Is There A September 2011 Chemo Group?

sara,congrats on your last chemo.

cjrt ,we are here for you as you start your chemo back up. hope u have no se.

sarah, hope you are feeling better.

maggie, it sucks you have to deal with your ins on top of everything you have been thru.

rj, i hope your reg mo just removes your port. i think i'm going to have a problem getting my sub mo to ok removing mine after last chemo on the 10th. i want it out!!!

khegidio, congrats on last chemo,here's to no se!!! hope you get good news after your surgery on feb 8th.

I just finished up my 6th and final TCH chemo today!!! I'm not looking forward to the next couple of weeks, but I'm so glad this part is over. I still have to go in for Herceptin every 3 weeks for the rest of the year, but that's ok. As nasty as chemo was, I'm blessed to have gotten through it staying pretty healthy and I still have some of my eyebrows and eyelashes .

kehegidio - Congrats for being finished with you chemo!! I'm sorry to hear you will need to be put into early menopause, but glad that there is a plan B for you.

rjbaby - I'm sorry you still have no answers about your port. I'll be getting Herceptin through my until September and my Onc want me to keep it for a year after that. we shall see...

Maggie - Sorry you are having LE problems. Cording sucks!! Since you are holding off on therapy, have you tried any of the Healthy Steps - Lebed Method videos on you-tube? I'm not sure if they do anythig for cording, but the exercises are great for swelling. They are numbered 1-?. I've only gotten up to 6 and its been pretty great.

Hi cooka -  Glad to see you back! How is your LE doing?

 I'm fading fast. I hope everyoneis doing well tonight.

xoxo

Kelli 

Yay Kelli, Sarah and Khegidio!! Whoot whoot! Hope all is mellow with the SE's. I just got back from running (gimp arm and all) and if you would have tried to tell me a few weeks ago I would be able run today I would have thought you were crazy. So good to know that any recovery you make on this last round you get to keep!

Kelli- LE sucks big time! It dominates my mind and I hate wearing the garments all day, but I think like everything else we've put up with I am getting used to it. I love the massages though!  i think I will be able to manage it ok, but I am not sure i can compete in canoe races for awhile (i think the sleeve will rub my skin too much in salt water and i am very afraid of cellulitis. How is yours going? the TE's still giving you problems? 

 Good Morning

Okay so I realize that for each round of chemo I have experienced different side effects. No two have been the same which is why it sucks so much but this round I feel like I have Restless Leg Syndrome. I for the life of me can not sleep, I toss and turn all night. This is a new feeling for me to have my legs feel so weird it is achy and at some points around the joints downright sore. Plus my muscles actually twitch off and on. To compound the issue I wake up tired which results in daytime naps so I am not really tired at bedtime it is a vicious circle. I am going to push myself today to stay awake and hope it helps. 

My mouth is once again totally dead. I have had ongoing debate if it was thrush I had. The Onc gave me a prescription for thrush antibiotics they are not helping so I guess that answers the thrush vs SE question. I just have to wait it out. 

I thought this round would feel different, more tolerable because I knew it was the last but I think it is the worst yet for the taxotere. 

Mary: So sorry for the delay,how frustrating. I was also almost delayed on my last treatment. They redid my blood work the morning of as it was low the day before. It climbed sufficient enough over night. I hope that your counts will come back up just as quickly. My Onc. said they would have waited 1 week if I had stayed low. Hope this helps. You should treat yourself to something for you.

lol Kimberly -  I used to have super long eyelashes too. Now I'm afraid to wear any eye makeup at all. I don't want to chance losing one more eyelash than necessary. Ive had some problems with my eyes and eyelids with styes and plugged oil ducts. Even through hot compresses and Tobradex ointment, most of my eyelashes have held on.

cooka -  You are out running?!? I'm so impressed!! 

I agree that the LE sucks! I'm hoping now that I'm done with my TCH chemo, maybe some of my swelling will go down. Just being off the steroids should help! I'm slightly swollen everywhere- even on my head! I'm still doing LE therapy twice a week and I've added in some stuff from Healthy Steps - Lebed Method on YouTube. As annoying and huge as I feel my swelling is, my therapist keeps reminding me that it really isn't too bad. I thought my TE would be able to be filled weekly once I finished my TCH chemo, but I was told yesterday that I will have to stick to going every 3 weeks due to the Herceptin. THAT was not happy news! I really want these things filled and out ASAP and see if it improves my LE. My left TE is practically living in my armpit and that's my LE side!

went to my sub mo today, he is delaying last treatment because of hand issues,CRAP!

i don't think he knows what is wrong, first he says if hands get worse call i'll prescribe antibiotic, if spreads up arm go to ER. 5 mins later he says maybe weather related,  5 mins later he's asking if i do lot of dishes,told him no,i'm lazy i use dishwasher said good that's what i want.

my right hand,side of snb, is still red, swollen,looks like alligator skin,skin is peeling in  spots, UGLY, let me tell you!!! left hand still red but not over whole hand. any ideas?

i asked about getting neulesta shot after next chemo because of being neutrapenic last time,,NOPE, WTH!

asked about the lump, he thinks it's scar tissue,told him for my peace of mind i would like at least an ultrasound, said he would order a MRI.

this guy is going to drive me crazy, can't have a neulesta shot,ask for an ultrasound get a MRI!!!!!!!!!

