September 2013 Chemo Group

So, I'm having an increased interest in making some really big pink targets, purchasing a gun, and blowing the scrap out of the targets!!! I really want to send this cancer a KILL, KILL, KILL message!!

Is this abnormal?  ;-)  Do I need psychological counseling???      <--wearing my hearing protection for the firing range.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.  May 2014 bring us happiness once more, kick cancers ass into another galaxy. Get our taste buds back, our skin tone back, our hair, our strength and keep our will to live on, to see this journey as a challenge that we conquered mentally and physically and help others thru it. Let us be grateful that this legal poison called chemo saved our lives. 

As we say in french, bonne et heureuse annee et surtout la sante!  Happy and healthy new year my friends

Xoxo. Cheryl 

Well said, Cheryl. 

Happy New Year to all.  This is our year. Let's KCA!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you Lovely Ladies!

I know that 2014 will be a better year for all of us!

I spent today at a chemo cocktail party LOL All went well & I feel fine.

Here's hoping we all have a healthy, happy 2014 & kick the cancer to the curb!

Also concerning radiation - I am 25/33 appointments and the side effects are here.  Even though mine are definitely worse than average it is still nothing compared to chemo.  My armpit area and under the breast in the crease, it is practically black and starting to peel.  It isn't like a sunburn more like a really bad chafe.  So the majority of the time if I am focused on something else (like now) it is barely more than a soft itch.  But at night or when I do a weird movement and rub it's not fun. And between that and the hot flashes, I can no longer blame my poor sleep on my 2 yr old.     I started wearing the tank top under my bra but I am so large chested it didn't help prevent the rubbing.  My doc taped a sterile pad into my crease and over my armpit and while slightly uncomfortable - the areas feel so much better.  The pad stays and doesn't move when I do.  The reason I bring this up is I never saw this tip.  When I asked the nurse for additional supplies she seemed to disparage the technique (because it uses tape I think) but I am just very careful to tape only on my good (non-radiated) skin. My rad onc did warn me of this since I am at least a DD and so required a higher dose of radiation to fully penetrate my breast - and therefore my skin gets a stronger dose.  And the lotions - didn't work for me - but they didn't hurt either.

I still maintain that the worst part of radiation is the daily appointment.  My rad onc also said that the side effects will actually get worse for about a week after completion before starting to heal. But I can see the light at the end of this tunnel and I am coming!

i do kj have ibc and idc

Happy New Year ladies!!!

I soooooooooo couldn't have made it through the last half of 2013 without you guys. Thank you for the friendship and support and laughter. 

Hubby and I are leaving tomorrow for a casino date, then Thurs is pre-op testing and Fri is surgery. Probably won't post much over the next few days but I'll try to update if I can. 

Let's continue to kick ass in 2014!!!

Good Luck, LHL!  We will be praying for you and thinking about you!

Kbeee..... I laughed at your post about the calendar. Too funny!  2014 is going to be so much better for all of us!  Your hair sounds like mine... About 1/4 inch of peach fuzz. It's all white... Yuck. But it's hair!

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. I'm trying not to think about surgery too much. It really freaks me out. Tonight's casino date should be a good distraction. :-)

KBee,
How far past chemo are you?

I thought someone said that real hair wouldn't start coming in until about 4 weeks after the last chemo?  I was planning to shave my head one last time next weekend (3 weeks out) and get rid of the fuzzy chemo hair.  Good idea?  Bad idea??

All the best to you LightHouseLady!!!!! We'll miss you & be looking for your next post!

I would looooove to have a crew cut by April!  My hair cannot grow fast enough!  I am not taking any supplements (other than calcium and vitamin D)...kind of tired of taking everything.  Is anyone else taking Biotin, or anything else?

Happy new year!!! I had to post bec., damn, it's great to be done with that year full of cancer Only finishing treatment in the future, nothing else, knock on wood. I had a great realization at a NYE party about how, in the midst of chemo, I felt so awful that I wondered if I'd ever feel normal again, if I could move around the house without pain, if I could think or read without forgetting so fast. And by Xmas, yes, I could, & I even had hair growing on my head. My normal life didn't all come back at once, but things have definitely come back, & most days I feel 100% like my old self. Just with a "shaved" head.

Happy New Year to all the strong ladies on here.  

I haven't been on here for about a month. I see where some of you finished chemo.  That is so awesome.  Congrats to you ladies. 

It seems that since I have been on the last half of this trip instead of being happy I am getting closer to being done I have been more irritated, frustrated and angry.  Taxol sucks.  I dread it more than I ever did the A/C.  It has been harder for me to stay positive.  I recently found out that my dad still does not support my decision to go through w/ chemo.  He told my husband while I was not around that all the physical and mental stuff that comes with chemo was my choice and that I should not have done it.  My genetic score was in the high risk bracket for recurrence.  When you are told you have 1 in 5 chance of recurrence in the next 5 years w/out chemo what would you do?  I am in my late 30's and healthy, I figure chemo would be better now than later.  

I want to say thank you to a few ladies for the helpful info on your experiences with taxol and neulasta.

Lighthouselady  I had the restless leg really bad with my 1st taxol during treatment and for a couple of days.  They said the Benadryl they give me causes it and lowered the dose on my next one.  I still have it during the treatment but not at home.

Mamastewart   The L-glutamine definitely helps with the neuropathy.  I can tell it is helping.

Kbeee    You were right about taxol causing the bone pain even without neulasta.  I had such a difficult time with my 1st taxol.  I went for my 2nd one and told my onc how bad it was and he said to skip my neulasta to see if it went better.  I still had a lot of bone and joint pain but it was not as bad as the first one.  So I know it is taxol causing the pain even though they say it is not.  I skipped my shot after my 3rd taxol and it went the same as last time.  But now my WBC is borderline from not doing the neulasta.  My nurse was pretty concerned and talked to my onc and he said to continue without shot.  I have done ok so far considering everyone at work has had the flu or stomach bug that is going around.  My little girl just got over the flu and my son has just recovered from the stomach bug as well.  It is crazy that at the time when I can NOT get sick it is all around me.  I just keep knocking on wood and disinfecting everything.  

It is hard to believe that my last taxol is Monday.  The only part of all of this that I will miss is my nurse.  I have had her from the beginning and she has been so helpful.  I call my PS tomorrow to schedule the 2nd part of my reconstruction ( implants ).   Excited to get this done.  To be able to sleep on my stomach again will be wonderful.

Thank you to everyone on here.  You have all been so helpful with your posts. Kept me from thinking I was crazy at times.  

Hope that this is going to be a wonderful new year for all of you wonderful ladies.

Happy New year everyone.  I woke up yesterday to a new year...and the realization that I will be DONE WITH CHEMO BY THE END OF THIS MONTH!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ME!!!!!!

So I go in to #8 of 12 Taxols today, with really good lab numbers.  I had a good week, except for New Year's Eve, when I felt really tired and had a little diarrhea, which thankfully resolved itself quickly.

Josgirl, you are really getting through this fast; sorry to hear about your rads challenges.  I have that up next and it scares the bejabbers out of me....but hey, I've made it this far, I can get the rest of the way.

Hope this finds everyone happy and feeling good.  Keep enjoying your New Year, ladies.