Starting Chemo July 2012

I made it through my very  first TAC Chemo today-yay. Nothing too eventful happened, except I had some weird stinging in my head and sneezed twice. The nurse assured me that the med affected those areas. Otherwise we were well prepared, and now the 1st session is over, I will be using my handy dandy Nalgene clear bottle to consume water, etc to help flush through chemicals as was suggested. I am briefly  journaling all side effects so and the doctors can be given a brief update if necessary. I hope the side effects are not too awful, but I feel I am as prepared as we can based on all of the amazing advice and experiences I've read here. Good luck in your recuperation period, and may you all be spared from too much agony:)

Remember to drink the fluids and rest, even if you feel like you don't need to rest. Don't be fooled into thinking that since you feel good and no apparent SEs, you over exert yourself.  The SEs can be transparent and when they unleash their nasty heads, they take no prisoners.  Just keep steady and your defenses up.  Other than that, take care and do something peaceful:)

I only started chemo last week, but already learned my lesson the hard way, par for the course. Take care!

Started chemo tc x 4 on july 17th. Id like to join the journey with some company. I am 48 primary lesion idc 1.7 cm at 12 oclock and a day before my lumpectomy they did an MRI and discovered another mass at 10 o'clock. The 2nd mass ended up being ILC 1.1 cm. 3 nodes removed and 1 was positive. I have a blood clotting disorder so they will not be using any tomoxifen. They'll do an ooverectomy and after 6 weeks radiation will put me on Aromitase Inhibitors (I believe arimidex) I started chemo in the 17th of July. When I look at many diagnosis of women on these boards many that have positive nodes will often have adrriamycene in the mix. Rather than start second guessing after starting (as that won't do me any good) I'd like to hear from people that might have just started tc x 4 and did have at least 1 node involved. I'm about to enter day 4 of 1st round and among feeling too bad - but have just started getting some heartburn and slight burning in my esophagus. Just realized that we did not get prilosec and fearing some new side effects will kick in- no pharmacies open. Don't want this to spin out of control. Sorry I'm all over the place with this posting. New to all this. Tc x 4 positive node women let me know how it's going. But also am happy to hear from anyone. Thanks. Clarity1210 - not feeling much clarity. Thanks

Had my first day of chemo today and, boy, weird.



Got to Cedars, checked in and they sent me to the waiting room. After an hour, I went to ask about what was going on since I was supposed to get my port installed first. They didn't realize that so they rushed to send me to the other building to do that. Took forever. Finally, they got it installed - 3 hours later. My boyfriend was supposed to leave around 2:30 so he was stuck as I left all my stuff with him. Luckily, he's great and tho he was a bit pissed, he didn't take it out on me and left with a kiss and a smile.



Finally got into the chemo room. That's when the fun really started. My port apparently is not put in correctly. For about two hours, they tried to get it work and it would for a bit and then stopped. So finally they just stuck in into a vein and it worked fine. I have to call in the AM and see if they can fix the port tomorrow. My friend, Patty, came around 4 and entertained me while I was going through the craziness.



So I was supposed to be done around 6:00. Instead, it was 10 PM by the time I got out.



Other than the port weirdness, everyone was lovely and really did their best to keep me calm and try to get as much help as possible to fix the port. They even fed me, which was great.



So I'm tired but not feeling any SE's yet. Trying to eat something before I go to bed since I'm starving. Guess that's a good sign.



I go in tomorrow for fluids and Neulasta, so we'll see how that goes.



Hope everyone did well today!

CityFi,hope i am as brave as you when i get my haircut,keep telling myself it's just hair,but,my kids are taking the hairloss pretty hard,i have always had long,thick,curly hair,i think the hairloss is so symbolic with this disease. Wow lifeonitside,crazy about the port!!! It's hard enough having to get the port put in! I had my port put in last wednesday,when i went for chemo this past Monday,the skin over the port was so swollen,when they put the needle in,ot wouldn't reach the port because of the swelling,so,they took it out,went and got alonger needle(Reallllly wish i wouldnt have looked at it) and they were able to complete the chemo.Ladies, i had a very low day yesterday,tired,achey,sore throat,weepy. Feel much better this morning,slept well!

Boobzilla - I had the same sneezy side effect from Cytoxan. That and felt like I could smell everything very strongly for about 15 minutes. The nurse also said it was a reaction to the Cytoxan. So far this morning, feeling pretty good. Hoping things stay that way. Sending you blessings on the rest of your treatment.

Clarity 1210--

I had a positive node (only one was removed) and I am scheduled for TC x 6. You can see the rest of my stats at the bottom of the post, except I don't think it shows up there that I am 66 and have more than a few years of menopause behind me.

My doc was happy to look over articles I brought in from this website and she would turn to her computer to look for the original research article and talk about how that might (or mostly did not) apply to my situation. She (and another MO I had talked to) both gave the same options of AC followed by T or the TC regimen.

Because I see lots of women on here getting 4 TC treatments, I asked her if we actually KNOW that 6 work better than 4. She said it is not a settled question, and that if I got to 4 seesions and wanted to bail out that I could do so.

I love this doc!

All the best to you.

