Starting Chemo January 6, 2014

I seem to get most of the bad and sleep the week away till it is the next thursday.  I am not a Taxol fan but only 5 more weeks and i am done and moving on to surgery.

Hope everyone is doing well and side effect free!  My last dose dense Taxol treatment was yesterday, and I am thrilled to be done with chemo.  Next up, surgery!  (yay?)  

It's been an emotionally draining couple of weeks trying to decide on surgery.  Initially I leaned strongly toward a lumpectomy, but after getting not-as-good-as-expected imaging back (less tumor shrinkage than expected plus an additional 3cmx3cm "suspicious abnormality" that was not previously identified), I have decided on a bilateral MX with expanders followed by implants after radiation rather than what would now be a double lumpectomy.  Coming to terms with losing my breasts has not been easy, and I'm not sure I'll ever quite get there, but having gone through chemo once, I really don't want to do it again for a possible recurrence in my breasts.  Now to get a surgery date on calendar, which seems to be easier said than done.  

Good luck to the rest of the January chemo crew as you finish up your treatments over the next month or so!  You can do it!

Wendy, that is great news!! You must be so excited

CarpeVinum--that is the "best" Good Friday news EVER!!!

lawyergirl--congrats on finishing chemo--I wish  your results had been better, but you can move forward knowing with a clearer path.

thanks ladies I am literally walking on air. Just booked flights and cabins for a trip to Oahu in late June. I wasn't sure I'd be around that long let alone taking our kids and going back to where hubby and I met 23 years ago

Have a wonderful weekend everyone XO

Carpe, That is awesome news. I am so happy for you and your family. 

I am getting ready for my upcoming surgery. I will be having a BMX with TE on Monday. I am very anxious to find out what is going on with the tumor and see whether I will be finishing my last two rounds of TCH one starting over with AC. I am so over cancer. I just want to wake up and get through one day without thinking about cancer.

ok so tomorrow us my last "effin" chemo! Trying to keep busy tonight with baking oatmeal cookies to bring to share with staff and patients. Got my kicking cancer's ass tshirt ready. I think I'm going to cry though. Mixed crazy emotions. What's going on? Can't wait but also the usual pre chemo dread. Help me out here girls!

Changed my avatar to the way I used to look. So ready for the "old" me. 

 horray! Feel like I've conquered the world! Nothing can get me now!

I can do this!

As you can see I'm all over the place emotionally

Yeah Lisaj514!  I am so excited for you!  Two weeks and I will be in the same spot.  I am already an emotional roller coaster thinking about it.  Some days were so long and so hard.  I pray everyday that this chapter of my life is over and never to be repeated!   But in the meantime - you are AWESOME!  Way to go and high fives!  Just remember to take it easy for the next couple of weeks to make sure you last round is not your worst round! 

desimone. Good to hear you are tolerating the taxol great. Other then mild neuropathy I was doing great until I hit week 10, fatigue caught up with me then big time. I did #11 this morning and now just got back from a 1.2 mile walk, got to love that decadron. At least it gave me energy today. I have talked the MO into reducing it to 4 mg  over a few week period and so much less SE at that level then the 10 mg.  also my bendryl dose has been down to 25 mg since about week 6. Not sleeping for 3 hours when I get home now. 

Hope things go well for all the chemo ladies this week.  

Barbara

I just finished week  8 and They will go no lower than 12 on the dex. I got ambien to help with the sleep and I have a management plan to help with my blood sugars from my endo so they are back to normal by sunday. just 4 more to go.

I'm just a little bit ahead of you, ddgm -- I go for #6 this Friday, and I'm SOOO excited!!

Hi belleb - I just had my last Taxol on Monday. I did dose dense in four sessions instead of the weekly 12, so I finished a little ahead of the others. It feels very good to be done with chemo, but also very weird. I think I would be having the same feelings as you about not being proactive, but my BMX is already scheduled for May 15, so I'm busy making arrangements for that. I've also started reading a book called Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, and am trying to make changes to my lifestyle so I can STAY cancer-free. I'm a single mom with 2 little boys, so the idea of recurrence is really scary for me. Schreiber's book is a little overwhelming - the changes he suggests are pretty radical, so for now, I'm just trying to incorporate some the easier things like adding cancer-combatting foods to my diet (berries, broccoli and green tea), and finding ways to be more stress-free. That's also helping me feel a little more proactive. Do you know when your BMX will be? We just started a group for May 2014 Surgeries here on the boards; I've been following the April group as well and it's given me some insight into what to expect. 

any one having trouble with chemo induced neuropathy read this article. Good suggestions or things to bring up and discuss with your doc. I had minimal problems during taxol. I used icing, l glutamine and relaxation/meditation techniques.

http://www.integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2013/06/complementary-therapies-for-chemo-neuropathy/

if you want to feel like you're being proactive, my MO told me one of the best things you can do is exercise. People who exercise have less chance of recurrence. Plus exercising is a great stress buster.

Since some of you have finished DD Taxol (every 2 weeks for 4 times,) did anyone experience tooth sensitivity to hot and cold during treatment?  I am one week out from my first Taxol, and all of the sudden my teeth are sensitive to temperature change.  I had no mouth issues at all on AC.   Just wondering if this is a common SE.