April/May 2012 Chemo hang out

Thanks Velutha! Always helpful to hear a boost from you!

Chapter4-glad your treatment went well yesterday. Hope you are able to enjoy your vaca!

Fairweather--GL in the chair. You CAN do this!

Sandik--glad everything is ok. Figured the wedding had been keeping you busy!

Day 2 of my first taxol infusion and so far so good. My stomach as come back to me and I feel hungry and have an appetite. No more for now anyways, forcing food down my throat to eat. I am holding out hope that my se are not too bad, I will see in a few days. I am just real tired and flushed from the steriods. I have 3 more to go and I am done with chemo, then on to radiation. My mood is better due to feeling better, I do not have that chemo fog that I had with AC, but again it has only been day 2. I'll keep in touch with everyone as it goes. Hope everyone else this week has/had a good week with se, just remember you are one more closer to being done.

As good as it feels now, I am still overwhlemed with emotions from this whole experience/journey. For so long I have been going to appt, researching, getting treatment, fighting/managing side effects that I really have not had any time or energy to process all this. At time a glimpse of what I have been thru, currently going thru and still have to go thru and I just wonder how am I going to get thru this all. My life will never be the same as far as having the security I had before my diagnosis. I guess at this point that is what I am grieving the most. I keep telling myself that this is part of the healing/process and that although this feeling will most likely always be with me that it affect will lesson and life will take back over. At least that what I hear from other women who have diagnosed and are many years past treatment.

ugggh Mistym!  Hope it helps.  That's the one I'm taking and it definitely seemed to help.  I ached but nothing like a lot of people describe. 

Ideally you want to take it the day before, day of and 7 days after but it can't hurt to try to see if it helps.  I ran out of the house without taking one yesterday (5 days out from the shot) and definitely felt more achey especially my back so I jumped back on it today.  Do you have anything stronger to take for the pain?  If not, it might be worth a call to your MO just to get something sent to the pharmacy in case the pain doesn't subside.

Hope all is well you ladies!!!

Just got home from my last A/C treatment. I have the nicest infusion nurse, she's such a sweetheart. I talked to my oncologist about my 7 days of nausea following treatment and he brought up the medical cannabis again...this time I accepted it. He gave me a prescription for Marinol (sp?) it's a cannabinoid pill. I pray it works.



Praying for minimal SE for us all!!!!

Nofear: i feal exactly how u do....i miss the me before diagnosis, the tx seems never ending, and how long do we worry afterwards? My body is not mine anymore...i was healthly but now im sick all the time and in pain. It is a lot to process and im with you on that.....i guess im just taking this time for only me, im my first priority right now, and i dont feel apologetic about it. Time for the tx process and alot of time to heal....then who knows, who ever really knows...

nofear: im feeling the same way lately... before I was so go go go with appts after appts, and in survival mode feeling pretty 'uppy' and assertive and positive to get through surgery and IVF and physio and all of the MO and RO visits ... now in this lull of chemo it seems to be all catching up to me also. I long for those days where I was carefree and had a healthy body. I feel all damaged and being in my 20s feel robbed that this has happened to me now at this point in my life. i look at pictures of myself from 9 months ago and think how sad it is that i had no clue what i was about to endure... Anyways, im glad to hear your taxol SE are not bad yet. I agree that there is less of a fog than on the A/C. I feel more myself on Taxol... but that being said, I still had some super hard emo days. I am always really flushed too after tx... I didnt realize that is from the steroid. Makes sense... I always wake up thinking I have a fever and I never do. The flushed face only lasts a few days for me. The worst I have felt are muscle pains at night... still, it's manageable. 

On the topic of stress... it was interesting to read that a few of you ladies found that your lives were super stressful before diagnosis too. I think there is something to be said for that. Stress totally brings down our immune system and can make for so many health problems. As much as breast cancer is so NOT a stress-free experience... I think the lesson I have learned is that I can now choose which situations I need to actually spend energy on. Before BC I was so caught up with family problems, dramas, work crap, negative ppl and just really was so on edge with things and feeling super high stress. Now, I look at it all and think how ridiculous it was that I wasted so much time and energy worring and stressing about all of it. I think at the time we dont even realize we are doing it too... I like to think that from now on I will handle things differently... especially when it comes to certain relationships... pick and choose which ones are worth the time and really just walk away from the stressful ones. (Easier said then done, I know!)  

Thank you to all of you who helped me get through last night.  It turns out that my DH remembered correctly, but I just had to find out for myself.

I finished my first treatment a few hours ago and so far, so good.  I'm just a little tired, but I did work 1/2 a day and didn't sleep well last night.

I so appreciate the information and support I find here.  Thanks again!

Melrosemelrose - You are amazing!  Thanks again.

No fear 2012. We are on the exact same schedule....don't want to speak too soon but it seems taxol will be a lot easier, thankfully!

kjiberty, I love your attitude.  I'm trying to stay as positive and close to normal as possible.  I was unloading the dishwasher when I came home today and my husband wanted me to stop.  I know there will be plenty of times that I won't feel up to it, but if I can, I want to.  I'm so sorry to hear that your mom is adding stress to your life.  Definitely use that cancer/chemo card if you have to!

Hi all, I'm fairly new to the site and just happened upon this very helpful thread.  I started chemo on May 1 and have had 3 treatments so far.  One more of the AC and then I'll have 4 of the Taxol.

I've loved reading your posts, although I haven't read them all yet.  It's good to find kindred spirits in the crap we are going through.

I hope to get to know you all better. 

Chapter4 we are on the same schedule. I hope our se stay minimal. So far so good, I can eat again & have an appetite again & that is huge for me. How are yur.emotions? I am very emotional today, missing my life b4 bc & just feeling sorry for myself. I am hoping this will pass soon.



Ashleyb - I take comfort in the we are sharing some emotional struggle I hope for both of us as well as anyone else that it will pass. I am sure that it is all apart of the chemo treatment.



Thanks ladies for all yur input, thoughts & support it sure helps.