Sept 2012 chemo
Comments
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I wear a wig to church and to pick up my 13 yr old. He's at the age where appearances matter and I don't want to embarrass him in any way. At home I wear my scarf mainly or tshirt bandana. To the store I've been wearing a scarf. I'm getting to the point that comfort is key. So is however you feel on that day. It's kind of fun coming up with different personas. I pretend I'm a movie star incognito.
. Scarf n shades. Mystery woman!!! Have fun with it! -
Mariposa,
Glad it helped!!
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I actually got 6 hours of sleep, not a deep sleep but better than 2 from last time. Stepping away from work and going to take a nap.
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Amylovesbub I would call the cancer clinic and ask them about that, I have had chemo at 9 in the morning and at 2 in the afternoon and my med schedule stays the same. Morn, noon, even, and bed. It may depend on the meds but I have had no issues.
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Hi all,
I had 2nd A/C two days ago, not too bad but only slept about an hour. Not too bad yesterday, but nauseous all day. Took the meds this morning, still dont feel well. Now I cant eat or drink, Any ideas or help? Other than rx meds, any luck with another remedy? so sick!
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Amy4978 - Way to go finishing up A/C! That must be a GREAT feeling. The more I read about about everyone's SEs from that regimen, the more I want to run away and hide. I start A/C early December.
Cindi - Inspiring post! For the record, I don't plan on attempting any notable feats that involve breaking world records when I'm on A/C, but it's sure good to know that mind over matter works for some. My MO keeps telling me everyone handles this differently - when I start my whining about A/C she keeps reminding me about her patient last summer who was a regular waterskier during A/C treatment.
Jojo - I do hope your first day back went well. I've been back to work now for three weeks so the newness of my diagnosis to others has worn off a bit. Even so I haven't run across everyone I know so I admit I don't find myself wandering the halls or frequenting the cafeteria. Spending a lot of time in my office. And I've never loved having a door as much as I do now.
Mariposa- I'm a wig-wearer when I need to not have breast cancer (work, public places where I might run across random folks who don't know). Everywhere else I'm either Gollum, or wearing a hat.
Cheerio - I'm on weekly Taxol, like Allyourbaddays, tomorrow will be my 7th of 12 (I'm also on a test drug). I've been able to work mostly full-time, except for infusion days. I feel pretty normal, except I've noticed recently that I'm pretty tired - not sure if that's the chemo, or the steroids. My very organized closets would indicate it's the steroids... No tingling fingers and toes, but I've also been taking Glutamine in hopes that keeps neuropathy at bay. There's a seperate thread for Taxol that you might find helpful.
Long road ahead before chemo's done for me, but it sure feels good to have more than half of the Taxol/test drug done. Hope you're all hanging in there!
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Could everyone post what oral meds u take after infusion? With ac I only am to take the deco once day after 2 pills then twice daily the next two days. Otherwise I take Ativan for nausea intermittently with zofran. I mentioned today about the constipation and she recommended colace twice a day. So I will get right on that! I still need to get that tea!!! Low se s to all. Love!
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Timbek2, The tea is great, I use it. It works wonders. One cup a day, I got mine at Walmart.
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Dexemethsone 4 mg twice a day for two days after A/C, Zantac 150 mg twice a day for 7 days. Zofran and Emend was pre chemo only. I also have Metocopramide (Stemetil) as needed and Ativan as needed for sleep. I have not needed the Stemetil (Monday was my first A/C) and took .5 mg Ativan last night and slept well.
No constipation problems!
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Mariposa,
I wear scarves/hats all of the time. I tried on wigs, hated how the felt/looked...I seriously looked 10 years older than I am!
On another note, can we please discuss this beautiful e-mail one of my students sent to me?! It totally made my day!
"Hi Justine! For starters I'll introduce myself. I'm ------ and I am a student in your 2 pm Thursday recitation. I really wanted to stay after class today to talk to you, but I was in a rush. I don't have a problem or a question with any of the material in particular. I wanted to tell you how absolutely inspired I am by you. Seeing you come into class so positive and smiling really resonates with me. I think you are an incredible young women and I have the upmost respect for you. I'm a freshman here at URI and when I went back to my hometown in upstate New York 2 weekends ago, I could not help but tell everyone your story. I know we've only had 5 classes so far and we haven't talked personally but you have impacted my life so positively. I hope you don't take any of this in the wrong connotation but especially after what you had said today in class about how you have to have a positive outlook on all of it, I had to tell you that not only with you'r family and friends supporting you through it all, you have students that are behind you every step of the way as well. I hope you have a great weekend and hopefully next class we can make time to talk!"
Wasn't that just so incredibly sweet?! Made my day and I am glad to know I'm not being viewed as a Debbie Downer by everyone with my cue ball head lol.
