December 2012 chemo group

For what it's worth I asked the nurse today if most folks lose their nails and she said no, just some discoloring. So that's promising.



I came home tonight and cleaned intensely for an hour. Thank you steroids. Now I'm relaxing and having my second steroid hot flash. It's so weird! Hoping I won't have them during menopause but guessing I will. My MO said I am probably done with getting my pd since I haven't had it since starting chemo. Hmm any chance I can just bypass menopause symptoms altogether? I think that would be a fair trade off for losing my hair!

Powermom - me too! Then I'll go to eating anything I want just trying to find something that works. Then the routine starts during the good week of eating yummy food cause now I can enjoy it. And I wonder why I've gained five pounds!

Way to go everyone!  We are all pushing through these final rounds of chemo.  I am one week past my last TC and my final round was not my worst.  It was different, but not my worst.  The eye twitching finally went away, but I got dehydrated and developed a sinus infection so am on antibiotics, probiotics and new anti nausea meds.  Heartburn was really terrible with this round and then there was the nail thing.  But today is 7 days later and last night I watched my daughters first Varsity Softball game of the season and today I am heading in to town to meet family for lunch!  I never thought March would get here.  I feel like time moved so slowly these past few months but March is here and Rads are around the corner  Moving forward ladies, always moving forward...

It's so great to hear so many of you in the home stretch of chemo!!!  My last Taxol is April 4th and I am really looking forward to May, when I hope to feel almost "normal" again!

I had nail discoloration start on AC, which I think is a little unusual.  There is a black and blue hue at the bottom of all my fingertips (right above the cuticle) and on my thumbs the black and blue hue extends about halfway up the nail.  It doesn't seem to be changing with Taxol, although I did notice some nail sensitivity right after my first treatment.  I am wearing gloves while doing dishes and praying that my nails hang in there.  It would make me significantly sad to loose them.

This week I finally relented and ordered pants in a larger size to accomodate my chemo weight gain.  It felt nice this morning not to have to squeeeeeze into pants, but I am not thrilled about having a larger pant size than I've ever had in my life.  The weight gain is bumming me out.  I'm not expecting to be able to loose weight while on chemo (I don't think you can loose weight when you do the steroid rollercoaster every two weeks), but I'm going to make myself endure some hunger in the hopes of stopping the gain.  I think I started eating more because of the AC nausea (frequent meals seemed to help) but now it's just the comfort of feeding myself.   I hate to take a comfort away but I hate the weight gain even more.   Okay, enough whining!

Wishing FriendGwen, Sandra60, and anyone else who had treatment this week a lot of ease through your weekend.  Rest well and best wishes that you bounce back with ease.

Kiwi~I suffered horribly with AC 3, but AC 4 was so easy, I was amazed.



I hope you have an easy time as well.



Btw, what time is it in NZ as you're writing that? It's 3:37 am here in Ohio. I keep telling myself to go to bed, but here I sit, addicted to this iPad.



Blessings

Paula

Hello Dear Chemo buddies !



Well i must say this last round of TC is a little easier to take - don't know if that is psychological or I am just used to that YUK feeling and know what to expect . I am day 3 so first day off steroids but not quite as irritable this time !! I did a lot of walking today in house and out on a nice trail and it is helping a lot ! I just feel so much better when I can keep moving .

Nicole i am sorry to hear about your nails ! Are u keeping polish on them ? I've used Sally Hansen in a light shade and it has helped but I am sure something could still happen .

Heartburn does not feel as bad this time either but have a ways to go !



Wishing all of you once ladies minimal se's this week !



Sandy

Julie, I still have very sparse stubble on my head, but it is growing. Of course as little of it as there is I will be keeping it buzzed until it starts coming in thicker. My lashes and brows are still there but thinner. I read on one of the other boards that our lashes are the slowest growing hairs that we have and that is why some people go all through chemo keeping them only to have them come out afterwards. Something about their growth cycle. But then other women never lose them at all. I guess like everything else about chemo, each person is different.

Congrats to all of you who have finished treatment! Hopefully you will recover quickly from all the SE's and begin to have normal tastebuds and energy again!

