Starting Chemo in December 2013
Comments
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southern- i had a nurse tell me that latisse will work on eyebrows.
I was looking up shampoo etc that promote re growth. Nioxin has been mentioned but he formula has changed and people don't seem to think it works. I guess there is no way around it other than time. And for me- a fabulous wig;). Just treated myself to a new one with real hair. Should be in this week!!
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southern-I've heard of several people that lost their eyebrows and lashes at 10 weeks out from chemo. Not fair! I'm 2 weeks out and my brows and lashes are sad looking but still have some. Meeting with my MO next week and going to get rx for latisse. I'm also taking biotin supplement pill
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I just started losing my eyebrows in the past week or so. I'm 12 days PFC. Eyelashes are very sparse, but it's been like that for a while now. Hoping I don't lose the eyebrows completely. I'm taking Biotin supplement too.
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Oranje mama. - my eyebrows are gone, at least the darker hairs. I notice some fine growth of hair there instead now, hope that is the new growth that, like the head is starting fine and white but will eventually turn into real stuff. Right now you can not see it but feel it, at least it grabs the eyebrow pencil a bit. Holding onto some upper eyelashes still, lower ones long gone.
When I use the Nioxin shampoo and scalp treatment I make sure to rub some on the eyebrow areas also.
17 more days to the end of the poisoning.
Barbara
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Thanks for the responses ladies. With all of the antiobiotics I am taking because of surgery, tamoxifen, and the other supplements, I haven't been too consisent with the biotin. My husband says I need to get one of those Sunday - Saturday pill boxes. Ooohhh...makes me feel old and I'm only 45!!! I'll just blame it on chemo brain or even worse...drain brain since I still have those stinking drains from the BMX. I will definitely do the happy dance if those are pulled tomorrow!
I have been using hubby's Nioxin since I first starting losing the hair. He has used it for years to keep his hair from falling out, and we both highly recommend it. I never thought of using it on the eyebrows, but I am going to try that as Crazywabbit mentioned. Can't hurt anyway.
Jodi, you mentioned you're getting a new wig. I think yours looks so natural now. I even showed it to the hubby, and he was impressed. Are you getting a shorter one for spring/summer? I did that, but hubby says I really look better without one since I'm getting a little, and I mean a LITTLE, bit of hair - maybe a little more than a 5 o'clock shadow. Dang, that Keranique commercial is on as I type this! Hubby planned to get me that recently for my birthday, but after reading the reviews, he decided to get me a gift card to my favorite spa where I buy all of my makeup instead. Probably a better investment for me.
Sorry to take up everyone's time on something so trivial as brows and lashes, but to me those have been the main outward signs of what I am going through (since no one but hubby and MIL have been the only people who have seen my foobs including the drains and sewn-back-on nipples - TMI?).
Hope everyone has an AWESOME day! Spring storms here in my little corner of the world, but just came off of a gorgeous weekend. Of course it's about to get cold again, but not as cold as some of you ladies have to deal with so I'm not complaining. Best wishes for those still in treatment. I'm still saying my prayers for each of you!!!
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ahhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!! I almost 4 weeks out from my last chemo and I am still having some serious thinning with brows and lashes all lower lashes have taken a hike. I thought I was going to get away with having some left maybe not.
missy - love the cartoon pic its so true, my feet are cold all the time now.
Jodi- I follow you on FB and happy to see the little one is doing better.
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thanks Kimie! She is home now and has her dr appointment at 2. So here is a new panic- my child's WBC went high for those who do not know. They monitored her after a shot, but it still went up. DH had her in the ER 12-7 yesterday. The new cancer mom panic is does she have leukemia! No- but y'all my mind went there. Seeing St. Jude in my head and how could we do that with me in rads. Never saw that SE of cancer coming. Crazy anxiety and panic. It was my youngest only 16 months.
When DH called me, she was crying in the background and I could hear that damn machine beeping. She had to have an IV of fluids and antibotics. DH said itunes shard for him to see because of these past months and he was glad I couldn't go. That would have been horrible to see.
As for eyelashes etc- talk away!!! It is nice to be thinking about something more lighthearted with this! And, I am behind y'all! Lol! Figure it out for me;). I am getting Lattise too when I can!!
Having bad weather today, and my hand and thumb is swollen:(.
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oh! The wig- getting a human hair jon renau wig called Kate. It is a little shorter. I'll probably rotate the two wigs. The one I have is in need of a conditioning treatment once the new one arrives! I'll probably wear them all next year to teach school in.
