March 2012 chemo

It's nice to know that I am not alone......thanks for the support and words of wisdom! I just wish I could think of something besides bc.....my 15 yr old just told me she wants her old mom back.....I forgot who that woman was.



For me for now I guess it's just the anticipation of thursday...just want it to be over! Don't know what to expect.....



I have purchased cold caps, trying very hard to preserve the hair I have, it seems to be cumbersome but I am going to try, anyone else out there using them?



Good luck to all and stay strong and focus on the positive.....



Btw....is anyone else up all night? I have taken zanex and Ativan and can only manage to sleep about three hours a night! /;/;/()&$

Leveled t/c x4 starts 3/15/12

Morning all. It's been a beautiful sunny warm weekend here with the kids, lots of outdoors, and sun, and spontaneity. And so weird to wake up this morning and te first words in my mind are"I start chemoTOMORROW"

Good morning Marchers,

Alice, Cucho, Amy, Zillamom, Katycb, Cmcclean, nsmolen, leveled and Kraemermom (and anyone else I overlooked) - well, our week to start is finally here. I'm sending you all calming hugs and strength to face this FC head on. I hope all of our SEs are minimal.

Karri - sounds like you've really had a tough time. Take good care of yourself.

Margo - good luck on #3!

Thinking of all the Marchers as we take this journey together. WE CAN DO THIS!

Oh my gosh!!! What a difference a couple of days makes on this thread.  Welcome to all the newcomers.  It is Day 11 for me and the last couple have been great!  I am finally rid of the headaches. 

TC...I'm playing catch up, did you get any info regarding 4 treatments opposed to the 6?

Galena...Can relate to what you said about the saying too much or too little.  A simple how are you feeling?  shows concern.   I remember reading somewhere on this site, but not this thread someone had posted that there was a reference of what not to say to a cancer patient.  One of these days will try and find it.  You know when you first come on to a site like this your reading and your fascinated and say I will check that out and before you know it you have come across a hundred things you want to check out.  About the nose bleeds I am drinking what I thought was a lot but I will increase.  My only beverage now is water.  I just had 1/2 a cup of coffee, first since chemo.  I have been swabbing the inside of my nose with Aquefor and it has made such a difference.  My nose was constantly sore because of the "blood scabs"  I know that's gross, but it is the truth, it was hard and very sore and if I blew my nose and dislodged it or tried to pick it out (even grosser) I was bleeding again.  So the aquefor is working great, glad I thought of it.  lol.  Sometimes I get a little disgusted with the lack of concern for these things from the docs.

Leveled...  I am also using cold caps.  I am renting them, they are the penguin cold caps.  I am anxiously awaiting the next week and a half as this is day 11 for me.  You should check out the thread Cold Caps Past and Present-it is mostly penguin users - I remember reading a couple of post from elastogel users (if that is what you are using).  It is a great resource, lots of success stories, and lots of advice, and support from women who have used caps.  I would recommend checking it out! 

 Shera...Sorry you have also experienced the terrible headaches.  I found nothing would relieve the pain and I did not want to take percoset.  I finally broke and took one after dinner; it still got me feeling sick to my stomach and not feeling so good.  The next two days they were manageable with ibuprofen and now completely gone.  But if you find something that works, love to hear about it as it is a concern for the next round.

Wishing everyone a great week with minimal SE's if any, and beautiful weather:)

Day 12 for me and I feel more normal than I have in a long time.  No nose bleeds, no heartburn, no nauseau, nothing. 

Brax, no I never fully understood the 4 vs 6 TC treatment protocol.  I'm still a little jealous of those only getting 4 treatments but I'll get over it.

Leveled, I am doing cold caps.  It's too soon for me to know if they are working but I remain prayerful.  My hair isn't extremely long or anything but...it's mine and I want to keep it. 

 Unfortunately, there are more Marchers than I can keep track of.  I like that I have company but I am sad that so many ladies are having to go through this.

I met with a genetic counselor this past Friday to see if I test positive for BRCA genes.  I don't know what I'll do with the information though.  I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

YAY for Karri and the clean PET scan! Hopefully, the antibiotics today will clear up the damn infection and you can move forward. Sending you healing vibes...

Hope you are getting the super antibiotics to get you all fixed up! 

Karri - I'm sure they are just being cautious!  Maybe you can still start on Monday!  Weird that we want to start so bad right?  But I am with you, I want to start so it will be over.

((((HUGS)))) 

A friend highly recommended that I drink as much water as possible during chemo. I filled a 1/2 gallon bottle and forced myself to drink it throughout the treatments. I believe it did help me, although I found it challenging to do.

Karri-I am so sorry you are going through this! As if the process isn't hard enough on it's own. Please keep us posted on what you learn. We'll all be pulling for you! I go tomorrow to have my ALND site checked and she warned me that if there was fluid she would aspirate it and I wouldn't like it. I've been uncomfortable there since my infusion last week so now I'm nervous. Please let us know what you find out about your gallbladder.



Sissydi-my MO told me that cytoxin causes severe headaches. I get migraines and other headaches so they told me to be prepared. I'm sure other chemos have the same effect. I had a terrible headache all day Saturday (my day 3), but I've been able to keep it under control since with Excedrin Migraine.



A number of you have mentioned you have or are getting ports...if you have any discomfort with using them, ask for Emla cream. It's a lidocaine based topical cream that you apply an hour before using your port and it should numb it really well.

Day 16: Went out early this morning to get some fasting bloods taken. I felt nauseous without any food in my stomach, but that cleared up once I had some breakfast.  Otherwise good.

Has anyone else been craving sweet food lately? I'm not usually a big chocolate fan, but I have desperately wanted it a couple times in the last week. Maybe it's just me being a pig.

Karri- Awww, your friends are so nice! Sorry to hear that your biopsy site is looking infected, and oozed on your clothes... and now you have to get an ultrasound! I hope you can start chemo soon.

GeorgiaMom- I hope you are finding the SE's not too bad.

Leveled- It's totally understandable that BC is #1 on your mind right now. Have you thought of talking to a counsellor? They can teach you ways to relax and how to deal with lack of sleep.  I'm going to start seeing someone on Thursday.

fedfan- I had some indigestion too. Sometimes it showed up as heartburn, other times as bloating and fullness. I've had to take Acidex a few times.

Some things I read last week said to...
Avoid large meals, oily food, spicy food, coffee, alcohol, chocolate, and fizzy drinks. And try to stay relaxed, as stress can make it worse. Chew your food a lot, and try to get a little exercise each day. Drinks that might help are peppermint tea, ginger tea and ginger beer.

To those starting treatment this week- Try to drink 3L each day for the first few days. It makes it easier (and less burning) to flush the drugs out of your system.

Good luck to everyone getting treatment this week. You are doing really well.

boy..oh boy....am suppose to start next week from what MO's office said for my first treatment.  I go to MO on thursday march 15..so will know date for sure i reckon.

i see people post to drink lots of water during treatment...i am going to sound stupid...but, if you drink so much during treatment...do they let you up and go to the restroom...am sure i would pee my brains out.

and, this cold cap thing you are talking about...what does it do or does someone have a link...i will try to look it up.

just had my colonoscopy today...frankly...it was a breeze compared to anything else so far.

oh yes...the other thing...why do people have a PET scan and what is it.