Starting Chemo July 2013

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  • Mellie289
    Mellie289 Member Posts: 156
    edited October 2013


    Wow, I can't imagine doing chemo until January, Girlstrong. Doing rads next until the end of the year will be tough enough! Are you doing radiation too when you finish chemo?

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  • soriya123
    soriya123 Member Posts: 662
    edited October 2013


    Hello All, My last chemo will be on Oct 30, one day before halloween damn it...I will be sick in bed. But i will still have herceptin for one whole year after chemo. Girlstrong, you n I still have another yr to go after chemo. Right now im trying to recover from TCH#5, seems like hit harder n harder each time. Will have herceptin only tomorrow.

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  • Gma04
    Gma04 Member Posts: 62
    edited October 2013


    hi every one, does anyone know how long after after your last chemo do you continue to use Brian Joseph's


    Brow and lash gel. Just wondering!? Also when does your hair start growing back? I'm ready for normal.


    Think I'm feeling dumpy. Sorry,


    Hugs


    Gma04

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  • angelanature
    angelanature Member Posts: 179
    edited October 2013


    Hi All,thanks so much for the encouragement,prayers,and the positive and loving posts.After I finished my taxol all the nurses came over and threw confetti and high fived me screaming yells of joy with me,it was something else. They gave me a purple heart certificate and everything,it was so amazing,I'm in tears writing this.Tears of joy!Hugs Angela

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  • JeriGrace
    JeriGrace Member Posts: 128
    edited October 2013


    So happy for you, Angela. You made it!

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  • Rambo50
    Rambo50 Member Posts: 140
    edited October 2013


    I'm crying right now for you, Angela :) tears of joy!


    Soriya - we're finishing on the same day :):):). Taxol's kicking my butt too!


    Sue, thanks for answering about bloodwork - I DIDNT have any scans beforehand. I keep replaying a conversation I had with my MO at my first appt over in my head. He asked if I had any bone pain, and I said, "no." Of course I was referring to right THEN, not the pain I've suffered for years in my left hip... Guess I'm going to have to fess up.


    I wanted to share two very different but awesome books I read this week:


    Clear Cut by Ginny Jordan and Rocking the Pink by Laura Roppe


    Each in its own way hits the core of how we feel going through this time in our lives :)


    I'm trying to get to sleep but am having a hard time - #7 tomorrow!!!


    Hugs to you all,


    Lynn

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  • soriya123
    soriya123 Member Posts: 662
    edited October 2013


    yay Angela!!!! so happy for you. Rambo how funny we start chemo the same day and will be done on the same day again. :)

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  • Cherri3
    Cherri3 Member Posts: 31
    edited October 2013


    Congrats Angela! You made it! Big hugs!


    Congrats to ladies who are near the finishing line or already completing soon.


    I just had my 7th taxol on Monday...another 5 more to go which means 5 more weeks. 5 weeks seem like forever. I keep crying last weekend. My migraine was really bad and I couldn't manage out of bed at all.


    I got some serious painkiller for my migraine on Monday, just hope that I don't suffer.


    Body is certainly weaker weekly with the compounded drug. Lashes are dropping. The side effects are geeting worse. My nails are so brittle and fingers so numb, I couldn't even manage to pick up my credit card from the wallet's slot.


    Hi Rambo, you are funny! LOL... I am finishing my chemo on 18 Nov. One day at a time, I try to remind myself...but sometimes just couldn't get over it and tears flow.

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  • soriya123
    soriya123 Member Posts: 662
    edited October 2013


    Cherri, I kno it hard, with all these drugs my god, this time i am so out of breath. Usually by day 7 i able walk around n go shopping with no complain. But this time i am so tired n out of breath. I can see black lines more n more in my fingernails...but no tingling. Appetite is still bad....rrrggg. Hang in there Cherri ((hugs)

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  • Cherri3
    Cherri3 Member Posts: 31
    edited October 2013


    Thanks Soriya, big hugs. Good that you are nearing the end! Envy and happy for you too. My worst hit will be thursday and by sunday when I am a bit better, chemo again on Monday. These days my bones are deeply in pain, the headaches, the numbness, the out of breath...etc. Only when I come into this forum, I think I am normal. No matter what I say or how I cry, my family and friends will not understand. I was smiling when I read Rambo's message that weeks seem to be forever, that's what I told my hubby yesterday.


