August 2011 chemo, anyone w/ me?!

I just had to share my wee bit of good news!  After a weekend of feeling low because I was unable ot take my chemo treatment last week, I had an ultrasound this morning that shows my tumor has shrunk 35% so far.  Hoping I have enough platelets to continue on Wednesday and smash it even more... 

MisMarie, that's great news!  Hope all goes well this week!

DebinUtah, sounds beautiful....I'll be right there!!!  At least the sun is out here this afternoon, but it isn't very warm!

JMULL - I'm sorry that the Taxol wasn't kind to you this weekend. The night after my first Taxol infusion, the palms of my hands turned all red like a sunburn and the skin even felt like it was sunburned. It hurt to close my hands in a fist. It went away in about 48 hours. When I went to my next infusion, they scaled back the Taxol amount by 20% (which I was just fine with). Maybe ask about that to lessen the issues with feet and hands?

Missey - You're almost there! Woohoo! To answer your question, I do not consider myself sick. Before I was diagnosed, I was never sick. Didn't even get a cold that winter. People in my office had bronchitis and sinus infections. Didn't get a dang thing. I don't even FEEL sick right now. So far, Taxol has been a dream for me. I'm actually running again. I don't want to jinx this, but other than the hair loss, I almost feel like myself pre-BC (just a little more tired and a non-stop runny nose). I don't want anyone to think of me as "sick" just because I have cancer. I'm just dealing with this little setback and looking forward to the days when my treatments are over and my hair is growing back in! 

I suppose many of us are at the point at which the "cumulative" effects start hitting us in the face...  I haven't even had #4 yet, yet I feel completely worn out.  In my case, however, I think at least part of it is psychological...  I really want to be done, and last week's delay was absolutely crushing - I dread being told tomorrow that it's still a no-go....

 Summergirl, hang in there - that hair WILL come back.  I buzzed my hair about six weeks ago; most, but not all of it fell out.  A lot of what remains has continued to grow, but it is VERY coarse and white - more like beard hair.  I don't like it, but I don't dare trim it again.  Ugh...

Hi Warriors,

Just popping in to give you all support.  I finished chemo last month and am doing fine.  The worse thing was feeling as if you are coming down with the flu but that varies from individual to individual.  My best advice is to drink lots and lots and lots and lots of water.  You all can and will do it.  It was not as bad as I imagined.  Grace and Peace to All.

Ann

Missy29- That just makes me angry that your friend said that you should come to terms with being sick!! That is why I didnt tell alot of people bc I dont want anyone's pity or stares etc..My next door neighbors don't even know..lol..We are not sick we had our cancer (i like to call cancer an infection) taken out and we are just taking are medicine to make sure our infection is gone and doesnt come back. So missey we are not sick  

Kasi-love your new pic and thats great your feeling good!!!

DebinUtah- Sounds like heaven I'll be right over!!!

Ellen-I'm sooo happy for you that your feeling better and getting on with your life!!!!! Good luck with your store!!

Best wishes to all of you who are done and for your words of encouragement!! I really need them!!

I can relate to some of you with that damn depression!! I got up Sat. morning and lost it!! I was crying hysterically!! I still think I'm going to wake up from all of this and I'm not and this is my life now!! I cried for about an hour on my husbands shoulder and asked him why this happened to me!! I am a nice person and this doesnt seem fair to any of us!!!! My kids werent home when I had this fit, I never let them see me like this. Anyways after my crying fit my husband and I went to starbucks and I was fine..lol..Somedays I'm good somedays I'm crazy..when this is all done there going to lock me up in the looney bin..lol..

I just had taxol#1 and I was there fr. 8:30-2 wow is that ever long!! 5 down 3 to go seems like forever till I'm done!!

Congrats on the new puppy!!

I just read all the posts and I've prob. forgotten some of you!! srry!!

Have a good night my friends xo

VtEllen - I will check the label of the Jeans Cream and report back.  I am sitting on the couch right now and too lazy to get up!  Congrats on re-opening of your store.  I am sure you mentioned it, but what type of store is it?  So glad that you are feeling better!  It brings encouragement to all of us.

Missey - I don't consider myself sick.  As Deb said - we're being poisoned! One day I went "topless" at work and one of the women I work with said "wow, without your wig it really reminds me that your sick".  My response was "I'm not."

