Starting Chemo February 2013

Sasha10- must be something in the air, my chemo was postponed today as well. Mine was related to my mastectomy, the PS decided she wants to do a revision of the incisional line. The MO wants to delay my start date for fear of infection. Arghhh! I get the rationale, but I was just getting geared up to start. On the up side, my port will have longer to heal...

I had round two today and feel fine so far. Took a nice nap before dinner and am lucky to have lots of help in the house with kids/food/dishes. To you girls that were delayed, try not to get too frustrated. I didn't start until week nine post-op because the drains didn't come out until then. The first two women to the right and left of me in the infusion room were sent away because their levels weren't high enough today. Trust me I know how anxious you are to start, but you don't want to if your body is not ready. Starting and then getting an infection can cause really long delays and hospital stays.

Somebody told me when I was on here complaining about my drain staying in so long, they will have a bed for you in the infusion room when your body is ready.

Have a good weekend and hang in there

Cosmos are my favorite- have one for me!

Gina925.

Good luck this time!

Joellekc

Will do;)

DIZZYmom thx I needed to rant today I'll be better tomorrow hope you're feeling ok

Gina925...I'm so sorry. I know that is going to be so hard. I'm right behind you and not sure how I will handle it either. The only comfort I have found is knowing this isn't permanent it's only temporary. Though it will be soo hard to experience that loss since we girls consider our hair to be a big part of who we are. I wish you luck and that you can have some peace about it (I'm hoping for a little luck and to be a little more at peace about it too). I ordered some very stylish hats from headcovers.com that I plan to wear when my hair begins to fall out. They have some cute looks and what could be a more perfect time for retail therapy?!?

Hey gang! I'm a newbie to chemo too-- 4 rounds of AC two wks apart and then 8 weekly Taxols ( with neulasta shots a day after each infusion ). I'm 1 week post first infusion on feb 15.....mostly really tired and very achy after neulasta.....but doing ok today.



I'm inspired by you ladies who are taking it like champs. I admit that I had a day to two of feeling just flulike and crummy, so my pity party has come and gone a time or two. I have an arm port, which is finally becoming less sore and bruised. I think it's a matter of accepting this bumpy road for 4 months to kick this SOB we call cancer.



I have had problems with what I think is the neulasta aches n pains....not relieved by tramadol or Claritin or hot showers or heating pads. Any more good tricks I should try?



Thank you all, fellow Warrior Women.

Gina925



The hair coming out Is the hardest part. I tried to hold onto it this week and when I washed it it was coming out so much I couldn't take it. I went into the wig shop and got it buzzed off yesterday and it was so hard. I couldn't watch it fall out with longer pieces. I said that i would never buZz it but when u go thru the agony U chamge your mind. I have a wig and my youngest isnt handling it well but it's temporary. It will come back better but I cried all week about it.

Hi Ladies,



I'm feeling better today. I'm finding that the spicy foods are the most tempting to my taste buds.



Going to the Tigers game today.

Hello ladies! I started losing my hair on Tuesday this past week, day 13 after 1st tx. I made it 2 days with the inch long cut after that. Today is 2 days with no hair now & I think I'm starting to get used to it. I am happy that the maddening itchiness is gone, not thrilled about how I look with a naked noggin though. I keep some kind of cap on most of the time-mostly because it's darn cold without my usual head insulation. I wear my wig when I go out, that's getting better too. It certainly not an easy week for me, but it is getting better. Hang in there ladies! I hear it comes back in better than ever! I just keep trying to look at it as a trade off for getting to live cancer free for the rest of my life, I pray! Hoping today brings you one day closer to feeling better!

Heading out for some retail therapy today also!

Thank you all. I'm better but tired from the roller coaster ride . I never thought I could cry so much and so often. I really admired all of you 4 times. Dizzymom Wow you're great.



