Chemo May 2011

Laureen - doing my first treatment tomorrow.  Good luck to you too!

Marybe, that's my issue.   I need to keep my strength up.  I lost weight after diagnosis due to stress so I really have to be careful.

My daughter's hs graduation went beautifully...am so thankful that I finally felt good and could enjoyit.

Tonight I'm getting my haircut cut since I'm at 12 days.  This is going to be scary nd liberating at the same time...

Sue 

This is my "off" week from a/c just got my self back together and the constipation has kicked in. I think I can handle it over the nausea and pain from last week... I hope.

First chemo was on 5/12/11 and I'm feeling lucky (almost like cheating) that I really only had two bad days. Second is this coming Thursday. I hear it gets worse, but I'm hoping that years of exercise and eating right will help at least a little bit. My biggest problem right now seems to be constant fatigue and some pretty significant muscle aches. Hope all goes well for everyone this week.

Marybe, my total white blood count 6 days after my first chemo was .8 but one part of white blood count was .1! So before my 2nd chemo my total white counts were 10. They took my blood counts while I was in the middle of chemo and they went up to 16. How weird is that? The nurse that was giving me my neulasta shot today seemed a bit worried that they were that high, she took my temp to make sure I did not have an infection and kept telling me to continue to take my temp, which is fine. Was you doc worried about your counts being 39? Maybe the shots just took awhile to kick in for me, but she sure was concerned.

Hello all you beautiful ladies,

I also will be starting Chemo (TC x4) this coming Thursday, feeling a little scared of the SE and hoping there are very little.  Good luck to all of you and I hope we can all  get though this together.

Lots of hugs to all.

Pam 

I start my Taxotere/Cytoxan on Tuesday the 24th - I have 4 rounds at 3 weeks apart.  I had last Thursday a Power InJectable Port installed called a "Smart Port"  - is that a port a cath?

Oh Candice, I wish I could take the pain away. Are you sleeping ok? Your short hair is cute! I used to have long hair also. Today had to get it cut even shorter, as it was coming out by the handful. I am surprised I don't have any bald spots yet, just getting thin. I must find a wig soon that doesn't make people laugh! I may just wind up being a hat person at this rate, although I only have one hat. Why is it the hairsuch a big deal? It is and I just don't really consider myself a vain person, pretty natural, not much makeup and such, low maintenance some would call me. I found myself trying to put in earrings, but one of my holes closed up!

I made hubby force the ear ring in, because I knew I would want to wear earrings when I lost the hair. I dont wear makeup. I was a wash hair at night air dry and braid and brush. no curling, rarely blow dry. But the hair loss was one of my biggest issues.

If you still have your starters you may want to try to put that in and repearce the hole. Have someone help.

Have you looked at the TLC catalog for hair, not bad prices and they have some things for under hats too.

My daughter giggled but said it was very cute. She cried when I got it cut. I managed not too.

How many days has it been sence your first chemo?  And what type is it?

Candice

Candice- you poor thing! I hope that you get some relief from the pain in your sore spots soon!

Welcome to Barb in BR! You have lots of company in the chair on Tuesday! (Mental image of lots if strange women holding hands around the world!!!!)

Cyborg- I think that the steroids are the best part of the chemo- it cures the asthma problem I have, the respiratory specialist will only prescribe a short term course on special occasions to get my sense of smell working! unfortunately the chemo means everything will smell like mouldy chemical oranges for 10 days!!! Win some lose some! I am glad you have a positive MO - it gives confidence when the people looking after you are research receptive! My doctors are all involved in clinical research st the centre here- I am starting a clinical trial and will get an extra injection tomorrow which is part of the D-CARE trial into denosumab. It is a double blind RCT which means that neither me or the doctors will know if I receive the antibody or the placebo. The upside is that I will have bone scans and CT for the next 5 years which will hopefully give peace of mind. As a researcher and patient I appreciate that every treatment we have has been tested in one study or another on

brave women long ago.