    My nails are really bad and I hope they are not going to fall off :(


    And last friday, my baby gal turned one... I was crying so hard in pain and emotional that I told my hubby, I wanna give up and not go for chemo on Monday.

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  • soriya123
    soriya123 Member Posts: 662
    edited October 2013


    Hang in there Cherri, just keep telling yourself that you almost there. Keep telling yourself you re doing this for your daughter. :)

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  • Cherri3
    Cherri3 Member Posts: 31
    edited October 2013


    Hanging in tight, Soriya. thanks... you hang in there for herceptin too, soon we will be all well.

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  • angelanature
    angelanature Member Posts: 179
    edited October 2013


    Thanks Jerigrace,soriya,Cherri,and Rambo.I know how you feel Cherri there were many times i wanted to give up and i can't imagine taking care of a 1 yr old during this. I feel now I can get through anything,I'm in agony and can't sleep and keep thinking of all of you that still have ways to go. Hang in there and know I'm praying for you.YOU CAN DO IT!!!We are mothers,daughters,grandmothers,and sisters that need to do this to survive for the people we love and that love us. Hugs,Angela

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  • momx2
    momx2 Member Posts: 109
    edited October 2013


    angela congrats n good luck !


    My last taxol / herceptin will be day before thanksgiving , then I will continue with herceptin until end of august . After the new year will be having bilateral mastectomy , when I think about all thats ahead it feels like forever.


    Im tired and in so much pain dont know how much more of this I can take .


    Best wishes to you all !

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  • lark
    lark Member Posts: 61
    edited October 2013


    Good morning firecrackers. Praying for each of you who are suffering and feeling discouraged. Please hang in there and don't give up. I wish I could turn the clock ahead for everyone who still has several weeks to go. But I guess its the journey that makes us stronger. We're here for you and I hope that helps you as much as it has helped me.


    Congrats Angela! So sweet that the nurses celebrated with you.


    Tomorrow is my last tx. July 11th - Oct 17th has seemed like a lifetime! Going to go make some apple bread for the nurses and patients to celebrate. I have lots of questions for the dr about what we do next, when can I get this stupid port out and how long its going to take to get some energy back! Even on my best days I can't make it all the way through the grocery store without feeling like I'm going to faint.


    I went to the look good, feel better program yesterday. Almost cancelled at the last minute because I was so tired, but I'm glad I went. The free make up is good quality stuff! Mostly Elizabeth Arden - their under eye concealer is magic. Get there if you can.


    Gma - the program will help if you're feeling "dumpy". I dont have an answer on the Brian Josephs but I think I remember seeing a thread on here about brows and lashes. You might find an answer there. I have heard of people continuing to lose them a month or more after stopping tx so you'll probably need to continue for awhile.


    I'll be thinking of all of you tomorrow because you've helped me get through this as much as anyone else!

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  • DonnaD08
    DonnaD08 Member Posts: 128
    edited October 2013


    Angela...congratulations! What a great feeling!!!


    Cherri..I echo the sentiments of everyone else. We have all had moments when we want to give up, but we have to keep going. Definitely for that beautiful baby of yours. She deserves to know her brave, strong mother. Do it for yourself as well. Life is a gift and it is worth fighting for. Know that you are never alone in this. Stay strong sister for just a little while longer.


    Lark...so happy for you that your treatments are coming to an end. As far as when your energy levels come back, of course that is different for everyone. But someone once told me to give yourself at least the amount of time you spent in treatment to recover. So if it has been 6 months from diagnosis to the end of treatment, allow yourself at least six months to recover. However, you do get better and better every day. I found that walking helped and I also started juicing. That seems to help with my energy levels. But I still take a nap every day and I'm usually in bed by 10. We will get there one day.

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  • soriya123
    soriya123 Member Posts: 662
    edited October 2013


    congrats Lark so happy for you!!!Finally coming to an end.

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  • Mellie289
    Mellie289 Member Posts: 156
    edited October 2013


    Gma04 - the recommendation for Brian Joseph's is to continue 60 days after your last treatment. My brows are mostly hanging in (some patches with lost hairs that I can easily disguise with a brow pencil) and I've lost a few lashes, but I was lax on applying it daily for about a week. I hope it's not money wasted and they'll just fall out anyway.


    lark - good luck today and congratulations on making it to the finish line for chemo. I'll be in it today with you, but have another to go in three weeks.


