January 2012 chemo

My second Taxol/Herceptin (of 12) yesterday was ok. Still got the abdominal cramp halfway through the Taxol and needed a heat pack like last week. No nausea during the Herceptin this time :-)



Just like last week I feel fine today. We've been out for our weekly breakfast out and visit to Medicare (Australian public health insurance centre) to put in my receipts (yes, we seem to be doing this weekly...). Then we met friends at the local farmers market and then came home and took the dog out for a walk. Figure I should get exercise and socialise while I feel good.



Expecting to sleep all day tomorrow like last week then the joint/muscle pain to start tomorrow night so enjoying today...



Jenn

Cat -

 I have had the exact same experience as you with my first Taxol. The fatigue being surprisingly debilitating - more so than on AC. Perhaps it's the cumulative effect of it all. My pains started on day 3 and were uncomfortable, but not horrible. Today, day 4, I'm still on the couch, but trying to get up to move around regularly. I feel a little woozy everytime I stand up.

This is getting so old!!!

Annie 

Mary, only you can make that decision based on the info given to you.  I think it is good to get a second opinion.  I just met a man this week who went through chemo at age 86.  He is doing well 6 months post chemo, just came back North from Florida, and is riding his bike everyday

Obviously, you have the right to refuse anything.  After going through chemo myself and still in the midst of 5 months of it, my new rule is if I get 70, forget any more chemo.  I say that at age 55, but I could change my mind at 70!

 My prayers are with you for the right decision for you. 

Howdy to everyone...wish I had more time to be here...but keeping myself busy is the only way I'm getting through this! My weekly 12xTaxol is moving along, my 4th Taxol was on last Thursday and it started out the same as the 3rd. Infusion day I had a return of restless leg syndrome arriving ½ way through the Taxol even though they switched me from the Benadryl drip on week 2 (that supposedly caused the leg issue). Friday I still have the steroid energizer bunny happening, BUT, each Saturday is getting worse. Yesterday (Sat.) I laid on the couch all day feeling pretty lousy, achy and wiped out. Fever fluctuation was low 97 to upper 99 all day with hot flashes. This time the joint & bone pain was far worse. I finally ended up having to take a pain killer and went to bed. I have not had the "N" shot since the last AC, but the bone & joint pain is like I HAD the shot. My nails get worse each time, with the red/brown blotches spreading, nails hurt worse and finger tips are very painful/sensitive. I have some tingling in the fingers, but as of today Sunday, it is getting better (I can even type!!!) and the pain in the hands far outweigh the slight tingling, that comes last and leaves first. The feet have been very quiet, but occasionally they will speak for a few hours. I have a decent Nasal drip going, which is very attractive, killer sore throat that comes & goes at will and my hearing is still hyper sensitive and if I have a good night sleep, I will NOT have one the next night. I have kept to the regiment my MO wanted, no herbs, no vitamins, no Advil. Allowed is: Pain killers, Claritin or Benadryl, Tylenol (Which does nothing for me-so I don't take them) and the Lyrica. No Migraines, no Nausea, no problem with bowels and not taking anything for that either...I would say so far so good, but it still sucks...8 more to go.

I feel like I'm in a Monty Python movie..."It's just a scratch...I've had worse...". 

My 0-10 Pain Chart has been redefined on Chemo. 

Dear Denise and Kitchenella, Thanks for writing back.  I am not convinced just yet on the benefits of chemo in my situation.  As I gather more information on my diagnosis, it seems that everything for me is a gray area.  My onke is intermediate low at 20, my cell type is ductal with lobular characteristics??? my percentage pts for benefit of chemo is about 8 to 10% but no one really knows how to say yes you really need chemo or only a decision you can make.  I am really struggling with this b/c of my nature.  Planner, type A/B, over analyze, you get it.  I really needed Denise to mention the "little buggers" floating around out there since I have sentinel node positive but no other nodes.  I think that is a game-changer and why I should do chemo.  This site is so helpful b/c it gives me insight on how others manage their CA.  Can't thank you guys for letting me vent. 

Marylla - My Oncologist described it in such a good an easy way.   Cancer is a dandelion.  They got the root of the dandelion when they did the surgery.  But the cancer has gone to seed, especially when it is in the lymph nodes.  You have proof that it has gone to seed.  The seeds have blown where they will and without chemo will start to grow into another dandelion plant wherever they have landed.

Just got home from Taxol #9 out of 12. Exhausted from the ativan and benadryl. Oh, and I HATE my port. This thing always hurts. Always. No cream they give me for beforehand works, and I feel every inch of that needle going in. Grrr and sigh. Thanks for letting me vent.

Hi Annie,

I hope you feel better sokn. Hugs

Bela 

Hi all! Hope everyone was able to enjoy the weekend, at least a bit!



Kitchenella,

Wishing you a week with few side affects, so you can enjoy your daughters' visit!!!



