Sept 2012 chemo

Hi all,



I am wondering why so many of you are taking the nuelasta shot? I was at chemo class and they said that it wasn't given very often.

I found out my first chemo will be done without the port, they seem a bit backed up so that's okay. My mugga is mainly for the Herceptin which I won't start until chemo is done, so no big rush for it since I won't be done until November.

Patriciahur, sorry about your tooth at least your pain will be gone. A mugga is for the heart as some drugs are hard on the heart.

I have decided not to bother icing the nails, another month it will be cold up here and I will go without mitts lol!....the thought of sticking my feet and hands in ice is not something I really want to do, I hate the cold.

Hi moon and tastiecat...we will stand strong together..

Everyone have a fantastic weekend, Jojo and Camille Neta hope you are feeling fine.

I'll leave you to your own thread, but you can join us on the 2012 sister thread. I am also on the triple positive thread, and the Feb 2012 thread. If you are new, don't forget to check out the main BCO website and the Start here thread . Much love and small SEs!

Glad you made out okay JoJo. Hope you have minimal SE's....

Cindi we are here for you. We can do this together. I was diagnosed on the same day as you.

Bearcub, my plan is to work through treatment. Since I work in a high school and will be surrounded by kids and all the germ sharing the beginning of the school year brings, my doctor thought it would be a good idea to take the nuelasta shot and keep my immune system strong. I didn't take any immune system boosters during hodgkins which was a much more aggressive chemo regimine than I'm getting for bc and I made it through fine.



So my first treatment was on Thursday. Just thought I'd share my experience so far for those of you with treatments coming up. I've only had to take one anti nausea pill so far. I feel pretty good although the fatigue hit me this evening kind of like a fast train. Conked out early, now wide awake at 4am. My biggest battle is constipation! I apologize for tmi, but it's been since Tuesday. I'm afraid to take more than two laxatives and softeners per day. I'm drinking tons of fluids. I went walking yesterday and even ventured out for errands, but I'm worried about straying too far from home. I think I would feel a whole lot better if I could get things moving along! So to speak. :-)

Laura.  I was a teacher for 41 years.  You do have a huge burden to go through this without a strong support network.  i can't imagine.  Then there is the pet to worry about.  I found early into this experience that my brain worried about stuff in the night, so that I awoke with a little cloud of fear or SAD in the morning.  Remembering that research shows that our brains are still going in the night, I decided to keep mine occupied with something other than BC.  I downloaded from Audible.com,    1000 years of Laughter-- a book, and began playing it as I went to sleep.  My husband can't sleep with light or sound, so I sleep with earphones on.  The first four nights I listened, I didn't get past the Medieval Period.  It's in short segments with music of the period between each segmentl.

Anyway,  I found that when I woke in the morning, there was no cloud.  Not drugged sleep.  My theory is that the book keeps my nighttime brain on other tracks other than worry.  You are in our prayers, Dear Laura.  We are all over the world, experiencing some of the path you are treading.  We are all in this together.  We are exploring a world we did not choose to enter, as so many have done before throughout human history.  Through the wounders of science and the internet, we are now connected.Thank you BC.org.

Oh yes, I put the book on my phone, but an mp3 player will do too.

Hugs dear Laura.  We are with you.

Thanks for the tip Cindi. Something like that audiobook would have been helpful last night. Of course getting it off my chest by writing to you all helped too. I found the book at my town's online digital library and will load it to my tablet for any future sleepless nights. As much as xanax helps, I don't want to rely too heavily on it if I can help it. This gives me something else to try before going to drugs. I already feel pretty toxic.



I'm so happy to have found an online community of positive women fighting the same disease. Even though you are all strangers, I feel the support and virtual hugs. I hope you do too!

Jojo......im glad you are feeling good...i slept like a baby...

Laura..cindy74 is right just must keep your mind occupied..i havent had my PET scan yet and im worry but  i will not think about today tomorrow or monday or so on until i have it and then ill wait for the results....i cant do anything till then....i can only do my reseacrh. Its ok to stress its not easy just not to think about it...but enjoy your weekend relax everything is going to be alright...

Bearcub thanks for the info...i probably will need that cause i took vicadine last night for pain and a had a bad reaction to it my chest was hurting and had a mayor headache..so i will probably be usig Mugga..i also have a murmur in my heart...so will see what the ECO comes back with.

Sherbac...im new too i havent even got chemo yet ..but all my questions my ladies have answer for them,.........i love being here...my husband wonders why im always here lol...here he comes gotta go!!! 

I am thinking that it is typical for the American system to give the Neulasta shot, possibly as preventitive wbc drops. I am in Canada and will let you know how they proceed with me if white blood counts drop to low. When I asked about it they took a more wait and see attitude. I also would take Clariton the day before and for 7 days after(read this on these threads, but I would suggest talking to the pharmacist to make sure it isn't interfering with your current meds you are on).



Welcome Sherbac..



Laura I know ther isn't much we can say to ease your weekend, Cindi has a wonderful idea, my mammogram said my tumor was 2 cm but after surgery pathology said it was 1.1 cm so they can be wrong on what they are seeing. Hang in there and positive thoughts.

PS--I am going to take a new pic of my hair 8 weeks PFC so you can see how much hair really grows and does come back for all you who are worried about your hair loss. It was my major source of anxiety.  My DH says I am obsessed with my hair.  We all complain about our hair, but when you lose it, it makes you appreciate any hair you have. I have to tell you, taking showers and getting ready for work has been a breeze.  Throughout this whole journey, I have really tried to think "above the line" and not let myself fall below the line.  It does no good.

Are you all taking non-drowsy Clariton...?..

Thanks for all the scan support. I'm feeling better about things. I decided that if this were a typical representation of brain mets, my dr would be a lot more concerned. And from what I can see in my own research, I'd feel a lot sicker if I had brain mets. So, I'm not allowing it to occupy as much of my thoughts. I'll get the orbital mri as suggested and hope I don't freak all over again waiting for those results.



Just walked a mile. Wiped me out! I'm usually good for a few more. This is my most fatigued day so far. Felt good to move and get out of the house regardless. Still no nuelasta side effects. I'm holding out on taking anything until I feel I need something.

Sherbab, enjoy your trip. If your husband is looking for a great book written for men it's called The Breast Cancer Husband by Mark Silver. My husband and myself read it together and laughed a lot and cried too. We borrowed it from the library, and he wanted a copy to refer back to during treatment and ordered a copy through a local bookstore.