Starting Chemo February 2013

You are a masterpiece. Hope things get better for you with SE

kkmom, I've definitely noticed a mood shift when the steroid starts to wear off - for me the second and third day. I feel very flat at first (numb brain) and then I can easily cry or feel really irritable over nothing. My MO, in a very understanding way, cautioned me to count to ten before opening my mouth !

Wildlyshel, The first two times I went for chemo I was the only person without hair - 1 out of 8 men and women. Anyway, last week there were three women wearing hats, including me ... nice to have company! We had a few laughs ... I've wondered what some of my friends would look like bald, but haven't shared that thought with them!

NBalla1956, You've had quite a ride with all of the changes re: your treatment - including your chemo protocol - holy cow! Glad to hear you're tolerating AC and hope you kick that infection soon.

Rdrunner, Hope your tooth gets better this week!

slv58, I have red  eyes as well - they go well with the flushy puffy face that I have for a few days  I'm using Eucerin Intensive Repair on that bumpy dry area - seems to work well.

ywheels, good to see you here as well and a few others I recognize from the January group ...

Hope everyone has a peaceful and confortable day, Martha

DiZZyMom - that is hilarious - one of the few things on the board that has made me chuckle!

The bone pain for me started about 2 days after the shot and I felt it mostly in my thighs, lower back and tailbone. First time, I did not do the clariten and this time I did. It made a little difference but there was still some pain and I had to take advil a couple times. It's now a week since I had the second shot and there is very little pain anymore.

I know what you mean about those expanders. If you are still getting fills, it's intense. I had problems taking pain meds after surgery. But when I was still getting fills, I would take valium just to be able to stop the pain so I could sleep.I also found it more comfortable sleeping on the couch almost sitting up. Lying down felt like there was a ton of bricks on my chest. How many more fills are you having? I had the last one 5 weeks ago and there is no pain at all anymore.

I hope you feel better soon.

Lisa- you say you get the pain the day after then its better Monday. What day is the day after?

I have heard the pain is better with more fills. I have only had a few fills because of getting sick and being in the hospital for 10 days and then back in the ER. My Doc wants to see how my white count goes this round of chemo before I go having any needles stuck into me. They also want me to get a blood count before I get a fill. I thought there is no hurry as I cant have them swapped out until this chemo is over, but if it would help the pain of them a little then maybe I will try and push through a few more fills.....

Dizzy mom that is hilarious! My hubby asked me why I was laughing. It made him smile too when I read it too him.



We've decided to paint our heads like Easter eggs on Easter--he is bald too. I will try to post a pic if I can figure out how.



Neulasta - I took white willow and had absolutely no pain from the Neulasta. Only at the site of injection a little sore. I got the list of things from the book Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer. He works with MOs to compliment the chemo.



My friend gave me a cookbook last night called The Cancer Fighting Kitchen. It has a section for recipes to use for recipes for specific side effects, what recipes are good during the first week after chemo, taste bud troubles, etc. I am looking forward to trying magic mineral broth for Nausea. They even have recipes for sore mouth and difficulty swallowing! Thought I would pass it along in case anyone was interested. I cant wait to try some of the recipes. They look good!

Didn't get the neulasta shot for the first round and thankfully my count is up on its own to 2.7 and rising.  My doc says I will get the shot with round 2 because I dropped to 1.2 and I've seen that some of you have gotten pretty sick without it.  While I'm not thrilled with getting the shot I'll be happy with one less thing to worry about. They also told me that if I have another allergic reaction to it that I will probably be done with chemo.  Day 12 and still no sign of hair loss but I know its coming and its driving me nuts wish it would start to fall out so I can just get it over with and stop crying about it!  Anyone else feel spaced out?

Dizzymom, my sister told my 6 year old nephew that my hair was going to fall out and he said the sweetest thing:  He said may may your still going to be pretty-I love what comes out of kids mouths when they are that young its absolutely precious

ywheels you say only getting fills on off treatments weeks? I am having Chemo every three weeks so are you getting a fill the last week before chemo starts back up. I had Chemo Friday and feel pretty rough today.Hoping the end of the week will be better. Im not sure how many fills I have left. I think I only have about 250-300 in now and Im not sure what amount I am going to. I wanted a full C???

I get 2nd chemo treatment on Wed and Neulasta on Thursday - last time (3 weeks ago) I thought I would be going back to work Monday but that didn't happen - I did go in on Tuesday but only lasted 4 hours -- by Wednesday I finally felt good... I hope I am better prepared this time.. but I really dread the whole thing!

To Heidi9256: I found the best type of scarves are the long oblong scarves, not squares and definately not silk or shiny fabirc as it slides all over unless you wear a skull cap underneath. Put the scarf on your head pullling the ends to the back with one side about 2/3's longer than the other. You can double wrap, twist or even work a braid onto the second layer and it keeps you warm. Add a pair of great earings and you are good to go. You also have a good excuse to buy new funky earings.

My Oncologist said the pain you get from the shot is "bone": so no amount of antinflammatory will work because its not inflammation its pain in the bones. She said Tylenol round the clock and I can ad a tramadol or if it got real bad a Laratab. I asked about the Clariton, she said take it if you want it wont hurt you to try so I am. My heart seems lie it is more racy then normal so I sure don't want to go with the clartion D I think I would then be a real mess. Its so hard to know what to do with all this different information. ( maybe why the hubby says stay off the Internet)??

today I have my first ever UTI, thought maybe I had one yesterday morning but drank cranberry juice and it seemed to help but then I had the most miserable night  - am waiting for the dr to call in an antibiotic... also tomorrow is chemo day but they don't think this will interfer with that..

Here's a thought: dealing with and fighting this BC has just made giving my son driving lessons a whole lot less scary!!!

Hey ladies. Just wanted to check in. Has anyone experienced chemo acne? I'm breaking out like crazy



Today is day 9 of cycle 1. Today I am tiiiiiired and have flu like symptoms. My mom came to help out with the baby, thank goodness!!! My hair started thinning at day 5, slowly shedding. It's a lot harder for me emotionally than I thought it was going to be, but it will grow back. My scalp is super sensitive!!!



Trying to eat better and searching for some great cookbooks, any suggestions?

LisaMM- I experienced breakouts on my scalp after the hair started leaving.   I used some Neutrogena T-Gel shampoo which helped clear those up plus had a prescription antibotic gel to help keep any infection away. Hope your head feels better soon!!!