Sept 2012 chemo

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  • Cindi74
    Cindi74 Member Posts: 363
    edited February 2013

    Hi all. First, there is a long article in the latest  Time on health care costs. 
    They are crazy. 
    The billed figures have no basis in costs or reality, and few people pay them. 

    we should have a single payer (think everyone on medicare) like most richer countries.  I have medicare and tricare (for retired military). and my most expensive outlay so far has been  two wigs.  The insurance companies., drug companies, and anti government people put out too much money fo buying politicians.  Obamacare isn't perfect, or even very good. but it's better than nothing. 
    Good luck Mariposa You shouldn't have to fight the insurance company on top of everything else.  Hugs and prayers.

    Amy, hope the worst is over.

    For those hr2 positive, there was a long story in the Atlanta paper on the weekend of a new drug coupled with herceptin which is supposed to improve results.  Hard to tell if they are just protecting the patent by the combination, or whether there has been a real breakthrough.

    Finished Taxol a week ago, but I can still feel the chemo in my body.  No hair of any kind.  We came to Tennessee (cold. wet. rainy) but we left Florida just to get away during the month's break before 33 radiation .  Those just in front of me keep us posted on what to expect.    I don't feel any better yet. but the oncologist said it would take about three weeks.

    I gave up anything raw because my wbc were always lower than the low normal even with nepogen.  Had so little appetite I lost about 15 lbs since June.  Figured anything I could eat was OK, so milkshakes for supper, I do love vegetables and beans, but eat a lot of bacon, sausage. and beef as well as chicken.  Not much on fish either.  Never liked cake, but maybe once a week fruit pie.

    I am from a farming family, and I am very suspicious that most of the stuff sold as organic really isn't  If you don't see a lot of bug holes. and don't bite into an occasionally worm. something weird is going on.  Our orange. grapefruit, and lime trees are truly organic since I have never taken the time to spray and rarely fertilize then.  We have a lot of puny odd colored, nibbled on fruit which we squeeze gallons of juice from and make heavenly ambrosia. but no one would buy them in a store because they certainly aren't pretty.

    The truth is that without pesticides,  the bugs will get a very large portion of any crop unless they do like they do in China and have little old ladies put paper bags around every pear.  Really expensive. 

    I figure to just hope to wash the stuff off.  Farmers have gotten a lot more careful about pesticide use. (It's very expensive) and some gets inspected. 

    I so admire you brave young souls who shouldn't have to be dealing with this.  You are an inspiration, tough and corragious.  Your families are lucky.  Hugs and hair to all.

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  • Toastiecat
    Toastiecat Member Posts: 132
    edited February 2013

    Amy, when I was getting filled I took a valium before each fill. They weren't too uncomfortable when I did that. You can also ask the PS to fill more slowly (fewer cc's each visit) if it's painful. Sorry about the drains and the seroma! As hideous as the drains are, you can't mess around with a seroma. I've had one since October and it's a pain.

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  • Amy4978
    Amy4978 Member Posts: 473
    edited February 2013

    Toastiecat... Oh my youve have one.since october? What does your ps say about? Did you have drains in while it was noticed?

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  • Neta69
    Neta69 Member Posts: 203
    edited February 2013

    Hair, Hope and Hugs to you too Cindi! So glad to hear your Taxol is finally done! Enjoy your break. I realize how lucky I am to have most of my medical expenses taken care of and not having to fight insurance companies over it or worse still not being able to pay for insurance at all!

    Mariposa, hope you are recovering and that all went well in surgery.

    Florbo, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

    Jojo, I agree that keeping the perspective is important. We must stop and pat ourselves on the back once in a while. We have come so far and we WILL move on forward! One day at a time, one foot in front of the other.

    Becky, don't be scared of rads. The risks are so small compared to the risk of not doing it. It takes a lot of time, it will make you tired and the radiated skin may be sore at the end but you can do it. From what I understand you had a pretty tough chemo regimen. Its likely rads wont be at all as bad. At least rads don't mess with your mind and mood the way chemo does!

    Hope, So you had an infection then? Hope it's all better now.

    Amy, having a seroma sucks! I had one too after surgery and my boob was leaking up to a few days before my chemo started but it was never drained. Itbeventually went away but it took a long time.

