August 2011 chemo, anyone w/ me?!

Congrats Madismommy, it's a funny feeling getting back and realising it's all in you now.  Good for it to be working, but wierd too.  I do hope you do ok with the SEs, take the nausea pills regularly for a couple of days at least, they work better than waiting until you need them.

vtEllen you take 2, 2x day? Mine says to take 1 every 8 hours?  I wonder if there are different strengths, mine is generic Zofran.  I wish everything was more standard, every doc has different opinions and ways of doing things.  But I guess as long as it all works that's what we need.

Is anyone else waiting for the gene testing results?

Madismommy!!! -- so proud of you hon!! Was it as bad as you thought it would be; I know you were dreading the big day. Yay -- you got through it.  Grimbol and I go for our 2nd round tomorrow....I don't wanna go 

Chrys....good luck to you tomorrow.....if I made it through today than you'll be great for the 2nd round....I'm a wimp and a half. It really wasn't horrible, actually pretty boring....my schedule is all screwed up b/c my onc requires she physically exam me before any treatments on, and her schedule is always SO full....one of my tx I have to be downtown at 7am, OUCH!!! and another not til like 1pm...chemo start at 3....and with traffic home, that should be fun....plus I'll end up on a Wednesday for that one so 22 between (because of onc's schedule) and than only 20 days for the next one.... Oh well....what can I do? I'll get through it..... I'll be thinking of you and Grimbol tomorrow!!!!



Mary....the weather has been beautiful huh? I'm hoping I don't get my butt kicked tomorrow and can get out for a walk.... I think it'll help me! I agree with the better person, I already see it in myself.... I'm already a more laid back mom and person, don't sweat nearly as much as I used to.... I'm not ashamed to ask for help and see so many little things as wonderful when before I may not have even noticed.... . And that's just the beginning!!!

Hi Everyone...Thanks so much for all the support!!

I was really stressing about my first treatment but it went really well!! My nurse ended up being a girl I went to highschool with which was nice. I'm so glad 1 is done now 7 more to go!!!!!

Happy Anniversary Grimbol!!

Summergirl1 How is the hair doing??

Grimbol and Chrys good luck tomorrow!!!

I'm so glad to be a part of this forum you dont know how much you've all done for me!!

Good night Tanya xo

Hello ladies! This is a chatty group. I've spent days trying to catch up, so I haven't posted in a while. I had my 2nd AC on 8/18 and I've felt like myself today for the first time since. Taste is back to normal and and my energy level is better.



I, too have had a difficult time with the hair loss. Once it started falling out, it went quickly. My hair stylist buzzed it really short on day 16 after 1st treatment and I kind of liked the way it looked. Then it continued to fall out and I began to see the alien in the mirror. It actually stopped falling out as much, but looked terrible so I started wearing hats. I'm hoping that since tomorrow is the 14th day post the second treatment that the remaining spigots will fall out. My scalp has been extra sensitive for the past couple of days, more than it was after the first treatment.



I don't have children, but my 6 y.o. nephew did have a strong reaction when he saw me without my hair. He asked me to wear a hat so that he wouldn't be scared. By the end of his visit, however, he told my sister that he wanted to shave his head "because it's too hot to have hair". This made me smile.



Since I have dogs, I've enjoyed reading descriptions of the reactions of some of your dogs. My older dog is blind so she has no idea that anything is different as far as I know. I'm involved in a pug/pug mix rescue and I have 3 pugs. They don't seem to notice my bald head, but they bark like crazy at my wig. I keep it on a shelf in my closet and they cautiously peek through the doorway and immediately start growling when they see it. Once it's on my head they don't seem to care, but seeing it on the styrofoam head really gets them going.



I'm very thankful to have this group even if I don't post much. It's great to hear different perspectives and ways to cope with SE's. Thank you all!

Hi all.  Still waiting to feel a little better after AC #2 last Thursday.  So many ups and downs since then.  I thought I'd dodged the bullet when the weekend went okay, but yesterday was bad. A mix of physical and emotional SE.  

I too can't believe how hard this hair-losing thing is. I really didn't think it would bother me, or maybe I was just in denial about it. Either way, once hubby did a buzz cut on it yesterday morning (and he wasn't particularly even handed at the task, it's definitely a rough cut!), I lost it. He's trying to reassure me that I have a beautiful and well-shaped head and all I can see is a woman looking really sick. I had to go to the onc's yesterday for a quick check-in and wore a hat, but it was hot and itchy and my scalp is super-sensitive.

My physical/emotional/mental reaction to chemo is so different than it was for surgery #1.  With surgery you kind of knew what to expect. You could envision the whole process and understand its outcomes.  This chemo crap is the opposite for me.  Every other week they're putting this strong poison directly into my body, while they're giving me all of these other drugs to counter the effects of the poison, and my body often feels awful from all of it but it's totally unpredictable.  

I like the idea of having a count-down until the end of chemo, but since I'm triple-positive I still have a year to go of these meds, and who knows what after that.  Plus I'm supposed to have BMX in the winter too, and I can't even fathom how I'll handle reconstruction.  I'm just yearning for my pre-cancer life right now.

Feeling totally overwhelmed this morning,

Diana 

We WILL get thru this and get our lives back to whatever the new normal will look like.  I am surprised too at how much I miss my hair. I went out to dinner last night in a hat, I don't have a wig yet, still undecided about that, and the thought that I would be like this for sooo long really overwhelmed me. Still, I can't change any of it so I guess I'll get used to it and try not to pout for too long.

2nd tx today, spending the whole day there.  It's Chipotle's last half price Wednesday today so my DD is bringing lunch in for me.  The res of the time I'm hoping to sleep!!

Chrys, hope it goes well for you today, we must check back in when we can to see how we're both doing.  Praying for no SEs or at least minimal for all of us today.

