Chemo May 2011

Laureen: I'm on decadron as well, day before, day of and day after. Plus infusion as well.



I did not have the super energetic effect or sleeplessness from them, they made me an emotional wreak. Today I'm not on them and feel better, more stable.



Hope you're feeling better.



Cyborg: my period started day before chemo. Stopped almost completely after infusion, not long enough to finish my cycle. I hope it starts again as the lining needs to shed. Maybe our periods will be abnormal for a few months.

Laureen, they give me decadron in the iv and that is it with the second treatment. The first treatment they gave it to me for 3 days after, 3 pills each. I told the mo that it made me crazy so they didn't give me any this time. They said it was only for nauseousness and since I have been somewhat ok with that they said I did not need it, and I am ok with that. I take zofran, compazzine, and lorazapam for the nausea, I don't feel too good today, kinda weak and it is my doctor appt. day. So i am 5 days past 2nd ac. My naturalpath doc put me on digestive enzymes and it really helps with the constipation, weird, huh? Maybe ask your mo about that, mine said it is ok.

I am getting the steroids (Decadron) as pre-meds for Taxol, which I am doing before AC. So, the steroid does cause me to "buzz" around. I feel better than normal for about a day and a half and then it seems to wear off. If I get the infusion too late in the day, then I do notice I am up late the following night. I think the Benadryl pre-med prevents me from having a sleepless night on infusion day.



I think AC is a different story, however. When I start that, my Onc is suggesting taking the following, in this order:

Emend

Zofran

Compazine

Ativan

Colace

Hello all, Hoping everyone is having a good day. As for me, it's not a good day . My hair is coming out in clumps, I have a huge bald spot in the middle of my head and I leave hair all over the house. I am 17 days after first fec chemo and I am sad . To top things off I got my period on the 21st, I thought I would be through w/ my period and today it started super heavy. Heavy to where I have to change my pad every hour and a half, and I'm talking the overnight heavy duty pads. I read that tampons shouldn't be used on chemo patients so.. no tampons. I'm on my period, I usually have two heavy days per period and then i'm ok again, and my periods last around 2 weeks. I actually feel like crying, but I wont! I refuse! I have to look at the bright side of things, but it's difficult when i'm feeling sorry for myself. I am glad I had my hair cut a shoulder length, niece cut at least 9 inches off. I thought I was prepared for loosing my hair but... I still feel sad. 

Hoping everyone is having a good day God bless! 

Thank you Neecee.

Post part 2! I don't know why I got so sad sitting waiting for my blood draw, as a group of us were chatting. There was a young man, another woman about my age just starting out, and a younger woman. All having a great conversation, talking about hobbies, laughing and having a good time, despite everything they are all going through. Why are all these wonderful people having to deal with this? Just made me sad.

On another note I asked my mo about the parp trials, he had nothing good to say about them. He had a patient that responded well to traditional chemo, then they worked hard to get her on a parp trial as she wanted, and her cancer spread and became more aggressive while on parp. I was feeling like the parp could be my back up if all this other stuff doesn't work, but he was not liking it, even for brca+ like am and this woman that did not respond well to it. I know it is all a crapshoot, but I have heard such good things about parp, this deflated my balloon bigtime.

txlady....was going to write earlier but my daughter called. Your experience above sounds a GREAT deal like what I've experienced, especially after my first chemo treatment.  My hair was falling out in clumps up until last night and I became brave and shaved!!

txlady...I had my my period on Mother's Day...5 days after my first treatment.  I thought the same as you.  For me the end of periods was going to be a blessing.  I haven't had it since.  Going for third treatment on the 31st.  My hair was fine until about 2-3 days after second treatment.  I got tired of the shedding.  It was too sad.  I used my daughter's clippers (she use to do hair) and then used my leg razor (Infusion- Ironic!! or something like that).  Razor had soap around the outside and it was almost impossible to cut myself.  I started out crying as I began and ended laughing.  You have to laugh at the way your body had done a 360.  If you are really depressed though, call you doc.  They gave me antidepressants right from the start.  Adavan for sleeping at night and mood adjustment as I sleep.

