February 2011 chemo pals

So, so happy for you Paula!  It has to feel great to be done!

Paula - I know I will be nervous too - ending active treatment seems to leave you with a "now what" outlook!  I will continue Herceptin and then add an AI, as well as have some more surgery so it won't come for a while!  How long until you have surgery?

Your analogy with the "gear" is excellent - you are right it is going to take some time to return to normal - whatever that is, going forward!  After this experience we will all be living, and hopefully thriving, in a new world.

So I decided i'd better get checked out since this is not like my other 3 doses. I am slightly anemic and have a UTI. Chronic fatigue is apparently quite normal on chemo, although I might get some relief after I get these other 2 issues under control. I have antibiotics and it's going to be a wait and see with the anemia. So I may or may not be getting treatment on Wed. I'll keep loading up on high iron foods and they suggested orange juice with each meal to help with absorption. I'd really like to stay on schedule with the chemo. The sooner I get this done the better.

Paula, sooo happy for you. Go out and enjoy your life!! 

Boy those steriods do a  number on me when it comes to anxiety, too!  My onc adjusted my steroids too altho today i am still coming down off the steroid anxiety.  I hate it, it's one of the worst parts of chemo SE.  Am hoping for a better tomorrow as i have a school banquet to attend with my son.

Pejkug,

I'm so sorry about your mother in law.  Just know that we are all thinking of you.

MrsM glad to hear it!

Coffeegirl, Emily in Ontario in this forum is doing FEC D chemo, hopefully she will drop in and reply to you, or you can go to page 47, her avatar is yellow flowers, click on her blue name to go to her profile page, there is a place to send her a private message, too.  Then I did a general search of all the forums using "FEC" and came up with Robyn, she's also in "Chemotherapy Before, During, After," but with the "Chemo May 2011" bunch, her avatar is the Australian flag and posted on page 8 and 11, they're only up to page 12 now, so you could post within the forum to get her, or send her a private message too.  I hope your doc will give you good pain meds, and when my mouth was sore I could only eat soft foods.

Divine, I'm glad banquet went well.  I get very nervous and tired on this chemo Taxol I'm on now, too, a very uncomfortable feeling.  So I take a half Valium in the afternoon on the couple days I get that way (a cousin to your Ativan), but I'm used to fooling with tranquilizers.

Ruffalo, I loved your little story a couple pages back about you and your father in law putting in a garden and how the bunnies in the area might eat your produce!  Husband and I used to keep a couple house rabbits, they were such magical creatures.  Now we just gaze at wild ones eating our clover.

All, I got something in my left eye the other day, irritated it all afternoon, so I finally asked husband to shine a flashlight in there and see what was going on, and I also asked him about my eyelashes, since the girls here had talked about losing them.  He said nothing was in my eye, but I had ONE eyelash left on there!  Ha!  Fuzzy, I am worried over you, please be okay, girl.  GG 

I am here....day 4 post chemo which is always rough. The reduced dose of taxotere didn't make much difference as to how bad I feel so will postpone the Happy Dance for a few days I think..*L* It's the last chemo so counting the days until I feel human again. I am thinking now the steroid crash and neulasta probably have a great deal to do with the bad days as one would expect a 25% reduction in taxotere should have made some difference.

Coffeegirl..you can PM me with any questions. I had 3 rounds of FEC and 3 rounds of D ( taxotere) I had bad leg pain with taxotere and took oxycodone for 5 days starting day 4 each round of taxotere.Expecting the same this time. My mouth was also very sensitive and I used Magic Mouthwash and very soft toothbrush with warm water and sensodyne toothpaste. Keep your mouth moist as much as possible and drink lots. Try not to think of the next round too much when you feel at your worst ..one day at a time. This isn't easy but we have to do everything we can to fight this cancer. Get the tooth pain checked out if it gets bad. I had a tooth pulled 2 days before round 2 of FEC and have had no problems since.

Congrats to all my sisters finishing this week..on to rads for me in June.

congrat Melanie

I can't wait for this to be over too.

Yay for melanie!  We should probably have a list.  We all started at about the same time but now are going off in all directions doing different things!  I too am having trouble keeping track.

Hello to all my "Chemo Pals".

Congrats to all you finishers!!!  YAY!

I'll be in the chair for #5 TCH on Thursday.  I've been so emotional since my MIL's Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis, I'll probably be a mess on Thursday.  Thursday is my daughter's birthday - she would have been 9 years old.  She died in a household drowning accident several years back.    I have friends coming to hang out with me at chemo.  I think they're just curious about how it all works.  That will be a welcomed distraction.

I'm still struggling with my eyes.  I'm planning to ask the onc about it this week.  Maybe I'm a hypochondriac.    Seriously, the papilledema is real.  The scary things in my mind make me crazy though.  The onc may be able to talk me off the ledge or he may recommend an MRI of my brain.  I'm trying to make peace with whatever outcome happens, regardless.

My MIL started Taxol/Carbo. yesterday.  I'm praying that she does well with the chemo.  She's very sensitive to meds, so either the chemo will work very well or she will have every single SE and not be able to tolerate the chemo.  They told her that without chemo, she probably has two weeks...certainly less than a month.  With chemo, 6-12 months, maybe more.  My FIL breaks my heart.  He's just so overwhelmed and he's normally a guy who's in control and the "Chief Indian".  And my MIL's father is equally heartbreaking.  He just turned 85 and he's just heartsick over all of this.  Watching him care for his daughter (57) in the hospital is so sweet and so sad at the same time. 

MIL and I had a difficult relationship for all the time DH and I have been married (working on 17 years).  We finally made peace in October - before either of us knew that we had cancer.  For that, I'm thankful.  But I cannot help be wish we could have made peace years ago.  But no looking back, right?  She told me that she loved me when we were leaving the hospital - first time ever. 

 I just don't understand why this is all happening, you know?  *sigh*

Congrats Melanie!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Pejkug you are in my thoughts. 

Lisa I hear ya on the energy levels.  That has been one of my biggest issues this whole time.  It didnt matter what I ate or did, still no energy.  I sure wish there was a magic drink, lol.