October 2013 Chemotherapy

Thanks so much wrenn, schoolcounselor, vintagegal, kbeee, viji, pam358, smrlvr, and teamkim for your responses. My apologies if I left anyone off this list! It is comforting to know that I'm not alone in having these thoughts/feelings.

schoolcounselor- I have been very fortunate in my work arrangements. I am in solo practice, which has it's pros and cons. I had to pay for a colleague to cover my patients for emergencies when I took off time after surgery (3 weeks). I have been working since then, but have cut back to 3 days/week (2 days the week following chemo). I do a lot of stuff via phone when things crop up on the days I'm not in the office. Honestly, if I didn't have the flexibility of being able to control my own schedule, I don't think I could work through chemo.

I had TC #3 today. Am tired, but otherwise doing okay.

I hope all of you are handling your side effects well!

xoxo

kcat, I would go crazy if I did not leave the house! I have been to the store a bunch, to church, to my kids' school events and swim meets, etc. My counts dropped very, very low for a couple rounds which we did not know until i spiked a temp...even with that, I never had an infection...temp was because of low counts. i do not wear a mask. What i did was always have tissues, etc inc ase i needed to wipe nose, eyes, etc...never wanted to touch with my hands. I always, always have hand cleaner with me. I use it a lot. I also use Lysol on all of the cabinet handles, railings, etc weekly at home (basically anything that anyone touches), and I also wipe the steering wheel of my car with Clorox wipes pretty frequently. Keeping hands clean seems pretty important. If anyone is coughing, hacking, etc when I am out, I simply stay away from them. I am happiest when I am out and about somewhere, because I am living life and forget I have cancer for a few hours, which is really nice.

kcat2013

ooohh I know how you feel! I had a couple friends say I should wear a mask. Here I am feeling & looking like cr*p, eyes tearing, nose running, sometimes bleeding, & a mask too? I blow my nose constantly when going from outside into a store. I feel I scare people, but it is a side effect (3 months) not a cold.

I do go out when I can, to stores, to the shop I sell out of, to auctions. Not as much as I'd like but when I feel ok and so far no germs have got me.

Vintage, yes. Especially the days we feel stronger. It is good for our minds!

Headeast, They are so cute!!!

Headeast....

Congrats on finishing !!!! I finished 3 of 6 TCH's , halfway through the TC. I had chemo Thursday, not feeling too good today...mostly stomache related. ( I just want to get back in bed and curl up) But am getting ready to bake. I promised the kids gingerbread cookies and they love to decorate them and I bought enough to attempt a gingerbread house. Let's see how it goes.

V

Enjoy the parade, I have gone many times and it is beautiful!!! You should have beautiful weather tonight a bit on the cool side.

My Activia helps to sooth when I feel like eating it. I also put it in shakes.

V

Headeast,

Love your warriors!!!! Cute green coats to boot

TeamKim, What is Gemzar? I am not familiar? Is this in another class of drugs?

My nurse navigator told me turmeric would be good for neuropathy from taxol. The Anticancer book also recommends it for anti cancer properties.

I am not familiar with Gemzar either, but I guess I am about to be, lol. It is not in the Taxane family. From my reading, it is used in uterine and pancreatic cancer as well as BC -- mainly for cancer with mets. My cancer hadn't spread, IDC with clear nodes, but I guess since my sensitivity to the Taxotere makes the taxanes off limits, this is another option to finish me off. The onc nurses tell me it generally doesn't have too bad SEs.

I was kind of hoping my MO would just say "Well, you had 3 tx of T and 4 tx of C, and that should do it." But I am not to get off so lucky. One thing, though, with getting just the Cytoxan in Thursday's infusion, my side effects are just about nil. Also didn't get Neulasta! since my WBC count was still up from 5 days of steroids trying to control the hives from last tx. I feel much more with it since I don't have zillions of drugs in my system.

So I worked yesterday (first time I worked the day after an infusion) and gave my last two final exams to my classes. On the way to work, though, I got rear-ended on the freeway. My beloved SUV is pretty mangled, and will be in the shop for at least a couple of weeks. NOT what I needed just now! Made me think right away of all you gals enduring the winter storms with long commutes to treatment -- please be careful and stay safe!

Well, Taxol #2 in the books, I haven't had any SEs so far. My onc said Tumeric was good but to wait until I finish chemo to start taking it. My youngest son graduated from college today, I'm so glad I was able to attend. We went to lunch after and I had shrimp remoulade salad and fried catfish! It was yummy, love seafood. We had a great day. Hope everyone has a great weekend with minimal problems! We are having family over tomorrow and cooking gumbo and watching our Saints play!

Gramof2, congratulations! And Gumbo sounds delicious!

Teamkim, ugh sorry to hear about your accident. Stay strong.

Grams, congrats on your sons graduation & be able to eat great food.

I have my 2nd Taxol tomorrow-worried since I have a virus and had a cold as well. My taste buds are coming back but I unlike you am have Se's from Taxol-fatigue & bone pain. Also I think I had an allergic reaction to the drug. Not looking forward to tomorrow but only 3 more treatments to go!

School, you hang in there & definitely don't push yourself.

What is everyone's plans for the holiday?