September 2013 Chemo Group

Hi Ladies - Well I was suppose to start my chemo next week, sept. 10th but due to a sore area that is not healing quickly enough it has been delayed.  My oncologist said it was ok to wait a week or 2. I had my surgery July 22, so it has been like 8 weeks, now it will be 9 or 10 weeks till I start. What are your thought on it? Is there an amount of time to wait between surgery & starting chemo? 

      My nodes were clear & they did not see any show up anywhere else (Stage 1), I just want to be safe!!

OMG I just have to say, I ate a full lunch just now - I even got seconds on a couple of things.  That hasn't happened since an hour before my first tx, lol.  I'm a new woman :-)

Soccermom, I was told they wanted less than 9 weeks, but I had 6 nodes positive and a gigantic tumor.  If your onco feels comfortable waiting it's probably fine - much worse to lower your WBC while you're still trying to get something major healed.  I noticed every little scrape I had the day I started tx hung out and festered instead of healing.  A tiny scrape on my knuckle is just now finally scabbing over - 7 days later.  So they mean it when they say everything needs to be healed up.

Mama, you will not lose your children because you let them watch too much TV while you rested.  If that was the case I'd have lost my kids several times over, lol.  Make sure they're eating enough, sleeping at semi-normal times, and bathing just enough to prevent the smell, and you're fine.  This is going to be a hard few months, and once it's behind you your kids will barely remember it.  My littlest keeps asking me, "Can we do that when you're better?" and it breaks my heart but all I can say is, "Yes baby, next year."  And when friends ask what they can do to help, I tell them to come get my kids and take them to do something fun, something I can't do with them right now.  So friends show up at random sometimes and steal them for an hour at the park, or even just into the back yard to kick a ball around.  The people around you want to know how to help, and that is how.

Delirium, I don't blame you for wanting the recon right away so badly - recon was my little light, the thing that made everything just the tiniest bit less scary.  But holy moly the recovery was a bear - the TE's (tissue expanders) kept me from being able to sleep on my side for weeks after the mx pain was gone.  Now I have to go for fills when I already feel like crud, and the last one shoved the left TE into my rib, which then threw off my back and I was in pain all throughout my torso for days.  Oh and did I mention they're crooked?  One is a full inch higher than the other, and they don't move, so wearing a bra doesn't fix it, lol.  So yes, when I look down I have small boobies, and I haven't had to go through buying cutlets and post-mx bras, but the grass ain't all that greener over here :-P  I'm glad you're able to get going on treatment, too much time in between can be bad both physically and mentally.

My wife starts neoadjuvtant chemo tomorrow. Dx: 8/2/13 IDC Grade 2, 5cm

Lymph node biopsy - pet scan -

ER/PR+ HER 2 -



12 weeks taxol then 4 treatments of AC.



Good luck to all

Greetings fellow sept chemo sisters! 9/11 is my start date. Keep ya posted...got a years worth of infusions. Taking it a day and moment at a time. Best to all!

Diane - I had to go to "chemo class", too.  I think it's definitely for the people who don't go online.  LOL  I had already talked with so many people who have been there, done that, and looked up so much stuff that I pretty much knew everything they went over.  But oh well... there was an older lady in there who didn't know a thing and looked horrified with everything they told her.  I'm thinking forewarned is forearmed!  Knowledge is power!  I also have Lyme Disease and Epstein Barr (the virus that causes mono), so my immune system isn't the greatest, even though I'm only 40.  Thankfully the only real symptoms I get are major, major fatigue and low blood pressure.

Well here i am doing my 1st chemo today. Forgive me i am my nook so not able to navigate much. Right now i am about 1.5 hours into herceptin, no problems so far. I think 3 more hours to go. So far very doable! Healing thoughts and prayers to all.

Thank you babyruth....yes i have a private room..feel kinda guilty cuz i see some pretty sick people here...they have beds i have a recliner. The first menication made me sleepy but i am ok now. Havinga hot flash no big thing. I may be done at 4pm. Glad you got away at the beach. Big hugs to everyone for all your support!

