Starting Chemo, November 2013 Group

No chemo today, skin isn't ready. I go back on December 6th for a recheck and start on the 9th if she thinks I'm ready. The upside is that I'll be able to enjoy Thanksgiving break with my kids.

Sending out good vibes all of you today!

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH! sorry for screaming so loud. I can't believe how insensitive husbands can be sometimes. With our treatments so entwined with the holidays it makes having absolute plans difficult. They tell us to avoid crowds, avoid sick people, avoid, avoid, avoid..... My third chemo around is the 23rd minute left on the 24th of course the following day is Christmas. My husband says to me this morning everybody is going to be at my mothers house for Christmas this year!! I told him,"I can't go.... It is 2 days after my chemo treatment and we have no way of knowing how I will be feeling or what my system will be like on that day." he got all angry at me and made that disapproving face ..... Then said your going even if you have to wear a mask the whole time! I told him that was ridiculous because we're talking about a very small home with at least 30 people crammed in. This is not even addressing how I may be feeling or my counts! Then he said, "well I'm going!" he continued making that disapproval face as I said I'm not making this choice to purposely not want to go to your mothers house for Christmas,. It is just that we have no clue what thanks will be like on that day ! Then he very angrily said, fine... We're not going!! And he left for wk. He acts like I'm choosing to use going to chemo is an excuse not to go to some mother's house. Because of my other health issues I have been unable to go to some family functions in the past and he has gone alone. But this year I need him here! But he makes me feel like I'm depriving him of his family. I've never stoped him from going or ask him to stay home in the past when I was unable to go. I would tell him and the children (grown now) to go and have fun! Its sucky enough having to deal with all of this during the holidays but when your hubby acts like this... It really hurts! I just want to yank this port out and screw the whole thing! I did not need that this morning! I already feel isolated enough because of my other health conditions now I feel like I'm invisible! Sorry venting for so long. I needed to talk to vent before I explode. I can't stop crying now...sorry I can do paragraphs! grrrr....

Quirky...sorry for the delay, but enjoy the turkey!

PatAlameda...thanks for the tip. I did get some Colace and Immodium. You just never know.

Sorry for the rough morning Paulette. The holidays are always emotionally charged times. Add in cancer and chemo and it's just too much. I hope you can come to some sort of compromise that satisfies everyone. For good or bad, we don't have any family close by. It will be me and hubby and two kids for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Gotta get ready to go to medical center.

-Kathy

ohhhh so sorry you can't start Quirky. Here I am looking forward to more inspiring crafts! I do understand about the skin, tho. My wound has mostly closed again, but that chemo did a number on my skin and I regressed. Don't panic about the delay.

Paulette, give yourself a good cry. This holiday season is totally screwed up for all of us and our families. Any possibility this was your husband's way of venting about the C and how it's affecting him too? My husband has been great, scary great. Better than he's been when I'd had babies or had flu. I'm on edge waiting for him to explode. This disease gets the entire family, not just us, the patients.

My gift today is back pain. Every day a new and special surprise!

OK, just got my period, really? I thought chemo was supposed to shut down my ovaries...???!!!! So if that's not killing my er / pr + does that mean any new cancers can grow? since obviously the hormones appear stronger than the chemo>??? worrisome...and annoying...one more thing...always the bleeding...I want to be DONE!!!

Audra - I never missed my period on AC chemo....or on tamoxifen.......and my reoccurrence was triple negative which meant the prevention the first time around worked. Keep the faith! I am due to get my period any day too

thanks yall...what causes extra problems I have been dealing with medical conditions since I was 10 years old so it gets really old for my husband and family to have to deal with it and here we have something new! What makes it even more difficult is he is an RN! Just like a plumber when he gets off work he doesn't want to nurse! So I end up getting the short end of the stick. I must say he has been very supportive generally. A bit more than normal but sometimes he can be so insensitive perhaps he wasn't even thinking. Just starting the day out with him being pissed off at me was not a nice way to start! Sorry Corky that you can't go today. That's a real bummer! Hang in there and treat yourself to a nice meal that you won't enjoy after you start chemo! In reference to the go go or not go go situation! Since a child I have had gastroparesis so I don't go unless I take something! After the first dose of CT I was running for 24 hours! Then back to my normal pattern of nothing for almost a whole week even taking citrucel, docalax and finally had to do an enema which they generally do not want you to do but I was left with no choice!

audra67: I haven't cut my hair either, but planning on it this weekend. I want to get my 8 year old son who has autism involved in it as well. I told him that I would like to get a haircut just like him. He seems to like the idea. We can go to a hairdresser together. I just don't want him to get all upset over my hair loss, so gradual change might be more acceptable for everyone involved. I wonder how it is going to be for me, since I always had long hair. Would I have to cover all my mirrors?

