Chemo May 2011

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  • mccrimmon324
    mccrimmon324 Member Posts: 1,076
    edited June 2011

    bkj66 - I agree with Blondelawyer, if your are BRAC + then there should be no debate.  This was something that I spoke to my oncologist about this morning.  I asked if I should consider a double mastectomy because I'm triple negative and he said first thing is getting the BRAC testing, if positive, a hysterictomy is more important and we would discuss the masectomy as well.

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  • bak94
    bak94 Member Posts: 1,846
    edited June 2011

    I think the surgery debate is because some docs consider me stage 4 because I have inoperable im nodes positive, one that has gone a bit deeper, but my doc calls me stage 3, so I am confused also. I guess if the chemo and rads don't take care of the nodes, there is no use doing surgery, at least that is how I take it. But I think I would have to have surgery before the rads. I am pushing for surgery either way, and yes, I am brca 1 positive. So if they get me ned in the nodes, I am pretty sure I will have surgery. So far I have had great response to ac, tumor in breast not detectable by ct scan and nodes have shrank, mostly to normal size. I asked if they will biopsy a node to make sure the cancer is gone and he said no. I had it biopsied to confirm cancer, so I don't know why they would do it again to confirm dead cancer!

    I am so glad you are getting a good response with ac, blondelawyer!

    In the hospital waiting for ac # 5, nurse took my temp and it is 99.5, this is after a normal temp at the docs office at 11 am and again at around 2 at the hospital. Hope they will still do chemo, don't want to start this whole process over again! Getting the premeds right now, nurse is checking with doc.

    Please beware of serial postings by me, as I get obsessive while I am in the hospital receiving chemo!

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  • DebRox
    DebRox Member Posts: 437
    edited July 2011

    bkj66:  Sending positive vibes to you and erradicating those cells from your nodes!!!!

    I believe they wont biopsy the nodes again because unless they can take the whole node they wont know.  The reason I say this is I had an enlarged lymph node in my axilla. It was 2 cm in size.  They did originally biopsy and it came back clean, but the surgeon explained that doesnt guarantee cancer cells are not in the node, just the section they biopsied.  The only way to tell is to remove the entire node and then dissect. So from your surgeons standpoint, they need to remove the whole node to determine whether cancer is present or not.  Does that make sense?

    Look forward to your serial postings :).  I have been here all day, its too hot outside. 

    deeby

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  • neecee
    neecee Member Posts: 663
    edited July 2011

    bkj66 - I would get a second opinon on the Avastin.  The FDA has twice now voted to not endorse its use for breast cancer.

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  • HMatisse1
    HMatisse1 Member Posts: 3
    edited July 2011

    Bkj66 - there's been a lot of debate about the effectiveness of Avastin in the media right now since the FDA is now recommending that it not be used for breast cancer because the last 4 clinical trials have not been able to replicate the results from the original trial. If an onc prescribes it off label, insurance may not cover it. Google it and you'll find a lot of information. You may want to get a second opinion on this one.

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  • bak94
    bak94 Member Posts: 1,846
    edited July 2011

    Thanks all, that is what I was thinking. Some do have great results. but I am all ready having a great response so I am not sure why all of a sudden he is recommending it; Maybe he thinks thatg this may be my only chance to get it before it is pulled.

    Debrox, that makes sense why they may not biopsy a node, they can't get all of it. I wish they could try to get the im nodes, with surgery, as I know some have had them removed. Problem is they are just under the muscle and they would have to cut into muscle or remove some muscle, but don't they do that with radical mastectomies?

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  • Cyborg
    Cyborg Member Posts: 848
    edited July 2011

    Hi, Everyone. It's been awhile since I have been on the boards consistently since I had a week long visit with my mom. Good visit. Anxious about the last chemo and praying that the chemo, the surgery and the rads will kill the beast.

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  • bak94
    bak94 Member Posts: 1,846
    edited July 2011

    Cyborg, praying with you that the beast is gone! Glad you had a nice visit with your mom!