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  • Timbek2
    Timbek2 Member Posts: 204
    edited February 2013

    Thanks for all the reassurance for rads. I am almost 4 weeks out from chemo. Hard to believe. And I feel great. Back into my normal routine and loving it. Then start rads Monday. Praying the fatigue and burn are minimal. For all of us. Thought I'd do nipple reconstruction but after all this thinking not. Tired of being a patient. Anyone had thir port removed. I need to figure that part out next. Ugh.

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  • allurbaddayswillend
    allurbaddayswillend Member Posts: 355
    edited February 2013

    Hello everybody! I don't know why I haven't been checking in here - chemo brain I guess… Love all the new photos with the hair! It really makes me happy!

    I was clipping my toenails last night, some of them were actually kind of long but as I clipped, I ended up having to clip off more than half of some of the smaller ones, they just weren't staying attached to the bed. It's not painful, maybe just a little tender if they get directly poked or something. This is 3 months and a few days post final chemo. que sera de chemo, eh?

    QueenKong, sorry you had such a rough time with chemo. I hope your radiation is going better.

    Cindi74, congratulations on finishing chemo! You may be interested in this article my physician counsin sent me: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/778613   "The commonplace advice to avoid dietary fat is not a good recommendation to give cancer patients. "They should eat a lot of fat and avoid sugar," Dr. Freedland noted."

    Timbek2, Rads may not be that bad for you - like jojo said, it varies from person to person. Start moisturizing now and see how it goes. Check out the Winter 2012 rads thread too.

    Mariposa, I hope your recovery goes swimmingly.

    All the best to everyone and minimal SEs!

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  • allurbaddayswillend
    allurbaddayswillend Member Posts: 355
    edited February 2013

    Hopex, I like your nutritionist already. Does she recommend any particular good carbs besides grains? Sweet potatoes? peas?

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  • jojo2373
    jojo2373 Member Posts: 662
    edited February 2013

    Becki, glad you brought up the port topic. I am seeing my MO on the 8th and will ask her but she had said not till after rads. After rads I will start tamoxifen so was really hoping to get port out around same time. To me, the port is the last lingering memory of chemo and I am ready to part with it.

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  • Cherioo
    Cherioo Member Posts: 305
    edited February 2013

    Jojo i started Tomoxifen over a month ago and I have not had any problems other then hot flashes at night. Not bad they go away quick. After chemo I start back on fills then reconstruction . I can't wait until the final surgery on boobs . I hope you all are having a great day.



    Mariposa thinking of you. Amy I am so glad you are doing well. I hope you get the drains out tomorrow

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  • marianelizabeth
    marianelizabeth Member Posts: 1,735
    edited February 2013

    Timbek and Jojo, my PS said he would take my port out next week when I have my surgery and I think I mentioned it to my MO last month. Can't think of any reason to keep it and I am having rads next. Hmmm!

    I am also 4 weeks PFC and some things are better but I am still not 100% though probably mostly mental with surgery coming up.

    Anyone feel clammy? I started to feel clammy tons even before chemo ended and still happening. Also still have major night sweats often. Armidex starts next week too so more S/E coming up. 

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  • patriciahurtado
    patriciahurtado Member Posts: 489
    edited February 2013

    Cindi!!! Welcome back !!!! I'm glad you had last chemo mine is this Friday!!!



    Amy I hope it goes away soon!!!



    Mariposa I hope that you are feeling a. Bit better today!! Thinking of you!!!!

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  • cgesq
    cgesq Member Posts: 319
    edited February 2013

    Timbek,

    Funny you asked about ports.  While I was getting my herceptin infusion today (every 3 weeks now....YAY....so much better than weekly!!) I asked the nurse how long people generally keep their ports.  She said they recommend keeping in one year past your final infusion.  I'm not sure why; that seems excessive to me.  When I next see my MO, I will ask about that because I agree with you.  I want mine out as soon as I'm done!

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  • Mariposa123
    Mariposa123 Member Posts: 267
    edited February 2013

    Hi ladies!

    Still in the hospital. Everything went fine but they had to remove half the nodes on my left side... which depressed me. I am in tons of pain taking all the pain meds they throw at me. Hopefully I will go home tomorrow. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!

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  • cgesq
    cgesq Member Posts: 319
    edited February 2013

    Mariposa,

    Good to hear from you!!  Take the pain meds and don't hesitate to ask for additional meds if the pain isn't well controlled with what they give you.

