Starting Chemo, November 2013 Group

HI all-

Thanks for all of the love and encouragement!  I am feeling better today, thank the LORD!!!  I actually slept til 8!  So 3 full days of hell from neulasta shot, nice.  I do NOT think I will be asking for that again...

LOVE all of the photos and the scarf tying info!!!  sounds easy, hope I can do it!

Taking daughter with husband driving, not feeling that good yet, to a friends...Yay!  to get out of the house is such a thrill!

The little things...:)

Hi ladies: It feels so great to be sitting on my computer
instead of typing away on my Iphone.

Paulette: I hope
& pray you’re feeling much better. Lisa:
I notice you have chemo the day before me.

Audra: I hope you’re feeling much better! Flu like symptoms

I’m not feeling nausea or dizzy for the past week. I’m
drinking like an elephant on diluted water (3/4 glass of water and ¼ canned
green tea). I can’t tolerate just drinking water. Oh, I feel like a pregnant
lady. Any kind of strong odour just make me sick. I feel like I’m ready to throw up. Anybody had those
symptoms? All of my hair is almost gone and I’m very sensitive, but not itchy.
Thank God! I like wearing turbines, just like someone is holding my head. I can’t
wear glasses cuz the arms of the glasses make big dents on the edge of my head.
I’m just about bald like a little duckling. Lol. I don’t get headaches from not
wearing them. I eat six times a day and eat small portions instead of a big
meal. I found that help my stomach from being bloated or nauseated.  My stomach is shrinking. Can’t eat big meals
like I used to. I’m HER2+ so I can’t eat red meat.

Amazonwarrior: Hugs
love your scarf. On Thursday I went to Look Great Feel Good workshop. I really
enjoyed myself. My self-esteem went sky rocket lol. We learned how to use
makeup and hide those dark areas like under our eyes. They gave us a makeup kit
with all kinds of accessories. I volunteer to try on a wig and they all cheered
when they saw my baby duckling head lol. I had fun with the ladies. I order
another partial wig where I would wear that when I wear a hat or toque. It was
fun going Christmas shopping. I need to go shopping again before my next chemo
treatment which is Dec. 24/13. I will say later as I enter into chemo land lol.
I am happy that I don’t have that much side effects. I will try to make it to
our annual Christmas late night service. I don’t feel nauseated or dizzy
usually till the next day, which is Christmas. PatAlameda: my mind went blank will come back to you later lol

The port underneath my upper arm is healing nicely, but its
still a little sensitive. I’m exercising it gently. I still need to exercise my
left arm due to surgery. My oncologist said you need to lift it up high. He
lift it up and it felt kinda funny, like being stretched. I’m working on that
arm. My BC surgery has healed.

Wren: welcome to baldness. My head is like a baby duckling. On
my head I have long strands of hair here and there. My chemo nurse suggest that
I keep my hair 4 inches long.

VirginiaNJ – cool pet – Piglet. I use a cushion when I go
out somewhere for comfort. It’s comforting to hold it where my operations was –
left side.

QuickGirl – hugs what kind of pain you’re experiencing? Hope
you take a nap and forget about the world. Paulette23:
I’m reading your posts. I hear you!  Inks: welcome to chemo land

Ellen: way to go! Five miles of walking, that’s excellent.
Proud of you! I don’t go for walks because of the cold spell, but I use the
exercise bike as much as I can.

SpirtBless: Hope your infection is healing nicely. Audra67: Hang in there. We are here for
you.

hey ladies.

Seems like the weather front is hitting many of us northern folk - -32 deg here today with wind chill. I froze my butt of walking my furry beast. The hatches are buttoned down for the snow that amazon is getting already. Yuck! Btw Amazon, love the wig - looks like the same model as mine.

Paulette, I'm sorry your getting hit so hard with the last chemo. My thoughts are with you my chemo sister.

Ellen - I hate those steroids they put us on - l'm not sure of their exact purpose but I was under the impression it was to help with nausea - HA I say to that!