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  • txladysara
    txladysara Member Posts: 52
    edited July 2011

    Hello all, I haven't been on the board for awhile, been avoiding it on purpose :(. I had my 3rd chemo and was sick for a week, worse than ever. I also started getting iron infusions, had my second one yeterday, was told that I will need a total of 4 so that means... I already had half of my chemo and half of the iron. Half way done w/ this ohh but will still need rads afterwards but I think that will be way easier :). I have been better this week and finally decided to come and catch up on how the May Ladies are doing, it seems most of us are doing ok, have bad days but know they will pass. I don't even like to talk or think or research or anything about breast cancer :( . I don't know if its wrong or right I just know I feel overwhelemed w/ it and just wanna go to sleep and wake up and for it to be done! Ughh sorry for whinining! 

    Well have a great day ladies, it's raining here and it kinda soothes me so that's good. :)

    God bless us all! 

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  • twistedsteel
    twistedsteel Member Posts: 156
    edited July 2011

    BEWARE

    THIS IS A GENERAL BITCH SESSION WHERE I COMPLAIN AND HAVE A LITTLE PITY PARTY FOR MYSELF

    Omg, I cannot believe how down I am this week. I am bored out of my mind, but if I start to do something I get lightheaded and tired and that yucky feeling. I wanted so much to spend time with my daughter today bc I haven't spent much time with her all week from feeling like crap. And I couldn't hold it together to do it.

     I nap a few times a day for just short periods of time. I cry a few times a day. I have had 6 of my 12 taxol and the I will have 4 DD of AC over 8 weeks. October 3 is my last treatment date if all goes according to schedule, as far as I can tell. My tumor is getting smaller. Started at over 8cm x 8cm. It is now significantly smaller. So I know I am getting better.

    I just am sick of feeling sick. I want more good days than I am getting. My puppy keeps me company, and then I feel lonely, but yet, don't want to be around people. I hate watching tv, but that is what there is. I can't stick through a whole movie. I feel like a pathetic whiner. I hate whining. I always try and be sunny and optimistic, but I am losing that battle right now.

    My friends want to help, but there is nothing I can think of that will help me.

    I slept 10 hours last night and yet 4 hours later I was exhausted. My blood counts are good, so I don't know what is getting me tired.

    I am hoping tomorrow will be a better day. I have an extra recovery day this round bc Monday is a holiday so chemo is Tuesday this week. Then 1 less recovery day the following week.

    I just want to slap myself (metaphorically) across the face and say, SNAP OUT OF IT! But I cannot seem to drag my ass out of the doldrums. So I finally relented and took a lorazepam/Ativan. I hate taking them for but I took one anyway.

    I appreciate that I have a place where I can bitch about this crap and have others understand for real, not just empathize or feel sorry for me, or worse yet, give me a million useless solutions.

    Cry 

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  • blondelawyer
    blondelawyer Member Posts: 327
    edited July 2011

    twistedsteel: Sorry you are having such a rough time.  I can understand.  I have pretty much spent the past 3 days in bed.  I got out and did a couple of errands today, but those just ran me into the ground.  This has been my worst round so far.  I ended up crying in my mail box place today.  It is so hard.  I just want to crawl into bed and wake up if it is ever over.  I am a certifiable mess!  Wish I had words of widsom for you, but all I can say is to take it one moment at a time.  

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  • Beaglesgirl
    Beaglesgirl Member Posts: 287
    edited July 2011

    Twistedsteel, I understand completely. I had to get on an antidepressant which has really helped. This is such a huge thing that has happened to us it's ok for us to be sad or mad or plain ol shell shocked. Don't be so hard on yourself sending hugs from the singing beagle ranch.... ~laura

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  • neecee
    neecee Member Posts: 663
    edited July 2011

    {{{twistedsteel}}}

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  • Cyborg
    Cyborg Member Posts: 848
    edited July 2011

    hey twistedsteel! Glad you are using the boards to vent. Who else understands the emotional and physical parts of this gig.