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Hi Ladies!
We are getting some T-storms here today! Lunar eclipse @ CST 2am tonight...and ,now, done with the weather report!
I found some shampoo with Biotin in it; organic and paraben free. Not sure if it is working, but I'm sure it's not hurting! I have a new-found appreciation for my eye-lashes. I hardly ever leave the house now w/o mascara on them!:) My brows have always been thin and just got thinner. Head hair is thickening up some. Hoping to bare my head to the world, soon!
Jodi, I haven't been following your FB page, but good thoughts coming your way for your daughter. That is so hard!
going in for #10 now! so far, so good!
((HUGS))
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Jodi - glad LuLu is doing well, I would have been panicked too.
Now I am going to rant - I am tired of this! Tired of no taste, rashes, constipation, the runs, internal hemmorhoids, sore finger nails that are turning color, being bald, being tired and not being able to sleep, of trying to stay positive, of heavy legs and feeling like all my strength has left me. Ready for this to be over and scared it will come back, that after all this shit we didn't get every little cell. My sister posted a comment on a pic on fb "promise you won't get cancer again", made me think how hard this is on our loved ones too. I wish I could make that promise. I have been so emotional the last 2 days, just want to cry, maybe it is the accumulation, maybe just seeing the end of chemo - 2 more to go! But it has got to me.
I have about 5 upper lashes left on each lid, only one little lash on both lower lids, about 15 eyebrow hairs on each. Rocking the Uncle Fester look. The PA at my MO's said that evey woman is beautiful especially when the soft white hair starts coming in and she really meant it
Thank you for listening.
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Jodi - glad lulu is better.
I'm petrified of this mess coming back. I know it's a normal reaction. But I'm getting obsessed. Looking up stats...
This is tearing my family apart. This was a hard weekend. Cancer drains you of everything - mentally, financially, spirituality. The finance side caught up to my hubby this weekend (as we are still fighting insurance) and we didn't have help with the kids like we usually do after a chemo treatment. So everyone in our house was just crazy overwhelmed.
Peach- rant away. I've had some of those same feelings. It helps me know I'm not alone.
I have one more DD Taxol left. Have y'all found the Taxol being harder on you mentally? I feel more and more depressed with each one. After about day 5 or 6 I'm able to drag myself out of the funk. But it seems more difficult. Maybe it's just the cumulation of everything. Maybe it's just the bone and joint pain. My friend pointed out we've been at this cancer fighting thing for 6 months already. I'm having trouble remembering what life was like before.
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wow Chico you took the words right out of my mouth.....i feel EXACTLY how you are feeling. Sick of it ALL! I had my 11th Taxol this morning, one more next week then i'm done. I'm working this afternoon as I usually feel good for about 2 days, then it hits like a giant steamroller. I am heading to Punta Cana on the 27th of April.....can't wait to just let my body rest, heal, and recover in the warm sunshine. I know I will need to stay out of the sun, but i can do that with a big ol' pina colada in my hand and be just as happy as if i'm in the sun!
Have any of you read the book The Silver Lining? I downloaded it this past weekend and read it, it was actually very good but I wish i would have read it at the beginning of my journey.
Tale care and keep on keeping on!
Michelle
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I call it my "descent into Taxol hell." Thursday is last one but still not overjoyed. The pain, neuropathy and depression that cranks up after each dose is excruciating. I will celebrate not my last dose, but rising out of Taxol hell for the last time.
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yes Robin!! Great description. That's how it feels. "Decent into Taxol Hell"
Thanks for putting it into words.
Holli
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Hi ladies, sorry so many of you are feeling down. I haven't had the Taxol, but I felt the same way up until about a month ago. Between the steroids, chemo, stress, emotions, SE's, cold weather, it's hard to stay positive every day...and, it's okay. My MO offered anti-depressants a while back..she must have seen it, too; but, I declined. Then, finally, it felt like the dark cloud was lifting...
I was doing my income tax yesterday (finally!) and going over the mileage to my Dr appts from my records, in my planner. Boy, have I/we been through a LOT! I think I am trying to live in the moment now, but when I looked back, it sure made me feel good about all that I have overcome so far. I was kind of amazed at how well I really did...even though it didn't feel like it at the time. I guess we are stronger than we give ourselves credit for. No matter how bald we are, how many tears we shed, how tired we get, we are still the December 2013 Chemo warriors!!!