Thanks to all of you for being here and keeping us paritally sane at least.

Good luck today Chrys and Grimbol!!!! Grimbol, how come such a full day??? Just all the waiting, blood tests, waiting, transfusions???? Or is the tx a really long one? Good luck t

And no s/e's for you and Chrys!!!!! And enjoy your chipolte....I love their burrito bowls!



Diana....big HUGS to you....all your different emotions are totally valid!!!! The hair loss does suck. It hasn't even happened for me yet and I've already shed many tears over it....the "alien look" is really not going to be becoming on me....BUT, somehow I'm going to figure out how to get through....just like after my BMX and these T/E's and their discomfort....and now just starting chemo, just waiting for whatever lovely s/e's are coming my way..... It's one gigantic emotional roller coaster....but we are all on it together holding each others hands.....and we are all going to get off it one day!!!! And we'll have new hair, new normal lives, new freedoms, some new foobs..... 2012 is our year to shine! Hang in there.....



Kasi....are you wearing your wig or scarves more? I've been wearing my scarves all around my house but haven't pulled the trigger on wearing one out yet.....still scared. My two "fun" wigs I have already need some slight haircuts....I'm hoping my friend who's a hairdresser will come over before I lose my real hair and hook me up. My "real me" wig I go the 13th for my official shave and fitting... And getting a halo too....than I can wear it with my scarves sometimes!!!! And hats.....



Edyem.... Nice to see you post!!!! Hugs to you too on the hair loss!!!! And the s/e's....you had them a pretty long time this last treatment. Were you functionable that whole 12 days just kind of blah or was it really bad the whole time? Kids are so funny....the things they say sometimes, I'm sure your nephew didn't want to make you feel bad by being scared at first.... The honesty of a child amazes me, best people to ask for opinions I think! And how sweet by the end he wanted to shave his head too!!! Sweetie pie!



Summergirl, will a hat or loose ponytail help at all with keeping away big clumps coming out while in public? I say hat!!! Probably safer.... That's a phase I'm dreading....the shedding, clumpy phase.... That's where I may take after Chris and transform to "GI Jenn". Lol....I hope my head is a normal shape???? Lol



Hope everyone has a s/e free day..... Thinking of you all!!!!

After reading everyones posts this morning, I wish we lived close together so I could give you each a great big HUG! I constantly get told how brave I am and how good I look, but people really have no idea what's going on inside me!! It  was funny, the other day when our 4 and 5 yr old grandkids came over, neither one of them even noticed or said anything about my shaved head. I've always had pretty  short hair, I guess that's why it didn't phase them.  I figure by the beginning of next week my hair will be completely gone.

I made it up the mountain yesterday and had lunch with a friend. It was nice to get out of the house!

I hope everyone has a good day! (((((HUGS)))))

VtEllen, are you going to go for a BMX down the road??? It sounds like it would ease your worries.... I only had BC in my left side and chose to remove the right because I already had calcifications in the right one.... And I couldn't live with worry and fear everyday..... Maybe a decision you can make sometime in the future.... Just always follow what yourself is telling you, no one else!!!!

Good luck to everyone getting treatment today! I'm heading there in an hour. Only 4 more after this. Count down to a new life after chemo! Although still have radiation and Heperceptin to look forward to but THE HAIR will start growing back.  

Robyn, Had the same issues with my port. Sore throat everything. It got better after my first treatment 6 days later, Srill got a lump on my neck and I thought it was infected but dr. says no. It's just red, not hurting anymore!

Now that my head is shaved, really not too bothered by it. It's kind of growing on me... in a weird sort of GI way! LOL We are fighting a battle so why not use those kinds of terms! I have my moments but the hats I bought are really comfortable and I don't look too awful in them. The bald head is very white....that I need to fix before flaunting it to everyone! haha Do dog rescue so thinking I will be paintng some lovely things on my head about adopting a shelter dog etc.

We are gonna get through this! HUGS TO ALL OF YOU!

Chris 

I chose a lumpectomy over a MX because the diagnosis was right before we were to move cross-country and there was just no way I could put myself through any surgery more complicated than what I did at the time.  Since I'm BRCA+, and have pretty small breasts to begin with, the surgeon wanted to do MX, or maybe BMX, right away after the margins came back unclear  (instead of just another excision).  Somehow she didn't think it should bother me that I'd be working full-time, packing up a house, and moving across country during the same week(s) as BMX!   LOL.  

 So I know I still have more IDC to deal with, plus in situ that they found too, but here in NY the oncologist and surgeon said it wouldn't matter what order I did things in (more surgery first or chemo first).  So, here I am in chemo.  MX or BMX won't happen until the winter at this point, but they all recommend an oophorectomy later this fall, once I'm done with A/C.

 I hope everyone's SE are mild today, and peaceful calm to all of you who have had infusions today!   Every day is a day closer to it being over.  At least the sun is shining here in central New York.   

Oophorectomy is removal of ovaries, and BRCA is the test for the genetic mutation of two different breast cancer genes. It's a simple test (swishing into a cup with mouthwash). I was positive for BRCA2, but not BRCA1.  And that's *without* any history of breast cancer in my family other than my great aunt.  I assumed I'd never even be tested, and assumed it would be negative.  Go figure.  I was told insurance pays for the test only if you're considered high risk OR under the age of 45, and I was 44 when diagnosed.  If you're BRCA+ you also have a very high risk of ovarian cancer.

Yes, I sure hope that chemo is shrinking and shredding whatever's left in my body. At least the known tumor is gone, post-surgery.  If I weren't BRCA+ I'm sure I'd consider not having any more surgery and just trying to be hyper-vigilant for a while/years. 

Hi Grimbol...Sorry to hear your day didnt go your way..Hopefully you can get a good night sleep