Starting Chemo in April 2014

I am also considering getting a small pink Superman "S"  tattooed on my ankle..  It would be easily hidden at work, but visible if I want it to be!!!  

That is one tat I would be able to share, vs the other for the finishing touches!!!   LOL!!!  

Hi Ladies, just wanted to pop in and say HI! I think most of you are much younger than me, but I wanted to give you a few words of encouragement. While all of us will have different SE's and levels of dis-comfort, etc., there are so many remedies for them now, that most are very minimal. Please let your MO's know of the least of any SE's you may have so they don't get too far ahead of you! I was very fortunate and my SE's were minimal. I worked most of the time and had very few down days. There is a thread here also that has a list of "chemo supplies", if you are like me and feel the need to plan ahead. Let those around you know specifically what you need...dinner, a ride, cleaning house, babysitting, etc.  This is about YOU! Don't be afraid to ask for help. ACS also has a program called "ride to recovery" for anyone needing a ride to appts, etc.

My hair was also a big deal to me; I donated 11" and still had a bob left when I cut it prior to chemo. I did not shave my head and left whatever didn't fall out until my new growth started, so I never was completely bald. You can call your local American Cancer Society and they will fit you with a free wig and sometimes give you a scarf or two. There is another website that will send you a free scarf/hat, but I can't remember who it was.

Regarding insurance/deductibles: talk to your financial counselors at your Cancer Centers if you need assistance. There are guidelines you have to meet, but I qualified for almost my entire $5500 deductible for this yr to be paid. The neulasta shot and a large part of one chemo TX.  A grant paid for chemo and the pharmaceutical company paid for the shot, I believe. Since I had to meet my deductible for last yr , in Sept, and then had a new dedcutible in January, it was a huge relief.

I didn't intend to make this so long...

Wishing you all the best and a full and speedy recovery!

Hey ya'lll

I love reading all the posts on this thread! Feels so good to know people can all go through this together and support each other. 

Im one week out from my 1st chemo - scalp has been tingling for 3 days but hair seems to be holding on. Today was the first day I woke up and actually felt like me!!! I feel ive turned the corner and now am excited to dye Easter eggs with the hubs and kiddies :-)

Hoping everyone has a great weekend !

mlpoarch - we start on the same day with AC and have the same schedule - good luck!!   I will have AC for 8 treatments, then Taxol for the last 8 treatments with Herceptin starting with the Taxol. 

Sorry about your husband!  I have been telling my husband that he has to be super careful right now as I will need him more now than I ever did in our 30+ year marriage! :-)   He has even been more careful a few times saying that it wouldn't do to have us both laid up :-)

lakegirl: I washed my hair in the sink in the hospital too! The whole time I kept thinking that there was NO WAY I could have done that with my long hair. Great minds think alike, eh?

Dee: Your t-shirts are RAD. I love clothing with attitude.

lilyrose: BOO on your port not working! I hope they get that all sorted out for you for next round. BUT how AWESOME are the free head-coverings! ?

mmtagirl & Sunshine: My scalp started tingling around Day 5, but I didn't start losing any hair until about 2 weeks post infusion. More on that in  a bit.

linda: Your MO sounds fantastic! It is so nice to hear about medical professionals who encourage second opinions.

mlpoarch: Welcome to the club no one wants to join. SO SORRY to hear about your husband. I confess I am ultra paranoid about mine - he was scaling ladders the other day and I was all "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT IF YOU FALL AND BREAK YOUR LEG OR YOUR ARM OR YOUR NECK. GET DOWN FROM THERE RIGHT NOW!" I was being a TAD unreasonable, I know. I hope you have other friends and family that will step in and help out. 

applepop: I hope your side effects are well-managed, and you're feeling good. You've started, so you're THAT MUCH CLOSER to being done!  

HollyHope: I can address your hair loss question. I'm doing Taxotere and Carboplatin. My scalp started tingling at about Day 5, but it wasn't until yesterday (Day 13) that it started to hurt, and by evening my hair had started falling out in handfuls. And then....

I woke up this morning, exactly two weeks post-infusion, with BALD PATCHES. EEEEEK! So I handed my husband and kids the razor and said have at it. I now look like this:

I totally rock the bald look, I think. It was not at all traumatic. It wasn't scary. I didn't cry. In fact, I smiled through the whole thing. It was completely and totally LIBERATING. My scalp doesn't hurt anymore and showers are much, MUCH shorter. The worst thing I can say about it is that it's COLDER than before. But that's what scarves and hats are for, right? And summer is coming (I HOPE. GEEZ.), so I'm all set. My eyebrows are still intact, as are my eyelashes. And there's still copious amounts of hair on my LEGS (TMI?); I can hardly wait for the chemo to take care of THAT for me.