Kasi - glad I am not alone in the reddness of hands/feet.  Thanks for letting me know about the reduced dose.  Are you still on the same schedule?  I don't want my schedule to get pushed out since I am still hoping to get to the Bahamas mid December.  So glad that other than that Taxol is treating you well!  Hooray!

MizMarie - hoping there are no more set backs for you.  I think I would lose it in my MOs office if they told me that they were pushing out treatment.  Not that I wouldn't mind them cancelling it all together!

Tanya - I lost it this weekend, too, but luckily my kids were at my sister's.  Stay strong!

Congrats to all of you getting hair back on your head.  I noticed that I had little red bumps on my legs this morning and thought it was some new s/e rash.  But no, it was my leg hair growing back.  Well, at least I'll have hair somewhere!  :-)

Off to break up the bickering of my two oldest...good night everyone.  Best of luck to all of you in the chair this week.

JMull- Wow I can't beleive your coworker said that you looked sick without your wig!! Before being dx I would never ever say something like that!! Some people just have no class!! I admire you for going"topless" at work I never leave the house without my wig on ..I wouldnt be able to handle the stares and comments from people. There are too many people out there who have no CLASS!!! Plus I look horrible without my wig on..lol..

YaYa- Glad your feeling fine and great news on your heart echo!

Thanks Margaret!! Wow 7 hrs that is long! Hope your doing well

Good night everyone xo

awww finally feeling back to myself today but still have a lot of pain on my MX side , feel like Im wearing a harness , I did slack off on my exercises so I am gonna start them daily and possibly ask for physical therapy to loosen it up , I went to my Uncles funeral on saturday was so glad to make it as he was my fav Uncle, met a lot of family I havent seen in years , thankfully they all said I looked very well, but they havent seen me in years so wouldnt really know the difference, I feel like I Look SICK as I have lost a lot more weight especially in my face , but soon hopefully I will start to feel like myself and feel healthy again. My daughter will be home in about 4 weeks yeahh cant wait to have a female around again. 

Taylor , dont feel bad, we all have our meltdowns , I have certaintly had a few and when you think of what we have to go through we are allowed, after all we are human.and its very hard to stay positive all the time no matter how strong we are. I might even join you and robo47 as a roomate LOL 

hugs to all , and we are getting closer to that finish line !!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Ellen--I'm on day 20 of my 4th round and my eyes have run non-stop for the last week.  I am also using the moisture drops and it doesn't seem to help.  I tried Claritin and some other allergy meds and they didn't help either.  I hate it!  I feel like I'd look more myself if my eyes weren't so swollen and teary. My poor DH can't tell at any given moment if I'm crying (again) or if my eyes are just running.

YaYa--congrats on the echo!  I'm in the chair for my 5th TCH on Friday.  I'm looking forward to taking those steroids tomorrow--gotta get my house cleaned   When you feel up to it, tell me how round 5 is going. I'm more panicky this time, for some reason, than I've been so far.

Love and peace to all. May we stay sane, SE-free and prosper!

Deb, good luck on #5 - you're almost to the homestretch!

My platelets were up significantly, so it was a "GO" for the poison today.  Downside was that my hemoglobin continues to slip, even with the extra week and all the iron I ingest plus two transfusions in the span of six weeks.  MO is going to try to get my insurance to pay for Aranesp to counteract the anemia.  Anybody have experience with this?

Those darn parabens! I have a list of the "dirty dozen" cosmetic ingredients from a natural health magazine. It is virtually impossible to find products that don't contain any of them. Even the stuff they sell at the natural health store has some of the ingredients. And, almost all the cosmetics I got at the Look Good Feel Better program contain at least one of the dirty dozen ingredients.



It's really hard to know what to do about all this. I want to use safer products but where do you find them?



I've switched from anti-perspirant to an aluminum-free deodorant and it seems to work quite well. I also have been looking at the Burt's Bees products as they seem to be safe. Does anyone use them?



Ellen, just wondering how your hair is doing as I know you didn't shave your head before starting chemo. Do you still have any hair? Just wondering because I also didn't shave and have about 10% of my hair left, mostly at the back with a few longer strands on top. I'm wondering now if I need to shave it before it starts to grow back or I'll have new hair growth amid the old stuff and it will be a bit of a disaster.