Oh I didn't mention, my hair started to fall out yesterday. I lint-rolled it for a half-hour before I gave up and shaved it so I didn't have to clean up the mess later on lol.
Hope everyone is having a great evening with minimal SEs! -
Justine that is a beautiful note she sent you. You are inspirational and it is a teaching moment and it will be something they will always remember( being in your class). Almost without a doubt someone in that class will be DX someday and they will remember you going to work and smiling. Just lovely, what a great moment for you.
JoJo I hope you had a great day at your worksite visit!...way to go on the completion of the AC..
I think someday the dense dose of AC will be common practice. -
Justine. You are inspirational. I'm really proud of you for sharing our story to your generation. Think of the lives that can be saved be hearing and seeing you!
I also wanted to mention mo wanted me to be in a trial which could include new drugs where the adruamycin would be eliminated. They are looking for a more tolerable drug for the future. I had to go with statistics and the standard of care but hopefully in the near future there will be something better!!! Sleep tight all. Shot tomorrow. Woohoo. -
Justine, That is a great note to get from your student, be proud that you are so upbeat and positive, making an impact on your students.
I had to have my husband shave my head on Tuesday when my hair started coming out in clumps when was shampooing it. I cried when I looked in the mirror, I looked like I had survived some kind of biological attack. My son is coming home from college this weekend, was hoping to still have hair for his visit, but he is fantastic and supportive!
I really don't know how I'm supposed to deal with my new bald head, I have been using shampoo and conditioner on it still, any suggestions would be appreciated.
I hope everyone has a great night, AC #3 next Tuesday....
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butterfly14 once my DH shaved my head I just went with it . Knowing that is temp and I can wear a wig I like or I can go bald feels good to me. I wash my head still with shampoo .
justegan that was awesome what your student wrote. You are an inspiration to us. So young but strong. God has such good plans for you in your long life ahead of you. He has long life for all of us -
Becki I take Dexamethason 4mg x2 twice a day for 2 days after treatment,then nausea meds are as needed. I have always taken either Compazine 10mg or Ativan. 5mg for at least 2 days after. Never took Zofran. Have Pepcid 20mg too and took it after last AC as I had alot of heartburn issues. For Taxol next week MO says to start Dex 24 hrs prior.
Justine so sweet and glad it put a smile on your face.
I too still use shampoo on my bald head but do put lots of lotion on it too. It seems always to be dry.
My work visit went well, just made me emotional thus why I am up at 3am writing! -
Bearcub,
It was a great moment which is why I wanted to share it with you ladies. I know we deal with a lot of crap but it is nice to know that there are moments like this that can put a big smile on my face.Timbek2,
Thank you. I never have tried to be an inspiration but I also know that not being positive is not a good attitude to have. We are all inspirational because we are powering through this tough time….we are awesome!Butterfly,
Thank you. I am trying to stay positive!I have been shampooing my head since it was completely bald….which was only the other day so yeah.
Cherioo,
Thank you. God has good plans for all of us. We are strong wonderwomen who will be an inspiration to those around us!Jojo,
It completely made my day which was great. I hope you are doing alright. Up at 3am because I can't sleep either...well now its almost 4am lol.
In other news, I am Day 7 out from my AC #2. My side effects lasted a bit longer this round, until about Day 5 which I know is better than other people so I’m surely not complaining. I am doing pretty well now besides losing the hair/stuffy-runny nose. Today I’m getting lunch with a young girl (she’s 24) who was recently diagnosed as well. It will be really nice to talk to someone who is my own age and who is going through this as well! Getting my WBC checked today, let’s hope for high numbers!!For all of those going into treatment today, good luck. For everyone else, I hope for you minimal SEs and high WBCs!
-Justine -
Jojo, I bet when you went into work they thought you looked beautiful. Hope you are feeling well.
I hope taxol is much better for us this round .
Have a great weekend all. Going for my shot ugh today wishing all who had treatment no side effects . -
Just as a side note with the dex I try to take my last dose around 5-6. I forgot one evening and took at 8 and it affected my sleeping more. If I can take by 5 with dinner I don't seem to get the insomnia. I also faithfully take the Ativan at night. It really has helped me get solid sleep which is do important for all of us healing. Just wanted to throw that out there. The tips here have been invaluable to me!! Thank u all!!
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Justine, that was amazing story.
Worst SE is the nose bleeds. They started late day one this time. -
Justine, what a wonderful, sweet note! It's so great that you've created that kind of environment in your class.
I wanted to share something interesting with you guys. Like everyone else, I've been keeping careful track of my WBC. As expected, it was going down a bit every week. Then, one week it shot back up into the normal range. I thought that was weird, but I was please. It stayed up the next week. I couldn't think of a reason why.
Then on Sunday when I was at yoga, the teacher said something about back bends beneficial to the immune system. Then I realized that the week my WBC shot up was the week after I went back to yoga.