It's day three post chemo five so taste buds are gone and any SEs are rearing their not so pretty head today. I finally decided to use day two as a rest day so that perhaps I'll be better on day four to go to work. Last round I was really light headed day four. My thumb nails look like I banged them with a hammer! My eyebrows are there but not too pretty and losing hair on the end. After this week of SEs God willing I'll only have one more. I have very little energy but contemplating making a big crock pot of mashed potatoes as my go to food for the next few days. Wishing all of you a nice Sunday!

Hi ladies

Paula we are 18 hours ahead of you, but the easier way to work it out is 6 hours behind then add a day! I'm sorry you're not sleeping well. I take a sleeping pill during the first few nights after chemo to balance out the steroids then I go back to melatonin after about 5 days. Melatonin does the trick usually.

It's day 3 today, I've thrown the emend box in the trash for good, I'm so glad chemo is over, now to start feeling well enough to do things. We are going to a medical counselling appointment this morning to make the final decision about surgery or radiation. It's nice to be moving into the next phase.

I hope you are all well.

Xx

Holly

Congrats Holly! I'm looking forward to being done soon! I finally feel like myself today for the first time since Friday. Taste buds aren't quite as horrendous.



Latest side effect? Tintinitus! Did I spell that right? It's like there's a white noise machine in my head. I googled it. It's a chemo thing of course! These drugs have a mind of their own!

Gwen, I have had the ringing in the ears since the first tx. I thought it was just a Carboplatin thing. They keep lowering my dose, but it's still there. Make sure you tell your MO because it can become permanent (at least on Carbo). I need to talk to my MO again about it next week (along with a whole host of other things).

My latest side effect is that my fingers are peeling. Almost done and all these new SE's keep popping up. Gheesh!

Holly - so happy for you to be done with the chemo - Woo Hoo !!

I too have the eye twitching again - but no tinititus. The skin on my hands is dry but not peeling and my nails seem OK. The only other SE that seems worse is the bad taste and white coated tougue - YUK.  Heart burn is a kind of bad too this time so in addition to the daily morning prevacid I am taking Gaviscan .  Just want these chemicals to move through my body - do thier job - and be GONE !!

Wishing all of you an easy week !!

Sandy 

kiwikid ~ Super big congrats on being done with treatment!!  

Wishing you the best with your surgery and recovery.  When will you be doing it?  It must be so exciting to be close to "done" with your breast cancer chapter.

I opted for delayed reconstruction so I have been advised to wait 6 months after finishing chemo before considering reconstruction surgery.  That will be October/November.   I'm hoping to be done by the end of 2013!

A new flower indeed Holly! I spent my snow day cleaning out my closet. I tried on a bunch of things and stared at my bald self in the mirror and decided I'm going to look and feel fabulous in no time. I put on a sweet Laura Ashley sundress I had bought when DD1 was six. She's now 21 and although the dress is a hair snug it still works. Fifteen years and BC treatment and I'm still the same person pretty much with the same body. I'm just happy that so far this damn cancer has not taken that from me. I'm excited to get moving again and will wear that dress once the sun finally comes out!

I spent the day at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Oregon & SW Washington Breast Cancer Issues Conference, and it was such a gift!  I know people have different feelings about Komen, but this conference was perfect information for me at the perfect time. 

The keynote was a pathologist and 5 year survivor from Stanford ~ she did such a great job explaining how increased understanding in pathology leads to better targeted treatment options, all while weaving in her own BC story.  I attended breakouts on chemo brain, impact of breast cancer on kids, and sexuality & breast cancer.  The last session was both terrifying (chemo side effects on the vagina are just the beginning so it seems for those of us who will graduate onto Tamoxifen) but also totally hopeful as the panelists talked about treatment options and painted a great picture of how breast cancer survivors can have full and fulfilling sex lives. 

I met many women who have been attending this conference for years ~ women who were going through treatment now (we were the easy-to-spot "newbies") and women who went through treatment 5, 10, 26 years ago.  All of them had strength and grace and smiles!  I highly recommend this kind of conference if it is held in your community.

Wow Nicole the conference sounds amazing! I went to a conference on breast feeding 18 years ago with DD2 on my back and got so much out of it. There's nothing like being with lots of other women going through the same situation to really feel empowered. It sounds like the mood of your conference was upbeat and encouraging even in the face of something so annoying as cancer. As you remember more tidbits over the next few days be sure to share. There's only so much I can read online. It's much nicer having it filtered through a sister survivor.