Starting chemo November 2012

5LuvBugs ~ My dog, Mariahrose. follows me around when I cook.  She never has been fed people food before, she knows I'll take a few bites, be done and give her the rest.  She thinks this is even better than when my grandson is over and occasionally drops food.

I had a cast made of my torso pre-BMX and tried it on.  It's much bigger (the waist and upper chest), not the missing boobs!  LOL

Michellej~I think the constipation comes from the anti-nausea meds, so I start them the day before chemo.



I belong to at least 10 different threads on this forum, but this one is by far my favorite. So glad you started it Michelle.



Blessings

Paula

Tlym ~ I had a caster do it and Frida (Frida Clements Design) will do the post-BMX cast and artwork.  All you need for the cast is a kit they use for pregnant women (The Belly Cast, etc., which you can get at most maternity stores). 

I chose Frida to do the artwork because she knows me quite well and I find her artwork very soothing.  It encompasses the use of earth, life, and nature in a peaceful, flowing, and warm manner.  I want to capture my journey with BC the same way using the pre- and post-casts.  One of my favorite works of hers is her "Night Tea."  She is an amazing and beautiful woman whose heart and soul show in her work.

Hi all ~



Posted an updated avitar pic. Went out for the first time in months last night. Great to get out of house and mingle with other couples. My hat covered all my bald spots, so i felt good. The only comment I received was why did you cut your hair. Little do they know!!



Starting to feel a little bit like my old self again. This final round has less SEs or i'm ignoring them all. Stayed up til 10pm which is also a first for me.



Hope you all have a relaxing and symptom free day!!!



Hugs xo xo

Sickofpink ~ Happy burgers?  I've heard of happy brownies, but never happy burgers...

Sickofpink, I thought, hopefully I'll never go through that again. So let's take the photos without the hair. Seeing the photos (had make up on and nice earrings) made me feel beautiful. Even without the hair. And I can choose to show these photos to others or not. For the time being only my husband and kids have seen them.

It makes me to want actually to go out like that. But the snow and the idea that the others would be scared, stops me. Maybe later. Unfortunately my hair doesn't come back fast.

I have been too tired to post for the past bit - had two days where i couldn't even get off the couch. Feel better now, but chemo is wednesday so it is short lived:) But 5luvbugs, I have to tell you that I am one of the lazy posters, but I sure haven't left the group. I will stick around during radiation too - I really like coming in and seeing how everyone is doing. Everyone feels so familiar to me now. 

So - I have 5 days of comments. Txjunbug, I can only imagine how frightened you are. I haven't been tested yet, and it would be my worst nightmare for either of my daughters to have it. But I would want them to know so they could be proactive and catch anything at stage 0 or 1 when it is practically curable. I hope your daughter's gene never amounts to more than a mutation. And that you can live with this worry as it could be a bigger one than your own worries. As mom's, we worry more about our kids than ourselves. 

Michele - I am with everyone about finding the right therapist. Therapy can be amazing. I figure we all need it more than we admit:)

To get back to the itching, I finally went to the ob/gyn and it was a very mild bacterial infection from low immunity during chemo. So on antibiotics and probiotics and all the pre chemo drugs. Crazy.

Someone asked about the Canadian protocol. Not sure who. I looked it up on-line when I was first diagnosed, as it was mentioned to me by a canadian oncologist i consulted. I then asked two friends who underwent radiation in Canada, and they got what they were told was a standard five weeks. 50 geysers, over 25 days. If you have masectomy, it ends there, if you had a lumpectomy, they do boosters and it is longer. I had a friend ask her canadian oncologist this last week. I was today offered a 3 week or 6.5 week protocol, and couldn't get the Dr to tell me the difference, as 3 weeks does not seem to be the Canadian protocol - unless my Canadian friends in Canada didn't get the Canadian protocol for reasons specific to their cancers (one is stage 3, the other 2a, both are hormone positive, Her2 -). Anyway, the radiation Dr today told me cosmetic effects are worse with the 3 week (breast shrinking, burning) but I think that is bias as places wouldn't offer it if it shriveled up boobs like raisons. I would have gone for the 5 week protocol my friends got at home (I am canadian living overseas), but am uncertain about this 3 week one. So I seem to be signed up for 6.5 at this point. It is confusing. I would obviously rather have it over in 3 weeks, but only if I understand it is medically equivalent in terms of effectiveness and toxicity. If you get more info, let me know....

