Starting Chemo in March 2014

{{{{{{{{{{{jmg}}}}}}}}}}}}}}  Oh my goodness, you poor girl. What a nightmare! I think it's smart to take a break from the boards for the weekend. Go curl up with your boyfriend. Get all the hugs he's got to give. Know that you're loved and we're thinking about you and that you're already in treatment to beat the snot out of cancer. Just breathe and be for a few days, and recover your balance.

Then get back here and let us help support you while you figure out what's going on so that it can be taken care of <333

Steroids. Not a fan.  So, here I am, another woman posting in the middle of the night...

Tuesday, I had my first round of TAC.  I want to thank everyone who suggested a blanket from home. Great idea!  I have to say, the hospital I am going to has been wonderful. The 4+ hour session was made pleasant by the wonderful staff, and comforts of the facility. My chemo-cave, as I'm now calling it, was very comfortable.  I had a heated, reclining massage chair, tv (if I wanted it), snacks, heated blankets, an art therapist (so I did some relaxing coloring), and a massage therapist (who I didn't get a chance to see).  I had no problems and walked out feeling pretty good. 

I started feeling side effects that first night. The steroids are the worst part because I can't sleep. I do feel completely off.  Dizzy, queasy, and exhausted, but hyper. 

Yesterday (day 4), I started having pretty bad bone pain, but the nausea is under control now. I am doing a trial specifically about the bone pain and am taking naproxen, but the pain got so bad in the evening that I took a Vicodin. Wide awake at 11pm after days without sleep, I took a sleeping pill, but I still woke up at. 2:30. Soon, my 8 & 10 yr old daughters will be up ready for Sat morning fun!  Yikes...

jmg58. I hope you fine much peace and comfort being with your boyfriend this weekend.

Nina. I know it is almost impossible to avoid the hair loss. If it happens to her I will just need to switch my cheerleading strategy. I will employ some of your suggestions. If you want a compliment about your behind, ask your husband if your dress or pants makes your butt look big. Unless he is very dense you will get the compliment you need. I was very tempted to compliment you myself but I decided that would not be appropriate. I do not understand all these texting abbreviations so I google searched .  The top search came up a urban dictionary definition. I don't think it defines what you meant, but I did get a big laugh so thank you very much.  

MedicMom2. You bought 2 more thin mints even though you had 11 in the freezer!! Wow, I think we could be friends. Since I have used up all my stash I am needing me some mints and my local pushers seem to have moved on. 

genny. Sometimes you just have to say no. Those little pushers are hard to resist and their product is so addictive. My wife has had some of the same experiences concerning the "learning" to rest. She is just a go till you drop type of person. Try to rest even if it is just a little. It will help.

My wife did pretty good working yesterday. She was tired and hurting but she usually is anyway. She is also up against the FMLA time clock. We had a experience with this before and where she works, if you can not get back to work after you have used up your time then you lose your job.  

Jmg58, I hope you see this when you return and read this. I just read a NED report for a woman from a Facebook group I am apart of that was/is having severe problems and her doc had her undergo an almost immediate CT scan. They discovered a 4mm nodule in her lungs too and are not concerned with it. She also had fluid around her liver that showed up on a PET scan in Sept. that is now gone. So, as far as docs are concerned with her, she is still NED and she has the same size nodule as well. So, there is hope. Hang in there! 

Hi, had TCH  No.  2 on Thursday. Feeling a bit tired now. I hate the steroids - give me acne, make me super hungry and wired, sleepless and hyper talkative ... Ativan helped me sleep though, put it under the tongue for fast effect (RN  rec.). Today  Neulasta pain is starting, was really bad last time, MO rec. to stay firmly on Tylenol, we will see how that goes. Hair: gone. I dreaded it , but when the shower and all else was full of it , it needed to go , and it feels so much better. I have bandanas for home and hats for work. Okay, I guess I will get my groceries done before I crash. Have a good, SE free WE, ladies. 

On a side, funny note. I chopped my hair off in preparation for the eventual fall. My 5 year old walks into the house, sees me, and replies "Like the hair Mom! Totally cool!" I wanted the Pink style and instead got Bieber. I hate it. I look like a damn guy! LOL SO, I am actually looking forward to losing it. LOL But his response was so sweet and sincere! Melted my heart. Then last night I explained to him that I cut it b/c I would be losing my hair. He asked why and then replied " Well Mom. Atleast you won't have to worry about combing your hair anymore! That will be nice!" I love that kid! But thought I'd share in hopes of making everyone else smile too.