Alfranco glad you are feeling ok...I was just going to ask if anyone is on neupogen....I just picked mine up from the pharmacy.

According to everything that I have read it is supposed to be easier on your system than neulesta....pain not as severe....guess I will find out on tuesday.

Hugs to you lovewins and babyruth is right....let the countdown begin.

JellyK - LOL  Your post made me laugh.  The feeling like you smoked a joint, and mashed potatoes??  Hee hee  Crazy what these meds do to us!

Alfranco - ask for Emra cream.  It's a prescription Lidocaine cream that you put on your skin over the port about an hour before they will access it.  By the time they stick you, you don't feel a thing!  I put it on before I go every time (just in case they're going to access my port and I don't know it...LOL) and it makes it plenty numb!  Just put a little piece of saran wrap over your skin (under your clothes) until you get there or it will get a greasy stain on your shirt.

Hydavis - Oh Lordy the waiting is the WORST!!!!  I found my lump (self exam) the beginning of July, but was out of town for several weeks.  Biopsy confirmed cancer on August 1st, and I just now started chemo last week.  It was the longest two months in history!!!  Are you taking anything for anxiety?  I never have been on medicine, but I asked my doctor for something because I was a mess... stressed, upset, not sleeping, etc.  I don't know if the meds are finally helping or if I just figured out how to handle some of this mess, but it wouldn't hurt to ask your doctor.  Praying for good results!!

Hi lighthouse lady I asked my dr for anxiety meds yesterday and she gave me a prescription I filled it and haven't been able to make myself take one yet. I'm hoping these chocolate chip cookies my 12 year old made me a few minutes ago will do the trick. Lol

Hi-HY...What I did is get a precription for xanex for those really stressul times...before surgery...night before 1st chemo and they really helped me but I really tried to be cautious.  I do not take everyday.  I took 1/2 before this am before 1st chemo.  I also quit smoking and that made is double hard because I was taking chantix so I got some ambein to sleep after being awake 4 solid days while working.  I am glad I did get some help...it is the 2nd I have asked for help in my life so I am going to be gentle with myself.  I wish you the very best with your treatments.  

Oh and I can attest to the lidocaine cream...it really did the trick barely felt a thing and they needed one inch needle...today I can say I loved my port.

Baby Ruth I will try the walking if I can get my expander on the left to cooperate I am almost a month out from mast surgery with immediate recon. Does this pain with expanders ever get better? Or this fatigue after surgery?

Hi everyone, I havent checked in for awhile. I found that walking just like babyruth is lowering my anxiety. I start my chemo at the end of the month on the30th. I wanted to be a part of my cousin's wedding and see my family. Oc was ok with it cause its within 8 wk window. I am a military wife tranferred to Hawaii in June and decided to do something nice for myself and had a breast augmentation. My plastic surgeon found a large tumor in my right lymph nodes as he was completing my breast augmentation through my arm pits on July 5th. It was the shock of my life, I had no visible lumps, signs or family history. July was a whirlwind trying to find my primary tumor. As far as rec, my dr found studies that showed that I could keep my implants in during radiation (my implants are like a spacer) and then later replace them after radiation. I can tell my right breast is smaller from my lempectomy but everyone else says its not visible until I point it out. Walking around the middle of Pearl Habor (Ford Island) Hawaii and thankful for the beauty in Hawaii. Still unsure about what to buy for hairloss. Going to get a second opinion this Friday out in town with one of the best oncologist on the island (I've been seeing military doctors)

Hope everyone is getting through this.. I'm thankful for this group cause moving to a new area it's hard to make connections and throw cancer in it. I get the pity smiles and empty saying call if you need anything, but how can I when I just meet them. Aloha from Hawaii

Jellyk...I had chemo I guess you would say yesterday now...when di d you eat lean protein or anything with fat?  Thanks fot your input, I need some protein!  I know everyone is different just wondering.