Starting Chemo February 2013

melody - I am like you -doing 4.. I can't imagine doing more.. the side effects are so difficult...

LW: Hang in there. While it very hard and sucks, it is temporary. You won't have to do this for years and years. This board will help and it's the best place to vent. YOu will have good days too. Take those days with all your heart and soul and remember them when you have your bad days. I found my first tx to be the worse. While the ones following have not been great, they have been managable. I start taxol April 3 and that will come with a whole new set of SEs and I am scared all over again....but, I have 4 and then I am done so that's what I try to keep focused on. We are all here for each other. Chin my friend!

TMM: do you show horses? So do I. Did jumpers for years  with a French warmblood and then OTTTB, who was the best horse I ever had. Now I have a 5 year old Dutch Warmblood/TB cross. He may become the best horse! 

TMM: I did one foxhunt years and years ago. Just not alot of that up here in Upstate NY. My guy is young and out of my best friends stallion who was Zone 2 AO champion before she retired him to stud. I got a BFF deal on him. I will do the adult hunters with him and hopefully sell him as children's hunter and buy a fancy AO. He is still pretty green so I have a few years. My trainer will do him in the professional hunter divisions. Not sure if he can do 3"6" or not. Time will tell.

That is awesome you learned to drive! Very cool! Where in PA are you? I am in Binghamton NY, not far from the PA border.

Yes it is nice to have something other than this crap we are going through to talk about. Good luck on your tx's with minimal SE's!

Hi all. Hope you are all doing well today. Here in infusion room for round 3. Am very thankful I remembered to throw my ear buds in my chemo bag. The folks on either side of me are watching those talk shows where people just get on and scream at each other. If they have a suggestion box, I'm suggesting they configure their equipment with wireless headphones so those who don't want to hear what they're watching don't have to! Hope everybody has a fabulous weekend and Happy Saint Paddy's!

TMM: Maybe we were at the same shows!!! He has a great brain. Just went to see him today. Still not riding but hope to be back on a school horse to start out in a few weeks then on to my horse. Hope your treatments are going well! 

Round three for me on Thursday and in already getting nervous but will me glad to be done.



Has anyone had any eye issues with chemo. My eyes are so watery for the last three days. In using those artificial tear drops but not working that much. I also keep getting my period he week after chemo. I was so irregular before chemo now chemo put me on a shedule. Weird !!!!

Gina, my left eye keeps twitching & watering too. It's making me nuts! I understand it's a SE from the Taxotere. I'll be up for #3 on Wednesday-but that's just half way for me. You'll be 3/4 done! :-)

Thanks Tangles. I ended up in the ER Monday. Nothing serious. I was running 103 fever and my MO wants labs on anything over 100.5 and the lab at her office was closed when I called. I just had a bad cold with fever. All my counts and tests were OK. But I was really afraid this round would be delayed because of the fever. I'm never eager to get to chemo, but very eager to get it over with!

Ladies, I have the runny nose thing going too. sometimes a tinge of red. Very annoying! I carry tissues everywhere I go and bought boxes for several rooms in my house. Hate it!

Monday I go in for a fill for my expanders. Next Tuesday is my 3rd chemo (out of 6) So I will be half way. Yesssssss! Hope the se are not too bad. Those of you who just had your #3 hope your se are not to bad either.

Does anybody attend Mastectomy or breast cancer support group meetings? I have found a place run by the american cancer society. They have meetings twice a month and are very helpful. 

Stay positive as we kick cancers ass together!

chgogemini- I see that you are on the Cytoxan & Taxotere chemo regimen.  Taxotere is also known as "Taxo-tears" because one of the side effects of the Taxotere is watery eyes.  My eyes started watering after my 4th round of Taxotere ( I had 6 rounds of Cytoxan/Taxotere) and eventually subsided after I was PFC. 

LisaMM- I also had the eye twitching which also started around the same time as the watery eyes.  It was quite annoying and stopped a few weeks after I was PFC.  Just another of those wonderful chemo side effects.

Positivethinking-  One of my side effects was the burping.  OMG.... I burped more often and louder than I ever did before I had chemo.  In fact, it was a running joke between my son and I as to who could burp the loudest!!! 

Wishing everyone an easy weekend with minimal side effects.

DiZZyMom - the insomia is awful.. I take sleeping pills for the first 5-6 days after a treatment now - makes a big difference.. I didn't take them the first time and couldn't figure why I tossed and turned ..it was awful..

I took melatonin but it didn't help. I'm leary of anything stronger though. However, if it continues I will have to do something! Have a good day everybody, zzzzzz

Tangles: did you ask about getting less cc's at a time and going longer in between? That helped me a lot. I had 60 cc's once and said never again! Went to 30 and now I am done with fills at 330. When the permanent implants go in they will be about 300 cc's or a small B. good luck!

ywheels what kind of implant are you getting? Just curious.

Well you all make me feel better about my twitchy, watery eye-it always helps to know I'm not an aberration!

Tho225- glad you feel that way, we're all here to support each other.  I felt so much better after I found all of these wonderful ladies and all of their helpful information.  It's such a relief to have women to talk to that know exactly what I'm going through & all of the wild emotions & feelings that go ith it all!