April 2013 Chemo Group

Good Morning ladies, 

I have been on the March surgeries board but crossing over. I'm all Positive and doing TCH x6. My first infusion was 4/1. I did well on the chemo/steroids but the nuelasta shot kicked my butt. Constipation was a pain in the butt!!!! Figured out the right meds/prunes/colace and all is well. Day 4 (yesterday) was not fun. Scalp and headaches. I finally called the onc nurses and they prescribed some pain meds- finally some relieve except I woke up with some aches and pains. I did Claritin- my onc nurses said to do for 10 days. I never like claritin- what do you think? 

I realized water is a MUST and sleep when you need. I am hoping the next couple of treatments will be easier because my body will be adjusted.

I ordered a wig, have a ton of head coverings, and my young children and I are waiting for the shaving party.  Thank goodness for my husband.  

Thank you ladies for posting, it is helping. I wish you strentgh and wellness.

Starting my treatments April 12....getting a port installed Monday, April 8th, chemo teach on Wed 10th...and first of 6 treatments Friday 12th...nervous...scared....all of the above...haveing treatments on a Friday so i can TRY and go to work Monday....we shall see how THAT goes....glad to have a place with other going through this....Happy Thoughts everyone..

I have my teaching session on 4/15 and start chemo on 4/17. I've seen lots of posts on various forums about taking Claritin to help with the side effects of Neulasta. I'm wondering if anyone knows whether it has to be Claritin (loratidine) or whether another antihistamine would work the same way? 

I've never taken Claritin that I know of, but other antihistamines have made me very twitchy and fluttery, and I don't need that along with everything else that will be happening. I can take Benadryl (diphenhydramine) with no problem -- if anything, it makes me sleepy, which could be a plus.

Any info on that would be welcome.

Also, I'm wondering how long after the Neulasta shot do people start feeling the side effects? There's an event I've been planning to go to the night I would get my first shot (the day after my first chemo). Is it likely I will still feel OK or not? Anyone have experience with delaying the Neulasta more than 24 hours after chemo?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, long time lurker, first time posting.

Just thought I'd jump in and say hi since I started my first chemo treatment on Wednesday the 3rd.  No side effects to speak of just yet, a little achey today from the Neulasta shot but nothing I can't handle.  I'm doing four Taxotere treatments every three weeks first, then I'll get the four Andriamycin and Cytoxan treatments every two weeks after that.  Total of eight treatments. 

No useful info to share, just thought I'd jump in and start posting. 

I had highly er/pr positive pathology and I have one ovary left that I am sure will come out after treatment. In the meantime, my onc (and I agree) believes shutting down estrogen is the key for me. I am aware that chemo often puts you in menopause at least temporarily. I am 39, have one ovary, get a short period every 23/24 days after having a uterine ablation a few years ago due to sudden excessive bleeding from fibroids (gyn assumed). I lost my other ovary and fallopian tube due to a 5cm endometrioma around the same time I had my ablation. I currently have another complex cyst that has the classic endometrioma look on my remaining ovary. It's been there for almost 2 yrs. It did not light up on my PetScan and has been tracked closely for 2 yrs. Ironically, I didn't have the cyst out b/c I was afraid of early and sudden menopause.

My gut tells me that although I know estrogen comes from my ovary and I have always been a hormonal girl, that much of my estrogen that has caused this is the result of my adrenal gland and constant stress and panic attacks for a number of years.

Thank you for reading and my actual question is, so you think Lupron with this chemo regimen is going to be too much all at once and put my SE's off the charts. I start chemo on April 11th and I think my onc also wants to give me lupron that day. She says if it were her, that is what she would do. Everyone agrees that chemo will not be my most effective tool, but that hormone suppression will be....which is making it difficult for me to feel empowered by doing the chemo. Very interested in knowledge and thoughts from wise and experienced women. Please nothing scary or upsetting right now. I just can't handle it. I felt so confident today leaving my multiple appointments until a young girl in a wheelchair stopped me and asked me if I had been recently diagnosed (she recognized the bag we had with new patient stuff). I reluctantly said yes (very fragile these days) and she proceeded to tell me she had finished treatment and found out just after that she had mets all over and was exploring alternative treatments. She wanted to stay in touch and tell me about them. I felt for her, and I am certainly not against using alternative methods in conjunction with my treatment plan, but her approach and timing left me in panicked tears and instantly took away the comfort and confidence I felt just moments before. Sigh....needed to get all that out. Thanks again everyone.

Hi ladies!

