Calling all Stage II Sisters!!!

Hi babsbrink. Its all a bit scary when you start out, but you just have to go one day at a time & soon enough you'll be thru treatment and out the other side...It is doable, even tho there are hard days

SpecialK, part of the reason I'm on the zoledronic acid too is the onc recommended it, it also helps reduce the risk of BC recurrence. Luckily its only once a year because I was quite sick for a couple of days (I vowed I'd never have it again! but have since read it should be easier next time)  

SpecialK, somehow I missed your reclast post, just checked it out. We call it aclasta here. I'm on it once a year. I had reflux recently too, for the first time ever so oral bisphosphonates were out for me too.

I have to say it did feel like being back on chemo. Felt fine on the day, then next day I had nausea & vomiting, & a splitting headache, couldn't keep anything down (including pain relief) until I got an anti-nausea med day 2. (I was home alone day 1-hubby at work. Got him to go to med centre next day to get me meds).

But next time shoud be easier 

Flwarrior - Hi fellow FL person!  I took L-Glutamine, Acetyl L Carnitine and B6 during TCH chemo and only had the neuropathy crop up at tx#5.  It is very mild and consists of numbness only on the bottoms of my feet and toes.  It is improving on the left foot so now they feel unbalanced, which is weird.  The pain and stiffness has only started with the addition of Femara in the last couple of weeks.  I forgot to take it one day and didn't have the stiffness - so I think that it is correctly attibuted to the Femara.  I hope the pain meds are helping you and that at least your neuropathy will be diminished when you go off of them.  Most of the folks that have neuropathy from Taxotere seem to slowly improve - I know there are some folks that have continuing or more permanent problems, but I am sure hoping you are not one of them!

FLwarrior - that is so crazy about the MRI contrast and a delayed reaction.  Did your onc say anything about how long out from treatment that can happen?  I had problems with my node arm during Taxotere - it swelled and became quite painful.  The pain was exactly like the axillary web syndrome diagram, and I developed cording. It was weird because I had no problems with it from the time of node surgery (early Dec.) until about half through chemo (Mar. - Apr.)  Now I am in PT with a lymphedema specialist for about another month.  Cording and pain are gone - now just trying to get everything stretched out on that arm and from last month's surgery on the other side.

I have not been taking the L-Glutamine but I probably should.  It might speed up the departure of the neuropathy from my feet.  It is more of an issue with new stiffness from the Femara, so I may go back on it.  I need to get back to walking as well.  I had to stop because as soon as I went out in the heat my arm would swell and throb.  Man, it is always something, isn't it?  Hopefully you won't have unmanageable SE from the Tamoxifen - the Femara really is OK for me.

Hi Babs,

I know all about the boonies, I live 172 miles from my treatment center, we live in the Davis Mt's in West Texas.  With gas prices at $3.60 a gallon it is hard.  I will have my last AC this Thursday and then around Sept. I am to start Taxol for 12 weeks once a week.  Good luck

Rockym - tax deductable if you meet the income threshold - if your income is too high, can't deduct.  Your medical expenses have to be a certain percentage of your adjusted gross income.

rockym - I was referring to the federal return.  I live in FL where we have no state income taxes, so no state filing.

rockym - No state income tax sounds great but the reality in FL is that revenue has to come from somewhere so it becomes sales tax and real estate taxes.  We pay criminal amounts of property tax, the state runs on the backs of homeowners.  With the number of foreclosures, short sales, etc. and the drop in value the state/counties are short of money.....  I would rather everyone foot the bill in the form of state income tax.  FL is a great state to be a renter!  Too bad I am not one!

I itemize on my federal as well, will check it out for 2011.  The vast majority of my treatment has taken place in 2011, rather than in 2010.  I have not given it too much thought as my out of pocket has been pretty minimal, but I have all co-pay receipts, and have calendared all appts so can calculate the mileage easily.  My treatment has been very close to home as well, I am fortunate with that.  I know a lot have to drive quite a distance to see their docs.

dixiebell - I had a baseline PET after surgery but before chemo and then another PET at the conclusion of chemo.  You probably wont get feeling back anywhere around that axilla area for at least 6 months.  You will adapt to the numbness - I had AND last Dec. and just now can feel when I shave that underarm, so don't panic.

dixiebell - No problem.  I also had numbness on the back and under the bicep of that arm, some irritation from clothing which finally went away, and sometimes get random zings - nerves trying to reconnect.  Feels weird but don't worry, it is normal.  It doesn't bother me at all now, I am used to it and actually quite a bit of feeling returned. 

Hi everyone. So the onc told me that oncotype is of no use if you had positive nodes but I read that if you have less than 3 nodes positive it still may be of value. Anyone heard this????

christine47 how many rounds of chemo did you get? How did you do? Did you need radiation or hormone therapy also?

dixiebell, just saw your previous question about PET scans.  I had a PET scan, I do not believe that is standard of care for stage 2.  Long story short, I had a ovary "light up" , another scan after 3 chemos, visit to the gyn and they think it was just a functional (ovulating) change.  Talk about extra panic and worry.  Not sure if I will have any more or not, of course I worry about every ache and pain.

Hair loss the number one reason I did not want chemo.  I thought will only a 1.1cm tumor I would be done after my mastectomy and just do the tamoxifen.  But they found a positive node, which lead me to axillary node disection.  I have known my onc for many years and I consider him brilliant, when he said I was to young and healthy not to do chemo, I knew I had to do it.  I did TAC every 3 weeks for 6 treatment (jan 18- april 28).  In my area (south) this seems a frequent regime.  I never had as much as a cold while doing the chemo.  Looking back I am glad I did it, but must admit intially I was not as sure.  I understand your difficult decision, no matter what YOU ultimately do, it will be the right decsion for you.

If there is any doubt in your mind, get a PET scan.  Remember you can have false positive results, which means more tests.  I do believe a pet scan is the most comprehensive test for mets.  Saw your comments on the other stage 2 thread.  I developed acute hepatitis from anesthesia when I had my surgery before chemo (rare anesthetic complication) so I was scared to death that the chemo would affect my liver (prior to chemo and BC I was always healthy, other than infertility).  My liver enzymes returned to normal before I started chemo, and never went up during chemo.  Good luck to you, I check in again in the next few days and see what you have decieded to do. Trust me, in time things do get better.