September 2013 Chemo Group

Hockey - very common SE due to soft tissue irritation. Try Zantac because it is fast acting. Tell your onc as it may be better controlled with Rx meds.

Thank you everyone for your posts and kind words, reading all of them made me feel better. I know it's probably the strain of three months of feeling like crap, it has to take a toll on us as time goes by and we don't ever feel better but now that I have finished chemo, I should start to feel better in a few weeks. It's just really hard to always stay positive and uplifted, that in itself is exhausting and no one knows but all of us here on this board who are all going through our own trials everyday. I thought wouldn't it be nice if life could stop while we are going through this and we only had the cancer to deal with but unfortunately life keeps going on all around us and we have to deal with what it brings as well. Anyways, thanks again and I hope everyone is doing okay.

Love, Rayna

I was also told by my MO that getting the flu (and whooping cough) vaccine would be fine...I wonder why different MOs are recommending different things?



Hockeymommy - I also started having heartburn for the first time after AC #3. I've been taking Maalox and Tums and it has helped, but mine isn't too bad. I think there are things your MO can prescribe if yours is really bad.

Just had #2 t/c on Wed.  Feeling not too bad. Had to get up to wee, eat & take pills.  Ugh!  Just want to sleep. eating every 2 hrs seems to help with nausea. 

Got my loaner wig on Wed.  Hair is coming out in large clumps.  Strange how cold it is with no /very little hair.

Welcome back DeleriumPie, I was curious how everything was going for you!  Thank you for your insights, they've been missed.  And I'm so sorry things have been so rough - some days are really hard to be strong.  I hear you on missing your period - I got mine right after my first tx, and my NP told me that'd be my last one.  But I got another one last week, and in a completely surprising reaction I celebrated.  There are just some things that no matter how annoying they are they're a part of us and a part of what makes us normal.  I don't know if yours will ever return, or if mine will continue, but I get the feeling you described.

Up at 2:30am again, uch.  Why why why is day 3 post tx so awful?  I almost feel like if I could wrap my head around the why I could handle it better.  I felt so awesome on days 1 and 2 of this tx, granted I could tell that was maybe driven by the dexadron, but this morning (or actually I guess now it was yesterday morning) I woke up and could tell I was NOT ahead of the nausea anymore.  And it didn't seem to matter what drugs I took or what I ate or what I did, I couldn't stay ahead of it.  I had to just keep moving, but then by dinner time the fatigue set in, and of course that's when the kids were home and needing dinner and attention and a referee, and when I had to stab myself in the stomach with the neupogen, which then made me tired and spacey too.  And now I'm up at...well now it's 3am I guess...and can't get back to sleep.  Being on the computer isn't helping I suppose, if I follow my own earlier advise lol.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, just cranky.  Every single tx has gone like this - I'm a mess both physically and mentally for days 3-5.  The 1st tx was awful all the way around because I didn't know how to stay ahead of the nausea, but days 3-5 were when I completely understood people who just quit chemo, then the 2nd tx I had control until the cold set in on day 3, and my entire physical & mental stability crumbled, and now this time I had control until what feels like randomly evil day 3, when I'm yucky and pissed off again.  My one shining hope is that I only have one more AC, and I'm PRAYING Taxol isn't like this.  

Ok, taking my own advise and putting the pooter down :-)

Jelly-I think of days 3-5 as recovery days, your body's systems have been beaten down and are working in overdrive to recover! Rest and eat when you can - you're doing awesome!

Thanks for the welcome ladies.



JellyK- hang in there. AC #3 was the worst cycle for me. Major despair time. I had not joined the April group yet when I did #3, when I found it, I was amazed to read how #3 had kicked almost everyone's butt. Days 3-5 were always my worst too, but no other week compared to the one you are in right now, for me anyway. And taxol was a huge relief in symptoms, once you get past fear of the unknown.



This #1 still taking its toll on me. Staying in bed this morning. I've got that "chemo glow" and am freezing on top of it.

I think we all need a {{{{{{{{group hug}}}}}}}}}

Lots of yucky side effects, mixed emotions, anxiety, etc going around.  I'm so sorry for everyone having a rough time.

I had a little bit of an emotional meltdown the other night.... partly because of my mother (she is having a really hard time with this and is SO clingy/needy... calling and texting me 5 times a day.  Ugh - but that's a whole other rant) and partly because of my hormones.  Unlike Deleriumpie and JellyK, I do NOT want my period.  I was happy when I would learn I would most likely go into "chemopause".  Unfortunately, I got my period three days after my first chemo, and then again three weeks later.  This second one has lasted 8 days.  Ok... so not only am I still GETTING my period, but it's here more often and for LONGER?  Seriously?  Enough is enough.  

Other than the never-ending period from hell and a burnt tongue, I'm feeling pretty good.  This is my non-chemo week, so no real bad side effects going on.  I started taking L glutemine (in anticipation of neuropathy when I start taxol) and a prenatal vitamin (to help my RBC) and maybe those are helping me to feel good?  I don't know.  