For those who are about to start, be careful not to treat GI (Big C or Big D) until you know which you will have. I never had C at any point, only D, but I had it each treatment. If I had started preemptive C stuff I would have been a real mess, and even more dehydrated!

For Neulasta - take the Claritin!!! Take a regular 24-hour Claritin (not Claritin D) at least an hour prior to the injection, and continue for at least several days. Here is a link to the clinical trial, and be sure to get approval from your MO first for any OTC drugs.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01311336

On the subject of crowd avoidance - I never wore a mask and never avoided crowds, didn't use hand sanitizer - just washed my hands A LOT! I was receiving Neulasta and weekly CBC (complete blood counts) that indicated I had adequate WBC (white blood cells) so I had no need to avoid crowds. I went to the mall, grocery shopped, ran errands, and did all of the normal things I would have done before chemo. My daughter was sick a couple of times while I was receiving chemo - I went in her room, did her laundry, washed her dishes, etc., - never had a problem. I went to a big wedding two days after my fifth TCH, no problems other than being a bit tired. Everyone has to do what they are comfortable with, and what their docs recommend. The nadir for WBC, which are your infection fighting cells, is not until 7-9 days after infusion. If you are not receiving Neulasta after each infusion you may have dropping counts, but if you are on Neulasta - and your counts remain stable - you can be in crowds and public places according to your tolerance and your MO's advice.

thanks specialk! that's the first people info I heard! I am on nulasta and septa....with history of severe septocemia MRSA and polycyropenia...autoimmune stuff....and and.......just waiting to see how my counts faired. will do tomorrow. have my port plus a huber already there for fluids should b an easy draw! PRAISE GOD!!!! my veins were done years ago w health junk.

Thank you all for your suggestions, I had never thought about many of the questions that a lot of you asked so that is helping me to be prepared. I hadn't even thought about constipation or diarrhea, I am so focused on the N/V that I dread so much. That and the possibility of permanent baldness, that would stink to go through all this and notget your hair back. I am only 35! I don't want to sport a chrome dome forever. Everyone tells me not to worry, there is only a 6% chance of that happening but there is a 12% chance of getting BC, and only 5% of women who get it are under 40 so I am not good with 6%, I lost the bet once already! Sorry, I will stop whining now.  

Fairy Dog Mother - I hope that your treatment goes well tomorrow, I am right behind you on Thursday.

I am so grateful for all of you posting your experiences and how you handle it, this site is a God-send! I am back at work trying not to focus on "the big day". I will be running to the store after work tonight and grab some of the things you all suggested.

Thank you all!

Gina

hi gina & mom nv!!! everyone here is great! its nice to have a sounding boaard to share good and bad. you tend to tell family...its ok....minimize stuff. I haven't heard of that site...seems my family has their own gossip chain! that's why I try not to share too much w them. the story seems to get twisted! ...unreal!!!I understand the snarky desire! I actually SNARKED that at my hubby this morning . I know wasn't cool but it was hard not to viper tongue him back.....:( I hate that I said it. I just felt like ..well.............hoping the diflucan calms down my mouth and femalie stuff! I AWAYS end up w thrush and yeast infections eh gen in antibiotics. aargh! my mouth really is raw. magIc mouthwash is GREAT! OUR LIST IS GETTING SO BIG! hope ev ere is doing ok today! !!

I'm wrestling with the Christmas issue. ...I want to go but. ........

The percentage question still haunts me. I was deemed 'low risk' for BC two years ago when a specialist was looking into my benign fibroadenoma on my left side. He said that I was at a 'greater risk crossing the road than developing BC'. I wish he was right!

Well, here I am 42 years old and with no family history of cancer! I guess the percentage just didn't work out for me.

Paulette-I have told my family that we will decide about the holidays probably a day or 2 before. I don't know how I am going to feel and the last thing I want to do is travel and be away from my bed. I also want to keep things as normal as possible for my kids, but I think they should understand.

Had first AC on Monday and I have had a terrible headache ever since. Last night I swear it was a migraine because I could not have lights on. Was nauseous last night but today just minimal appetite. I don't know what food tastes good to me.