December 2012 chemo group

Sophiafred78 - I am starting AC the day before you and also find that my anxiety is starting to color my days more than I would like it too.  My nights too, apparently.  Last night I dreamed that I had completely forgotten where I parked my car (I work downtown) and I just knew it was because of "chemo brain".  I may actually decide to write down where I parked after my treatments, just in case!

I am heading to work in a few minutes and must say that I am really looking forward to the absorbing task of creating year end data reports all day!  Wishing you good luck with your physical therapy!  At 4 weeks post surgery I was still fairly uncomfortable (not yet able to sleep on my side, etc) but there was marked improvement between 4 and 6 weeks.  Wishing the same for you.

Wishing easy and straightforward treatment to Runner, Steiner and anyone else going in today, and wishing the same for me tomorrow!

Friendgwen- my hair came out in clumps in shower too...what i did to really help me get over it is i washed my hair got as much off as i could and then picked up the mess from the drain and took a picture of it...lol...yes seeing all that dead hair seemed to help immensly..remember it feels really dry and lifeless before it falls out even though you do everything to it...the best thing i ever did...and yes i call that picture...my rats nest...8)

Nicole503 - No weird dreams for me but a lot of insomnia. I have to find a way to keep myself busy too, but It's hard sometimes.

I wish you the best luck with your treatment tomorrow, I'll be thinking of you!

Soteria - Thanks, I'll definitely ask for something stronger to sleep, since I normally take diazepan and it wont be enough when on steroids.

But it's harder for you guys that have to work, I'm not working right now so if I don't sleep at night I don't have to get up early and drive. That would be dangerous!

For all of you who will be starting your first treatment in the next few days let me try to encourage you. One month ago I was exactly where you are, except I was also dealing with a punctured lung from the port surgery. I was supposed to have my first chemo on 11/29 and the fear of the unknown was causing me a lot of anxiety on top of the pain from the lung issue.

I showed up for chemo on the 29th just sure everything was going to go wrong and I was going to have problems with the port, problems with the chemo and everything else you can imagine. Because of the punctured lung, they wanted to get another chest xray, so after about 3 hours of stressful waiting for blood work and the xray results they sent me home and told me to take my steroids once again and come back the following morning for chemo.

So once again I show up for chemo, sure that everything possible will go wrong and I will have every side effect possible, both known and unknown. As it turned out, the nurses were super nice, explained everything, ran all the chemo bags through slowly and I did not have one problem with the infusion process! We were there for 8 hours and it was a long day, but other than that it was really not worth all the stress I had put myself through!

Yes I had side effects afterwards, but not nearly as many as I thought I would and the ladies on these boards were always there with encouragement and suggestions. I think I called my MO 3 times the first week after because of SE's, but they were always there to call in a new script or help me through. By my second tx, I felt so much better prepared and not fearful at all.

So I would like to encourarage you that in all likelyhood you will not have every conceivable reaction and SE known to mankind and you will get through this. Never be afraid or embarassed to ask any questions or vent how you are really feeling here. We are all going through this together and while not everyone will be dealing with the exact same issues at any given time, there is sure to be at least one or two others that are going through just what you are.

So my prayer for all of you is that your first chemo treatments will be free of any complications and you too will find that this is entirely doable.

Thanks Bren58....this was my experience with the first chemo too!  Hope for the best ladies.

I just finished my second chemo today - it was non-eventful - thank you God.  I was there from 8-1pm.  I am home and tired as I didn't sleep well from the steroids and worrying.

Here are some tips that my doc gave me this time:

i am going to take the claritin tonight instead of in the morning (for the neulasta pain) as he said I might not feel as "foggy" from taking it.

He also suggested the salt and baking soda rinse a few times per day to help with mouth sores.

He was ok with me taking a probiotic and one a day vitamin.

My blood counts were awesome last time so he said i should just be careful until the weekend and then I could go on with normal life.  And he gave me the OK to fly on a plane to MI for work on 1/8!

All is good so far - I pray that it is not too bad in terms of the SE.  I pray that each of you are doing well!

With no doubt this thread is the place to come when I need to feel better about everything. No one understands what I'm going through like the friends I made here. Thank you all, and a big hug to Bren58. I hope Nicole503 has a chance to read what you posted, she´s going tomorrow and I'm going Friday. I hope that everyone here starts feeling better soon. We are kicking cancer's a$$!!

Yay Runner for great blood counts and the ok to fly! That's great!

Good Evening All,

Just checking in. Herceptin infusion today went well. I am beginning to love the attivan they give me before each infusion. My hair is starting to come out :-(  I was hoping to keep it. Right now I have several strands coming out when I run my fingers through my hair. I think I am going to freak at my first clump. I love my hair so much, it is my best physical attribute. 

Sophia- you are right we are kicking cancers A$$!

FriendGwen- good luck with the ativan tonight please let me know how it works for you. 

My next big infusion is next Wens. :-(  So not looking forward to it. I was told I would get to see the Dr. before the infusion to discuss side effects such as vision changes and the other yucky stuff. The nurse said he may lower my dose a little bit. So we will see.

Good night all,

Today I feel normal and I am so happy to smile and laugh again.  Thank you God.  I found som Ayr nasal gel gor my nose and i feel so much better.  My blood counts were low bc of the cold I was fighting but I feel good.  I am so happy.

So glad some of you are having a better day - jenjenl - so glad you feel good today - that's awesome!  It really helps me reset on getting through this when I have a day of feeling really good.  Friendgwen - glad that you felt OK to get the hair shaved - I also found it surprisingly "OK".  I also did better with my "head" at work today - after watching the video Paula posted and a few other videos - I managed a scarf for work and I was happy with it.

I am SOOO ready to have my family back!  I miss them terribly - I already have the Santa out for them for when they get back on Friday.  They are having fun with my family but this is long enough!!

I just keep telling myself that every day is closer to being done with the chemo and being cured!

My chemo seems to be lowering my body temperature.  It always seems to be 97.something when the nurses check me, and I've been wearing two shirts for the last week.  I don't have hair loss either, it must be something metabolic.

I guess I will be going for my second treatment tomorrow. I wasn't sure because it hasn't been 3 weeks yet but I called and they said if my bloodwork is ok I will get it. So I am not looking forward to it. I have felt great the last 4 or 5 days so I hate to think about feeling not good. But that will be 2 down and 2 to go.

My hair started coming out in clumps on Christmas day and was itchy and felt gross so my daughter buzzed the rest off and I am glad to be done with it. I like my buffs but get tired of having something on my head all the time. I will get used to it. I imagine a wig might bug me worse. My dad commented that I now look just like my brother who wears his hair buzzed short. That's kind of funny and there was a lot of laughing over the whole process. Don't know that I feel empowered but I am glad to be done with this part.

Good luck to all of you getting your second treatment. I will be thinking of you all. We can do this!

Hi Girls



Hair started falling out last week, so I got it buzzed on Friday. Quite a liberating feeling after all. Not to worry about all that hair all the time. Problem is there are patches still holding on... I wish it would just all fall out for real and get it over with!



TC#2 is tomorrow.



Hope you're all hanging in there!

Lol gwen, that is funny!



Thanks mfml. My regime is zofran once a day, motilium as needed up to 8 a day (this is a drug not allowed in USA for some reason but is a powerful antiemetic) and emend once a day for 3 days. I have also been scripted dexamethasone twice a day for 3 days. I'd like to avoid it if I can, has anyone else avoided their steroids? The side effect list is ugly to say the least!



Xx kk