I dont think it is fair that we are having periods. I think we are going threw enough with out that too. 

Today I saw the radiologist, I will be having radiation on my leg and arm as apparently the cancer is there too , starting next Wednesday. I may be starting chemo on Thursday.   The leg is very sore, there is damage to the bone. But with any luck the pain will go away after about a week of the raditation.

That is about it for me.

{{{{{{HUGS to EVERYONE}}}}}}

Lilylady,

Thank you for the encouragement. It is alsways nice to see that it is working well. It Helps Alot!

Candice

38yearsold, I agree it's not fair to have our periods when we are already dealing w/ SE. I really hope that radiation helps you w/ your pain in your leg and arm. {{{{{{{{{HUGS and LOVE to You}}}}}}}}}}

lilylady thanks for encouraging us!

bkj66 I know it's sad to see others going through this. but how cool that you get your chemo in the hospital, VIP

Linda, I wish I owned some clippers than maybe I would get the courage and just clip it away. I don't really feel depressed, it's just that I am a bit sad, but I am sure I will be better once I get this hair issue over w/, once it's gone and i get use to it, I am sure I will be fine. But I do suffer from anxiety, was even agoraphobic for a while, but I am way better. Have a bottle of xanax in my cabinet, I am thinking maybe its time to take one. 

Have a good night Maygirls God bless and sleep well.

Onc prescribed dexamethasone (same as decadron) am and pm on the day before, day of, and day after. They keep me up late and make sleep restless, wear off by 2 days after I'm done with them. Only take them every third week when I'm doing TCH, so, so far it's not too bad. Onc said I get it to avoid the edema in the legs that Taxotere causes.

Thanks MamaV for the encouragement to embrace all different emotions this journey brings us all.  Take care everyone!

Laureen 

hello sisters,

im so sorry you have joined us, but, you could not have found a better place!! im here to give you some encouragement, and some tips. my heart goes out to you, no one can ever understand what we are going thru, except us sisters.. i finished chemo last Nov 1, 2010, i was on AC x4 and taxol x12, i want to let you know a few things for all our new girls, there is light at the end of that long tunnel its not fun but doable, and you will get there! The main thing id like you to know,is to please let the chemo do its job, don't fight it, go with it.. ask for help if you need it!!! dont suffer through it alone... i cried,got mad,laughed,hated my hubby many times, so scared  of whats to come, and its all very normal! you have been hit hard! but you will get through it! remember, you are doing this to kick Cancer cell ass. i remember i felt like a scared kitten on the freeway, but it really does get better.... water,water water, you want to keep your kidneys and liver flushed from all the hard toxins, that was the hard part for me, water taste like metal, but so important, for all my new AC sisters, drink a lot of water while being infused, as you know you will pee red and you want the red gone before you go home, AC is hard core ONC's call it the (Red Devil), been around for 30 years, It sucks!! as they all do ... For all of us girls on any chemo, i was advised to flush twice with the lid down for a couple of days. the half life on the Adriamycin is about 28 hours i believe, and the Cytoxin is about 17 hours, and its out, im sorry i dont know about Taxotare or others. but lots of fluids..please stay on top of your meds!!, i was very blessed that i did not have any se's thru 16 treatments, but i did hit a bit of depression, well a big bit!!! PLEASE,PLEASE, if you feel it coming on tell your ONC, dont suffer through it.. know that is is only situational depression, and is part of the game sometimes. get a mild anti depressant i did...Take what you need to take to get you through this. I also had the famous Chemo Fatigue, third chemo was the worst it really helped to get up and take a walk and a shower, if your so fatigued that you cant, pop an Ativan and sleep through it,dont fight it..Remember Ativan is your friend, hehe this is your time to be selfish and take care of you!! listen to your body, wash hands always, AC girls you will have to have the neulasta shot 24 hours later,as you know, the Adriamycin wipes your white cells out. but the shot  will super charge you, hehe, then they will drop again about the 9th day or so, some women have had bone pain from the shot for a few days, i did not, remember when your on chemo and your white cellsl are low, if you get sick it will come out in a fever, they call it an infection, u wont get sick like a non chemo person cause you do not have a lot cells to fight it off, so u will have a fever. Keep an eye on you temp,if you you think something is going on, and if your not good,dont take a Tylenol, it can mask the fever. no fresh fruit or veggies, they r touched all the time, you never know... now that im done, i know i did not need to be as scared as i was of getting infection, so please dont worry about it (i know easier said then done), but hand sanitizer always, and dont be afraid to tell a guest to sanitize when they walk in,or any nurses or DR if you notice..i was able to take down my pre drugs, i didnt like the Ativan in my port (IV), it made me too loopy all night, so she took it down to like 10, the decodron pills before taxol, i had 2 the nite before and 1 in the morning of, i always forgot plus it would keep me up, so i was allowed to go off the pills, but it was still in my port, talk to your ONC if something is not working for you, BTW, Taxol was a piece of cake compared to AC, i went back to work, thanks to happy pills taxol does not hit your white cells or red like AC and Taxotare, you will have much more energy,