My last week was not all that great. I had a bad cold last week, so I could not do my scheduled tx last Friday. Bummer!!! Feeling better today, and so they rescheduled my biweekly Taxol for tomorrow. Yay - only 3 more to go!!! ;-)



Something else I've had lately, problems swollowing correctly. Or rather, after I am done eating, I start coughing and coughing until I get dizzy. While I am coughing it feels like a tiny bit of food is moving into my lungs. A weird kind of food aspiration, that does not happen while I eat, but as

soon as I am done eating?! - And one more thing I was gifted.... To add to the list of SE: Chemo

acne!!! But that's ok, because - on a positive note -- the sun is out today, and that small fact really helps my overall mood A Lot! So I am grateful for that!!!

Annie:  I doubt any of us are being slugs; I think the cumulative effects are starting to catch up with us.  And if you're anything like me, I keep "forgetting" about chemo and cancer and try to continue living a "normal" life - and it ain't working like that anymore.  I have to slow down.

I do great in the morning - perhaps fueled by caffeine - but by early afternoon I am getting tired.  By about 4:00 I'm quickly running downhill, and by 7:00 I'm on the sofa for the night.  I try to stay up until 9:00, but that's my usual bedtime. It all starts again the next morning at 6:00.  Today is Day 12 for me after my first Taxol, and I'm still exhausted.  I can do things for short periods of time but I need to be slower, and I need to rest from time to time.  But like you said, I could feel really great tomorrow - I can't predict a damn thing.  I am dreading the next 10 weeks.

I have dreams about running and doing yoga - things I used to do and took for granted, and miss so terribly.  I get out of breath and tired just walking a few blocks from my car to my classes.  Like you, I find this all so hard to accept.

I haven't been on these boards since about 5 pages back.  Had lots of catching up to do on my reading.  My 4th and last AC was two weeks ago.  It left me more fatigued than the others and even a bit nauseous but it has now passed totally.  

For those of you with SE's laying you low, I'm so sorry to hear of it.  Hope things are easing up somewhat.  

CharB22:  Sorry about your FIL.  Thinking of your husband and children....wishing all of you didn't have to go thru so much at once...

Marylla:   I am 69.  I understand your uncertainty about going thru all this.  I, too, thought about skipping it all and taking my chances.  I feel young.  Can't believe I'm really the age I am! lol  I'll be darned if I'll let this thing take me.  I have a 15 year old granddaughter who still needs me around to cushion her from her chaotic household.  (We're going out to eat tomorrow night and I know she is looking forward to it.)  I'll fight to the end this damn disease.    But, it is a choice and perhaps not the same choice for all.

DeniseG:  I love your dandelion analogy.  I'll keep that in mind.  It is so true.  

I had a MX in December, with 7 nodes removed.  Three of them had cancer, the next four did not. If this chemo can kill any remanining 'seeds', then I'll put up with it.

On this Thursday, I will have my first of 12 weedkly Taxols.  My MO doesn't do Neulasta with these.  And this is Taxol, not Taxotere.  (They're not the same, are they?)  And there has been no mention of Herceptin. Is this always done and i'm just not aware?  

To all of you.   I care and think of you often.  Sorry I haven't been very supportive in my posts.  It seems I just haven't had the energy to log in. 

Sleepless I have resigned myself to just being tired out for the next 10 weeks of TX.  I did go out with my girls a couple of days this week but I really slowed them down. I looked for a chair at every store we stopped at and yesteday I came home early without them as I was finished!.  Today they are going to the Dead Sea to get smeared with mud.  I decided to stay home.  LOL.

Florida good to hear you are finished with AC.  I found the last one the worst as I never got the little feel good bump at the end.

Peggy 

Peggy-I want to be smeared with mud from the Dead Sea. For some reason that really resonated with me on an emotional level that I wouldn't have expected. Brought tears to my eyes. It sounds so healing and I long for that. Go get smeared one day when you're up to it. Smear some mud for me, will ya?

Angie

Karen:  I can empathize about the financial situation.  We, too, got hit with taxes this year because I raided my 401k to pay for my medical expenses.  So we owe the feds and state, and our city (so ridiculous).  And I'm still trying to work out a payment plan since my Neulasta shots are not being covered completely, and the hospital is really hungry for money.  Honestly - I'm about at the point of considering selling some of my jewelry, but I don't know that I'd get what it's worth.

I have a 27-year-old son who requires alot of my emotional and financial energy, and it's overwhelming sometimes.  I find myself having really emotional anger dreams about him frequently; he cannot seem to grasp that I just can't help him anymore.  More importantly, I don't think I should have to at this point, given some of the less-than-optimal choices he's made that has gotten him into his current situation.  The social worker in me, of course, continues to try and figure out ways to get him connected with resources, but he often refuses, and I can't do it for him.  He'd just rather get help from me than have to work for it himself.  But I want to live, for purely selfish and appropriate reasons, and that means (for me) having to "give up" on my son in some ways.  I cry about it alot, and I'm angry - I'm grieving the son I wish I had right now.  I won't sacrifice myself, my own life, to enable him to continue on the path he has chosen.  I know you love your daughter, Karen; I'm so sorry you're going through this.  And dammit, you'd better fight - we need you around here!!  :-)