February 2014 Starting Chemo Club

Lago... thanks!!orange lemon lime all probably will help. I even drink purple water when I bike or run. Lol.

And coffee sigh.  Just one Keurig cup in the am but some said it had a funny taste. I will have to see and report back. 

Boomer47 remember you won't get ever SE. Also usually the first few aren't too bad depending on what chemo you get. I didn't do anything with my hair till the day it started to fall out about 16 days later. 3 weeks after my first chemo I was still not wearing anything although my hair thinned a lot. I got a wig but only wore it one weekend. Wore long scarves with big earrings the rest of the time. I decided to rock the look. Put on make up and everything. Strangers had no idea. They thought I was being sheik. Good luck tomorrow.

Curlylocks...I am so sorry!  25% down next one makes it the half way point.  

another thing I've noticed-my skin and hair are sooooo oily.

Feeling so much better tonight than I have been, I hope this trend continues. Stomach is bloated though, even though I'm barely eating. I've got the chemo brain though, that is for sure.

hey guys-

I'm new here too, I'm 41 so kind of young, diagnosed in December. Lumpectomy in January, port placement 1 1/2 weeks ago. Started TCH 4 days ago on weds, I was doing pretty well until... the Neulasta injection on Thursday. I've been in bed for 3 days, I'm pretty sure everything I'm feeling is due to that, not the chemo. Headache, bone pain, everything hurts. I took the Claritin, I've been taking norco every 4 hours but it's been really hard. This morning I'm going to call my doctors office and get some better advice. 

But, I'm now actually able to get online and check the forums so things are looking up! It's been so helpful reading what is going on with everyone else. Overall I'm handling everything very well and trying to keep upbeat, but this Neulasta has not been my friend.

I was wondering how you can tell that it's the Neulasta shot that is giving all the bad SE's rather than the chemo itself when you get them so close together.   I will have to do a Neulasta shot each time the following day, and from what I've read, I will certainly not be looking forward to it! 

lago-haha!! That is what it feels like

Today I'm feeling clear headed...thankfully!! I can taste a little better too I'm gonna go out in a bit and have my PICC line removed, I'm thinking I'll pick up a few chemo friendly things to eat as well.

Thinking of all of you ladies today. ((hugs))

Anyone else with the oily skin/hair?

Hi jujubee,

I was diagnosed on 9/27/13. I have completed 4 Adrymiacin/Cytoxan treatments, one every two weeks. For the first three days after chemo I took steroids twice a day and I felt fine. On the fourth and fifth day when the steriods wore off I felt more fatigue and some naseau but I  just took it easy those days. Those were the days that I just watched movies and hung around the house. My recommendation is to drink plenty of water. I drank 8 eight ounce glasses per day. I also drank alot of water when they were giving me my chemo. I had to keep going to the bathroom but I truly believe the best thing is to drink alot of water. I brushed with a baking soda toothpaste and use a waterpik at night and I have not any problems with my mouth. I want to reassure you that overall the experience is not frightening it just makes you feel like you have a the flu for a few days. I did not find that each infusion got worse they were all about the same.

Now I am completing 4 treatments of Taxol, one every two weeks. The only thing I have noticed so far is an achey feeling in my muscles around day 4 and 5, took 2 advil and felt better, also feel more tired but still able to work.

Good luck

Happy Monday ladies!  I would love to be reporting that I'm feeling great a week out from my first chemo infusion.  But I'm not.  MO says that I'm having some delayed rxns, including nausea and constipation-diarhea.  After getting through the allergic rxn to the Taxotere, my worst nausea day was Friday.  So miserable that I couldn't even distract myself with the Olympics and Netflix.  They keep trying to change my meds for nausea - after IV Aloxi (which is supposed to last 3 days - I think mine did), I've been on Zofran, Compasine and Ativan.  That changes to Zofran, Ativan and Zelexa (expensive anti-nausea to take at night to sleep - though the medicine is used also for schitzophrenia, so my ins. won't cover it because I do not have any mental health coverage).  Then my MO added in a sea sick patch for behind my ear.  Today he has switched me to going back on the pre-chemo steroid (Dexa), with Ativan, Zofran and keep the patch on.  I am miserable.  I begged for more Aloxi, but was told that it would not help this far out from chemo.  They plan to give me Emend next time.  I find it interesting, dancetrance, that you had both Emend and Aloxi together.  I will ask about it.

