Starting Chemo October 2012

thx ladies!

my hair is holding on strong lol

i am on day 15 of round two of my first cycle AC..round three is the 7th..

it should have fallen out day 15 of round 1...

a little voice inside me is also saying ..."gooooo hair!!" lol

poke..enjoy your night out! 

Had a great Halloween --- did wear a nurse's costume with an anti viral face cover to protect me from the munchkins. Only down side is all sweet things taste like bleh. In fact, many things taste like bleh. Unfair that just as I feel up to eating, when I think I should be doing "rebuilding" of energies etc. food tastes like cardboard. Or chemicals.



Skin issues clearing up with the anti fungal cream. Radiation site peeling like a sunburn. Dermabond finally coming off of port surgical site. I guess it was Monday my port finally felt unobtrusive so... 12 days after surgery; if that helps others.



My head stubble hanging on as is most other areas (bikini shedding the worst and eyelashes next).



Bought a new electric razor for these areas but it won't hold a charge...arg. So now things looked a bit chewed upon due to partial shaving. Goes with overall "I've been in some weird industrial accident look these days" I guess.



Kids last night kept looking at me funny -- all eyes above my head, I forgot that the bald head would probably draw more Attention than the costume. Lol



Hoping for a day of gratitude for all our blessings and peace from SE's for everyone.

Started taxotere and cytoxan on the 30th. I survived again! Never had the neulasta shots with the first dx in 1998. Ouchie! I'm taking the claritin and walk two miles daily, hoping to not gain 30 pounds like my first time. Anyone know of any holistic remedies! I don't like taking medicine! thanks!

lol "lucky" you! i use the roller and nothing comes off..

tho i still check every day... and i cant stop touching my head.. lol

Celine- the hair, it's a cycle with the chemo. You will always have a little grow in, then fall out. But if its not, that's great! I'm sure the chemo is working. Everyone is so different.



Poke- lol! I had two stitches poke all the way out and my PS grabbed and cut it. The others poke through a little but not enough to get hold of and one is just plain stubborn and poking but not breaking the skin surface. Humph!



Cait- Good! You got to enjoy Halloween. Yay!



Sonsom- also not just B6 but the acetyl L-Carnitine (1500mg; i divide it up with each meal time)and L-Glutamine (30g; I divide up in 10g three times a day in drinks).



Marian- I'm not sure.....there is an icing board/thread on here and I'm sure the ladies there may provide more insight. I use the icing to keep my nails from lifting or turning colors or an whacky stuff from taxotere. I take the supplements to ward off neuropathy. Glad you were able to get some sleep! :-)



Rainmaze- not heard of anything but the Claritan. I took the Zyrtec, and still had bone pain. I did here from a veteran that the initial injection is the worst because the bone marrow expansion is the greatest the first time, and it gets less painful with each shot.



301724- that's great! I'm scheduled to go next Tursday to LGFB. It will be post second chemo day 4 for me. I'm praying I feel good to go. Sounds like fun!



Well ladies....had my lab work drawn today and second chemo tomorrow. Leave early...it's a 2 hour drive to the center. For today, I'm pushing the fluids and staring my Magnesium Oxide to ward off any GI issues. First time trying that. I pray everyone has a awesome evening, and for those not feeling well, that you start to feel better.

The reason why the juglar vein is used is because the vein is large and superficial, easily visualized with ultrasound. It runs a straight course towards the right atrium. This vein has the lowest risk of complication associated with insertion and subsequent usage. The left internal jugular vein is the second best.  

I had a great Halloween, I ran into 3 breast cancer surivivors.  I never knew anyone with breast cancer before me, now that I am a survivor it seems like I have spoken with at least 20 survivors since my diagnosis in July.  My family and I were sitting in the corner of a church trunk or treat and a lady 20 feet away made eye contact with me and mouthed "I like your hat" (I had a bc hat on).  She then mouthed "I'm a 3 year survivor".  I have to say I got a little emotional.  I can't believe I am a member of the breast cancer surivor club, I did not choose to be here, but I know I will always have a common bond with all bc survivors.