You ladies are my Heroes!!! -
To the ladies thinking about Latisse - I got a prescription from my oncologist and have been using it daily since I started AC back in January. I now have only one DD Taxol left and my eyelashes are gone and my eyebrows are patchy (I used Latisse on those too). My doc said she's not surprised - people's responses to the product are as varied as their responses to chemo. Latisse is an expensive product - please remember that it might not work for everyone. My onc said to keep using it post-chemo to get a jump-start on regrowth, which I plan to do.
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ladies, glad I am not alone in feeling the taxol effects are cumulative. I feel like it has been a long time since I have felt "well". This weekend I really got fatigued just cleaning out my perennial beds. A trip to the green recycling and another to the regular recycling did me in. I was just too pooped to go for my walk yesterday. Today I got to my office at noon and was exhausted by 3 PM. Sunday is my worst post taxol day and usually Monday is good ,but not today.
Had a restless night with the back of my head sweating due to the house being warm. not complaining about the unseasonable warm 82 degree day but I hate to think what this summer will be like when I start on the AIs.
I just got scheduled for a repeat breast MRI, (May 2, the day after my last taxol RX) to do a 6 month follow up on a tiny bright spot on my "good breast". Then I see the BS for a follow up the next week.
I also have constant worries about this crap coming back again.
Barbara
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I feel like I hit rock bottom this past week. (Of course, there may be a new bottom around the corner, but . . .) I was so happy to get that last chemo but SEs from the last chemo have been long. And there was this realization that while chemo is over, and that's great (really), I'm not going to "bounce back". It is going to take a long time to feel normal again, especially since I still have surgery and rads in front of me. I was fortunate not to have too much fatigue with the first 3 infusions, but 4,5, and 6 have had a cumulative effect and I am nowhere near my normal. Not going to the office this week because energy is just not there for my metro/walk commute, and my feet are "fried" (lovely hand & foot syndrome). Couldn't keep up with my 6 yr old as we walked from the soccer field to the car on Sat - had to ask her to slow down for me (and she had just been playing soccer for an hour in the heat! and was walking already!). We had been planning a really active/touristy vacation for August, and I told my DH that we need to do that trip another time. I could be okay for that by then . . . but I'm afraid I won't be (I will be finishing rads in July). And on top of it, people don't "get" how long it takes to bounce back. They mean well, and they really in their hearts "want" you to be feeling better. So it's hard dealing with people's expectations. That's my experience. Anyway, I have been at the lowest point of my whole chemo journey this past week, when I felt like I should have been still riding the happiness high of being "done."
So, Chico, Missy and others feeling down, rant away! It really helps me to post here where y'all really know what this whole crap is all about.
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Decent into Taxol Hell......I love it! These last couple are a bitch! My mouth is like a cotton ball, but yet i have constant phlegm (snot). Feel like I am forever blowing my nose. I have about 6 eyelashes left on each eye, no bottom ones left, eyebrows have a few scraggly white ones left, i should just pluck them out but for some reason don't want to. On the bright side, my hair is coming in like crazy on my head!!
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Barbara, didn't see your post until I just posted - totally hear you on the fatigue. They are also following a spot on my left (good) breast. I will have a bilateral MRI on Wed. Last MRI was in December, pre-chemo. Not quite 6 months but my BS is sneaking in the left MRI before surgery (just in case . . . )
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you all said it all for me....best place there is to share our mutual misery! Fatigue has hit hard this last round...I slept almost all day yesterday, not like me at all. Today I went to work was told I looked puffy....really?? I didn't have the energy to make a stupid comment back...I just said, well it is what it is.
We have come this far, we will keep moving ladies, there is no other choice. Vent on, cause you are all taking words right out of my mouth and oddly enough it makes me smile just knowing I'm not alone.
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Thank you all, you have made me feel better about feeling bad
I am not alone! -
Me too! I have cried everyday the last two weeks. It takes everything I have to hold back tears at work and sometimes I can't. My last chemo was March 21 and I noticed that my neuropathy was just a smidge better at first but now it has stayed the same. The pain is terrible. I have to choose between going to the grocery store and cleaning the house or walking the dogs. My feet won't allow both. I'm terriefied that the damage is permanent. That I'll never be able to hike again that I won't ever be able to wear cute shoes. My MO gave me a new med to try for the pain, which also happens to be an anti-depressant. Two birds with one stone. It hasn't helped the pain yet and I'm waiting to stop crying. Then I still have to face four more low doses and I'm scared those doses will make my feet worse!!