I've had a rather emotional couple of days. My elderly parents are coming to terms with my cancer and it is really breaking my heart. Both have not been well and I have been supporting them in their struggles over the last year. Now they are trying to help me but are really not able to do very much, making them feel helpless. I found myself reassuring them that all would be fine as I was running my fingers in my hair and big tuffs of it were coming out, which just added to their sadness. It's hard to seem strong when that sort of thing happens.

I know we are all going through a physical hell with this, but I find the emotional impact this has is far harder.

Take care ladies, and keep warn

Judy

jab - Judy - You are so right. The physical part of this, for me, is annoying and not plesant; rather like having a particularly nasty flu that comes back every two weeks and causes hair to fall out, but still..... The sickest I've ever been was either when I had mononucleosis at 15, or when I had pneumonia at 17, and so far chemo hasn't been nearly as bad---physically--as either of those were. Emotionally is a whole different ballgame; I hate what this has put my husband through (and he's being a super hero,) and my elderly parents and ...well, my entire family. So I find myself in a position sometimes when I am reassuring THEM that I'm gonna be okay, when I'm not 100% sure myself that I AM gonna be okay. It's tough!

Our weather sure is different from everyone else's; just heavy rain here tonight, and there are tornado watches a couple of counties away. Hopefully none of the nasty weather willl come our way. I'd rather have snow than tornadoes, but honestly, I just don't like weather. Any weather. Give me a day with an 80 degree high and a few puffy clouds in a blue sky, and a night that's just barely cool eough for a long sleeved shirt, and that's about as extreme as I want the weather to be.

BigT16: I'm looking very forward to being able to say "my next AC is my last." I've got two more to go. Course, then I have taxotere and more cytoxan to look forward to but I'll whine about that when the time comes, I reckon. It'll all be over before we know it! Right? Right!

Phebe: over the past couple of days I have become SO sensitive to smells. Didn't really get that with my first round of chemo, but it's definitely hitting me this time, and with two dogs and a cat in the house, I sure do wish it would go away! I can't drink plain water either, at least, not much of it. I mostly drink seltzer water with a splash of cranberry juice because it's one of the few things that taste the way i expect it to. also managed to drink some coffee earlier that was GOOD....it just required me to put three times the usual amount of sweetner in it to achieve goodness.

Ellen: LOL thanks for that laugh. I needed that!

hi all...still feeling pretty rough.......thunderstorms rumbling and lots of rain! have put off er cause family outing today been waiting for. not the wisest thing but I'm tired of missing my kids! feel dzzy.earz ringing and weak but I HATE hospitals.don't wannnnnna go.....I know they'll keep me....pooo.....just gonna enjoy being w family....then go....hoping great day for

Woo-hoo, I slept in yesterday and today. Stayed in bed until 6am which sure beats 4:30. Appetite, smell, taste, and bowels are all back to normal, just in time for AC #2 to mess it all up again.

Jab, I'm so sorry that you are having such extra stress about your parents. As horrible as it may sound, I'm almost glad that my mom passed before this happened. I don't think she could have taken it. People who haven't taken this particular trip we're on can tell us to worry about ourselves, and take care of ourselves, but they don't understand that we also have to worry about what we're doing to the ones we love also. No, we aren't really doing anything to them, but the emotional part overrules the intellectual part and tells us that it's our fault they are worrying and stressing. I can't imagine watching one of my kids go through this. I really believe that would be harder than facing it myself. Try to keep your brave face on for them, sure it will be hard, but also helpful to all of you if you can convince them you're good. If you can somehow help them unstress, it would actually take a little stress off of you too.

Phebe, be careful about exercising the port arm. They can shift, especially before they are healed all the way.

Virginia, watch out with the snow blower, don't fall or try too much at once. We rarely get enough for a blower, but Hubby has a plow blade for his riding mower so he can get the driveway.

Audra, did you get your drive in? It's great to get out a little if you can.

BigT, Hubby brought a cold home for me too. The MO said to use Mucinex. It seems to be helping a lot.

