"New" here - sort of

Welcome Rachel to the club nobody wants to join! I started my chemo on 7/5/06, after my bilateral on 6/6/06 (what a date, right?!). My constipation remedies were apricot nectar (!), Activia, and as many fruits & veggies as I could stand. The first two chemos I craved salty stuff, then O.D.'d on that & went for tomato soup, cottage cheese, & plain oatmeal with butter & whole milk. And for some reason, Lorna Doone shortbreads were palatable through the whole 5 months...

Best of luck as you begin this journey...

Julie     

Hi, Rachel,

Most likely, you will do chemo next. Your oncologist will discuss various regimens with you that best fit your profile. Then you will have radiation, which usually lasts from four to six weeks, followed by (or concurrent with) Tamoxifen or one of the AIs since you are hormone positive.

Chemo supplies - you might want to start thinking about whether or not you plan to wear a wig, a scarf, or nothing at all. If you opt for a wig, start looking for wig stores. I found that some wig stores carried excellent products; other stores had wigs that looked like dead animals!

Dental products that don't contain alcohol - I used toothpastes, rinses, and mouth sprays made by Tom's and Biotene. Use a very soft toothbrush as your gums will be extra sensitive. Lemon drops promote saliva, which will help with dry mouth.

I used a lot of hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes, esp. after using public bathrooms. Chemo gives some people diarrhea and others constipation. My body went the constipation route, so I used a lot of stool softeners and Senocot. Tylenol is usually recommended over ibuprofen and aspirin. Be sure to clear all medications and supplements with your oncologist.

Food - your taste buds are going to get messed up. Spicy foods may taste good, but I found they also gave me mouth sores. Ice cream, soups, oatmeal, and yogurt worked well for me. I also ate pizza, meatloaf, pecan pie, and tuna casserole. Your body will tell you what you what works.

You'll probably take a steroid before and after each infusion called decadron/dexamethasone. It's going to make you crazy. Just know that if you get extra weepy, paranoid, depressed, or aggressive during chemo week, it's most likely the drug. I wish someone had warned me, because I thought I was wigging out.

Good luck! You'll be through it before you know it!

Rachel the only thing I can add is you might not have constipation.  You might have diaherra....explosive.  This is what happened to me.  This went on from January until  after I finished chemo in June.  Also you could lose your ability to taste.

 I had my surgery the first of Novenber.  Mastsectomy and reconsturcion of left breast.  I started chemo in January.  My oncologist told me I needed time to heal.  I also had a port for the chemo.  This was wonderful.  The chemo nurses had instant access to a vein. The port is on my right side above my breast.

Rachel, my kids were 3 and 5 when I was going through Chemo. We told them that Mummy had something "yucky" growing in her boobie (we didn't use the word cancer, they didn't know what that meant at that time) and that the Dr had removed it all, but that I had to take some medicine to make sure it didn't grow back. And that it might make me sick and it would make my hair fall out. That seemed to be all they needed. Your older ones might need a bit more explanation.  I don't think it ever occurred to them that I might die.

 Good news is 3 years on, they really remember nothing. 

I started chemo about 2-1/2 weeks after BMX.  I was healing really well, otherwise it might have been a little longer.

I think people are giving you good advice, but I think this is REALLY important:

Call your doctor if you have awful side effects during chemo!  Don't stay home and think you are just supposed to be suffering horribly if that's what happens.  I had about the worst time with chemo that is possible, but I got through.  I wish I had called right away when I was so, so nauseated - not that I ever got rid of it completely but I didn't have to suffer as much for as long as I did. 

My kids, 2 and not quite 3-1/2 when I was diagnosed, were told limited truth in plain language.  We read lots of the kids' mom-has-cancer books to them and let them ask questions, which worked really well.  Letting the books explain it (my kids love books) was really key for us.  The 2 year old didn't care until recently.  The 3-1/2 year old was very upset by the ordeal, I think mainly by my ups and downs and in and out of beds.  We don't lay the death thing on them at all, but she did put 2 and 2 together and start asking, so I've been truthful but hopeful with her. 

It's hard, I don't think there's a way to spare them from stress with it, but having other loving people in their lives does help.  And things improved so much for us after we got past active treatment. 

I am sending lots of good thoughts your way.

There is a fabulous book called "Nowhere Hair" fr your children.

Hi Rachel, I have an excel doc I put together as I was going through my treatment outlining what helped me during each phase. As noted, everyone is sooooo different throughout this process, so your SE's and experience will be much different than anyone else's, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. I can't figure out how to attach a file, but if you want to PM me with your email address I'd be happy to send it your way.

Also, there is usually a chemo group that starts each month on the chemo thread. Tons of info and support there.

I wish you well. I think you'll find bc.org to be one of your best resources. I always considered this group a part of my medical team. I got better info here than anywhere.

Hi RachelsLife,

Here's some helpful info for you from the main Breastcancer.org site on Talking to Your Family about Breast Cancer, including how to talk to your kids.

Also, there's a thread in the Chemotherapy forum called Tips for Getting Through Chemotherapy and another called More Tips (and a Shopping List) that may be helpful. There's also a December 2011 Chemotherapy thread you may be interested in joining.

Hope this helps and good luck!

--Your Mods

Hey Rachel, the other ladies have given you so much info already but I just wanted to say welcome and let you know we're here for you.  This site and the "III gals" were my sanity during some low days and I hope you find the same support here.  As for the chemo timeline, I did neoadj. chemo but I'm sure they might be letting your counts recover a bit from surgery before they start.  It seemed like forever in between tx's to me but looking back it wasn't, I am very impatient also.  I have 2 small children (4 & 18 mths at dx) now 5 & 3)  my girls did ok, the oldest didn't like me without hair and told me once I would scare people at Target   I wore a scarf most of the time and a wig in Target   The meds they give you after chemo will help with most SE's so I didn't need anything they didn't give me already.  I did have quick meals (things my hubby could prepare for him & the girls) on hand if I was feeling lazy that night   We talked open about it with my girls and I even offered to let my oldest cut/shave my hair so it wouldn't be so scarey for her, tried to make it a game but she wasn't feeling it.  Your older one's might love that though and see you're ok with it all.  I explained to them I had to take meds that were going to make the cancer go away but it was going to make my hair fall out too & showed them pics online of bald women too to get them prepared.  I lost my taste during chemo but could taste salt somedays so soups and ramen noodles (not so healthy I know) became my fav's.  You feel achey, flu like so those comfort foods helped me some.  It will get better and we're here for you, let us know how things go.

Hi, Just reading about the hair thing. My 5 year old granddaughter just loved my bald head. I would be on the floor with her and she would run up and grab  the "buff" off my head and run and hide it. SharonH

Welcome Rachel.  You've received wonderful advice and this group will be your lifeline during treatment.  We all understand your worries and many of us had young children when we started treatment.  I think this has already been mentioned, but steroids can wrack havoc with your moods.  I thought it was one of the worst parts of chemo.  It sent me into such a dark place, that I begged my onc to lower my dose and she agreed.

One of the best pieces of advice I received (from a school counselor) was let your kids guide how much information you give them.  They will only ask for what they can handle.  I told my kids that the chemo would make be very sick before it made me better, but they never asked if I was going to die.  

There is usually a starting chemo group for each month of the year, although I always felt more comfortable sticking with the awesome group of Stage III ladies.