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I am 4 weeks post last chemo today and the fatigue is nuts I am so tired, its ridiculous, and the stamina is just not there, I still feel like my legs have 30lb weights on each one when I am trying to do stairs., I don't know when or how long its going to take or what I can do to make it better, but I hate not feeling like myself.
My eyes are still running and MISSY I totally hear you on the snot saga, I was the same way, I couldn't understand where the hell it was all coming from. I still blow my nose constantly. my poor nose is so sore. I am still loosing lashes, I am down to one lonely little lash on my right eye lower lid.... seriously. I see my oncologist today going to ask her about latisse.
Im also off to have my eyes tested today as I am sure they have gotten worse with chemo.
DJJ - I feel so bad for you and your hands and feet, I hope it resolves for you...
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Kimmie....ohhhhhh the snot!!! OMG......its disgusting! I wonder how many boxes of kleenex I have gone through. One morning I woke up and had this huge mountain of used kleenex on the floor beside my bed, my 18 year old daughter walked in and I was feeling like crap and I said to her (joking of course) that I really needed her to clean my mess up for me.....the look she gave me was priceless! She was like.....NO WAY am i touching that....no way! She went out to the kitchen and brought me some tongs for food and a garbage can and told me i had to use them and do it myself!!! I had a good laugh when she left! poor kid.....some days I think she wishes she lived with her dad! haha!
I got a total of 2 hours of sleep last night from the steroids.......going to be a LONG day at work today!!! ugh. One more week Michelle....One more week. I am so incredibly thankful for no neuropathy. Did anybody get it this late in with the Taxol or did it typically start earlier? I'm just hoping if i don't have any yet except for some minor numbness in my fingertips that I hopefully won't get any. Maybe God felt giving me hemmorhoids was pain enough and spared me the neuropathy?
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Hi ladies - Catching up on your posts. I didn't get neuropathy in my hands and feet, but my legs still hurt. Some days more than others. I am walking everyday regardless. I also deal with issues down below, but eating mainly a vegan diet has helped. I know I am drinking too much coffee and tea, but if I didn't, I would get nothing accomplished. I did switch to organic coffee... if coffee causes bc than I am screwed. No sugar, no alcohol.... I need my coffee in the morning.
Kimie - I am going to ask about latisse when I see my RO on Thursday. My brows and lashes are really sad still. My hair is coming in slowly... kind of stressing me out. I only feel a little stubble. What happened with your rads? Did you get on the 3 week plan? I hope so. I need to get my eyes checked too, my eyesight has worsened with the chemo.
Barbara & Oranje_mama - I too am due for an MRI on my right breast. I asked my MO about it before rads and she acted like she would wait until after rads. However, it is now 6 mos.... I think that I will call my BS office. I hope all goes well with the two of you and your MRI's.
DJJ - The neuropathy that you are dealing with sounds brutal. I know that you really like your MO, but can they send you to a specialist who deals with neuropathy? I am hoping that someone can give you some hope here with it being a short term issue.
Well off to rads and work. For those of you going through Taxol Hell... How does that country song go? "If you're going through hell, keep on moving, face that fire, walk right through it.
Have a good day,
Kim
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Kim- eyesight here still. I have never worn glasses, but this is my issue. If I hold something close it gets blurry. I have to pull it away to read it. I noticed it two days ago trying to read a medication label for directions. My phone does it too. Will this get better after chemo or damage done?
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I am pretty sure I read somewhere that there are vision SE's. I also read it was a better idea to wait and get eyes checked once off chemo. I am thinking it is because not all are permanent. Not sure how long it takes to figure out when things are done changing.
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missy, had to laugh at your kleenex story!
I am now 1/3 of the way thru rads. Feeling fine so far.
My RO told me to wait until 6 mos after rads for follow up mammos. Should I be asking for an MRI instead? My BS was good with that.
Either way, it makes all of us nervous and anxious. I hope whoever is having MRI's has a good report!
Taxes due and I am procrastinating. UGH!
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kim - I should hear today about the rads, and I should be starting next week. I got a script from my oncologist yesterday for Latisse, its not covered under my insurance but still may give it a go, its like 150.00 .. but worth it for some lashes..:)
I went and had my eyes tested yesterday and they got way worse which I totally knew.. so new glasses for me.
I wanted to share with you guys part of a blog that a photographer did on me, I also shared my story with her, I hope my words help others fighting this fight and please share on FB if youd like.
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