August 2011 chemo, anyone w/ me?!

Hello Ladies - Am I too late to join the party?  I started TCH on August 18th, and will have round #3 on Thursday, and will be halfway there!  Surgery will follow in January, and I will continue on Herceptin through next summer.  So far, except for a side trip to the hospital for neutropenia the week after my first treatment, I haven't encountered any of the bad side effects so far (knock on wood).  Well, OK, losing my hair would count as a bad SE in my book.  My worst days seem to be days 3 and 4, both physically and emotionally, with the overwhelming fatigue and lethargy.  I do find that my stamina is just not there anymore; I live in a hilly neighborhood, and I just cannot walk those hills as easily as I could just a few weeks ago.  Look forward to chatting with you all - Cheers!

Welcome mizmarie....it's never too late to join us, although I wish we didn't have to be part of this "club" at all!!!

so i've had a terrible sore throat.  it's kept me awake at night.  called the onc yesterday morning and his nurse told me to come in to be sure it wasn't strep.  i saw the PA and she didn't do a strep test because, accoding to her, my throat wasn't that bad and was probably viral and would 'wear itself out.'  i asked for blood work to be sure my WBC and RBC was ok.  she told me it wasn't necessary. said my blood work had already risen to good numbers.  WTF?  how does she know that?? i have tx #4 on monday and if my blood work is too low for chemo, i'll be majorly pis*ed.  i'm not sure i liked anything she said or did.  

Hi Edyem.. I wasnt able to access that link. Could chemo and all the drugs I'm taking elevate my liver enzymes?? After 2nd chemo  my GGT was 600 and yesterday after #3 it when down to 300 and it should only be<55. She asked me if I had some wine bc that could have something to do with it but I havent had any..She said for me not to worry. How can I not worry!! Yesterday was the first time I've seen these reports. How can I go on with my daily duties when all I keep thinking about is my liver!!  I know Stress isnt good for the body!!!

Thanks Grimbol..when I stop panicking I'm going to call around to see if we carry the papaya enzmes here..I'll let you know

Hello everyone!!

 Just resurfaced..tx #3 really kicked my butt..not to mention I got a neulasta shot due to high WBC.Ugh , the price I had to pay for being at my friend's wedding party.

 I feel like I can't do that anymore..I have to plan EVERYTHING around my chemo infusions and cushion days before and after so I can do em...all this is starting to wear on me..I can't do 5 more treatments..Next tx is October 18th.I don't want to go and/or plan around it.I'm running on empty.

 Thanks for everyone thinking of me , I'm just so down these days..My dad's been out more and more with his friends and coping with tsipouro ( alcoholic drink ) not too much to be a trouble , but he definitely is coping that way , and my mother's been if anything , worse , constantly asking me this and that , and trying to feed me and play the authoritative parent.I'm 29 for christsakes!! 

I need to just stop and feel good again...When all this is over , I'm going to just leave on a looong trip just to recover...

Round 3 tommorrow , I hope they dont cancel because of my cold I will be one mad puppy, 

VTellen, I know she said the same (not to worry until after the TX , but I kinda wish she just said it to me then (after the TX) instead of me worrying now , but Im just trying to put it out of my head and  thinking if they have to take it off, so what, its not like we are not used to pain and stress at this stage LOL , Good luck with your test is it tomorrow ? sorry the memory loss again, Im terrible at dates and names.  

I went to Chapters today to buy a copy of the Anticancer book. The sales associate commented that it's a great book. Turns out she had breast cancer last year and had the exact same chemo cocktail I'm having. There are just so many of us in this sisterhood.

This Sunday is the CIBC Run for the Cure in Canada. A friend of mine is running in my honour! I wish I was a runner...I'd consider doing it next year. I'll have to find another cause.