I just came home from getting a second opinion for a MO. I really like him and now feel more comfortable with my decision to go with TCH rather than AC-TH. I will start tx on April 12. I do have a question though after reading some of the posts. What is a Neulasta shot? This wasn't brought up in either of my consultations. Is this pretty standard for anyone getting TCH? Thanks ahead of time for any feedback.

Did anyone get the license plate number of the Mac truck who ran me over, then backed up and ran me over again? Haha. So I guess I'm feeling the effects of the Neulasta injection despite taking Claritin. I can't imagine what it would feel like if I didn't take it. And I have an awful headache too. My scalp is sore/itchy and I still have a strange feeling in my mouth. Thankfully no mouth sores yet. How's my other ladies doing after getting the Neulasta injection?

Hi ladies, guess I'm joining your group.  I will start start chemo on April 18.  I will be spending the time before then getting all my scans & getting my port put in.  I've been so anxious to get started on this.  I was diagnosed before Christmas, had surgery in late February & while I know I have been healing, it seems like I've been waiting forever to start treatment!  As ready as I am to get going, I'm also really nervous.  The unexpected/unknown has been the worst throughout this entire cancer process.  Well, maybe the known losing my hair is pretty bad too.  I never thought I was  a vain person, but I'm kinda freaking about the hair thing.  I have a wig that I don't know if I'll wear.  I feel rather strange wearing it. I really bought it for the benefit of my kids (9 &11).  They seem to feel more comfortable with the idea of me wearing a wig. I have a couple of hats too, but I guess I need to get a few more & maybe figure out the scarf thing.  I feel like being proactive about it may make it easier to accept?  Anyway, it's so nice to have support from so many others going through the same crap as I am:)

Welcome women to this great sharing space.I sometimes forget where I have posted,but I know that we are strong women and once we gather the information,we can begin to get on with the journey. When I was first told,I remember thinking "Well,this is sort of like child labor,I'm going to get started on it,and there will eventually be an outcome,soo....stand back and let me do this" Hope that makes sense!!I encourage the newcomers to share your emotions,side effects,because it's been comforting to know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! Whew,what a good feeling for me. Maybe one of the bigger lessons I'm learning is to calmly share what I am feeling with family and friends. I'm down with being a "victim" of circumstances.I'm also shying away from trying to gather information on the internet. I get better answers here!!Well,I'm going to attempt going to town,and I'll do what I do,and not push myself. Wishing all of you a really super day,looks like the sun is trying to shine!!

Thansks for that. Taking Compazine and Zofran, but had not thought about Ativan (I take Klonopin at times for anxiety). I seemed to feel a lot sicker after the injection of Neulasta, could that be the reason? Dr. mentioned upping to something stronger in my pre-meds. Hope so. You are all a comfort and an inspiration, thank you.

Heather214- Compazine was the one that worked for me. And the ativan helped at night. Taxol #2 tomorrow as long as my counts are good.

Looks Like everyone here is doing well. Keep fighting ladies!

Hi, everyone. I have a question and while I know everyone's experience is unique, I thought I'd try....

I am starting dense dose ACx4 with Tx4 to follow. So every two weeks starting Thurs.

Will I still be able to get my TE filled?

Go to PT?

Function?

Help.

I don't have TEs but I think that you still can have fills during chemo. I don't know the schedule though. Some of the ladies on the Jan chemo thread had theirs filled while doing tx. PT is ok. Remember your white blood count will drop so risk of catching a bug is increased. I managed to work (i'm a bartender) and not catch anything from people. I have purell EVERYWHERE and I use it alot. No hugs, only fist pumps/handshakes. The only people I have in my house are cold free and mostly family. I had good days and bad days and was able to carry on normal activities. Maybe just a little less than I was used too. I was not bedridden or so sick I couldn't manage for myself. You will have days that you want to sleep all day. that's ok.  I had and still have friends that bring me a casserole a week just to help out. It's very scary to not know how you are going to feel. I was a total mess the week before my first tx. Turned out to be not as bad as I had imagined.

I am starting chemo on April 25th. I get my port on the 24th. I am mostly worried about the side effects and if I can keep working. I have a desk job, but I register patients in a hospital so I am worried about getting their viruses, too.  I am having ACT, a total of 8 rounds, I think it is the 4 AC first and then 4 Taxol. I am assuming I will lose my hair, so I am ordering some hats and scarves now.  My hair is very thin normally so I should be able to use the hats after my hair comes back.  I would love to hear anyone's thoughts. Irene