On a lighter note, my stubble is still intact 17 days post 1st chemo .  I've been patting dry after showering.  However my bikini area is pretty my gone, fine by me!!  

Got a little sinus cold going on, so had to call the MO.  No fever so that's a plus.  Found out that my MUGA scan was normal (63%).  

Have to go for round #2 next Thursday.  I have my medicine arsenal ready to go.  I feel that I'm more prepared this time and am more aware of my body.  

I started back to work last Friday part time and love being out of the house taking care of my patients!!  My supervisor is working with me for a scedule that is benifical with my post chemo days.  I have 8 days off before I return to work each round.  I'm down to only part time now, but its still wonderful to be out of the house.

PS has me expanded to 600cc, so about 200cc more to go.  Almost back to my pre mx size  Wish everyday I had my old ones back.  I seen a pic of me and my son the day we got our braces on (the same day I found out about my abnormal mammogram) and started crying!!  I had such long beautiful hair and nice big boobs .  I hate what breast cancer has done to my body, it sucks!!!

Well sisters, I hope all is well with everyone.  Good luck this week with your chemo rounds and SE.  Stay strong and positive, get plenty of rest and drink LOTS of water.  God Bless!!

Sonson, my onc. told me from the get go it would only be 4 rounds of taxotere and cytoxan. my oncotype score was 21 but I had one micro met sentinel node and grade 3 so I decided to go with chemo to be sure.  I have seen lots of ladies on here with 4 rounds.  If it were me, I would ask why and what the options are.  But then, I go in and ask him all kinds of stuff about supplements and why the neulasta shot etc etc.  He just smiles and explains everything.  Be positive, it is probably a good thing that he is seeing in your bloodwork etc.

Good Morning!

Sonson- I would want to know why as well.  Like Tori said--you don't want to look back later and wonder.I know you want to be done (I sure do!), but you also want it done right and to get the maximum benefit you can while you're at this point in treatment. Good luck with deciding whether to ask or not.

Celine- I totally understand! My doc told me I would lose my hair at day 15...not a day before or a day after (his exact words), so I buzzed my hair at day 9 in anticipation of my scalp getting sore.Well....day 21/22 it finally started coming out.  I could have had hair another week or so! Even now it is patchy. I've lost hair in the back and on the sides with some small "holes" on the top. Kind of the opposite of male pattern baldness. LOL  I don't know whether to hope yours starts falling out or not haha....it's a strange thing to say to someone! LOL I do know that my head did get very sore (like most mention), and it felt like pins and needles when I brushed my head on anything or with my hats. I ended up just shaving it (VERY carefully--would not recommend this to anyone b/c of the rish of infection). Once it was really short, the poky feeling eased off.

Poke- Sorry I misunderstood about the stitch. I saw the BS yesterday and she said that it was a perlene (sp?) stitch, that it was at the end of my insicion, and it wasn't meant to dissolve. She said that it has to have a longer "tail" on it so to speak so the knot doesn't undo (I imagine like fishing line). If it does undo, my port could twist and get tangled.  She said I could massage it gently to see if the tail will lay back down and stop poking me. So far this seems to help.  I wonder if yours is the same? I don't know if they use them with most incisions or not?? I think she said they were used to anchor--not sure if she meant anchor my port or to anchor the ends of an incision. I hope yours behaves!

