Chemo May 2011

Hi everyone! I am so happy for those of you that are closer to the end of this nightmare journey.



I have been taking a bit of a break from the boards. I finished chemo on Sept 6th. I feel so good. I had almost forgotten what feeling great felt like. Now, I am preparing for surgery followed by rads. Yuck. I just resumed Herceptin today and have that to look forward to every 3 weeks until May.



So glad you are all doing great. Hang on there. Congrats to those who have finished chemo and/or rads!!

Patriotic --  I am right there with you.  I haven't been on the board lately.  I finished TCH on Aug 30 and now just have herceptin every 3 weeks till May 2012.  I have surgery (BMX with recon) Oct 4.  Hopefully I will not need rads we will know for sure after surgery/sentinel node biopsy.

Congrats to all the ladies that have completed chemo and rads.  It is hard to believe that 4 months have pasted.  I hope everyone's hair is coming back (mine hasn't started yet but I am hopeful).

Margie

Laureen - 2 more!  You are almost there!  Keep up the fight girlfriend!

Justme-that sounds like great news, it shrank down to teeny weeny! My breast and chest, oh they did liver mri also came back good. I met with the surgeon today and my surgery is scheduled for Nov. 30. I still have 5 abraxane to go, well 4 after the one I am receiving right now. Were you sick from the chemo or flu? I have had a terrible cold and am going on antibiotics for a second time, as I am coughing up green gross stuff. Are you done with chemo? I know that even though my mri and ct is clear that cancer could still be lurking somewhere and I guess the path report after surgery will tell me, but he is not removing the im nodes, but will do a snb. I agree with the excited nervous part! I think I am ready to get this stuff out and gone! Then hopefully radiation and my body can take care of any stragglers!

Justme-Sounds good, I would like to hear of your experience. I hope you get clean margins and no  more chemo. Will you do tamoxifen or ai's since you are er pr pos? Since I am er pr neg and do not have any options other than chemo, I am almost thinking if they find any trace of cancer in me at surgery that I will probably have more chemo. If they don't find cancer, I am not sure, I kinda wonder about doing a mild chemo (if there is such thing) as an extra caution. There is talk of putting me on tamoxifen as I am weakly positive, 3%. Chemo feels like my safety net and I worry about what will happen when I am off of it . Just have to hope for the best and be as healthy and stress free as possible!

Sounds like a couple of october surgeries for the May Chemo gals! Margie

Margie-Good luck with surgery! Do you mind me asking what type of reconstruction? I can't have immediate reconstruction, but am hoping for diep at some point!

Any more October Novemember surgies? Mine bmx is scheduled for Nov. 30.

Justme1,

that sounds like neuropathy. I am so sorry your doctor is not helping with suggestions- mine really didn't give any either but he was really took action asap when it happened-- They actually reduced my dosage by 20% a couple of weeks ago. Ask your onc if you can take acetyl l carnitine as a supplement.  It has worked for many women on the boards. 

sending you healing thoughts and prayers 

he pretty much says it will get better.I am a week and ahalf out from last chemo (last chemo for now) and i thought i would feel good by now .But my feet hurt and i have no energy .I go to my surgen monday and I willl ask him about it.

I'm pooped. I only worked a few hours today and feel like I cannot stand to work anymore! i posted why on the triple neg thread, but having personal issues. 4 more abraxane, 4 more, can I make it? I am so emotional today. Oh, I just realized it is my decadron crash day! That make me feel a bit better.

Justme-I wonder if the doc would give a low dose steroid for energy after the treatments? It does seem like if you were doing weekly taxol that after the first week off you would feel better, but maybe not. Just the accumalation of all the chemo for 12 treatments can probably take awhile to recover from. I am worried about going into surgery weak also. I will have 4 and a half weeks between my last chemo and surgery, is that about the same amount of time as you? I had a 4 week break in between ac and abraxane, and I really didn't feel much better until after the 2nd week, 3rd and 4th week I was starting to feel a bit better with a little more energy, but not back to normal by any means.

For some reason I felt a little better knowing the date, but maybe because mine is further off than yours! I am sure I will start to freak out as I get closer. I think I am starting to have somewhat of an acceptance now, kinda like lets just get this over with! I know I will be emotional before and after, that is just the way I am wired!

Justme, I was the opposite of you! I wanted immediate reconstruction but both my bs and mo said I need to wait. I have to have rads and already had rads on the otherside plus the fact that I have locally advanced bc they want me to wait:( I am not a good candidate fot te's and implants so I have to do diep and not for about a year.

Hi ladies.  I'm still here, just haven't been checking in.  I've been overwhelmed by everything.  I had my rads set up appointment today and will start next Tuesday.  I am now doing 35 instead of 33 treatments and will be doing Xeloda along with it. My onc also confirmed that I am going to have to do more chemo after rads--another 3 months.  I thought that I would be okay with all of this, but for some reason this radation thing just hit me today.  I think that it is because I had to cancel my thanksgiving plans.  I am SO tired of cancer ruling my life.  And it looks like it will be this way until at least the end of February and that doesn't even include reconstruction!

The rib issue is still up in the air and that stresses me out because I'll be stage 4 if it is a tumor.  The plan is to zap it with radiation and then rescan when I'm done.  If it is gone, then they will call it a tumor.  I don't know if I can accept a stage 4 dx after all of this.  I may just completely lose it.

In good news...my hair is growing back and it seems to be growing quickly.  There is a spot in the front/middle that isn't growing in as well, but the rest of it is.  I told my MO that I was going to be mad at him if I had a bald spot  

Blondelawyer, will it be a different chemo than xeloda? Do you know which one? Glad you finally get to start rads! That is exciting about having hair again, the bald spot will go away, it seems like mine came in uneven the las last ime  i did this. I still only have some grey thin fuzz, it's kinda funny.

Candice. sorry you are so tired. I too have been pretty tired and it is no fun. I started walking on the treadmill, but just trying to do it most days is difficult. I just tell myself to do 10 minutes, most of the time I do 15-35, but find myself doing the lesser amount most of the time. I have been thinking of you and glad you checked in. I hope your pet scan goes well.

4 more abraxane for me. seems like it is dragging now. went pretty quickly in the beginning. SSDI had told me I would have an answer by oct 4 and I didn't so I called back. Now they said they have until the end of the month to give me an answer. Good news is I saw my primary physician for my now high blood pressure and fast heart rate and she said she would help me get ssdi, so if I get denied I am suppose to let her know and she will write something up! I thought that was so nice, as I think my mo thinks I can work, I think he forgets what I do for a living even though I tell him all the time how hard it is on me.

I rang the bell on Tuesday! I am thankful for all of you and pray for the May chemo ladies everyday. Of course I wrote about the experience on my blog but I will tell you for me it was bittersweet because what I wanted was absolution of the whole thing. But all you get is whatever hope and faith you brought with you to the fight. 

I see my RO on 10/14.  

Hi May Ladies,

I haven't posted in a long time mostly because I'm so tired of feeling unwell and having no hair.  I just wanted to avoid even thinking about cancer, no matter how positive and upbeat you Ladies have been on this thread.  But I'm happy to say I've finished chemo and I have some white fuzz on the top of my head here and there.  No rads for me as I had my lifetime limit 17 years ago.  I'm on tamoxifen now.

Thinking of you all and wishing us quick healing and positive attitudes as we finish our treatments and become disease-free.