Oh, and P.S. No weird scars or tattoos or ANYTHING interesting under my hair at all.

ColdInCanada....I commend you for your wonderful attitude as you so gracefully navigate through the hair loss part.  You look adorable with no hair!!!  I could only wish to have your wonderful disposition re the hair thing.  I am pretty sure, that is the part that will make me a blubbering idiot. 

I had no issues whatsoever re: the bmx or f/u surgery to replace expander and drain to deal with staph.  I can handle the pain, I only get Motrin and Valium to deal with pain.  

However...the whole losing my hair thing...just can't wrap my head around it.  I am in denial, I think. I haven't even made an appt with anyone re: getting a wig. I think I keep hoping the MO will change his mind re: chemo.

ColdinCanada thank you for posting that. You are adorable and it helps so much to hear about your courage! My friend who just went through chemo lost everywhere but still had to pluck her chin!! What is up with that???  Haha

Holly Hope I did not have a pet scan either, I asked about it and my MO said without nodes, and symptoms of problems elsewhere they don't automatically do them. I don't know if it is that way everywhere but that is the case here. 

I woke up in the middle of the night with a headache again. It is still lingering and I am drinking so much water I am ready to float. It feels sinusy so I think I will use ocean spray and see if that helps. Mouth is burning a bit too and I feel tired. No bone aches from Neulasta and I was worried about that so I am thankful.

Hello, I'm popping in from the March chemo board - noticed a lot of you are having headaches...  It's definitely the cytoxan and is worse if you had pre-existing sinus issues.  My MO said to take claritin every day - not just for the neulasta.  So I've been taking one every morning.  I had headaches every day after my first infusion, got the claritin advice just before second infusion - headaches greatly reduced.  Also, the nurse dripped the cytoxan over 45 mintues instead of 30, that helped for infusion 1 and 2 - - though infusion 2 I had a bad headache and sneezing fit during the drip, so for number 3, she slowed it to an hour....  much better - only the slightest trace of a headache and no sneezing.  So - ask to slow the C drip and take a daily claritin (the plain, NOT the D).

Remember - chemo sucks, and then you live!  LOL!

Happy weekend, everyone!
jen

I take it every day. Once I started doing that the headaches greatly improved.  I wouldn't say they are gone totally but they are milder and less frequent.  More like what I was used to before cancer and had periodic allergy attacks.  Does that help?

Cold - you look amazing!! Such a warrior! 

I was feeling pretty good yesterday (one week from first round (TCHP) but last night felt some weirdness in my mouth and today woke up with some sores in my mouth (and I think the back of my throat:( I have a call in to my MO to see what i should do next. It doesn't help that my sinuses are still draining and ive got extra pressure in my jaw and teeth

Feels like one step forward, two steps back

Frustrated!!!!!

Jen 

ColdinCanada - You do Rock the Bald!  Looks great, no doubt your beautiful smile helps as well.

Funny - I've now had a third person say, "Oh, you won't lose your hair."  These are folks who don't know, they just believe you don't lose your hair anymore on chemo.  I finally had to tell one gal to just wait a few weeks and I would show her.  People say the darndest things ...

Continued good thoughts for those of you who have started on your treatments.  Less than a week to go and I will be joining you.

sucking on ice pops or ice chips during the A infusion limits - maybe even prevents - mouth sores.  I've had three infusions,  no mouth sores.  May have ruined ice pops for me forever, But that's okay!  I've been rinsing with biotene for dry mouth.

MakeLemonade, you sound like me, a real planner. Your post is going to help me when the time comes. I learned on Friday that the DCIS in my removed right breast was accompanied by up three foci of invasive. I will see the MO next week, but my BS said, being hot one negative, that I could pretty much count on chemo. 

Thanks to everyone of you, for relating your own experiences with insight and humor. Good luck, MakeLemonAde.

thanks for the advice on headaches.  I will try the Claritin.  I don't have sinus pressure that I am aware of but willing to try anything.  This prickling pins and needles along with the dull headache is plain annoying.

Trying to make myself eat a bowl of chicken noodle soup as I write.  Blah! I don't have the metallic taste others have talked about.  Just one dull taste bud leaving me with no desire to eat.  I guess it's one way to lose some of the pounds I have wracked up since dx!