Anyway, I hope everyone is able to enjoy their weekend.  My daughter has a softball tournament and my son has a football game, so we'll be busy busy.  

I hope the upcoming weekend brings rest, relaxation and relief too all. 

Etkaterina, I had an extremely sore throat for about the first 12 days.  For a few days in there, it seemed to even be blistered.  I honestly ate anything cold.  I froze Gatorade and made slushies, I ate every ice cube my icemaker could put out (it couldn't keep up so I went to work to get ice), and I ate a lot of frozen yogurt and such.  It is finally feeling better...not 100%, but I can eat normal food.  My mouth never blistered because I ate ice throughout the infusions, but throat was a whole different story.  I do plan to bring it up with my MO when I go next week for #2.

Hi to all the new ones joining us!!

I'm sorry so many are feeling bad, hugs to each of you today. I am finally past the SE's from round 1 & will have #2 on tues.

For those who have heartburn -- I had heartburn before all this happened & a natural help is apple cidar vinegar . You can mix it in water, it tastes nasty but it helps. There is also a drink of it that they add juice into so it doesn't taste so bad. And stop your caffeine, that will help too.

Keeo fighting ladies, your doing great!!!

Let us know how it goes at your Live Well Feel Better. We were told we can go again but of course we wouldn't get all the freebies LOL But I think I would like to go again to maybe get some pointers for eye brows when all the hair is gone. I've always had fairly thick fairly darl brows so never had to draw or fill them in.

Art, Two of my friends who did AC befoer Taxol had their hair start to grow in during Taxol, so I don't think it means it isn't working.  I hope she continues to feel OK.  She's lucky to have such a caring husband.

There was a breast cancer walk going through my neighborhood this morning and it felt extremely triggering. People walking with shirts with pictures and "in memory of..." on them. I felt scared and tears swelling. Maybe because my mom's dx still seems so fresh but I'm not ready for this bc awarness month. Pink is everywhere and doesn't make me feel better. Maybe someday it will but for now i want to run from it.

vintage - don't assume you will lose all of your brows - I never did, they may just thin - particularly if you had thick brows previously. I used Anastasia colored brow gel to darken mine, but did not have to do any drawing. If you do lose them completely I recommend using stencils and brow powder - looks more realistic than drawn on ones. Anastasia and Too Faced make good stencil/powder kits - you can order them online from Sephora or Ulta.

Alisha (and lighthouse-I think...) I missed the conversation about Pinktober and if it bothers you. I really have very mixed feelings about it. It does bother me in a couple different ways: my mortality hits me when I hear/think of all those that have lost the fight. At this point, I think that I am just numb to it and still in denial. At first, I thought of it as a death sentence and that was horrible living like that, but now death rarely crosses my mind unless something/someone sends my mind down that road. It does bother me that so many companies use it to increase their profits as well. Besides that, I think it is a great thing. I don't' think there is any other cancer (and maybe not even any other disease period) that is so supported. I have made it my mission to inform people and I tell random people that I don't even know (people checking me in at the hospital for another test) to check themselves and even explain how/what they are looking for if they aren't sure. For me, the compassion of strangers has brought me to tears almost as much as the whole cancer aspect of it. I have thought about this a whole lot, and maybe I am crazy or something, but I think if I could go back and NOT have cancer, I don't think that I would. I hate so much about it, but if I had never had it, I possibly would never have gotten to experience this incredibly beautiful side of humanity. It also changed so much about me. It was the biggest wake up call you could ever get and showed me that I was really taking things for granted. It brought me closer to God. It provided me with so much strength and courage..... I know I write a lot of long posts, but this one could turn into a book lol. And maybe it should be. I am going to start writing a blog or something, I think.

Anyway, Alisha... what keeps me going is that everything happens for a reason. I firmly believe that. I have been through some very horrible things in my life but I can look back and see where they took me down a path that I wouldn't have traded for the world! In fact, one thing came apparent to me already about cancer. Long story....but if I hadn't been diagnosed, I wouldn't have been in the class I am taking (I was going to drop it but I found out about the cancer a week before it started) and this class finally, FINALLY showed me what I want to be when I grow up lol. Major change, a whole new set of classes I have to take, roughly half of my 41 credit hours are worthless, and an extra 1-1/2 - 2 years of school, BUT I am so very VERY VERY excited to have finally found something I am passionate about. It is science-related too, so maybe, just maybe, I can someday put all these people that have taken such good care of us out of a job. Nothing against them, of course It's one day at a time. I struggled with trying to figure out what that even means, but when you do figure it out, it is very peaceful. I had days when I was thinking I was living a death sentence and I would just tell myself "I'm alive TODAY! And that is all I am going to think about." Big ((((HUGS)))) to you! I was just talking to a lady the other day who was getting her last chemo and told her -and her daughters- congratulations. I know how hard it can be on kids and you are very brave and strong for helping her through.