Sinsin, love the story of your 5 year old. Definitely brought a smile to my face!

Anyone have an issue with low WBC count and chemo? Mine dropped to 3.9 the day of infusion (was 5.2 the month before) and I had a cold I was starting to get rid of. My onc prescribed me a Z-pack to start that day and now I have finished it and my cold is back in full force. I'm really worried my WBC is even lower even though I got a Neulasta shot the day after infusion. Anyone else experience this? The fact that my WBC were low to start freaks me out.

sinsin-my 14 and 17 yr old girls said the same thing about my hair!!!  I have spent years (literally) hating my curls and about a 2 years ago decided simply to embrace them and have finally found the right combo of goops. Of course, now I'm going to be saving a lot of money for a while.  My sis-in-law told me it's my dad (esophageal a w mets at 53) twisted sense of humor. :-)

I tried on wigs. Yuck. Apparently all the curly dark-haired women that get cancer want to have lush blond locks or spikes.  I ordered one (ordering was free) to try out that sort of looks ok in the book, but hats and scarves are winning out at this moment.  My department scheduler suggested making it fun for my girls and letting them help buzz my hair when it's time. 

Moms and dads.....my 13 yr old (Jocelyn) is afraid she doesn't have a heart. She's a TOTAL introvert (amazingly completely 100%) and processes things so differently than most people. She loves her friends but can handle only a couple of hours before she wants out. Her favorite place is alone. Which I get. And normally I am ok w as long as she interacts w her friends and us as well. She doesn't want to talk about cancer or what's happening.  Which is normal for her as she eventually tells her sister what she's thinking. Who tells me. And then I know she's ready to talk. But not about acncer yet. How long do I let her stew?   Middle school is tough enough and add moving to high school, cancer, and big sis transitioning to college in a Few months I don't want her to flounder.  I don't want to make her uncomfortable by making a big deal aBout it but I don't want her to be hurting and stressing inside either.   Her grades remain straight As, and I know she's happy at school esp as her favorite teacher (the 7-eyed scary-mean math teacher with horns!!) is back from mat leave. 

I hope all you east coasters got to enjoy few SE and the glorious weather we had yesterday. (Well..you had...I worked 0700-2000 but I did go into triage and peek through our plexiglass cage window into the waiting room window and saw sun!!!!!!!!).  Snow's a-coming!!!!   It's my fault sorry.  Every major milestone w CA has been accompanied by a blizzard. 

Enjoy your Sundays! I'm thinking it's time for another Sundae Sunday at work today. Going to go find an ambulance crew who will make a grocery store run for us. 

Deb

oh!  And I haven't had any fingernail issues!  Knock on wood!! I didn't ice them either, but wear Sally Hansen clear polish. I take it off once a week and reapply it!  And. No mouth sores either.  I use Arm and Hammer's toothpaste.  Not sure if I am doing something or just my body, but wanted to share and give you hope:). I do feel like a ran a marathon in my legs a lot now.  My calves feel it the most.  I guess that and the sleepless nights/holy hot flashes are my biggest complaints so far.  But!! The taxol treatments already shrunk my internal lymph node that they found by 50%!  I had a BMX first so that lymph node was found after and thankfully caught!!  

Ali- I would get headaches too! I  being treated at MD Anderson lol!  So when you wrote earlier that your Dr. Is following them - I was like Yep!  Everyone almost there is doing the same as me and you!  Thought that would make you feel better since it seems different on the boards a lot.   Good luck!  You can read the December chemo board to see what I had issues with during the whole thing!:). Stomach issues were just the first two treatments after that I didn't have that anymore.  

Hi there, everyone! Happy Sunday!

Medicmom, I have a suggestion for your daughter: she might find it easier to write about how she's feeling than talking, because writing permits her to take her time and doesn't ask her to deal with immediate reactions. Maybe buy her a special journal that the two of you can pass back and forth to each other several times a week. You can write a paragraph or two about how you're feeling and offer her reassurance, and she can write back to you with any questions or thoughts she might have. You both agree up front that you don't have to talk about it as long as you're writing about it, so she knows you're not going to come at her when she's not prepared to deal with you. She doesn't have to write in it every day, but you tell her you'd like to hear from her (2? 3?) times a week, and that you promise you'll always write back. Make a special spot for you to leave the journal for each other (maybe your bedside table and her desk?) - that way, she doesn't have to hand it to you. And to make it even easier on her, tell her you're only asking her to do this for a month. After that, she can write in it whenever she feels like it and you'll answer when she does.