Chemo in May 2014

coutour911 My port was really painful. Much more than what I expected. It took about 10 days for it to stop hurting. Now it's been 3 weeks and occasionally bothers me, not not bad, just a bit of pulling. And, the whole tubing moving under the skin thing creeps me out. 

Well girls today I went back to work for 4 hours.  It felt good to be back to normal.  I am much more attentive to my Zofran and now the nausea has been under control.  Had two wonderful girl friends visit yesterday and another tonight and I enjoyed the stories and laughter.  I work in a clinic which is part of the hospital doing all of my treatment.  The Medical Director is also a pediatric oncologists so he was very helpful sitting with me today and talking about the 5 remaining TCH + Pertuzumab cycles and what to expect.  Next week 02-06 June is my nadir so I am trying my best to boost my food intact and protein to get ready for it.  On the 9th is my blood work and Cycle Two will be the 12th.  I am blessed to have so much support around me at home, work and friends.  Hope you are all doing well on this joint journey we are on.

NoNips - hugs, this is our place,"BC sisters".  We sure did not choose this battle, but we will fight alongside each other and share in our journeys.  There is a time coming when I will THRIVE and not just live.   

I was a bit queazy yesterday until I went to bed. I woke up feeling fine and had a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. Took a Claritin and a anti nausea med. I have my friend who is a NP coming over after noon to give my my shot. I also noticed I have a small rash on my chest. I have a call into the dr's office to order me some Zofran since the other wasn't quite making it and she said I could use both. I'm doing ok so far today but do feel a little run down.  With the pizza I could only stomach one, so I may need to go a little more bland on the diet. 

Day 11 after first round. I feel almost normal. Actually, I've felt almost normal since day 9. My kids had a class in Annapolis on Thursday. (1 1/2 hours from our house). It was a 5 hour class on a boat. I stayed on land and hung out with friends in town until they were done.  And then we stayed in town for dinner then finally arrived home at 9pm. A 12 hour day.  I did surprisingly well.  I did get tired but as long as I rested frequently the energy came back.

Friday I felt a bit more run down but still had to run around doing kids stuff.

I got a pimple on my face later in the week. It is growing into one of those ugly big things. Today it has a few friends. Kinda bummed about that.  I don't mind losing my hair but acne, ugh.

Just like clockwork.  Yesterday was day 13.  My hair started to come out in clumps.  It is worse today and my scalp is sensitive.  I expect in a day or two, tops, I will have my husband shave it.  I keep reminding myself that this means the chemo is working!

If you shave your head now your hair won't hurt. The weight of your hair is what is making it hurt. 

I shaved my armpits and legs on Friday because they needed it and the hair never came back. Yay! I'm done shaving my legs for the summer! 80% of the hair is gone off my head. All thats left is the hair on my arms and thats going now too. And FYI, if you're loosing your hair and you also have OCD it is a bad combination. ;-)

That said, I am SO HOT!!! Is this part of taxotere or cytoxin? Its not hot flashes, its constant. I am sweating like crazy. Hard to judge  how to dress my kids for school because I'm so hot! LOL Yesterday I had everyone in shorts and I was opening the windows in the house. My husband was like "Its only 65* but with the breeze it feels like 60 in here." My head is sweating constantly. My hair is gone so I have a turban thingy on when I leave the house and it makes me even hotter. 

When do you stop taking the anti nausea meds? I am on day 4 I guess and this early in the day I don't feel it at all. I have been taking them as a preventative but they give me a head ache and a little dizzy, plus I'm sure there is a cutoff or a sign you don't need to keep taking them. 

I've been feeling "yuck" since Friday's infusion. No bone pain from the nuelasta - I am taking claritin. 

HomeMom - I stopped taking anti nausea meds day 4. I took them to prevent nausea but never did get it I also never had bone pain. I had no SE at all except for dry mouth and a mild cause of swollen gums which I gargled in a salt water baking soda mix and also a mild case of heart burn. Round 2 of AC tomorrow. I'm praying that my 2nd round goes as smoothly as the 1st.

Amyo - I stopped the anti nausea meds yesterday morning. I called my MO' s office and she told me I would be ok. I've been queasy and tired. No bone pain. The queasiness is still there, off and on.

My round two is a week from Friday. I have an appt tomorrow morning to show two properties tomorrow, I'm hoping I feel more normal.

I feel like I got off a little easy but it did feel like I was coming down with something. 

Somewhere someone posted a recipe for infused water with ginger, lemon, cucs and I can't find it now. I thought this might get me through my work day tomorrow.

Home Mom - 6 cups of water, one sliced cucumber, 1 inch of fresh grated, 1 lemon squeezed, 1 lemon sliced, 1 package of mint leaves.

I sure hope it helps!  Good luck with your showings.

Ddkath70, your bone pain sounds a lot like mine! The cycles through were pure hell, particularly in my knees and hips! Did your doctor explain to you why the pain waxes and wanes?

The neulasta shot is causing your bone marrow to produce more white cells to keep your immune system up. (I know you know this part.) Your bones only have so much space inside them, and when its over-producing white cells that space fills up, causing the pain. When its at its peak your bones are FULL and cannot hold anymore. Suddenly there is a big release of cells into your blood stream which is when you feel relief. You'll find you can time the peaks because your body goes through the same cell production cycle over and over again. 

For me, I have found that when the pain is peaking it helps to soak in a hot tub. But hot baths and showers have always been my comfort so it might just be a psychological thing. But man, those peaks? UGH! There is no way to lay comfortably, walking is excruciating on my knees that feel like they want to collapse. It was just BAD! I have round two on Thursday this week (June 5th) and know that days 3, 4, are bad 5, being the worst, then 6 getting a bit better, and then it goes away.

I'll be thinking of you when you do your next round! I can tell you the 10 good days I've had have been heavenly, and I've felt really good! Hang in there! More good days are around the corner!

Day 6 of round two. Coming back to life. Some of the se's were better, no big D,  stomach cramps or acid burning throat (on prilosec this round). But I did get thrush again:( apparently thats gonna be my thing). Little more neuropathy, it comes and goes. I am more fatigued this round. Spent the past couple days on the couch,I can stand or walk for a short time, but then I need to sit.  MO insists just drink more, I feel like I'm about to float away.

I found that the bone pain from Neulasta was not all that bad. I took Claritin each morning from the day of chemo until day 5. The pain peaked on day 3, was helped by Aleve or Motrin, and was gone by day 5. It was on the level of sore muscles after a big workout.

Regarding feeling hot -- Compazine can make it hard for your body to cool down once your body temperature rises. So that might be a factor. I keep feeling hot too. Not sweaty, more like the hot feeling you get with a fever.

I went back to work on Tuesday (first chemo was the previous Thursday). Worked one full day. Tried to work today (Wednesday) but had to leave after 4 hours. My insides just felt all messed up, everything from my stomach on down felt all wrong. Plus I could hardly keep my eyes open, felt hot and my nost started running. 

Is it kind of crazy to try and work through chemo? I'm on AC every other week. I thought I should be able to work 3 days a week -- the first three of the chemo week and the last three of the week after chemo. But given how cruddy I feel and the hour long commute each way, maybe this is unrealistic. 

Couture, an every other week schedule does seem tough if your trying to work. Love your description of the stomach distress; its different than the flu or a stomach virus. I missed three days this week; not sure yet what I'm doing tomorrow. I have a long commute too, which does make  it more difficult.