Starting Chemo, November 2013 Group

Quirky- Sending prayers your way, hope you get care and feeling better asap!

Jab- I have very low Bp and always have...had the WORST nights sleep ever last night..and woke up with yeast inf. and thrush on my tongue!  Hot sweats and then can't get back to sleep..plus my red hot feet are still not better...maybe a little, but not comfy to sleep...but I am dizzy a lot during the day even with this...I think my body is wiped out..and not getting sleep just makes it all feel worse. 

Diflucan called in for me and the nurse said I could try melatonin for sleep....hoping it will work.

Had labs done yesterday and all were ok...just a little low...maybe the yeast in my body is making me feel awful...not sure..

Amazon- sounds like you have it all under control and are doing great?!!

Virginia- how are you feeling ?  I think you are 3 days after me?

smrlvr- how are you feeling?

Haven't had time to look in for a couple of days. It sounds like hand and foot problems are the new normal. Just can't wait to start the taxotere. Not.

Bec, of course the remark abut working didn't sound insensitive. Although, if you've ever worked on retail you'd know it isn't much fun. But people are being nicer than normal. most of them anyway.

Amazon, I haven't really moved past the trenches yet, just climbed a little bit closer to the top.

Pat, it is good to get back out doing more normal things, work helps take the mind off the nasty stuff, at least for a bit.

Smrlvr, there is no hot or cold around here lately. I'm just cold all the time. Last night I was under a fleece blanket, with 2 pairs of socks on, and still got the little electric heater out. Hot flashes almost sound good.

Lisa, Jab, I sleep good, fall asleep fast and stay that way, but the weird dreams almost make me wish I didn't. They are so strange and realistic lately.

Ellen, are people telling you to take it easy all the time, or asking how you are? It's like, since I went back to work, I became a china doll that needs to be protected. I really do have enough brains left to not do things I don't feel up to. Getting tired out from work, instead of from chemo, is a good feeling, wouldn't you agree?

Quirky, how'd the ER visit go? Hope everything is fixed up now and you can get feeling better.

Paulette, I'm so jealous of that rose. I won't have any for at least 2 months, if not a little longer. This cold spell has killed off some snapdragons and dianthus that had managed to stay alive for the last three winters. Oh well, they had a good run.

Hope everyone is doing ok today.

Transfusion went well; thanks for the good wishes. It was long and boring but otherwise okay and I DO feel better (human!) already. If they suggest one for you, don't hesitate. Do it!

Jab, before the cancer diagnosis I never had lower than normal blood pressure, but it was close to it, and that was always a little surprising to both me and my docs because everyone in my family that I KNOW of has high blood pressure. They also have high cholesterol, and I do not. And it's not like I'm a skinny girl (5 feet and a half tall, 184 pounds.) I just never have had any of the health issues associated with being overweight for some reason. Thing is, I guess maybe I take after my father's family, and all I really know about them is that they were all hefty people with very few real health issues who all lived to be at least 85 years old.  

Since cancer treatment started, my blood pressure has tended toward being low--going along with the low hemoglobin, I reckon. So yeah, I dunno if that has anything to do with the constant first i'm hot now i'm freezing oh wait now i'm hot again carousel or not, but it might.

wallymama I've had a few dreams that were just plain heinous. That's why I miss the lucid dreamign so much: IT used to be that if I was having a nightmare I could realize that I was asleep and dreaming it and that it wasnt' real and either force myself awake or force the dream to change. Now I'm just stuck with it til I wake up. It's traumatic.

Quirky -- congrats on ER visit. You sound like you're feeling like my low hemoglobin count had been making me feel for the past week or so. It sucks!

Audra : The way that melatonin works for me is that it hits me suddenly with MUST SLEEP NOW. It's sort of cool, really. I do find that if I take too high of a dose of it I feel groggy and sleepy the entire next day but right now that's not always a bad thing if I just need more rest anyway---if I'm anxious or depressed I find that sleeping thru it cures it, so melatonin is great for that. Hope it works for you! I think I've even read studies that say that melatonin might be one of those things that slows or prevents the growth of cancer, so that makes it even better if it turns out to be true.

havent read how everyone is...been zombie mode.....how do you like my shine!!!!! I sooooooo look like an alien!  or perhaps a  shiney elf!!!!!!

and my glam look!

im sorry I dont have the brain power to write to everyone! your in my heart and prayers!!! NONE  of you are forgotten!!!!

