March 2012 chemo

My blood work and MO appt are done the same day as my infusion so if there is a problem with my counts I won't know until that day.  Looks like a lot of us are getting blood work the week before.  I'm getting nervous, thinking that my counts won't be what they should.  If my counts are low do you think I would be able to tell.  I feel fine.

Welcome to the newcomers CaitlinB, ltr227, and triplem67. 

Ladyfighter...Hope all goes well with your port today.  My MO said fruits and veggies are fine as long as they are washed well.  She just said to make sure that even the fruits and veggies that you would not eat the skins of are washed well because if you cut them with a knife the bacteria could be transferred from the skin to the inside.  She also said not to eat salads out because I would have no way of knowing if the vegetables were washed.  I am craving a salad from one of my favorite restaurants-it's amazing.  I'm not sure if I will be able to stay away for 15 weeks!  The claritin seems to be a funny thing.  Some people swear that it has to be D and others say regular Claritin.  I asked the pharmacist what the difference was besides the price because the D is a lot more expensive.  She said the D has pseudofed (not sure I spelled that right).  I got the regular and had no problems at all.  I took one the day before and four or five days after.  I also took Aleve twice a day.

Galena...Glad to hear you found some relief with exercise.  Have you told your MO you were finding it hard to breath?  I hope today is a much better day.

 Kam170...When is your next treatment?  I see you and I started within a day of each other but are on different regimens.  My next treatment is Friday, yikes!

Good morning ladies!  Start my treatment tomorrow and I think I am ready!  I have to start on the steroids before, never taken them before so no idea what they will do to me, hopefully nothing! 

Sounds like everyone is hanging in there! 

Hi all! Thanks for adding me. I start tx 1 on Monday. Reading all the post here helps with th fear of starting chemo. Chopped off my almost waist length hair into a pixie cut. Over the shock and enjoying the 2 minute dry and style! I find out today if they put the port in tomorrow or Friday. Hope all those that already started feel well today.

KatyCB

Re Wellspring.  I'm not sure where you are located exactly but I think there are 3 centres in the GTA.  The website is www.wellspring.ca.  You can look up the locations there for one nearest you.  I feel very fortunate to have one in Brampton.  Its an awesome place and very welcoming.  No only do they have the LGFB program, there are support groups, cooking classes, massage, reiki, yoga, exercise and more.  I know the Brampton one's website isn't updated regularly but you can pick up a calender of events.  Perhaps this is where I could help with once done TX.  Would love to give back to such an amazing place.

This is a large group and very hard to keep everyone straight!!   Just an update for those that haven't yet experienced this yet...the hair thing. It was more traumatic for me than I would have thought...probably part of my whole whoa is me syndrome.  I just cried and cried in the shower. The days of just managing the loss (get atleast 1 lint roller!) to getting it cut off.

 I have one tuxedo cat who will come a running, she would drop a mouse or bird out of her mouth, if I cry, no kidding.  I had never cried in the shower before and she was desperately trying to figure out a way to jump from the counter to the top of the glass enclosure to get to me....once with me, she will coo and rub my face to comfort me.  It was to this point. A cat was telling me it was ok.  Once I got the hair off though, and the wig on, I just marched through our little town with a friend gaging the reactions of acquaintences and strangers. It was ok. Some thought I got a "haircut" and it looked good...others hardly took note. It fit too - I was so worried as I have such a big head....it is hard to find wigs for big heads and this only added to my whole wig depression.  Accordingly, I had to pay dearly for that one cranial prothesis.  I have to say, having no hair, or little hair, has a bit of a liberating aspect too....I might actually enjoy this in the summer time!

Hey everyone...just checking in.  Wow...so many of us now.  On one hand its sad but on the other its comforting to be able to chat with all of you who are going thru the same thing.  I think I would be pretty scared and depressed if I didn't have this forum.

I am on day 13 of 2nd tx.  I feel pretty good.  My only SE this week is sore fingernails...not tingly like neuropathy but they just feel kind of bruised.  Any body else feeling like that?

Also...I still have a bunch of stubble on my head...what's up with that?

Hoping everyone is having a good week...well as good as possible anyway. 

Jeanne, you have got to be kidding me! Wow...I'm super impressed with your attitude. It's so hard to keep your sense of humor through this. You are one tough chick.



Kam, not that I'm picturing you in the shower but I could totally visualize the cat episode. I too am struggling with this way more than I thought I would and have cried several times (really fighting back the tears right now). It's okay...no one said this would be easy and we women put a lot of stock in our hair. We're going through a lot of s$&t right now, so cry if you want to cry. My cat is also very empathetic and senses when I'm upset. She's been ditching her best friend, my son, lately and spending lots of time with me. It's nice to be loved, isn't it?