Paulette, you are going to make all of us jealous with the pics of a green yard with no snow. And I shaved the stubble too.

Smrlvr, what time is your AC Monday? I go at 10, maybe we'll be there the same time and can send good vibes to each other. My oldest daughter is also a teacher. At one of the worst high schools in town. She's had chances to transfer to other schools, but she thinks she can make more of a difference where she is. I know she's dedicated and cares about the kids, so maybe she can be the sort of roll model they don't get outside of school.

Northwinds, my MO said I could have a glass or 2 of wine as long as it didn't seem to upset my stomach. I've only had it twice since I started and it went down FINE.

Amazon, thanks for the scarf tip. I couldn't figure out what to do with the long ones except to tie it behind my bald head and drape the ends over my shoulders

Lisa, have to agree with you on the weather. The older I get the more I hate the cold. And to me anymore, anything below 80 is cold. I don't even want it cool at night anymore. Give me swimming weather ALL year round and I'd be happy.

Toni, hope your weather lets up and you get out okay tomorrow. What's a pre-chemo check? I get all the blood work done right before the chemo and go back 7 days later for blood counts.

Here's hoping everyone has a good day.

Ellen, I recorded my temp every day. it was a great source of frustration. My usual temp is about 96-97. Days 3-10 after TC, I ran a temp in the low 99s during round 1....round 2, it was in the high 99s...round 3, it was in the 100.1-100.3 range. MO would not see me at 100.3, but when it went to 100.6, I was sent to ER where it was 101 and I was admitted because my neutrophils were so low. Round 4, I got neulasta. I ran a temp from days 3-8 on that, and this time it was 101 each evening. I was sent to the ER... both times, there was no infection ...and I got a complete workup in the ER. I was so frustrated because my MO kept telling me no ibuprofen, and he would say "no way chemo causes fever like this." My response was that, "apparently in me, it does." Luckily, the MO on call the second time I went to the ER said I could take ibuprofen, so I did, and was much more comfortable...this was only after a complete work up to rule out infection. It is frustrating. I hope your fevers ease. Mine was always a couple degrees higher in the evening than during the day which was an added frustration because they would not see me during the day because the temp was not high enough, and at night, they would just send me to the ER. I hope your fever eases soon.

I just had my second chemo on Monday, so schedule wise, we aren't that far off; so it cold be a chemo thing. I'm doing AC though, so don't know if that makes a difference.

I'm the same as you though; my temp used to be below "normal" most of the time, and even though it was fairly common (especially during PMS week) for me to spike a temp up to 99 or above, I always knew when it happened because I'd feel awful from it.

For some reason, cooling my *feet* off seems to make a huge difference. Maybe I am part Cocker Spaniel? ::::sniffs feet to check for "frito paws"::::::

Good morning everyone ~

I sort of checked out the past couple days...glad to have last AC behind me and on to Taxol, but this treatment wiped me out more than others. I've been sort of a zombie, saving what energy I have had to try to muster Christmas spirit for the family. I have been reading posts, but it's so much to get caught up on, so I'll jump in this morning where I last left off. (Been up since 4 am -- thanks, Decadron!)

Love all the pet pics! We have a cat and some fish. Kitty became a lap cat when I came home from surgery and realized I couldn't pick her up. She's been my buddy.

I can't remember who did the fabulous scarf modeling and wig (Amazon?)...beauteous!

Audra, glad you're felling better. I'm on day 4 post-Neulasta which is when I usually start with the aches. I almost am welcoming it after the nausea of the past few days.

Ellen, ha! I can't rely on my brain at all anymore, especially as a thought gets to my mouth and things unrelated to what I was thinking start coming out!

Phebe, it sounds like you're muddling through pretty well these days. I'm 2 1/2 months post-surgery and can lift my arms above my head pretty well. Keep working at it. It still feels like things are stretching, but in a good way. I also eat all day, squeezing in lots of small bites between regular meals. It seems to help.

BigT16, I did my last AC last week...glad it's over! Are you doing Taxol after? My MO says nausea is mild at most with Taxol....woo hoo!

