First AC...Care to share your SE?

My first wasn't that bad. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton but I didn't have nausea or anything. Now the bad part is the Nulasta shot the next day. Bone pain! I had a hard time moving around for a few days but it passed and that was the worst.

I should also point out that I get steroids in my mix and I was hungry all the time! 

My second chemo is this week but so far not awful. Oh and I started to feel normal a few days ago...so you can look forward to that. Good luck!

Great post stelina!

Chemo is different for each of us... but its always good to know we are not alone.

Chemo is a cumulative thing.... stay strong.. 

i know its hard to see at the beggining but...it will end.

No i dont...as for my hair

I had 28 inches of long wavy dark brown hair...

i couldnt bear the thought of watching it fall out... so i decided to shave it off...

i invited my daughters, my sister, my best friend and my husband to be with me when i did it...my grandson was there too.. i didnt want him to get scared once he saw grandma with no hair... he is 5.

I braided my hair into one long braid.. my husband cut it... 

to be honest... i was overwhelmed..i honestly thought it would be nothing really to cut it off, its just hair, i had other things to worry about..

but i cried... 

my grandson kept telling me i was beautiful... he helped to make me laugh.

In the end it was a great idea to have them all there... but i wish i had gone to a hair dresser and had a nice short cut done first... i think looking back.. it would have made the transition easier.

I didnt wear scarves..or hats...or wigs... a part of me did not want to hide my bald head,  i wanted to accept the "ugly" that i saw...and find the beautiful..that everyone else saw..

its not easy.. but its all part of this path...and i have learned more about myself, in the last 1.5 years , then i have in the past 45...

i hope this in some way helps you cope...

@ Celine: oh, I can relate to much of you wrote - I also had the hair braided and then cut off. I saved it. I also went around the house without covering my head, just the wig when I went out.

Thank you very much for sharing, it was very good to involve your dearest! It was touching to read.

I was not so sad about losing the hair, as I am impatient to have full coverage. This is what I was wondering about: on your avatar, it's your hair after how long from final chemo round? It becomes you very well and I hope to have it this long in a few months as well, but since I'll do herceptin, I don't know how long before I'll be there.

Well, I'll just have to wait and see. 

@ Stacey: by hard liver I mean my liver felt hard like a piece of wood when touched and it felt as though it was bloated. I thought it was because the chemo was too much for it to take. I had found at a friend's house a pach of milk thistle seeds and in the box there was a leaflet with the properties of this plant. I started reading on the internet and learned it had good effects on the liver, there were even clinical studies made to research these properties and apparently it's not bogus. I even found that they started to give it to chemo patients so their liver may have the strength to cope with all the chemo medicine. 

At any rate, after the two week cure, I felt better on the thrid rpund and I repeated the cures after the remaining rounds and my liver was pretty ok, as was the rest of my digestive system.

Ah, the new avatar! Your hair is so long! Having fun on Christmas, I'd say!

How many rounds of chemo did you have, if you would like to share? 

I guess my experience with A/C chemo is boring.  At the time I started the x4 at 3 week intervals, I didn't know much about chemo in general except that you lose your hair and you get nauseous.  My onc verified that I would lose my hair, but he promised I would not be nauseous; and we shook hands on it.

First infusion:  no nausea, but as promised, about the end of the second week, the hair started falling out in clumps.

Second infusion:  no nausea, no other SEs.

Third infusion: no nausea, but my wbc went down to the lower end of the normal range and I had a Neulasta shot -- no side effects from the shot.  Oh, but the fatigue came rolling in; my legs felt like lead.  I hurried to the public library and took out a truckload of books to read while I hung around the couch.  I did find that I had some energy in the morning hours, so I switched all my and my husband's doctors' appointments to the AM (I am his sole caregiver) and dealt with supermarkets, banks, etc early in the day. 

Fourth infusion:  no nausea, still fatigued, but perking up because this is the LAST ONE!!!   Hair started some growth, if colorless baby bird fluff can be considered hair.  But about four weeks later, my hair started growing in rapidly, very curly and salt & pepper (Jan 2013).  It has now started to straighten out -- so each hair is about 4" curly and 2" straight.  Definitely a styling problem.

quasi, I hope you chemo is, well, as boring as mine was.

Carol