Hm, yes - the paraben issue is like docs who stick to their one knowlege base. Hard to be perfect about healthy food & makeup, when people just want to help so we seem paranoid. Or are the effects cumulative from years so those details are less important now?



So moody today, too dizzy to work but rampant anxiety about dd etc. free meditation tapes at marc.ucla.edu/body... but only temporary help. I finally broke down and took a xanax. I want this time to pass but don't want to wish my life away, ugh! Anyone else?

Also wanted to say I was told a flu shot is no problem, as long as it is after the counts rebound (there is something on the BC Cancer agency about flu shots being ok for chemo patients if you want to look it up). I had mine between chemos - two days before my third chemo treatment so all side effects would resolve and wouldn't get confused with fever following chemo. I was fine, had no problems with the flu shot and feel safer flying and going into airport crowds where people are sneezing and coughing like crazy. I also wear an N95 mask on flights (I fly for chemo) - this mask is not available in many drug stores, so you have to ask for it. It is the one that you need to protect you from small particles like viruses. It is a bit embarassing to wear, but seems to have kept me healthy when kids are sick, or on flights. They are cheap - about $3 a mask. And are reusable. 

Hi all ~ I met with RO today to find out if I qualify for Rads trial. It is a phase 3 trial of accelerated whole breast irradiation(RTOG 1005). There are two groups in the study. (Control and test). Standard 6 week radiation and 3 week radiation. It's completely random and computer generated as to whether I get in the test or control group. The purpose is to compare rads given with a higher daily dose over 3 weeks with a boost versus standard 6 week treatments. 2300 people in trial.



Will find out tomorrow if I was randomly selected to participate or not. if I don't get in, Onc said there is another trial which is 4 weeks in total. Either way I will be doing Rads for either 3 or 4 total weeks - yea! When asked about fatigue with rads, said typically fatigue sets in at 3 weeks just about the time you would be done.



Megan - let me know where you can purchase the $3 masks. Have a business trip to Florida next week and have not gotten the flu shot.

Tricia~I'm glad you're feeling better. I was down with that crud for a week. I even missed church yesterday, something I never do. Not cause I'm so good, but cause God is. I'm just afraid he'll show off and I'll miss it.



I felt well enough today to go to Walmart with my man when he got in from work. Then we came home and had homemade potato soup with a hunk of buttered French bread. So glad I could taste it. Delicious!



I get chemo #3 on Friday. I'm dreading it, but also want to get it over with.



Blessings

Paula

Uggg hives are back!! It needs has to be something in the chemo my body doesnt like. NP told me last week to try claritin so I   just want the next few weeks over so I can move past this...the claritin/benedryl mixture seems to be keeping me comfortable but this sucks!!!

Anyone have an experience with "extravasation"? (Chemo leaking out of the vein)

Carol in Ma here.

Started A/C every 3 weeks in November. First two sessions went relatively great! No nausea, a few mouth sores and funny tastes, and very little appetite loss. Still managed to lose a few pounds. Then, WHAM, on the third treatment I had a a suspected "extravasation" of the Adriamycin. Scary stuff. (I suddenly became the most popular girl in the chemo room! Treated 3 days with an antidote drug that knocked me for a loop. Resceduled third treatment for following week which was followed by exhaustion, vomiting, loss of appetite, 8 pounds more lost (not good). Hoping the final treatment next week goes back to my normal as they feel the antidote drug set me up for failure. Also, two weeks later my bicep over the vein where it was injected is burning with pain.

Thanks for all the great info here.