    Blondelawyer: hope you are able to spend some time outof bed soon. You are right-sometimes even getting to the mailbox can be hard. Did I say how cute you look in your blonde wig? You are adorable.

    actually had a day withoug an anxiety episode. I also slept through the night.

    Tonight, I am going to have yogurt and see Bad Teacher.

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  • bak94
    bak94 Member Posts: 1,846
    edited July 2011

    Cyborg, you look great as a blonde! I am so jealous! I tried on blonde wigs,  I have always wanted to be a blonde but I don't lookd good with blonde hair.

    Sorry you gals are feeling so down, twisted, blondelawyer and txlady, and all others that I missed. I am about to get out of the hospital so at this moment I am excited, but have my low days shortly ahead of me. This hospital trip was a diffferent experience. At first they put me in a shared room with someone on a different wing. It was crazy. I started crying and said I couldn't do it, they would have to reschedule me. Thank goodness the other lady have left for a ct so she didn't hear me. There was a shared bathroom and shared sink and I  have to pee in a collecter thing and I would have had to call a nurse everytime I have to pee because roomate also had to pee in one. Ugh. I told them I would not do it. They asked if I could wait to started at 3, it was 11, and I said yes, so they had a private room for me then. I feel like such a bitch, but I couldn't handle it. The other woman had something some kind of blockage, not a cancer patient, and had been throwing up like crazy. Thank goodness she got good news fro her ct scan, all I heard through the curtains. I have never shared a room in a hospital, and it is very uncomfortable, I had to stay there until my room was ready. I got moved back to my regular wing and all was good, and now I am excited to go home. Sorry about the book I just wrote, again!

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  • Patriotic
    Patriotic Member Posts: 281
    edited July 2011

    Twisted steel, we get it. I erroneously thought I was over the pity-party "hump". But, this is such a roller-coaster. There's nothing worse than not feeling well. And when you're used to being healthy, it really starts to wear you down. I am convinced it is screwing with my mind. And, there's really nothing anyone else can do to help us. I feel like I can't even leave the house. No energy. No ambition. No end in sight to feeling this way. It feels like it's just "existing." Even though I know it's only temporary, it's tough to remain positive every day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better for all of us.



    Blonde lawyer, I feel like a certifiable mess today, too. LOL. I told DH today, "If I feel too sick to go to the mall, then you know it's bad." Hang in there. Do you feel better by day 5 post-
    treatment? So happy to hear your tumor is shrinking!



    Txladysara, sorry you've been so sick and in need of infusions. It's better that you don't research too much about BC right now. It is so overwhelming....all the what-if's. Did the iron make you feel better right away?



    Cyborg, your new avatar made me smile. You look fabulous as a blonde AND you look happy. Go girl!

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  • Cyborg
    Cyborg Member Posts: 848
    edited July 2011

    The blonde wig is like a different persona I can put on. It is funny. Good news blondelawyer that your tumor is shrinking.I am so grateful for the treatment that is available to us.

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  • neecee
    neecee Member Posts: 663
    edited July 2011

    Cyborg - love you in this wig!  It is a really great look for you.

    Patriotic - you are absolutely right!  This is a roller coaster emotionally and physically.  Up and down.   The challenge is not the physical for me - I know what is coming and when, so it is annoying but manageable.  For me, the challenge is the emotional part, because I never know when the slide down is going to rear its ugly head.  I have had my lowest emotional points when I am feeling physically the best.  Like now.  I am three days away from my next treatment.  I feel physically great.  But I see the next treatment on the calendar, and know that feeling great is going to go away in a few days, and that is depressing.

    Glad we all have each other!

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  • mccrimmon324
    mccrimmon324 Member Posts: 1,076
    edited July 2011

    Cyborg, I love the blond wig!!