    Wishing you a speedy recovery!

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  • patriciahurtado
    patriciahurtado Member Posts: 489
    edited February 2013

    Mariposa so happy to hear from you... Get some rest and as cgesq said take all the meds



    My last day of work is the 11 of march looking for days off and ready for surgery .. Tomorrow is finally my last taxol so exited....



    Just wanna let you sisters know that my hair has gr own so much even with taxol im only missing some at my hair line ....I will create a hairline soon .. ....



    I hope everyone is doing great this week a cold front is coming in soon tomorrow I will wear a nice warm jacket!!!



    21 days before surgery and feeling ready ..... That's because its far Lol..... I want to be on the other side and continue moving forward.......



    Just got done with WBC and plates came back perfect ready for last taxollllllll. He'll yeahhhhh



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  • marianelizabeth
    marianelizabeth Member Posts: 1,735
    edited February 2013

    patricia, I hope the blood work comes back perfect for your last Taxol. I am hoping that my post chemo bw is good as surgery next week. Did you know there is a March surgery thread? Quite a few of us too.

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  • florbo
    florbo Member Posts: 178
    edited February 2013

    Hi Ladies,



    Thanks for all your prayers. The surgery went well. I went to the hosptial at 12 pm and came home at 10 pm. inhad a lot of pain that' s what kept me in recovery for awhile. The foobie was tweaked. The port came out and now I have two to keep-- one for each child. Maybe I'll make it into a necklace. The surgeon was able to take out the tumors together on one piece of muscle. I lost about a card size deck of pectoral muscle. I have a drain in. No dressings except stitches amd dermabond. We finally figured out that I' m allergic to the mastisol and steri strips because after each several I'll have allergic reactions all over the incision. Nothing like that today. I just feel like Ive been run over by a truck again.

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  • marianelizabeth
    marianelizabeth Member Posts: 1,735
    edited February 2013

    florbo, glad you are home without the allergic reactions but I do hope that the pain and feeling like being run over a truck diminishes. I hope also that you have lots of help while you heal from yet another surgery.

    Mariposa, I hope you get to come home soon!

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  • Toastiecat
    Toastiecat Member Posts: 132
    edited February 2013

    Amy, the seroma formed a few weeks after I had my drains out from my MX. (The amount of fluid never reached the 30 cc cut off, and they were taken out after 3 weeks.) It was bright pink, but not hot, and I didn't have a fever. Eventually it got pretty big, so it was aspirated a few times, then in December I had surgery. PS took out the TE, flushed the area with antibiotics, and put in a fresh TE. This time we tried to wait out the fluid, and I had my drain in for 9 weeks, and the output never even got close to 30cc's. PS took pity on me and pulled the drain last week, since I will be going in for the swap soon anyway, and it of course immediately blew up again. Had it aspirated twice, and he added more fluid to the expander to help occupy the space the seroma was filling up. I've been wearing a tight sports bra too, and that helps at least with comfort. Anyway, it's a whole stupid saga, so anything you can do to avoid it is worth it!

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  • netty46
    netty46 Member Posts: 296
    edited February 2013

    Hi Florbo, Congrats on your surgery.  Did they do frozen biopsy in O.R.  How were the lymph nodes?   When I had a local recurrence they first said Chest wall recurrence cause they thought I had masectomy in 2000 but I did not.  Is this the case with you or do other ladies here know.  If it comes back to same breast after masectomy is it chestwall recurrence or local recurrence?  I know if it comes to lymph nodes its a regional recurrence but confused about the others.

    My doc went down deep also with my surgery.  I had frozen biopsy done on tissue and nodes in O.R.

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  • netty46
    netty46 Member Posts: 296
    edited March 2013

    BTW Florbo my apologies. I see you blocked private messages from me.  I thought it was kinda personal so I sent you a private message.  Everyones different. I dont mind , really whoever feels like messaging me just feel free and ask away thats why we are here to help eachother with knowledge.

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  • Foreverchanged72612
    Foreverchanged72612 Member Posts: 223
    edited February 2013

    Good to hear from both of you, Mariposa and Florbo!!

    Patricia: starting to get ready for surgery now, too!!  My cold has finally started to clear up so I'm back on the treadmill and will try to be in ok shape for surgery.