Paulette: Well here is my new reddish blond look... I am planning to dye it chestnut brown, since this is a real human hair wig and the colour would match my actual hair before chemo, of course. lol 

Has anybody tried to alter a wig in any way? Any tips?

thanks!!! one of my lucid moments.!!!!!thinkkssssthinkkssssthinkksssthinkksssthinkkssthinkkssthinkksthinkksthinkkthinkkthinkthinthithitht II..LOVE UR HAIR!!!! FOOT.....OUCHIE....I

phone wacko too!!! love ur hair! I feel like a fraud when I put a wig on!!! I mainly go naked or just a band all dressed up with BLING!!!! HONESTLY I do miss my hair but a big part of me wants to go naked head!!!!! it is sooooo much easier!!!!! and cheaper!!!! Ya spend forever and LOTS of time/money in humid weather to Wilt like a blob...lol!!!!! guys got it easy!!!!

paulette: You must love kitty very much!

yep...the.kitty is an old grump now but became family when my daughter returned home after a rebellious stage with a kitten in tow! Kiwi kitty reminds me of the victory over teenage rebellion!! Yes...no squished kitty!!!! Toes /foot will heal!!!

lisa.....sleep baby sleep!!!!! restful dreams!!!!!!Transfusion. .......YES..YES....YES.....IT HELPS IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!! do not wait! go to GO...DIRECTLY TO GO DO NOT PASS....BLAH BLAH.....unreal the difference! !!!! totally agree...but dont overdo it when u feel sooooo much better!!! a word to the overdo peeps....it backslashes! enjoy the norm rush!!!!

Hello ladies.....I spent the day in the car taking my daughter back to college.  9 hours round trip.  I am exhausted.

Paulette, sorry about your toe, but I am glad kitty is ok.  Love the glam head scarf.   When I was on the AC my eyes were constantly tearing.

Quirky, I am glad the ER trip showed you are ok.  Sometimes these side effects are severe.

Amazon, I agree with Virginia.  The wig looks good the way it is! I love the color.  My daughter is a redhead.

Lisa and Audra, the melatonin sounds good.  I think I would like to try it.  Eventually my Ativan supply is going to run out.  What kind do you get?

As far as my side effects, they have been minimal since my first taxol dose, for which I am grateful.  I had the body aches for a few days, but that went away last weekend. My skin is beginning to get very dry, particularly my fingertips.  I am constantly putting eucerin lotion on them, but it does not seem to keep them from starting to peel.  Any suggestions?  Taxol #2 is on Monday.  I am getting very fatigued, which is bad, because I am not a sleeper.  I am going to try Lisa's alphabet game with the tv.

I just want to tell you all that I do t know what I would do without all of you.  I would lose my mind going through this without you.

Paulette you were right about the sleep! I even fought sleep for a little while last night JUST because I was enjoying the sensation of being honestly sleepy instead of being drug-induced chemo-fatigued sleepy. Eventually I succumbed though and slept a deep and, so far as I know, dreamless sleep. Awesome and restful. A little too restful since now I'm wide awake at 6 in the morning.... but I guess ya can't win 'em all and I did have to pee. :P But hey, I feel good and ready to be up and getting things DONE!

I also have some color in my face instead of being ghostly pale. My husband is impressed with that aspect. Visible results, I reckon.   But yeah, I am definitely a fan of the blood transfusion, even if it was a pretty boring process.

Smrlvr, I'm not sure what kind or brand or whatever of melatonin we have, but I do know it's kind of too strong for both of us so we cut it down some. I will look when I can go into that bathroom without waking up my husband though. I'd recommend just getting the lowest dosage you can find, since it's always easier to take more than it is to take less. And you may have to experiment with it for a few nights to get the timing right; for me it hits me all of a sudden about 30 to 45 minutes after I take it and I can barely hold my head up. My husband on the other hand can take it an hour or so before bed and just go to bed like normal, and just falls asleep easier. So I guess everyone is different--and my weird natural melatonin levels (from Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome) probably plays into it some for me.

Paulette, my tears haven't stopped for days and days. Not crying, just eyes won't stop making tears. No wonder I need so much water: I swallow it and it just runs out my eyes. That started with A/C and hasn't let up with the T/C. I do still have eyelashes, too, so it's not that.

hand cream suggestion:  I've been using Vaseline Healing Hand Cream and its soaks in much more, for me, than Aquaphor.  If you're struggling with dry skin, you may want to give it a whirl.  

Im also using Aveeno Positively Ageless face cream and finding thst works well, too.

Hope all have easy SE today!