. I was so glad when I finally shaved it all off. It was such a relief not to be shedding all over everything.