My BS was very happy with my chemo results. I know most of you (if not all) have had surgery first. She mentioned that she felt patients like me (with chemo before surgery) really had an advantage in the regards of being able to physically feel what the chemo is doing, and have the satisaction of feeling the cancer die. I think she's completely correct! For those that wonder if chemo is working or not....I can tell you that other than my tumor area feelig a little more dense....there is no way I would ever guess that there was a super hard 4 cm tumor there, and my lymph node that was 2.5cm is completely soft as well! Of course my biggest fear is that one rogue cell that wanders off and starts a new home....but it is truly amazing the difference in my tumor.  I laughed b/c she asked if she could examine Fred & I was like, "please do!"....I was so excited for that breast exam...I couldn;t get my bra down fast enough!! LOL Kind of like showing off after weight loss! hahahaha I am so excited about it and grateful...it keeps me going through all the crappy exhaustion and side effects! I just wanted to share that so you are all aware that this IS working and the side effects and misery are worth it. I definitely understand that we resent treatment b/c most of us didn't feel or look "sick" until we started to treat this nasty disease. Just think that if we feel this bad.....imagine how that tumor is feeling.  Keep moving forward in kicking cancers a**!! Fred is dropping dead!! LOL

I hope everyone is feeling well today!!   ~Andrea

Wow Andrea thanks for that perspective I really needed that.  Because you are so right I had surgery first to remove the tumor and felt so healthy before starting chemo and now on chemo I don't feel so healthy anymore and I wonder why am I doing this?  So you made me feel so much better for doing all of this.  Thank you so much.  You've no idea how much better that makes me feel.  I just want to hug you right now!

Thanks schoolmom I will be brave and I will ask why four instead of six.  And if he changes his mind then he changes his mind...and if he sticks with the four then I will feel like the luckiest person alive!  I hope everyone has a wonderful healthy weekend.

Oh, and I've gotten lots of compliments on these little scarves that have elastic in them so you don't have to learn how to tie them since I'm a complete idiot when it comes to that sort of thing anyway...thought I might mention it.  It's called doubleheader.com just go to head coverings and pretied bandanas for some really cute head coverings. 

*celine smiles*

i love reading this thread..

Hi noranelly here, Had my first chemo on 31st oct and it was weird as I went into a room where everyone looked delighted to be there an d the atmosphere was very casual and happy. I had a melt down as they had asked my mum and hubby to wait outside for a short time. I wanted to run away all the bleeping machines and everyone so happy I was so scared and confused, however they got my mum and hubby in and we managed to find a vein eventually and I completed my first treatment. Since then I have been Ok better than I thought however u wouldn't, believe it ended up straight back at hospital with 15 month old daughter as whilst having chemo she developed a temperature of 40 + and was throwing up! We nearly spent the night in the children's ward however the doctors got her temperature down with medication then she picked up tremendously she is better today 2nd November. Woah life is throwing a lot at us at the moment. Anyway good luck and hugs to everyone else starting or goin thro chemo. I am starting fec then herceptin haven't had a port recommend yet. Love noranelly

Schoolmom- prayers your way. I love my port. I nicknamed portebella. A friend on another thread came up with name.



Noranelly- so good that you got through first treatment. Sorry to hear about your daughter. Will keep her in prayer.



I'm trying to catch up. Had my second treatment today. Frozen for first hour and half! Chewed on even more ice today than last time. Yay! And after icing, the nurses gave me a blanket from the warmer. And got to relax the rest of tx. Plus I got spoiled and got an extra 400ml Normal saline and told me they would give me an extra liter with treatment next time. I started mag ox yesterday, took today and will take tomorrow and see how GI tact will respond.



Hope everyone has Great evening and praying with no SE.

MsTori - So glad to hear your second treatment went well. I used the warm blankets even while I was icing! Hope you have minimal SEs and to all - hoping for a good day.

Reading this AM about two projects related to gratitude - 30 days of gratitude and gratitude in November. There's actually a scientific literature that links gratitude to health and well being. In the midst of all we're all going through, sometimes it's harder to find things for which to be grateful. I'm grateful for all of you. You make my journey easier, knowing that you're there for me. Thank you!

I had my port in yesterday and all went well.  Taking Ibuprofen....its a little sore.  I was surprised how much it pokes out....It is all under the skin with about an inch incision.  So I need to ask for numbing spray....I will have ice with me, should I just put one of those cold gel bags on it before we start?  Monday is the big day.