April/May 2012 Chemo hang out

Wendy- You may want to hear your MO's input before you make any decisions as to what to do.   I know you will probably think of questions to ask the MO now that you have been given the options.  You may want to call the PA tomorrow so you can get an idea of how quickly your MO will respond.  If you have a list of questions, you may want to the PA about those questions and ask that those questions be forwarded on to the MO.  I'm a little surprised that your MO did not designate another MO to meet with you in his/her absence.  You may also want to talk to the other MO yourself so you can get your questions answered.  I think I would want to speak to the other MO and not just take the advice of the PA.  Please don't think I have anything against PA's but in this situation, I would feel better if I spoke to the MO.  HUGS, girlfriend!!!!  I know all of this is hard on you.  You are a smart woman;  you just need to gather all of the facts and information (which may not have yet) about your options, talk to the MO and talk all of this out with your spouse and then make a decision.   You may want to post on a separate thread about your situation.  It may bring more responses than you might get on this thread.  Sending you positive calming and healing prayers, thoughts and energy!!!!

Hi Ladies,

I am DONE DONE and DONE with Chemo. 4 rounds of DD A/C and 12 weekly taxols ended today at 11:00 AM CST !!!

Coming monday, I am having a follow up scan for chest since they found a 4 mm isolated pulmonary nodule during the initial staging scan, MO AND BS assured that most of the times it is an incidental finding and BS even scheduled me to get my port removed on Oct 19th. YAY!!!

I am meeting with RO on Oct 10th to discuss Radiation option because of less than 100 isolated tumor cells found in my sentinal node...UGH. But atleast looks like there might be some light at the end of the tunnel.

@Wendy49, I did do 12 weekly taxol and do have a very mild neuropathy on my big toes and my thumb, it is funny cause everywhere else things are ok except these 4 fingers. But otherwise my SEs were virtually nothing with taxol.

I do agree with Melrose to get in touch with MO somehow to get her opinion.

Good luck!!!

I do notice the crepey skin thing, especially on my neck. I get some numbness and tingling in my right quad,which had pain during chemo but no numbness etc. I'm not sure what Arimedex is doing, but I mostly notice soreness in morning, ok during the day. My hair now covers my scalp, maybe 3/4 of an inch. My implants are ok but not great. I am feeling low.

Well, I had discoloration. I had lifting. I lost part of 2 nails. However, there were just two weeks (during round 4) that my nails HURT. they were miserable. No icing, no one mentioned it to me. I don't know if it would have helped, all I know is that now, three months PFC, they are about half normal and half discolored. But I see it is soon to be part of the past for me.

Been forever since I've been here, finished TCH on 9/14 (woot) have had 3 in a row weeks of Herceptin, now on every 3 weeks regime until May 2013- all my blood work as of last Friday is normal, normal with the exception of being a little low on RBC and never had to take any shots, rebounded on my own - double woot.  Never lost all the hair on my head and have about 1/2-3/4 inch fuzzies but OMG am I so white:)  I was one of the fortunate ones with mild to no side effects and pretty much maintained a normal schedule/life.

Tomorrow I start rads - phase 2, at one time there was a list started by Stacie for those finishing chemo and moving to rads, can someone please tell me where that list is?

Hope everyone is doing well....... 

I have about 3/4 inch of dark hair sprinkled with some white, much as my hair was before. Feels like real texture. My bummer right now is I had my eye check up and my eye pressure is higher. I go back in 3 weeks for the rest of the work up to see if I have glaucoma. No one in my family has/had it. And yes, it can be a side effect from chemo. No one told me eye issues could be a SE from chemo/steroids. Apparently being very nearsighted with thin corneas (!!!) puts me at higher risk. I am disgusted and mad, hoping this turns out to not be a problem but wondering what other things got wrecked by chemo.

Thanks, dancetrancer. At least my trashed finger nails are slowly coming back in after falling apArt 4th round. 3 months ago !!

Yep, the thrush has never gone away completely - however it is very mild at this point, and - fingers crossed - I think it is improving.  My onc said he thinks the chemo may have damaged my salivary immune stem cells, so I don't have good immune cells in my saliva to fight the thrush.  (Even though my white count has finally come up, thank god.)

I've been prediabetic on my last two a1c tests.  We thought the first one was just due to elevated sugar levels while on chemo.  However the 2nd one would be for the 3 months PFC - no steroids then - and it was still slightly elevated.  Sometimes an a1c can be falsely high if your iron is low, so we tested it and discovered indeed it was low (I'm still slightly anemic/low hemoglobin as well).   So, we did an iron infusion 4 weeks ago.  We'll retest in a few months; hoping this is really all that it is, and that I'm not actually prediabetic.  Fingers crossed! 

He didn't promise me one way or the other.  He said he has one patient still having issues with thrush 10 years post chemo.    Ah well, like I said, at least it is manageable - no symptoms from it, it is very mild (not a ton of it like during chemo), so I only know I have it if I stick my tongue out and look.  I am continuing to treat it daily with monistat to keep it under control.  

They checked my a1c b/c I had bubbles in my urine, that's the only reason I know, b/c my regular sugar level tests have all been within normal limits.  I have type II diabetes in my family which is due to weight issues but it also has a genetic component, from what I read.  I have always kept my weight in check, hoping that keeps the prediabetes in check, too.  

big congrats on being PFC Pauletta!!! 

Pauletta - Congratulations! Now, when you begin using cream for radiation treatments just know that they can stain your clothes. Be sure to wear things you don't care much about, or wear soft old t-shirts underneath to protect your clothing from the creams which are very greasy. One woman on here suggested cutting up old t-shirts and using squares of them over the creamed area to protect her clothing. I should have done that.

I wish I had known how much the creams stained. I ended up ruining about eight t-shirts. The creams seemed to wash out of my bras, but serveral pairs of my PJ tops and the t-shirts have retained the grease, no matter how I wash or how long I soak them in Oxyclean.

I mostly used Aquafor and occassionally used a Calendula oil in the beginning. Aquafor did a better job when the radiation side effects began than the thinner oil. My radiation side effects were not all that bad and are healing quickly two weeks after treatments ended. I did get tired a few days near the end of them. I hope you have an easy time as well.

thank you! Where do I get aquafor oil at? Did you use that along with the cream?

What is the pill that I will be taking for 5 years? I keep being told that I will have to take something for 5 years after chemo is finished?  And are there side effects when taking this pill? I think I remember hearing Tamoxin or something like that. I go back to my oncologist today to get herceptin, but NO CHEMO!! YAY!!!! 

Ya'll have helped me so much through all of this. I am very nervous about radiation, that's why I am asking so many questions about products that have helped ya'll.

I look forward to reading your response. I wish we could all meet one day. That would be awesome!!!

Pauletta- Congrats on being PFC!!!!  Hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Aquaphor- You can get that any drug store (Walgreens, CVS) Target, grocery store.  Look in the section where all the lotions are.  It comes in a tube.

Tamoxifen- I've been taking Tamox for 6 weeks now.  The side effects that I have noticed are hot flashes and a little achiness.  The hot flashes don't seem any different than the ones I experienced during chemo.  I take it once a day in the morning.  Some people split the dose and take 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night.  The problem with this is that it is easy to forget to take the evening 1/2 dose.

Pauletta- No extra meds with the Herceptin only infusions.  I always have my Herceptin only infusions over an hour time period rather than a fast 30 minutes.  The infusion nurses prefer to slow drip the Herceptin and it doesn't matter to me how long it takes.