    Mariane: are you starting estrogen blocking pills? Is that what Armidex is? My MO wanted me to start Tamoxifen before surgery but when my last chemo got pushed back a week he changed his mind. Actually, I was supposed to see him today but I got snowed in and couldn't make it to Montreal for my appointment with both him and my first visit to see the radiation oncologist. Huge storm yesterday dropped at least 25-30cm on us and it was still coming down this morning. I called his secretary first thing this morning and left a message saying I was "snowbound" as in housebound, can't get out of the house because of too much snow...I don't know, in my head it sounded like a good word. Apparently he didn't think much of my word invention. He called me back and said he didn't know what I was talking about. I explained that I couldn't get out of my driveway and road conditions were bad, snowstorm, blah, blah, blah. Umm yeah, that word I was looking for is actually two: snowed in. Thanks, chemo brain for making me sound like an idiot...again. 

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  • jojo2373
    jojo2373 Member Posts: 662
    edited February 2013

    Get well soon Mariposa and Florbo! Glad that is behind you and you can move forward.



    Forever, my MO was deciding between Arimidex and Tamoxifen for me. Arimidex is usually given to post menopausal women and Tamoxifen for pre menopausal. I was in menopause when the big C hit, my MO was leaning towards tamoxifen at our last visit.

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  • marianelizabeth
    marianelizabeth Member Posts: 1,735
    edited February 2013

    jojo, that is what I was going to say; I am way post menopausal and strongly ER+. Armidex (actually most of us are now getting the generic Anastrozole) is an aromatase inhibitor. Aromatase is in fat which is where our estrogen is stored and is an enzyme that helps the estrogen do its thing. So I will be taking it for 5 years. 

    forever, I think snowbound was perfectly acceptable!

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  • jojo2373
    jojo2373 Member Posts: 662
    edited February 2013

    Marian, our diagnosis's are similar as we have discussed. I was 100% ER, 10% PR, you? I know we both have grade 3. I assume you had LVI? What was your mitotic rate? Also have you had your tumor markers measured for a baseline?

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  • marianelizabeth
    marianelizabeth Member Posts: 1,735
    edited February 2013

    jojo, extensive LVI. Just pulled out the pathology and yes, grade 3 and tubule-3, nuclei, 3 and mitosis 2. I have not looked at this for awhile but for the first time, I see "DCIS margins present within 2mm of posterior margin. IDC was also on the posterior margin. Honestly, I never noticed that DCIS~~just oe more thing in what my BS called "a constellation of cancers." Oh wait I went back to the core biopsy path and DCIS intermediate grade solid was there too though none of the other stuff. Fast growing and aggressive and surprising were all terms used after the lx/SNB path. And mitosis went to 3 from 2. 

    Don't know about your refererence to "tumour markers measured for a baseline." But it says ER:positive (100% positive, strong intensity, Allred 8 and same for PR. And as you know 6/8 nodes and that was just an SNB! The PET scan showed more stuff too and that was literally the day I started chemo.

    :) Marian

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  • jojo2373
    jojo2373 Member Posts: 662
    edited March 2013

    I am riding in the same boat as you Marian :-). Mine was all the same except no DCIS and my mitotic rate was 3. Extensive LVI is a bummer.



    I just had my blood tested post surgery for tumor marker rate. 0-40 normal, mine was 36. This is what my MO will monitor post treatment along with my symptoms. No routine scans unless prompted.

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  • florbo
    florbo Member Posts: 178
    edited February 2013

    Netty--I just PMed you. It was a mistake when i blocked you. The tumors that were taken out were in the lymph nodes in the pectoral muscle since I had a DIEP mastectomy. This was considered a localized recurrence. I didn't have any other cancer spots anywhere else. I don't know what kind of biopsy was done in the OR.

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  • Amy4978
    Amy4978 Member Posts: 473
    edited March 2013

    Florbo....so glad all went well for you...



    I got my drains out today! I have been set free whooohooo... And I got a fill im up to 440cc

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  • Hopex3
    Hopex3 Member Posts: 397
    edited March 2013

    Yeah Amy! Your up to 440! I'm sitting at 300. Couldn't have fills for awhile. How do they feel so far? Do they slosh around sometimes? Mine do every now and then!



    Florbo...glad everything went well for you!



    Forever...I get the snowbound word! Makes sense to me. He's the one with chemo brain, not you!





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