Now I'm not sure if it was the back bends, or simply the stress relief of going, but I couldn't think of anything else that would have changed by WBC. Pretty interesting.
I've been going to restorative yoga, which is very gentle and slow. You use lots of props, so really anyone can do it. It's all at your own pace. I really recommend you guys try it.
Taxol herceptin #5 today. Hope everyone has a good day.
xoxo -
Justine, That note made my morning so I can only imagine it felt great for you. Thank you for sharing that.
For any of you just losing the hair, you might consider switching to using your facial cleanser on your newly bare head instead of shampoo. Shampoo tends to remove oils which is what we want to come off of our hair usually, or at least in some amount so we don't look greasy but this can be a little rough on our newly exposed and probably more-sensitive-than-usual skin. I'm really pampering my scalp right now, even with the little bit of new growth, and using nice lotion on it, sometimes rubbing in some almond oil. etc. hth someone
Toastie, that's really interesting about the yoga. Similarly, I've found that if I more take nice long walks on most days between chemo sessions my blood results are better too. I don't necessarily move fast but I go out for a long time. I was thinking of getting into a yoga class too so thanks for sharing this! -
Cherioo,
Good luck with your shot today!
Kids,
Thank you, I thought it was amazing too which is why I wanted to share with all of you.
Toastie,
I didn’t realize I was having that kind of impact on my students. It makes me feel glad that I am and I had hoped I would at least bring across a positive attitude to them.I should look into restorative yoga. Is it something I could do even though I had a BMX? I miss yoga so much and would love to do something similar.
Allurbaddayswillend,
I am glad you found the note uplifting like I did. Your welcome.
Thanks for the tips regarding the scalp care! -
justegan, I too appreciated your student's words and clearly you are having a positive impact on your students. I am also impressed that you are managing your teaching along with your chemo. Great smile too on your photo!
toastie, I went to my first yoga class yesterday after Monday's chemo and though I was a bit tired and took a longer shavasana than the others, I was so glad I went. I was at yoga the day before chemo and totally recognize that there are many benefits not just the wbc (I love that) increase but also the mindfulness which helps me so much to take myself out of the day to day BC rollercoaster.
timbek2, how much Ativan do you take? I took .5 mg the past two nights and has way better sleeps. I have had diarrhea this week and finally took an Imodium last night and so far so good today. Not sure which of the myriad of drugs caused that!
justegan I don't think a bmx should stand in the way of yoga and teachers should be able to help you with modifications.
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Nurse: In the last two weeks have you felt sad or depressed?
Me: Oddly no - nothing like breast cancer diagnosis to lift the spirits.
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Don't know if you have been following her or not, but this is so touching for us.
If this doesn't work, go to www.people.com and search for Diem Brown and her recent hair loss video.
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Whenlifegives,
Lol! I always think the same thing when that question comes up! -
Waiting--Are you using Emend 3 pack. one a day three days starting hour before chemo. That's the only thing I used during A/C 2 and no real nausea or other pbms.
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Justine, I've also had a bmx. There are lots of modifications the teacher can show you too accommodate. Just arrive to class a little early to talk to the teacher. You don't have to tell them you've had a bmx if you don't want to, just let them know you've had surgery on your chest. I hope you get a chance to go!
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Justegan, You are not only establishing a healthy learning environment, you may save one of their lives by letting them know what a threat cancer is to so many--not just the aged. Because of you they may change life styles or get checkups.
Most of you are too young to remember, but cancer patients kept it a secret like it was something shamefull they had done,
It was President Ford's wife, Betty that went public with her diagnosis in 1976. Soon after Happy Rockefeller did too, and then Shirley Temple.
That is one of the reasons I tell people today. I want them to be aware and to get mamograms and checkups.
A sad note. A friend discovered that her mother had an open cancer wound on her breast--the woman in denial. Openness helps.
In a way we are all teaching others how to cope. Heres to Wonderwomen.
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That's so sad Cindi. Medicine has come so far for us even though its not fun. My grandmother passed at 56 from breast cancer. She waited afraid to seek medical attention back then and it was stage 4. My mother cannot erase the scars from her mastectomy from her mind. I know it was awful back then. When my mom was dc at 49 it was contained and she only had lumpectomy. She was so relieved. Had chemo plus radiation. Still doing great 16 years later. Now my turn at 40. Had mammo at 35. Said ok until 40 then find out its stage 3 for me. My mom is angry they didn't check me annually and feels guilt that she gave this to me. Breaks my heart for her.
Sorry to digress. I take .5 Ativan faithfully every night and have no sleeping problems. I feel they give it to me to help me through this so that's what I do. I feel the chemo fog coming on strong. God bless you all. Here's to an se free weekend. Xo
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