This morning I am thinking I can't stand the shedding anymore and this in between haircut is not doing it for me. I am so not an in between kind of girl. I either do things or I don't so it kind of surprises me how much trouble I am having with letting go of my hair. Maybe it's because it's happening earlier than I thought and I guess I'm not as prepared for it as I thought. I have a PS appt today so I can't decide whether it's a good day to buzz, but I think it's happening today or tomorrow...



Speaking of PS appts...I have a fill today and had a brilliant idea (if I do say so myself). I am going to put some Emla cream on the spots where he injects the saline. Last time hurt more than I feel like dealing with right now. Just wanted to share in case anyone dislikes the fills as much as I do and has the cream on hand...



Finally, I wanted to share that there are some really cool moments through all of this. Yesterday I gave my 15 year old son a heads up that I would have really short hair when he got home from school so he wouldn't be caught off guard. He came over and gave me the longest, tightest hug and told me with tears in his eyes that he was proud of how strong I was being. So special!

Kraemermom: I know, it's SO frustrating. Loss of control. Handing over your body to the medical profession. So hard to be patient. A wise friend who has been through this journey reminded me that it's important to take control of what we can. Hard, but probably right...

Masserz I am completely weeping to think of your son hugging you and telling you how proud he is of you. So beautiful.

Masserz - I had the same idea about the cream and asked my PS about it yesterday. He told me that the pain of the needle isn't in the skin but rather the underlying muscle. Unfortunately, the cream won't reach that deep down. I too had hoped to make the fills a little less painful! If you decide to try it, let me know if it helps! I've been known to question what a doctor says...lol

Kam

I echo Lumynme.  Just jump in girl!!  I've never been on a thread where anyone was more than welcoming.  Sometimes when a thread gets super busy its hard for prople to comment on everything everyone posts but we try real hard.  If we forget we can always claim chemo brain LOL!!  You belong where ever you want to be OK.  I'm on a couple, the Feb thread, the Taxotere/Cytoxin thread and more.

You go ahead and have a good cry whenever you need to.  We all do and it's a good stress releiver too.  Your cat sounds adorable, what a love! 

KatyCB

I don't beleive the personal training is one on one more like 1 -5 patients but they can at least address any limitations and gear a program that's more personalized.  I had a personal trainer and a gym I belonged to and had her 3 times which was great and it was enough to know I was doing things properly.

Masserz

Your son, took my breath away.  You have raised a good boy there, kudos.  He's going to make some woman a wonderful husband one day.

Lisa- I thought the same thing about the cream, and it is only indicated for dermal analgesia, but I looked up instructions and found a couple of sites that provide directions for intramuscular injections, so I figure it might have some effect. Also, since there's no longer any fat or other tissue between my skin and muscle there, I'm hoping it will be get that deep. I see no reason not to try, so I will definitely report back whether it helps. With my luck I will have missed the actual spot he injects anyway. Lol. They actually just called as I was typing this and bumped up my appointment so it may not be on long enough to be absorbed deeply enough to work on the muscles...we'll see!

Thank God for our pets! Kam, My cats are very instinctive about my feelings just like your cat. They are such a comfort to me! My hair is now coming out in bunches. In fact I'm putting off gettin gin the shower to wash it because that's when it comes out the most. 

But actually I have so much hair that you still can't see any difference. So I'm just going to ride this wave as long as I can. I guess when bald spots start showing up, I'll resort to more drastic measures. I'm not planning on doing a wig though. I've always had this weird thing about wigs. I'm just going to do hats and scarves. People will know right away I have cancer, but that's okay. It's not a secret.

Anyone else not planning on doing wigs? 

Just met with my ONC and got my oncotype score- high risk!!!!! Sign me up I start AC on 3/29. Guess I just made this group by a couple of days. I have been following some of the posts as I was afraid that the report would be bad. I actually had my port put in when they did the lumpectomy on 2/27. There are some days that I still can't believe this is happening to me. Since you all are ahead of me, I'll be looking for lots of advice and support.

Roostinto; what do the oils help with?

Amy: welcome! Yes the anticipation is so very hard, not having a clue what to expect.

Fedfan I plan to just see what feels right. I worry the wig I'm getting will be ridiculous, and if I feel decent in hats and scarves, maybe that's the way to go...day 9 and still have all my hair.

Katycb..peppermint helps with nausea.....just rub a little under your nose....and lavender helps with relaxation.... just to help you quit worrying about things... just rub a little under your nose is well..... anti nausea meds didn't work well for me so I'm trying to go the homeopathic route... and it seems to be working pretty good... chewing on ginger root is awesome.....



my second treatment is coming up on tuesday...hoping for less SE's than last time...:)