Starting chemo Thursday, May 31 - June Group?

Marcia: So great that your husband is absorbing the changes a bit better. Sometimes it just takes time. Your son will probably come around too. I made the hat out of a brown knit that is super soft and stretchy, and the patterned piece is sort of ruffled and layered and attached to the hat. The flower is from an old t-shirt that I upcycled. I will be crocheting some things soon though!!

Pam: Thanks so much for the compliments and encouragement. Your new pic is wonderful and I love the wig on you! It's perfect! 

Mom24: Thanks darlin'!

Kimmie: Sorry you are having a rough time with your doc. I agree with the others....do whatever you need to do to minimize your anxiety.  And I would suggest telling your doctor that you would like more communication regarding your care. That is not too much to ask. I just don't think a lot of them understand how to effectively communicate. They don't get that training in med school.

Doris: The skin on my legs is so smooth it is SHINY. I can almost see a reflection. It's going to be a real bummer when I have to go back to my grooming routine.  

I just got back from the Look Good Feel Better class.  There were 4 of us plus the teacher, who is a cosmetologist.  We each got a bag full of make up, each one a little different.  Mine was packed with lots of great products, including moisurizer, sunscreen, eyee makep remover, foundation, powder, blush, eye shadow, lip liner, 2 lipsticks, and nail polish.  The brands were Estee Lauder, OPI, Clinique, Elizabeth Arden, and MAC. The woman teaching the class was very nice, but I don't think I learned anything new.  She did have 2 wigs that had been donated and I took one.  It's very similar to the way my hair looked before it fell out.  I'll try to figure out how to download it and make it my avatar picture.  I'm not tech savvy, but I'll try.  I was hoping that she would demonstrate more scarf tying techniques, but she only showed us how to use a t-shirt and she used me as the demo, so I couldn't really see what she was doing in the back.  I must say, it was quite comfy!  She also gave us the name of another website that donates scarves to women with cancer.  www.francluxe.com.  I'm going to go check it out right now!

I just got my goodwishes scarf saturday. It's really cute! Too bad my head is so big...it's a little snug. But once my head is completely bald i think it will work great!

Totally going to rip off the construction and sew some more.  

Pam and Ellebee, You guys look great!  I love your handwork Ellebee.  I wish I could do things like that! I don't know how you can go to work and still have energy to be so creative...I'm jealous!

Kimmie, I'm glad your doc was nicer your next visit.  My facility has an online secure records system where they post my pathology, lab work, and test summaries so I can access them or print them any time.  It's pretty neat and it saves them having to give me a copy every visit. 

Has anyone had experience with their port clotting?  Mine was just put in 6/21 and they wanted me to have my blood drawn from it the first few times to let my bad veins recover a bit.  The first time (last week) they had difficulty getting it to work, but it finally did after about 15 minutes.  Today, they tried everything and couldn't get it to draw.  They think there is a clot in it.  I have to get an xray before my infusion Thursday to check on it so they can decide how to procede. I'm not sure what happens after the xray.

Hey ladies! Well I had chemo again today. I have noticed that the steroids as well as the benadryl make me uber-sleepy and out of it. But the last two weeks it has been much better because I have brought a sandwich to eat in the chair and some almonds and blueberries to snack on. The drowsiness hit me much less hard today and last week seemed less too. I was eating breakfast before chemo, and lunch afterward. But I think my stomach was empty for the most part (breakfast for me is usually an egg or two, or cottage cheese...but not much. Only 100 calories or so). And I think the sleepiness was hitting me harder as a result. Just wanted to pass this along to those of you who are bothered by the sleepiness on chemo days. Having some food in the belly might cushion the blow.

Steelersluver & Melrose: So sorry to hear about your port troubles ladies! Are they being flushed with heparin every time? I have the Smart Port, and the nurse who helped install it said to make sure it is flushed with heparin EVERY time to avoid it clotting off. But I would think your chemo nurses would know this. But I suppose mistakes can happen. Or it's just rotten luck. Hope it gets better for you both and no more troubles. We have enough to deal with!!!