FIRST CHEMO YESTERDAY

Because I don't have a port, the nurse in the lab put in an IV for drawing labs and to use later in the morning for the chemo. I was impressed both by her people skills and her technical skills. She was using a vein on the back of my hand (so we could work our way up the arm over the course of the treatments). She ran into a valve in the vein and couldn't get the line fully inserted, but after she drew blood, she flushed the line with saline and was able then to "float" the line through the valve and get it in all the way. She wrapped it up for me, and we were able to take a walk around the clinic and the hospital grounds and stop in at the cafeteria for yet another beverage.

Then we met with the doc who asked about any symptoms, checked my lymph nodes, answered a couple of questions and sent us over to the infusion area.

We were met by my delightful nurse who got us set up in a private room which was rather dark, but my spouse had been paying more attention than I had and knew the the drapes over our glass wall to the corridor were hiding a short hallway leading to the big communal infusion room which is flooded with natural light and we could see the tops of trees through the windows. Much better! Next time we'll sit in the big room, I think, and more fully enjoy the light but they like to do the first session in the private rooms.

The nurse got me going with a bag of saline and then with the premeds: steriods and antiemetic. Then we signed the informed consent forms for chemo (very plainly written, for a change). There was some delay while we waited for the Taxotere to arrive and then we started. Other than a little belching while I was getting the taxotere, the infusions were pretty uneventful and boring. We had brought snacks and nibbled our way through cheese and crackers, trail mix, yogurt with granola, and hard boiled eggs throughout the day. 

Between everyting I was drinking (I think I had 4 12-ounce sodas while I was sitting there) plus the bogs of drugs flowing in, I had to go to the restroom almost every hour, which was good, because it got me on my feet. I wandered around in the big room a bit and looked at the literature and such out there while I was on my bathroom trips.

We arrived at the clinic at 9am and were out of there at 4pm. We stopped for a frozen custard on the way home, then stopped by the drugstore to pick up the prescribed meds. I'm taking steriods for the first two mornings, and the anti-nausea stuff only as needed. I started to feel a bit wonky after supper last night, so I took one then, and I'm carrying one in my pocket so I don't have to look for one if I want it, but so far so good...

I'm pretty tired today. I got up early for my exercise class and dragged myself through that. then -- and this is really cool -- a friend who wanted to do something to make things easier for us is sending us his cleaning ladies, so they were here from 9 to 11. And they will be back every 2 weeks. What a relief. With everyting else going on, the cleaning had fallen low on the priority list. It's great to have the house clean. And now it will be great to nap....

Best wishes to all my July chemo sisters!

*Sings* 'It's only just begun'....

 (Sorry my sense of humor is coming in handy here, LOL)

 The steroids are giving me 'kankles' (doctor confirmed before my 1st TAC treatment), and the dry mouth and heartburn have appeared about 24 hours after my first treatment. I still need to take steroids today (one more for the night) and then 2 more days (tomorrow and Sunday). I am picturing myself floating high above our town, like the Marshmellow man on strings...my feet are elevated. I had been taking Allegra 180 for allergies previously, so my doc recommended I take it before Neulasta shot today. Shot hurt a bit in arm (I know they could have given it to me elsewhere, but the other locations sounded even less exciting). No bone pain thus far, and I am asked to keep taking Allergy med for a few days to attempt to minimize any bone pain that could otherwise set in. I am a little tired, but I don't think true 'fatigue' has knocked on the door just yet. Bracing myself for tomorrow, to see what else pops up...it's like "Mysteries of the Unknown"..... I fully expect to have floated to the top of our bedroom in the middle of the night....

Hi Feelingthemagic thank you for letting me know about your tx. Day 2 and feeling pretty good so far. Little se but all livable, hoping to get some sleep tonight. Take care wishing everyone a peaceful weekend

had my 1st AC yesterdat in am. Was stabbed 3 times =( was feelining nauseous and w/ 120 pulse rate. stuff started to taste different...

Just finished my second day of treatment. Fluids and Neulasta. They had to replace my port that was put in yesterday so both days ended up being more than eight hours long. Exhausting. However, I'm having very few se's - some weird taste stuff, teeny bit of nausea and that's about it. Hoping that holds out and nothing else creeps up. My caregivers were so awesome. My BF and one of my best friends split yesterday and another good friend hung out today. They fed me, Patty bought me black nail polish (supposed to help with keeping your nails on Taxofere) with some glitter polish. They made me laugh and let me cry.



Hope you all had successful treatment this week and wishing you good luck with the se's!

New to the board. This is my first post. Had a radical mastectomy on June 18, 2012. Two tumors and nodes removed. Clear margins around the tumors and nodes clear. My Onc says I have a 30% chance of getting it back again and recommends the whole chemo/tamoxifen/herceptin to reduce my risk. I am an anti-drug person and am trying to find women who are the same way and what help them decide what option to take...treatment or no treatment.

If I'm not in the right place for this post, I appologize, please point me in the right direction.

 thanks

Ah, Sue49, I think you'll find many of us who debated the therapies. There's so much info on this site. My best bet began by going to the forum of the specific cancer that I had.  From there, I found many links to legitimate research that helped me be well informed, as well as ask my doctors the questions I really need answered. (I had mucinous cancer, so the rarity and general lack of info made it very important to me to get the best docs and best answers.)   It did not look like I was heading for chemo at all, until a twist of HER2+ came into the picture. That clinched my decision to do the chemo. But I felt I made the choice based on being well informed.  Wishing you exactly what you need to make a choice that is right for you.

Janet