Judy, I hear you about parents. When I first told my 86-year-old mom, she had a terrible time. She had to be hospitalized b/c she literally worried herself sick. It was so hard to help her go through that phase of grief and be strong at the same time. She lives a little over and hour from me and is now rallying to do what ever she can, which has been wonderful. I can tell how good she feels to be needed, which is hard for me b/c I HATE being needy!

Northwinds, my MO said three glasses of wine a week was okay...all at once even! I start Taxol 12/26, so I know I'll feel my best on Christmas. And I am having a fabulous cabernet with everyone with my roast beef! I've stayed away from wine (miss it!) when I'm taking any medication, but I don't think it would have been a big deal as long as no driving.

Hey, Ellen, watch the fever. It sounds like everyone is on top of it, but maybe stay in until it normalizes?

Has anyone else done Taxol yet? I'm doing it dose dense, and my MO says that damage to finger and toenails might be lessened doing it over a shorter period of time. Nausea should be less, but body aches more. I'm doing Neulasta for the first round, but she says my WBC may be high enough to discontinue it for the other three rounds. Also, Decadron only with the infusion and not at home...yeah!

Well, the first kid just woke up and is off for a Starbuck's date with his girlfriend...so cute!

Good vibes for today, girls!

I have a question for those running low-grade fevers, or those spiking fevers.  Are you receiving Neulasta injections?  Do you think the Neulasta helps and/or creates fever? 

I'm confused about the cause for the low-grade fevers and why the 100.5 F cut-off is so important.  And then a trip to the E.R.????  Ugggggghhhh.  Cannot imagine with the weather here PLUS the craziness of ALL of the E.R.s around here during this time of year...all the flu-carriers and virus carriers.  Seems like an E.R. is the worst place to be...

Forgive me...I think Virginia asked...my cancer center does a physical with bloodwork 24 hrs pre-chemo day before they give the all-clear for the round of chemo.  I'm not sure why but it's their protocol.  Pre-physical, chemo then Neulasta.  No bloodwork afterward unless I feel very ill.

Tonilee - so you sent the snow to us??? . Thankfully it was so cold that it was super powdery. I didn't actually ask about the blood work. I only get bloodwork a couple of days before chemo via a finger stick. They draw blood only once per month. I never get my blood checked right after chemo.....I never even take my temperature!!! (I remember them telling me to my first go round....but not one person (nurse or doc) has told me to take my temp, so I don't lol

Paulette - thinking of you........I am an insomniac too so I am always reading your posts at all hours of the night :O

Wally I was careful.....used the snow thrower once and shoveled a couple of times. Was careful as my PS doesn't want me "working" my chest muscles too strenuously. Was actually grateful for the fresh air and exercise as I was laid out from e last chemo treatment (last Monday).

Lisa- lollllll RE frito paws! That gave me a flash back to our dog growing up.....perfect description.

Quirky- I had he bone pain too---sooooooo debilitating. It's amazing how it just subsides......

Managed to wrap presents today... Yippee. Giants stink so now I am thinking I should bake a batch of Christmas cookies

Sending warm thoughts to everyone!!!!!!!

Today is my down day. It's probably because I am experiencing my PMS symptoms, and have had a bubbly stomach all day, with low appetite, and my nurse didn't show up, so I ended up packing and dressing my own wound (the drained abscess site), and because I feel the wound is not healing faster, and each day I feel I am falling further and further behind this group's 'chemo bus', that makes me want to shout: Hey, wait for me! I am frustrated with my own body's healing abilities, and not getting my chemo treatment on time, for being stuck at home, for not being able to decorate for Christmas because my arms hurt, for feeling sorry for myself, and not having the energy to respond to you.

hugggggggs Amazon.... So wish there was something more I could do/say. Thinking of you and sending you all the best karma possible!!!!!!

amazon, waiting stinks! I was close to 120 out from my op when I started last Monday. It made me totally crazy. The bus will not leave without you!