Best wishes everyone! Robyn

Welcome to those of you joining us.  Sorry to welcome you to the club no one wants to join.  Good luck to everyone in the chair this week - sounds like today and tomorrow are the big days.  I'm in for Taxol #6 on Thursday. 

Hugs to all - together we can do this - one day at a time!  (Sometimes, it's one minute at a time - but we WILL get through this!)

Neecee,

I hope it all goes well for you today. I know it is a scary time but you will get through it.  I have my second of 4 on thursday.  Keep us posted.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ONE WEEK AFTER FIRST CHEMO:

1.  I feel like an alien.  Things feel strange. 

2.  I plan on working for the first month of this regimen and then I am going to take a leave of absence.   But I realize it is going to be essential that I have a task.  Work is one way to take my mind off of this, but I think I deserve to do something more enjoyable.  I am going to break out my paintbrushes and produce at leat three masterpieces this summer!

3.  This is my last week with hair. 

Hi all, today is one week after my first TC cycle (25% done).  I'm back in the office, and although I feel distracted and all over the place, it's kind of nice to get out of my cave and into the real world.

Here's how things have gone!

My kids pixied my hair last Sunday and I fedexed it to HipHatswithHair.com.  For like $300 they make a piece with your own hair that you wear with hats/scarves.  I'm in Manhattan and went to every fancy wig place in town but it's just not me, I actually found the wigs more upsetting than the idea of being bald. I unveiled my pixie cut today and am actually getting compliments.  They are just trying to be nice!

Anyway, tx last Monday was uneventful, although really long. No port, which is great. I iced my fingers and toes, and my daughter fed me ice chips while we watched Real Housewives New Jersey re-runs. Very distracting!  She's 25, took the day off from work, and they gave us free sandwiches and candy -- after 2 hours she turned to me and said, "This is fun!" 

The fun didn't last!  I was shaky but ok on Tuesday, and worked from home -- I had that glittery, alien/fragile feeling, like I would break if someone bumped me. I got my Neulasta shot on Wednesday (The nurse said, "No, it doesn't hurt!" OUCH) and spent Thursday and Friday feeling physically awful, I couldn't lie down, I couldnt stand up, I didn't know where to put myself, I couldn't even look at the computer screen, it hurt my eyes, so no work. I did the Claritin/Aleve run up to the shot, day of the shot, and day after and I have no clue if it helped -- if it did, thank god or I would have been taking myself to the ER.  I wasted tons of money on food I would take one bite of and then chuck because it tasted VILE. Anyone want 6 tubs of fancy greek yogurt!? I subsisted on ice pops, Corona, and the occasional potato chip.

Friday night a friend came and took me to dinner just to get me out the door.  I ate spicy lemongrass soup from the Thai place near my apartment and it was delicious -- although they say spicy prompts thrush and sure enough, next morning, my tongue is white. The physical symptoms subsided and then the dark-darkos set in for Saturday and Sunday. Just. Completely. Depressed.  Crying, moping, hiding in the bed, non-stop television - very unlike me!  My poor dog looked traumatized. Walking a 100lb standard poodle is a trip under any circumstances, but sheesh.  He's a good boy, understands something, is taking it slooowww. I cancelled lunch with daughter and she insisted on coming up to see me -- I hate having her take care of me, especially with the emotional stuff.  It just seems like the wrong way around, very hard to accept. But she goofed around and bossed me around and ... voila!

Today I feel better.  Again I'm at work and it's really hard to concentrate.  But I got over the hurdle of everyone seeing me without much hair, and I'm feeling ok, and it's nice to be distracted by anything other than ME.

And that's my one-TC-down/three-to-go update!  Thank you all for your stories.  They make this bearable. 

I forgot to add:  OPI Envy nail hardener plus Sally Hansen on fingers (I can't take color on my fingernails) and OPI Envy and Navy Blue on my toes -- can't hurt.