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  • justme1
    justme1 Member Posts: 223
    edited July 2011

    wondering if yall were swelling any? My ring will not go on my fingure and i feel my hands swollen too .After my 2nd a/c i thik i am tireder this time. WEd is my chair day and number 3 each time is it harder on yall to get your energy back up? Being tire and feeking swollen this far out of my second treatment is getting to me and my pic line well umm i am alergic to something my arm has little red  bumps on it and itches and the day i get my bandage changed the whole day i burn and ich really bad. Dont know if its the tape or the cleaner but next time they  will have to change it for something eles. Hope eveyone has a good weekend seems the chair is coming faster this time around but lest its a step closer to being done.

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  • Beaglesgirl
    Beaglesgirl Member Posts: 287
    edited July 2011

    Sorry to hear about your SE I can relate with the exhaustion and your rash sounds like what happens to me with chrolaprep. Mention it to your dr, they will recognize it right away.



    You are stronger than you think jusme! You can do this ~ hugs

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  • justme1
    justme1 Member Posts: 223
    edited July 2011

    thank u  I know it could be worse and i am half ay through a/c praise GOD ! My grand daughter is with me today she is almost 4 she really helps keep my mind off this crap.She says i am her bald headed friend. Gosh i love her!

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  • panamajayne
    panamajayne Member Posts: 136
    edited July 2011

    I'm very lucky so far as I still have my head hair, eyelashes and eyebrows even though I have finished  4 A+C once every 21 day treatments and 1 once a month Taxol with 3 more Taxol to go before Herceptin.   Have shed strands of hair & my blonde hair has turned a whiteish color.  Still have to shave my legs but no armpit hair.  All my hair is still growing which keeps me a happy girl on this unwanted journey. 

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  • panamajayne
    panamajayne Member Posts: 136
    edited July 2011
    1. constipation help.  A nurse who is a colonoscopy tech told me to drink Nutri Slim tea.  I use 2 teabags to a cup of hot water and wow did it work in about 6 hours for me  Possibly less or more for you.  It comes in a bright green box in the grocery section where all the other teas are. 
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  • 40-years-old-now
    40-years-old-now Member Posts: 309
    edited July 2011

    I think we all may be having a bit of cabin fever, because it is the holiday that you are to grill out and see fireworks with a bunch of people.

    I know that I am feeling like a lazy bum. But HEY I am busy here with a chemo shark in me. I am busy growing WBC. I am even busy going bald.

    It is also hot here. Well not as hot as other places, but it is hot.

    Any way,

    I hope all of you have a happy 4th  (even you outside the US) and have little or no SE

    Candice

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  • Beaglesgirl
    Beaglesgirl Member Posts: 287
    edited July 2011

    I've been sick and strangely sad today. Mourning all that I've lost. I couldn't even sit on a wooden picnic table right now because of the nuelasta pain. I'm a mess, don't know when the wheels fell off my wagon. I guess sometime this afternoon. Yikes. Not like me :*(

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  • DebRox
    DebRox Member Posts: 437
    edited July 2011

    Well I'm joining the "in the doldrums" club. I'm sure it has to do with the long weekend here and thinking of the fun going on. I've been resting most of the day.



    I remember feeling sad over the may long weekend as well. I am sure these feelings shall pass. Remember we are all a step closer to finishing treatment!

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  • 40-years-old-now
    40-years-old-now Member Posts: 309
    edited July 2011

    I really think that the long weekend has something to do with being a bit down. I am getting very frustrated with my daughter and husband. I know that it is not their fault but I am so bothered that I am basically stuck in bed today. T

    Thank goodness for laptops.

    I neeed a break for everything.

    My laptop has only 1 hour 45 mins of battery power. Oh it just jumped to 1 hour 22 mins.

    I am bitter today. I know I am I just dont want to say or do anything I will regret.

    Candice

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  • MamaV
    MamaV Member Posts: 907
    edited July 2011

    Right there with you all. Just dropped my daughter off at a picnic that I feel to crummy to go to. I hate that I can't enjoy this holiday weekend! So sick and tired of being sick and tired!

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  • DebRox
    DebRox Member Posts: 437
    edited July 2011

    Right there with you mamaV. And I'm sick of being a patient as well. It seems the appts never end!



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