    I'm off in a few hours for TC #5 - hoping the MO will listen to my complaints about SEs when I meet her before hand and offer some concrete help, like reducing the taxotere dosage, suggesting supplements or how to manage the SEs otherwise.

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  • Gma04
    Gma04 Member Posts: 62
    edited October 2013


    Millie


    Thanks for the info. On Brian Joseph's guess I'll have to ordered another tube of it. Mine are thinned out but not out completely HUGS for everyone


    Gma04

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  • TwoHobbies
    TwoHobbies Member Posts: 2,118
    edited October 2013


    Catching up on posts. I get so behind since I had to go back to work but I miss you girls. For those who are feeling bad I will let you know you will feel normal again. I kind of worried about that but every week is better than the last.


    Hannariggs what a great idea and it's so wonderful of you to give back.


    I did not reply to the facebook post on prevention. Part of me wanted to rant but I figured anyone should try even though I think it's complete hogwash. So I decided to ignore it but needed to vent somewhere so thanks for listening here.


    I forgot to ask my onc about what the follow up will be for me now but I can tell you for early stage I only saw my breast surgeon for a physical exam every six months. They don't do scans unless you present with symptoms.


    I have a couple more weeks of rads and next I get tossed into menopause! I'm not looking forward to that but tell myself it would have happened in a couple more years anyway. Don't you sometimes wish you could get in a time machine and just go back 10 years before all this?


    I jumped back on as I seem to post and there is a whole page I missed. congrats Angela. Reovery is a little slow at first but it comes. Cheri hang in there. You will look back when your daughter turns two and marvel at the difference a year has made in both of you. But I am sorry you have to go through this when her first birthday should bring nothing but joy. It's not fair but you will know more appreciation at each birthday that other moms take for granted.

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  • Hannariggs
    Hannariggs Member Posts: 137
    edited October 2013


    Hi Girls,


    Just finished Taxol 7 today. 5 more left! Whoo Hoo. Bloods were great, but not good when the onco said I didn't look to good due to a nasty cold. He said we could postpone, but I told him "hell no" I am here and I am ready. Just pray I don't get pneumonia (yikes). Right now I feel great due to the steroids and the drugs, but will see what a couple days brings.


    Today someone rang the bell at our cancer center. I was bawling like a baby. I am so excited for that day, yet scared too. It has been a long journey and it is the fear of the unknown again that grips me. I plan on having a bell ringing party for my day. I plan on licking that bell to signify I licked cancers butt. Should be fun, but I know I will be a mess. Hope I can pull it together for family and friends. But that is still two and a half months away. Seems so long when I look at it but so much better than the 6 months that started this whole roller coaster of a ride. My hope and prayers for all of us is that we live a long full cancer free life. We have done our time, and as I go over what, when,where, and how I came down with this disease. I decided it was nothing we did or God did. Its just life. It is what it is and I for one, am not going to go down without a fight or eating soy nuts or trying to be "perfect" for anyone. If I learned anything from this Cancer adventure is "humility". We are lucky in the fact that we truly know we are loved and by so many. Most leave this earth never knowing. We know and have a second chance and I am going to make every second count. However, I will never forget the friends I have made here and how so many I have never met have made a difference in my life. To all of you "I THANK YOU" for always being there.......I never could have made it without you.......HUGS to all

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  • Hannariggs
    Hannariggs Member Posts: 137
    edited October 2013


    GMA- I have been on Brian Joseph's since the beginning of my diagnosis. I still have eyebrows and eyelashes. They are thinning but still there. I did find it cheaper on ebay if that helps. Two bottles for basically the price of one.

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  • Cherri3
    Cherri3 Member Posts: 31
    edited October 2013


    Hugs Angela! Thanks... I couldn't manage yesterday night at all to take care of my one year old. I left it to my mum and hubby. My bones are aching badly and head pounding. I feel guilty as a mum.


    Congrats Lark! I am looking forward to remove my port too, so that I can hug my baby! She is too active and I dare not get too near, she might just pull my port out. My port is a dangling pipe near my collar bone.