Having a bad day....  My last chemo was supposed to be yesterday but was cancelled because of intestinal virus earlier this week and low WBC.  I have been waiting and waiting to hear from MO as to when the appointment with him would be rescheduled so I could then call the infusion center.  At 5:45 p.m. today I was finally called with an appointment, but now there are no openings in the infusion center next week!  I asked to speak with someone who could make a decision to fit me in and left a message for the charge nurse, followed by another message for the MO's secretary.  I am just wondering what's going to happen if I can't get in next week.  It would seem to me that if things were delayed too long, what's the point in doing the last treatment?  Also, I have surgery on February 6 and need time for counts to recover. 

To make matters worst, I met with my surgeon today and I've got to have two MRI-guided biopsies on the 17th.  Suspicious spots have showed up in my right breast twice on the MRIs.  They can't find them with the ultrasound.  She made it sound like this was going to be a very uncomfortable procedure.  It's also difficult facing the possibility of cancer in two breasts.  I was already having BMX with axillary node dissection on the left.  I am praying that I can get cleared on the right and keep those lymph nodes.

Oh what a day!  But I did make it to my first Pink Ribbon Pilates training after work today.

Good morning to all....sorry that so many of you are getting delays here at the end.  So not fair to show you the way out then close the door in your face.

Woke up today peeing blood.  Great.  Doc has called script in to pharmacy so hoping to be better for my big night.  Hired a limo and taking my entire staff of 16 to the nicest place in town for dinner.  Gotta dress up for it so they are all excited.  The limo will be a suprise for them.  They have done such a good job keeping my store going in my absence I figured they really deserve this. 

The constipation has given me aweful hemorrhoids.  So basically any thing in that area is completely off limits.  If only I had my period too it would just be complete --sarcasim!!

Have a good weekend all and hang in there---we are all such strong women!!

Maggie

Kayrem: Thanks for asking, GI issues are getting better, just real tired now. Congrats on finishing up and I hope you have a wonderful trip with your kids.

Kelli, Kate, Sara, SPCMadi and Maggie: Congrats on finishing up and I really hope things get back to normal for you soon.

Maggie: The peeing blood thing is awful and I sure hope things clear up and you are able to enjoy your night...it's wonderful that you are doing that for your crew.

RJ: I sure hope they get that port taken care of Monday...you are such a strong person, it's amazing.

I have decided to switch oncologists, mine informed us that he doesn't want to do any Pet scans in the future because if we find anything small elsewhere, he would recommend we not treat it until it interfered with my quality of life. "At that point," he says, "we would just be trying to give you the best quality of life for as long as we could." This was right after he suggested we need a CT scan of my chest to see if it is mets causing my cough or something else. In addition, I have a 47% possibility of recurrence as mets in the next 3 years and I don't want any doctor that wouldn't be looking to be proactive and find and eradicate any cancer found anywhere else in my body ASAP.

Anyway, so glad to hear so many are all done...I have missed talking and hope I can maintain enough strength the next couple weeks to keep posting...I've missed you ladies.

Lee Ann

mags, hope you are enjoying yourself, have some FUN, girl!!!!!!

Lee Ann so glad to hear from you. Good for you for kicking Dr. Gloomypants to the curb! 

Thanks guys,

I am so glad I finally have enough energy to get online and post, but I think I just need to push through the tiredness and do it anyway. It is way too easy to get down and Kimberly is right, about you guiys helping to give me more strength. Cooka, you crack me up and RJ, that is doing to be my new mantra "treat and defeat". Belle, I hope you can get your treatment this week.

Hugs to everyone!

Lee Ann 

I have not been on for a bit because I have had a huge setback.  On New Year's Day, I fell in the shower and broke my leg.  It is a bad compression fracture of the tibia where it meets my right knee and requires surgery.  I am tentatively scheduled for surgery on Friday if my blood counts are high enough.  I will find out more at my pre-op appointment tomorrow.  My blood counts were very low last week so I hope they have improved.

I won't kid you, this is a serious setback.  I have to put my chemo on hold for a little while so that my body can heal after the sugery.  I will need a bone graft and a plate put on my tibia so that it can be stable.  I am not able to walk at all right now and my leg is in a large metal brace.  With all the stairs in my house, this has made life very difficult. I can not put any weight at all on my leg so I have to go up and down the stairs on my bottom.  Basically, I can use my walker to get from the couch to the bathroom if I am very careful.  That's about it. I can't put any weight on my leg for about 12 weeks after surgery.

I apologize for not responding to folks who have written to me but I have been pretty much in shock and very despondent.  I can't believe I long for the days when I only had breast cancer.

I'm not sure what else to say.  I am trying to get by day by day.  My parents stay with me during the day because I can't fix anything to eat or drink due to using the walker and not being able to stand on my leg.  My husband has a job at the hospital where he is on call about half the time and there is no one else to cover for him.  He has had to leave me in the middle of the night to go in when people have heart attacks. And, no, he can not get time off without losing his job and we need the insurance benefits more than ever.  He is already taking the max of family leave because of my breast cancer.

I just need to vent because I am beside myself.  I don't know what to do.  I don't know if I can this.

Pinkshirt, geeze that sounds like a terrible setback.  So sorry for you, I know how we all want to get passed this chemo phase.  Hope your leg heals up quickly!

LeeAnn, what a terrible thing for an onc to tell you, so glad you left!  I hope you can find a supportive one that wants to work with you in treatment!

I had last TAC last tues.  Starting to see a dim light at the end of this tunnel.  Still worry about future tunnels though.  I am still really tired and weak, hopefully that improves soon.  I am spending way too much time in bed,  (I feel like grandpa from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!)

Hope everyone's side effects become easier!

Sara