Oh, and Steelersluver: As for my energy....one word. TAXOL. It is soooo much gentler. I hope you get to switch to it after AC. I am doing it weekly which makes the se's even less. There is a light at the end of the tunnel girls. Hang in there. I am sort of dreading AC. I don't want to feel sick. But at the same time, I am ALWAYS sick. It's honestly like I have no immune system at all. I catch everything. When I get the labs every week at chemo, and I have this decent white blood cell count, I am so annoyed. Why aren't they doing their job? Ever? So I have had to learn to just power through discomfort. If I succumb every time I am not feeling well, then I would never accomplish anything, and I would be miserable. I want to be a kick-ass mom, wife, friend, teacher, worker, etc. Cancer certainly is NOT going to rob the people I love of my devotion to them. No way. No how. Period. So I am motivated to keepp moving as well. But I am learning to delegate a bit. It's not easy, but I am. My husband just organized the best b-day party for my daughter. And her friends loved it so much. I have always been the one to put the parties together. He was amazing! And he loved doing it. I'll give him a chance to do that more often instead of swooping in and organizing everything.

Pam I hope you have a great few days before the BGC. Is the last AC Thursday already?  So Marcia's last one is coming up too? Any others rounding out AC soon? Then what, Taxol or some other regimen? If you have  taxol/herceptin questions ladies, let me know!

*hugs* and healing thoughts being sent to each of you!

ElleBee

Oh, btw, has anyone heard from Steve and Billiemae? They have been quiet. I hope all is well. 

The booklet that they gave you for the look good feel better has some info on how to tie scarves and also how to make the tshirt turbon and put it on.   I went to the class a few weeks ago - there were 2 instructors and 2 students so it worked well we each had one on one attention.  I am not a makeup wearer but I did get a nice bag of makeup and moisturizers to take home with me.

Michelle

Steelersluver: My oncologist explained to me that there are different ways to administer the Taxol. He said that the options are most often every 1, 2, or 3 weeks. Once a week is a smaller dose, every 2 wks larger, every 3 wks larger yet. He said that when they compared the 3 types of administration in research trials, the once a week, and twice a week both produced better results (shrinkage) than the every 3 week group. He said they are still trying to determine the difference between once a week and every 2 weeks in terms of one being better for shrinkage. BUT, he said that the once a week people experience fewer and milder side effects compared to the every 2 wks and 3 wks groups. It makes since because the dose is lowest once a week....but it is fairly constant so it is getting in there and doing it's job consistently, as opposed to a higher dose every 3 weeks which lays you out with se's, probably begins to wear off, and you have to recover before receiving another dose. My doc rather confidently told me "you really aren't going to find this intrrupting your life much. You should be able to do all the things you are used to doing". And he is right. I have not missed a day of work (and I am on my feet the entire time I work), I have thrown 2 birthday parties, gone on vacation, played with my kids, cooked, cleaned, shopped....business as usual.

So far my se's with taxol (after dose 5) are this: some constipation on days 1 and 2 (although this time I had diarrhea, only once) which is taken care of with wheatgrass juice or a dose of Senikot-S. Heartburn off and on which I control with OTC generic Zantac - 150mg. Reduced appetite on days 1-3, but it rebounds nicely. I have diarrhea toward the end of the week, but only once or twice a day, and not severe at all. I have a tiny bit of neuropathy starting in my right foot, just in the toes. I also get some moderate stomach aches and headaches, which come and go with no pattern, but don't last long. (Keep in mind this is all combined with herceptin). Oh and the obvious hair loss and chemo brain - concentration issues. NONE of this has been debilitating. 

I cannot WAIT for you ladies to be through with AC!

Also Steelersluver: Maybe you had natural blonde highlights hanging out in there with your lovely light brown hair? My kids hair is like this. They have light brown wavy hair - like a really dark blonde - but they have these wonderful, thinner blonde strands mixed in throughout. When the sun hits their heads it is so pretty! So maybe your blondes are fighting the good fight! 

steelersluver- FYI I didn't shave my head bald.  All of my hair hasn't fallen out and I'm heading into Round #5 next week.  I have a thin, thin veil of hair all over my head and some of the hair stands straight up.  It's pretty funny.  Some of my hair is trying to grow back.  Glad I didn't shave.  I've had thinning of eyebrows, eyelashes, down south, leg hair and arm hair.  Go figure.....  No more shaving arm pits.  I know the eyebrows and eyelashes will probably go soon or shortly after I finish my chemo since that seems to be the pattern of loss on my type of chemo. 

Marcia: I think you will be GREAT on Taxol. Look at how much you are doing now? Still getting out and being social, accomplishing a lot, really. Have you been drinking your water? Or has it been especially hot in Fla this week? Maybe you need to hydrate more and flush out the poison?