    Thanks Donna...I am still walking. I want to be here for her and protect her. Indeed life is a gift. Wish to be as strong as you.


    Hi Hannariggs, well said! Hang in there, I am in the same time regimen as you. Another 5 more to go. Tears rolling in my eyes as I read your post. It is getting so tough these days with a much weaker body after each chemo...but we have to hang on. And I am thankful that I found this forum too to know that I am not alone and many share my feelings. I keep thinking if I am the only one feeling this way or that way... LOL. We have done our time! Leave us alone!


    Hi Twohobbies, yes, what a shame. I didn't want any photos taken on her birthday. I look terrible, bald, sparse lashes, brown nails, weak etc. It is really unfair, I should be enjoying motherhood. I will be on 5 years tamoxifen after my radiation, it is too early for menopause for me but not that I have a choice anymore. Hugs to you, my dear

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  • angelanature
    angelanature Member Posts: 179
    edited October 2013


    YAH! LARK!!!! xoxoxo,can't type much,neuropathys real bad,dropped and broke cup this morning and cut finger cleaning it up,ugh! Hugs All,Angela

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  • GraceB1
    GraceB1 Member Posts: 213
    edited October 2013


    I ended up staying in the hospital 8 days. And then yesterday was a 7.5 hour round trip to see my MO. Loooong day. I was completely neutropenic. White count in the double digits. After days of IVs, neutrogen shots, zofran, phengren, anitbiotics and anything anyone could think of to get me to stop pooping or puking, I started feeling better when my white count starting getting better. My MO said we'll be more proactive before my next treatment and reduce the amount of taxotere by 20%. I'll be getting a neulasta shot the day after the treatment and take the zofram and imodium starting the day before. I really hope that helps or they'll have to put me in a straight jacket to get to take any more treatments. I've never been so sick in my life. I thought my taste buds were bad with the A/C but now they're totally gone. I wish I could find just one thing that tastes good to me. Any ideas?

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  • Mellie289
    Mellie289 Member Posts: 156
    edited October 2013


    Grace - that sounds like a good plan. I have rotten taste buds with taxotere as well and just accept that nothing tastes right until about 10 days- two weeks out from the treatment. I do like some creamy things when my mouth is bad though, like ice cream, but I think that might be more for the texture soothing that burnt mouth feeling rather than anything to do with taste.


    My MO also reduced my taxotere by 20% yesterday because of the peripheral neuropathy I had getting worse last cycle. I wish there was some concrete data comparing the dosing.

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  • Rambo50
    Rambo50 Member Posts: 140
    edited October 2013


    Congrats, Lark!!!


    Grace, I've been able to tolerate grits (the instant kind ;-) and an organic potato soup from Imagine (comes in a quart-sized carton). I feel your pain with Taxol taste being worse than with A/C!

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  • LanaM
    LanaM Member Posts: 142
    edited October 2013


    The no taste buds really sucks! One thing I've found that I can taste is cutting up a good apple and spreading it with peanut butter. I also never really liked grape but grape propel is good right now. And I like sucking on cheese puffs, but they're not good for my diabetes.

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  • Gma04
    Gma04 Member Posts: 62
    edited October 2013


    hannariggs thanks for the advise on Brian Joseph's mine are sparse but hanging in there. I finished my last chemo Wed.But I have to do HERSEPTIN to Aug. I don't think I will need it during that treatment do you know for sure.if so I need to order more please let me know


    HUGS FOR ALL


    GMA04

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  • Nocompromises2013
    Nocompromises2013 Member Posts: 292
    edited October 2013


    I have officially been signed off my onc for 6 months :))))))))


    Rambo my bloods 5weeks post final chemo all pretty much back to normal. Neuts were 4.3. WBC overall 5.3. Lymphocytes a little low but nothing in the scheme of things


    The funniest thing my liver is now in better condition during and post chemo than it was at the start due to cessation ( or dramatic cut down of ETOH ) so ladies my message to you is chemo is better for your liver than alcohol - how scary is that !!!


    I Now have 6 monthly checks alternating between BS and onc. So no Drs or procedures for 3 months. And I am officially in menopause so starting tamoxifen tmrw


    Hugs to all. Xx

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