My girls' school did the Terry Fox walk today. For those of you who aren't aware of Terry Fox, he was a young Canadian who lost his leg to cancer when he was a teenager. With one leg, he set out to walk across this huge country of ours. He made it about half way but had to stop when his cancer returned. Sadly he died and wasn't able to finish his run. This was over 30 years ago. Every September, Canadians keep Terry's spirit alive and Terry Fox walks are held all across Canada to raise funds for cancer research. Over $550 million raised to date. I'm so proud of my kids' school. My DDs Grade 3 class raised over $600 and my other DDs Grade 6 class raised over $1000. Last year their small school of 250 students raised almost $7,000.  I haven't seen this year's total but I have a feeling they're going to beat that!

Congratulations on the clean MRI, Grimbol!! Glad you're reading the Anti-C book.

Hi DebinUtah - yep, I'll have radiation after my surgery; I don't know how many rounds, although six weeks' worth appears to be the standard course.  It seems like a nuisance, but I want to throw everything available at this beast and hopefully never have to deal with it again. 

It's getting harder for me to stay awake past 9 pm, but I have to take my pre-chemo steroids 12 hours and six hours before treatment, which means I have to stay up tonight until 10:45, and then wake up again at 4:45 to take the second dose.  From now on I will insist on an earlier appointment time.

Grimbol: great news on the MRI, and you can relax now

Taylor: Thxs for your comment , and I agree I think I might try some marajuana too LOL need something to make me laugh. I see myself daily becoming more miserabe as the weeks go on , and was always such an upbeat positive and happy person, but its a real challenge to stay positive on this journey anyway. 

Debinutuah , I kinda agree about the rads and not wanting to do them, especially as I kinda went against the BS advice, over here in Ireland they dont typically do immediate reconstruction if u are to get rads but I kinda pushed for it and had TE's after my MX . didnt want to wake up to the trauma of having no boob and am glad I did it , but now he keeps telling me I will probably have complications and I am scared but I know in the USA many women have rads after having reconstruction.so Im hoping I will be OK. I think I will take the chance anyway as the %'s on nonrecurence of BC after rads look pretty good , so maybe just give it a try if it doesnt work out Im sure u can stop it, 

take care everyone and I will fill you in after  mt TX today lets hope they do it. 

Its 6am here wide awake due to the steroids and the 20 trips to the bathroom with all the water floating in my system,  

DebInUtah - Count this as vote 3 for Systane. That's what my oncologist recommended also.

Good luck today Ellen! 

Hello everyone -- Hope all is well with you all. Grimbol; I just saw that your MRI is good; that's wonderful news. Ellen -- any word on your testing?

I spent yesterday at the hospital all day getting IV fluids and getting vitals checked. My heart rate was good, pulse-ox was good, lungs sounded ok and blood pressure too.

I'm still having issues and the doctor and chemo nurse are baffeled. They just don't know what is causing my symptoms.  They *think* I could have had a reaction to Neulasta, but I keep saying that I broke out in hives right AFTER the infusion on Friday, and had Neulasta Saturday afternoon. I had been shaky, not been able to eat much because of swollen tongue and had tight chest and throat on Tuesday.  I still felt shaky AFTER two bags of fluid yesterday...It was so weird. I did eat yesterday -- but when I got back from the hospital, I broke out in hives and itching AGAIN. It's just never-ending. My hands were turning red again and my feet were burning and numb sometimes.

I have no clue what will happen to me -- I'm tired of suffering. Today, I'm having horrible heart-burn for no reason (haven't even eaten yet and I just took a Prilosec -- feels like I have a huge lump in my throat., and my nose is stuffy.) My husband is in denial -- just because the nurse said yesterday "well, everything seems fine with your vitals", he's taking that and running with it and just thinks I'm ok. I think he's cracked open and just can't take anymore. Well, neither can I.

I doubt I will continue treatment next Friday -- I will go in there and just tell them I can't do this anymore.  I am not risking my life and the way my body reacts to chemo and suffer -- and the reactions/outcome could be 10x worse with another treatment.

Take Care everyone.

Oh Chrys! I'm so sorry this difficult journey has been so much more difficult for you! Hang in there! I hope you feel better soon!