I told my husband this chemo ( and i haven't started ) is too hard. I should forget and just take a trip and do natural. He hid my passport (jokingly)

Did the Pre chemo blood today. Not sure if I'm still anemic or not. But I told my husband I need to go out and have a cosmos tonight ( have dr's permission) really all this natural, healthy food isn't the same when you're stressed

I start steroids tomorrow and am sure I'll be super wired. I keep going on line for retail therapy and can't find anything to excite me. I finally bought a sweater for my husband. On sale, love a deal!!! That felt good.

Thx everyone. And good luck to all of you. Your are so brave.

I am starting my second chemo on Wednesday and looking forward to getting it done.   I plan to fare better this second time than I did the first.  The first chemo made me feel like I had the flu for 10 days and had been hit by an elephant.  I plan on using claritin this round to help with the neulasta pain and to start a laxative before chemo.  Constipation went on for several days and then the diarreha started. 

@sasha10 - the anticipation of starting chemo is actually worse than chemo.  You are going to be okay - even though my first round of chemo was not great - I eventually went to the ER because I felt so bad.  They loaded me up on fluids and warm blankets - along with some much needed rest - I felt like it was a spa day. 

One thing I did discover this week.  Water taste better out of a stainless steel cup than the plastic cups and water bottles I have been using.   Of course, next week after chemo - the stainless steel will probably taste terrible. 

Kkmom Thank you. You're right. The anticipation is driving me crazy. Going to a trade show today. Then watching the academy awards. Away That's the plan

DiZZyMom- my nose got sore inside like it was all dried out. Just the other day I had a little bit of bleeding. I read another post somewhere on here that using a sinus rinse with a saline fluid (ie: nettie pot) can help. I plan on picking up some saline spray, which you can get just about anywhere, & trying it. I'm slso thinking that a cool mist humidifier wouldn't hurt brcause it's so cold & dry here.

My first chemo tx experience: They didnt have the numbing spray and the poke stung a little but wasnt as bad as i thought. After I got home from chemo I went for a walk cause of the extreme headache and nausea. The walk helped the nausea but not the headache. The headache was from the Zofram and was on the level of migraines I used to. I tried to tell the nurse it makes me get migraines therefore adding to the nausea. Well I haven't taken it since the treatment and guess what? No headache. I went for two walks yesterday when I felt like I was going to vomit my head off and it helped...lessen the nausea and my head not fall off. Getting up and moving around in short bursts helps me.



I haven't gotten the steroid munchies yet and I have given strict instructions to my husband and mother in law NOT to offer or have around bad carbs or a lot of fruit to raise my glycemic index which IMO feeds cancer and is really hard on the rest of the body. In fact I haven't felt like eating much so I have been putting some low heat whey in my full fat greek yogurt to help with taste and wasting from little eating. My mom gifted me a juicer so i am waiting for that to arrive in the mail! I was really swollen after coming home from the chemo (i couldnt take my rings off and my face was puffy) and drank a ton of water. Now the swelling has almost completely gone.



Day three (48 hrs after) chemo just took neulasta shot. The neulasta shot really is starting to hurt in the site it was given but has started to calm. I did take white willow as opposed to the clariton for the antiimmflamitory to see how that works. I may also try some meadowsweat. If those dont work this round i will go to the claritin. I may try to go snowshoeing for a short while to help with this low grade nausea. Did have a short 30 second burst of crying which was odd for me.



Tongue has felt like it's wanted to grow a white lawn but I found some salt with charcoal and along with brushing, flossing then followed by rinsing, it's kept it at bay. No mouth sores yet.



Oh and a chunk of hair fell out which was odd since the chemo was just given. Maybe stress? The nurse said some people don't lose all their eyebrows and lashes which I thought was encouraging. So, that's been my experience thus far. I have been honest with some of the alt methods I use and don't suggest anyone use those without permission from their MO.



Hubby just came in and said snow turning to ice...so no snowshoeing. I guess the house will get clean with a bunch of windows open for the fresh air.



Much love.

Starting chemo tomorrow, just took 2 dexamethosone. Does that keep you up at night? What foods should I stock up on? Not planning on a lot of sleep tonight, but the cosmo + Oscar viewing sounds good.