Starting Chemo in March 2014

I started taking it the day before chemo.  First round I had severe bone pain when I took it the day of the shot.

My MO changed my schedule to begin a couple of days before the injection and it seemed to do the trick; mild bone pain for the rest of my treatments.  

Good luck.

The first time, I took the Claritin the day of Chemo and then 5 days following, but now, I started the day prior to Chemo, which seems to have helped against the bone pain, it has only been mild (and I have been taking Tylenol when I started feeling more of it).

Regarding being wired and sleepless after the steroids, an Ativan (let it melt under your tongue when you go to bed, that was my MO's recommendation) has helped me tremendeously and I slept like a baby. I have literally never taken any pills and medication prior to this BC journey and initially (after surgery) tried to stay away from all but Tylenol, but I have to admit, Ativan has been very helpful in getting sleep and keeping anxiety ahead of procedures at bay. I don't take it often though, not sure how addictive it is.

Good luck and mild SEs to you, Lovemysons.  

Thanks!

lgoldie, happy early birthday in case I miss you tomorrow!!  :-)  

Sinsin, don't worry...I bet it will go up. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Mine actually went up to 17 all of a sudden.  They said it was from the bone shot, but I think I have an infection.  I'm taking Penicillin right now because the insertion site at my PICC line is really red and painful.  Waiting on results of a culture.  5 strong pills down, no improvement, but I go to MO tomorrow.  Also suddenly severe toothache in my GUM.  I went to the dentist a month before chemo for a bad tooth/redo of a root canal.  Instead of sending me to an endodontist while I still had time he said a new cap would fix it. I told him time was of the essence, but by doing that, HE got to get $1500 for nothing first.  Now I'm screwed.  Now I can worry about an infection there, too.  Called the triage nurse and she said the Penicillin should keep me good until tomorrow's visit.  I hope so, my gum's red and hurts like nerve pain.  I swear to God, the weirdest crap happens to me.  I just cannot get a break.  I would be feeling good right now and getting ready for next infusion and heading back to work for the final week but all this weird stuff keeps happening to me.  And I'm afraid it's stuff that keeps me up at night...like the fear of getting sepsis. 

WifeWBC I had TAC last year at this time.  I had about 7-9 days each cycle that were not so good and almost 2 weeks of feeling myself.  I did notice I had a little more fatigue with each cycle.  Did 6 cycles of TAC every 21 days.  The only real difference is I did chemo before surgery so my body was fresher.  This combo did shrink my tumor to almost non-existence by time of surgery.  

I was able to walk the making strides for breast cancer walk at week 2 of treatment 3 and attended my grandsons wedding 6 days after my last cycle and did just fine with a good afternoon nap.

I had my head shaved one year ago today at day 12 of cycle 1.  I now have about 3 inches of super curly new hair.  Wow what one year brings.

Your wife will do ok just love her and help her get the rest she needs.  

Prayers for the next 3 months as you navigate this treatment.  It to shall pass.  

Good luck to you and your wife WifeWBC.  Yes, that is how the hair thing goes.  I shaved my head last Saturday and just so you know, I had a very tender scalp for 4 or 5 days.  It was very uncomfortable to lie down at night.  I have heard a silk pillowcase is a good idea.  Not sure if that would have helped me, but my head is feeling better now.  It's just so strange to see yourself in the mirror.  I am not a big fan of mirrors right now.

Well so far it seems I have evaded my husband's cold, but I woke up with the complexion of a 13 year old. Not sure if it's exactly acne but that's sure what it looks like. Even in my ears and on my scalp....arrggh.. I hate chemo. Still not losing any hair, I'm on day 12 jmg, now you have me wondering about tomorrow.

good morning chemo marchers!!!  Officially I join you in 3 hours. 

Got a super short haircut yesterday (and it's now magenta courtesy of the hairdresser). Didn't sleep so well last night (assuming decadron competes w the Ativan) but def ready for chemo 1 this morning. thanks for all the advice on what to expect!!!  

Medical people...I think for work I've decided on scrub caps from blue sky in tx. They have a snug one for short hair, and a pony style like some scarves but not as much pouf in the back, but cotton blend so super easy to wash!  A new beautician at my hairdressers is pushing 5 years this May and she said she had peach fuzz 3 months  after 4 rounds Of TC so I will be wearing these for a while it sounds. Plus at $20-25 each I can get several of their dozens of great patterns. :-) there are advantages to waking at 4am. Maybe next time I should do my taxes tho.

Hope you all have a great day. I plan to!!!

Keeping you all in my prayers. Where 2 or more are gathered together ....

Deb

Good morning, people!!!

