February 2014 Starting Chemo Club

Hi ya'll....princessrn, I am using Clearning for a Reason too, they actually came yesterday. It's so nice

I'm kind of annoyed, I called MO this morning and left a message. Didn't get a call back till late this afternoon and was told to come in tomorrow for blood work if I wanted to. I haven't been dizzy since, but I'm havig bad stomach cramps today. Also, when the nurse called me back it went to vm, so I didn't actually get to talk to her. Not sure what that means...if I want to come in for blood work. I mean do I need to or not??

anyway, purple...I took advantage of my feeling good last round too. I really am hoping that starts soon for me. I'll be 7 days out tomorrow....soooo soon right?

tangandchris...  I'm on different regimen but I had severe abdominal cramps for days. I asked for Bentyl. You could ask your MO and see if this might help you too.  

Hi Macintx,

Just checking in with you. How did your second treatment go? Hope everything is well

I had that with Taxotere (known as Taxotears). It's really annoying when your eyes are out of sync. I also had watery eyes at the end too. Made it really tough to read a book or look at my cell phone.

My second AC went well.  Day 3 was the only day I felt strange last time, and it was this time too, so far that is.  Don't want to jinx it!  But, I didn't feel quite as tired or weird this time.  I just kind of had a lull in appetite yesterday and took a long nap.  By the end of the day, I felt like I needed to burp all the time but couldn't.  That feeling is still lingering today, but it isn't really stopping me from eating.  I've never had indigestion before, so I don't know what it feels like, so maybe this is a little indigestion?  Not sure if a prilosec would help or not.   Overall, though, I will take these minor SEs over anything else.  I'm venturing out with my new buzz cut and baseball cap today.  I thought about just rubbing my head with a towel til it all came out, but I kind of want to keep a little hair on my head while I can.

Macintx,

I had the burping with the Taxol chemo and found that Gas X helped.

Hi All,

Just had my #3 dd AC today. Feeling pretty fatigued, even with the steroids. Labs today were a little low, but high enough to still do chemo. My hemoglobin was low too; MO said it will probably only get lower since SE's are cumulative. That explains all this fatigue. I asked about changing my diet to help the counts, but he said counts probably won't go up until i'm done with chemo. They say your counts do improve on Taxol.

Hope everyone has an uneventful, normal as can be weekend!

I'm going to try the eye drops, I have noticed my eyes are extremely dry. I'm glad there is a reason for the twitch

I've been consistently drinking (8) 8 oz glasses of water through my chemo. I have completed seven treatments one to go. I find that the water helps fatigue, dry eye, constipation etc.

Thanks HOPE only one more treatment to go which will be in eleven days. I definitely found the Taxol SE's better. I was very lucky even with the AC treatments I only experienced fatigue, loss of appetite and no taste buds. With Taxol my appetite is back and my taste buds, a little fatigue around days 3-5 and some achy feelings from the Neulasta that Advil helps. But I can honestly say I feel much better on the Taxol than I did on the AC. I don't know if some of that is because I am closer to the end than the beginning but I'll take it either way.  Hope all goes well with your treatments

Feeling a bit blue today. Hate the weekend after a treatment. Between the queasiness, the exhaustion, the bone pain, the thrush, I just want to bury my head until Tuesday, when I finally begin to feel a bit better.

Saw my surgeon for a checkup. She's amazing. She wants me to join her support group, but I've never been much of a joiner. It might be a good idea, though.

In the meantime, since I'm such a boat anchor this weekend, I made reservations for me and my husband for next weekend at one of the nicest local restaurants. It's restaurant week, so you get a 3 course meal for $30, and the menu looks delicious. It will be nice to just get out and do something normal.

Thanks, lago. It's just hard to keep chugging along sometimes, but it's not as if we have a choice, so chug, chug, chug (but not the fun kind lol).

I AM excited about restaurant week. This restaurant is fantastic and extremely expensive, so this way we'll get a nice treat that we can afford (I don't need to tell everyone about the damn medical bills, even with pretty darned good insurance).

I hope everyone has had a decent weekend. At least this was my last Neulasta shot! And only one more chemo treatment to go. My doctor assures me that radiation is a walk in the park after this!

Sicilian, thanks for your chug, chug, chug comment, it made me laugh and is so on point.  I'm having such a hard time and it makes me feel like I'm somehow wimpy because I'm getting all of these SEs.  My onc made it seem like I would have no problem working, but I've been so sick and missing so much time even on my non-chemo "off" weeks.  I've had fever again all weekend and am on my 3rd antibiotic for this mystery fever that they assume is viral but they want to keep me on the antibiotic to be cautious, but they really don't know.  It's been on and off (mostly on) since the 28th of Feb. and it's really wearing on me.  And now I can't eat,  everything that goes down just gives me stomach pains, even water.  I was able to just get down a few saltines, so that's a small victory.  I promise ladies I'm normally a very positive person, but this is a comfortable space for me to vent so thanks for listening.  I have my 3rd AC this Thursday. I can't wait until I get to Taxol as well. I'm really hoping it's a big improvement over the AC. I'm not sure if adding Carboplatin in will increase my side effects though?  My Onc is recommending since I'm triple negative.  Any insight on Carboplatin ladies? 

h0pe and Kat, I'm also curious about DD taxol vs. the 12 week regimen.  I'm scheduled for DD, but if the 12 weeks is easier I think I may want to go that route at this point.  Not sure how the carboplatin will fit in with that though...

Atiteca,

 The only SE I have had with the dd Taxol is aches in my bones and joints when I have the Neulasta shot the day after  the Taxol. The 2nd Taxol treatment I did not have the Neulasta shot and I did not get the aches.  I had the discomfort Saturday and Sunday (3rd & 4th day after treatment) had to take 3 Advil last night but it really is not bad. Other than the aches I've had a good appetite and good taste buds, no naseau, some fatigue.

JBok- I've heard of many people icing with taxol; however, my MO didn't suggest it. The only thing he suggested for me to ice is my mouth with sore gums.

Kat- Thanks for the encouragement! Plan is to do 12 weekly taxol. MO says it's supposed to be a lot more tolerable. Can't wait to be done with all this. So tired of no energy and no taste! one more dd AC to go next week. 

Hope everyone is doing well/better.