My constipation/diarhea is just that - this morning I was constipated, finally able to go, but it strained, hurt and bled.  Within an hr (Before I could get back to take a Colace), I had gripping stomach cramps with 3 or 4 diarhea BMs during an hour.  Took an Immodium.  I feel like a should be really done with this by now.  And do not want to feel this way again!

I had all these grandious plans for my antibreast cancer health diet...lots of dark leafy greens, no soy, etc.  But at this point, that's out the window in favor of the BRAT diet and jello, trying to keep something in.  I even bought "mom's popcicles" and hope to keep my daughter out of them so that I get a few.

On a lighter note - sahars - funny that your daughter died the tips of her hair!  What do people use to do that?  Anyone know if it works on wigs?  I'm thinking that rather than just trying to match my look, it would be fun to have a wild look too, with blue or pink dipped ends.  Seems that the hollywood judges on the singing tv shows do it.  Would be fun!  If anyone knows what you use, where you can find it and whether it works on wigs, please share.

Happier note - I had an acquaintance friend contact me when she heard of my DX.  She shared with me that her twin sister went through this a year ago.  She brought her sister over to visit and she gave me her wig - she ended up not needing it after all.  I could see the love in their eyes as the two sisters talked about the wig shopping trip, making things special, naming the wig "Jameson" (after the model name), and getting through the year.  So, I now have Jameson.  Not quite my style (I'm long blonde curly layered hair and Jameson is brown chin length straight haired bob), but I am so grateful for the support.

Lettinggo - you do not need this man.  You are stronger than you know.  You may have been thinking that you needed him for support for a number of things and that he gave it to you in the past, but I would not be surprised that upon reflection, you realize that it was YOU all along providing the strength and support and not him at all.  I have been there.  My ex-husband left us without warning when my daughter was 5 mos. old.  Just up and gone.  Through that, I was forced into learning that I was stronger than I gave myself credit for.  After healing from that, the next man that I thought was wonderful (enough to make a part of my daughter's life) ended up being a toad - selfish, narccisist, a taker - yet with his charming ways, he had me convinced that he was wonderful, kind and supportive.  But when I took inventory after a devastating break up (he called me at work to tell me that he had been cheating on me for months (with the new women standing there on the phone with him)), I came to realize that he was a succubus - taking my energy, feeding off of my generosity, eating my strength, and really gave only a few crumbs in return to keep me going, hoping that there was more.  I am so glad that he is not around now, as I need my energy for healing me and taking care of my girl.  Ex-badboy man does not deserve your energy, generosity, or caring for.  While you thought that you were getting emotional support from Ex-badboy, I wouldn't be surprised if really the emotional support came from within you and he did not give - only took.  You are strong.  You are a worthy recipient of all of your strength, caring and compassion.  Take this time to build you from within, and cut yourself a break!

Thank you ladies for your encouragement and support, and sharing.

tangandchris -  I have not had oily skin/hair, but I have a bunch of red sores appearing on my face that are like open blemishes or chemical burns.  Anyone else have that?  My skin is usually blemish free, so this is weird.

formydaughter I too had emmend in pill form day of, night of and morning after chemo. It's $$$ so that's why many insurances want to puke your stomach out before they agree to pay for it. I hate insurance companies. Have you tried Metamucil? It's supposed to work for both diarhea and constipation. It was what worked for me for constipation. Colace didn't do shit for me.

I have heard that some people do get acne. The red sores thing is something that I would contact your onc about. That might be an allergic reaction. Granted even if it's just acne you should tell your onc EVERYTHING.

Having my port put in tomorrow along with my axillary dissection. Has anyone had Taxol for 12 weeks then AC every 2 weeks for 2 months? 

It's good stuff! 

Msguera5:  Sending hugs your way.  It's the fear of the unknown that gets most of us before chemo.  Losing my hair was really the most difficult thing though out my chemo journey.  

Msguera5 if  your hair is that long you can make a "hat's with hair" out of it. I too had shiny straight hair in a  long bob almost touching my shoulders. I'm actually wearing it shorter than when I had it cut for chemo. A lot of us don't go back to the long hair. I was told that women who have hair like mine find losing their hair the hardest part. I laughed and said I was more concerned about my eyebrows. They actually just thinned on chemo. So while most women find it hard some of us do OK with the hair loss knowing that is temporary. BTW kiberty looks stunning in a pixie.