i used Biotane mouth wash and tooth paste, and gargled w/ the salt water and baking soda 3 time a day, never got mouth sores, i did it all thru chemo  everyday but really dont know if that was why? chemo really effects the mouth membranes, for the girls on the Taxotares and Taxol,these are very drying on the nails, and they can fall off I used nail oil,not hardener, you want them moist

none of my nails fell off, but two toe nails turned a blackish color, again,who knows if it worked,or i was just lucky.....i think its worth a try... The Taxotares and Taxol are very famous for bone, joint pain and the dreaded neuropathy, i took glutamine

in powder form,1 tablespoon 3 times a day in about 4 inches of water the day after infusion for four days, i never got the neuropathy... that is the tingling, pins and needles and the numbness that can be permanent... i took B6 and B12, i never had bone or joint  pain, i mean really its so hard to say if it works, everyone is different but, UCSF recommend it. i never lost my eyebrows, i used Latesse every night on them and my eyelashes, lashes thinned a lot, but very little on my brows, i started just doing it on my brows cause it cost so much, I did lose every ounce of my hair, except my brows and the hair on my head,( i used the PCC (cold caps) and it really worked, i saved my hair, it thinned a lot, i lost about 65% of it evenly... i know they have a Generic of latesse in beauty supplies that is about 50.00, much cheaper then Latesse, i heard it works as well, mind you i do have thick brows, and they did thin a little but only i could tell, hair on the head is gone by  18 days im so sorry for that, they have beautiful wigs now and scarfs, remember  it will come back,  down stairs hair was the gone  by my third AC, that was kinda nice, hehe, as well as all body hair, nose hair goes as well, so u will prolly get drippy, friends who lost their head hair said they use a pet roller for all the lil fuzzies at first... where my hair thinned, on my head, i noticed it started growing back about my #5 Taxol, and really came in fast..Taxotare is stronger,the girls i know didnt start growing hair back till done but before you know it, it will be there.. please girls no razer blades on your head, u dont want to cut yourself, im so sorry, 

I started chemo june 16 or so, i had a normal period a week later, then i had a normal one July 22, that was my last, i had my hormone levels cked in September and my levels were like a 10, not putting out hormones, my ONC said that because of my age, i was prolly not going to go into menopause, so she still wanted me on the Tmox when i finished chemo, last Feb, we cked my levels again, and it was 85, im producing lots now, but my period has not come back,im taking the Tamoxfin and have had no problems its been 6 months...

Stay positive,and let it do its job!!!

wow im sorry for rambling on, please know you will get through it!!! your in my heart and prayers, if you wanna talk please PM me,and i will call or you may call me, i dont care day or night!! i made a lot of calls to wonderful women, and would love to be there for you!!! imno DR but i have learned a heck of a lot!!!

biggest hugs and love

Chey