Medicmom, as the resident cheerleader, I'm shaking my pom-poms in your direction today - go get 'em! Chemo is mostly boring, but by all means feel free to take advantage of the time to read trashy novels, watch those last six episodes of "Breaking Bad", hang out on a celebrity gossip site so you can leave snarky comments about Gwyneth Paltrow's "conscious uncoupling" from Chris Martin (what the heck is this navel-gazing speak), or Facebook-stalk that old crush of yours from high school. BUT WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT DO YOUR TAXES. You're already doing your taxanes, and that needs to be close enough for you.

As for me, I had a cup full of Herceptin yesterday, and go for my second helping of TCH next Wednesday. Also, please note that waiting for your hair to start falling out is a lot like waiting for a pot of water to boil, but this morning (day 15, for people who count these things) I started to shed like a pomeranian puppy. As I was driving my son to school today, I told him that my hair was starting to exit stage left, and then gave him permission to break our iron-clad rule about lying to me by feeling free to tell me what a beautiful bald girl I am. Honestly, the fact that he has my permission to lie about this made him totally forget the hair thing, and we laughed like idiots while we waited our turn at the drop-off circle.

I hope everyone has a terrific day xoxo

Leaving in a few minutes for labs, doctor visit and AC 3.   That's 6 weeks of chemo so far.  I more AC and then Taxol x4.  Less nervous today....I think.   Went and bought my staples..bottles of water, toilet paper and Chicken noodle soup.  I am hoping not to be bumped up a week due to cranky liver, but will accept God's will   Hope all of us going today have a great ride.   Leah

Found it.   Can they just pull it?  Nah.   If they premedicate you, you will be fine.   I have to also

Nothing like starting here at the end of the month, but I have been reading all of the posts like crazy the last few days. I have learned a lot of good tips that I am going to try and I thank all of you for the info. My heart goes out to all of you and I am the odd one. My husband has Stage 3 C breast cancer, was first dx in mid Feb-was quite a shock to us and the Drs too. We made the decision to go out of state for treatment to a place that has treated male breast cancer, has had left masectomy and ALND (13 of 24 nodes positive) and started TAC chemo Mar 21. He breezed through all the tests and surgeries altho he still has a drain in (going on 4 weeks now with no signs of slowing) so it has been a shock and heartbreaking for me to see how bad he has felt this past week. I can't help but feel that this should be me going thru this. I know he is getting the benefit of all the women with breast cancer before him and I have hope we will get through this. But I just had to write and thank all of you. I believe some of your tips will help him, and help me take better care of him. I am grateful, but now crying so can't see to type any more.

{{{{{oddducklady}}}}} Welcome to the Seventh Circle of Hell that is March chemo. The good news is that our circle of Hell has lots of windows with a lovely view of Purgatory, and we've put duct tape over the mouths of the sinners in the next circle over because they were super, super annoying. 

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. It's true that when you think of "breast cancer", you almost automatically think of women only, but each of us has a spot on our bodies where nipples like to hang out. My eldest male cousin had breast cancer (at the time, we were sure it was inherited through his mother's side, who was not blood to me, but since my side of the family tree is now bearing cancer fruit as well, who knows). I don't know about your husband, by my cousin was mortified that he developed a "woman's" disease. Really, Mr. Macho? Would prostate cancer have made you happier? 

Also? NOBODY should be going through this. Not you, not your husband, not me, not my sister, not any of the women on this thread, not either of the wives of the two awesome husbands who hang out with us here. Nobody. And while the chemo drugs will do their thing with the cells inside your husband's body, your love and support are an even more important medicine. It'll keep his heart strong and his optimism stoked. You've got just as much work to do here as he does :-)

Please let him know he's welcome to join us if he likes. We promise not to talk about fashion or reality tv. I'm not saying we'll talk about bass fishing or golf, either, but we'll try to tone down the girly stuff if it helps him feel more at home!

Thank you, Nina.  I feel like I'm the debbie downer of this thread....I don't mean to be, it's just been a bad run of luck the last week and a half, and living with and 82-year-old invalid mother, I don't have many people to talk to or places to vent.  I just took a Vicodine and hope that will help.  Maybe two will help more.

I want all you ladies and gentlemen to know that I cheer for your victories, big and small, and hold you in my heart at any setbacks....I hope to be more cheery when I next post and I'm sorry I've been so self-involved here trying to get over.. 

Jmg - go right ahead and vent.  You're not the Debbie downer, you're just keeping it real.  I personally want this to be a place where we can all feel free to say what is 'real'.  I'm so sorry about the tooth pain. It's something that on its own would be enough to cause major strife. It just seems unfair that you have to deal with this now. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and hoping that things start sorting themselves out!

Oddducklady, welcome. As awful as it is to have this disease ourselves I think there is a whole other kind of torture that our caregivers and loved ones are put through.  The one thing I do know is that this shouldn't be wished on anyone, as much as it hurts to see your husband go through this I am sure that he does not feel in any way that this should be you. I wish you both all the best and hope that you can continue to find some support and good advice from our little group.

Medicmom - hope your chemo went well and your side effects stay absent!