August 2011 chemo, anyone w/ me?!

Congrats Ellen, but the real celebration will be once all the nasty SEs are over too.

I have no 4 on Wednesday.  Glad I am on Taxol and not Taxotere, I just get the reaction to that and don't have to worry about it being a bad lot!!!  Crazy, how can you have a 'bad' lot and keep on using it regardless.

Glad to hear from you Tanya, hope you are doing ok.  I have been very up and down emotionally this last week. My BF is flying in from Maine on Thursday to spend a few days with me while I get thru tx 4.  I hope I can appreciate her being here.

VTEllen best of luck tommorrow and I am so glad this is your last TX yahoo !!!!! and thxs to you for starting this wonderful page, you better not leave us you need to give us all a heads up on the rads, and what we have to look forward to LOL 

havent heard anything over here about the bad batch of Taxotore and I havent had any reaction to it so far (touch wood)  

I am feeling great again seem to just feel yukky for the first 6 days then back to myself till next round TG  

michelleo13 --I hear you about comfort food -made me a chix pot pie last night and it hit the spot!! I am confused about tofu though --thought it has a lot of estrogen and we all know bc thrives on hormones!!  I ask myself all the time how this happened --I have bc in my family, but I am the youngest by far --started screening @35, skipped a few years b/c I had 2 babies, my '09/'10 mammo was fine, and then boom!  It had to be there for a while b/c I had it in 3 lymph nodes --wierd thing, the mammo never picked it up, even after they knew tumor was there, they couldn't get it on mammo --I felt my lymph node and sono picked up tumor in breast --so go figure for early detection

People tell me I am a rock and I am handling this well, but really?? ask my husband that- the poor guy takes all the heat!!

Thanks for the vent, I too feel that unless you walked this path, no one can really understand what we are going thru.

On another note --is anyone getting a flu shot?  I have never gotten one and I don't get them for my kids, but the Drs are really pushing it now that I am on chemo....

Allformy4, I got my flu shot at my last transfusion - didn't even think about it for another second after they gave it to me. No problem at all. And yes, they're pushing them for the rest of my family, but my son, the one still in school and most likely to bring it home, is allergic to eggs and can't have the shot. But as long as I've had mine, I feel okay about it.KILLED vaccines only! The live stuff can cause us problems. 

Ellen - Congratulations and good luck tomorrow! There's an October Rads group started. It might be a little early to join, but there's some info there! I can't wait until Friday is over for me!

Robo47 - Sounds like they might have infiltrated your taxotere if you had that burn and that mark. My onco nurse has been obsessive about preventing that...hence my port. I guess it can be very bad! Keep an eye on that! 

Lele37 - exchange it all for something comfy that looks good too! There are such things out there! Hard to find maybe, but they're there! I've got an awesome dark purple velvet running suit. 

I think I'm the only one who actually expected that this would happen to me sometime in my life. My mom had a brain tumor and her sister had breast cancer in the late 1980s. My risk has been up there, and between my sister and I we always figured it would happen to one of us. She can't decide now whether she's dodged the bullet because I got it, or now she's doomed as her risk is so much higher! At any rate, she's screening faithfully, and that's what it's all about! 

Have a great day everybody. I hope it's as nice where you all are as it is in Vermont today! 

Ellen--I'm so happy for you!! What a great day!  I, too, am incredibly grateful to you for starting this blog--it's been a life saver.

YaYa5--how you doing?  This 4th TCH has really kicked my butt; I'm much sicker than rounds 2 and 3. My husband keeps telling me it's because I had a flu shot first, but I don't know.  I'm just so tired and crappy feeling. 

Here's hoping for a better day tomorrow.

YAY, ELLEN!!!  you go, girl!  what an amazing day!!!!  congrats!!

debinutah, i'm not doing as well either, but mostly it's emotional and i've been so very tired.  i've cried all day thinking that nobody in my family really cares about me.  and to be honest, i don't think they really do.  just had a little mini-breakdown with my daughter and she basically lost her patience with me.  maybe if i didn't live alone i wouldn't feel so emotional and maybe, it will just pass.  i'm sorry to hear that you're not doing as well either.  i got a flu shot, too, but i don't think it's had an impact.  it's been a week ... you'd think we'd feel great by now.   

YaYa - I'm sorry. I've had moments when I felt that way too. Lots of them. I just can't believe that the last people I expected to be so helpful would be, and the people I thought I could depend on let me down completely. You know - the people you've done so much for, made all the sacrifices. Lesson to be learned there! But I do have some wonderful friends who have been awesome through all this! I hope you do too! And you've got us!!!!!

Yay Ellen!!!! Whooo hoooo!!! Make sure you don't forget about us!! I too want to thank you for starting up this thread. I don't know what I would have done without this thread and all of you guys!! I felt like I was all alone and you guys all made a difference in my journey!!xo

Hugs to you YaYa!!! Maybe your family is just scared and don't know what to do??

Robyn your next to be done!!!

Hoping you all are feeling good!!xo

Congrats Ellen - thanks for leading the charge!

YaYa - It's hard when the very ones we expect to be able to count cannot (or will not) "be there" for us.   I hope that you'll be in better spirits after a good night's sleep.

Ellen, CONGRATS, the hard part is done. All those stupid se. Just have to get through the next few days and yer golden! Whoo hooo!



YAYA, one day at a time, one step at a time. Your daughter prob doesn't know how to react. I just recently had a foght with my brother. He said to me, Why does my life have to stop because of your cancer?



I can't talk to him until after I am all done with everything.



Robyn, congrats is coming to u too.



I have 2 taxol to go.

hugs

jennifer

Congratulations Ellen!!!  I have 12 rounds of taxol to go - first one today.  Can't wait to get to the end!

Hi Chrys,

You're sounding better! Hope you feel it. Those S/E's will go away! 

I had my hormones tested before I started chemo, to determine menopausal status. Had a thermal ablation in 1998, so no periods since then, but I still have my ovaries and uterus. I was, indeed, post-menopausal, no estrogen at 48, but have never had a hot flash. Onco thought she'd mix the two meds, just because of my age, 3-5 years of one, and then 2 more of another. I forget if the tamoxifen comes first, or the other one. Note to ask that question on Friday.

My follow up with the breast surgeon is in January, but I'll have to see her to get the port removed. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I'm up for my last treatment on Friday, and can't wait to have it over with! Not looking forward to the recovery, as this last one was so much worse than the first 2! But it's the last one! 

I was just thinking about the return mammo. They said every 6 months for a while, and I'm at 4 months now! Does that mean December? Of course, they did an MRI in July, and they'll do a CT next week, so they should show stuff too, right? I'm going to be so paranoid about stuff growing in me from now on! 

I see the genetic counselors on Monday, to do the BRCA test and go over family history. 

So Chrys and Ellen, since you guys are the first ones done, you'll have to let us know about your hair. I CAN'T WAIT to have hair again!