Starting Chemo in April 2014

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  • Ddkath70
    Ddkath70 Member Posts: 129
    edited July 2014

    image

    final treatment, yay!!! Need to celebrate in  3weeks! Off to radiation next!!

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  • Footballnut
    Footballnut Member Posts: 742
    edited July 2014

    ddkath love ur picture and sign. Way to go!!!!

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  • linda505
    linda505 Member Posts: 847
    edited July 2014

    Don't try to compare yourselves to Footballnut - she is a super hero and has powers that we mere mortals can't even dream of LOL

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  • Footballnut
    Footballnut Member Posts: 742
    edited July 2014

    Linda. Too funny!!  

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  • linda505
    linda505 Member Posts: 847
    edited July 2014

    ddkath - Congrats!!!!

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  • ColdInCanada
    ColdInCanada Member Posts: 95
    edited July 2014

    Oh Ddkath70!!! That SIGN!!! Just. AWESOME. :):):) And CONGRATULATIONS on your LAST CHEMO! Woo hoo! Celebrating with you today!

    Happy Birthday Footballnut! I, too, celebrated my birthday during chemo (back in May). Also my 17th wedding anniversary and my husband's birthday, although I slept through both of those - we're postponing the celebrations for when my taste buds come back. ;) 

    jhodro - I love your description of the post-chemo arm: "tracked". YUP, that about sums in up. :D 

    BlessedMe - I have the goopy eyes too.  It's gotten worse with each round, just like the fatigue. I wish I could tell you I found something that helped, but sadly, I did not. :(  Hang in there! You are almost done. Put your feet up on your recliner and SLEEP through it all as much as possible. Sending hugs and prayers for minimal side effects this round. 

    Timbuktu - I hear you on the heart palpitations! Stairs are my NEMESIS now. I made it half way up the other day and needed to stop and rest. My son came up, sat down beside me, and said: "Whoa, Mom. We might have to call a TOW TRUCK to get you off the stairs."  HA! That little Smart Mouth cracks me up! :D

    EverForward - Sending you hugs. We HAVE given up so much, and we have the right to mourn the losses. 

    I've had an EPIPHANY Ladies. And I thought I would share it with you.

    I think all these crazy emotions as we reach the end are NORMAL. I mean, really, we've all been through SO MUCH to get to this point. We've powered through the UGLY and the MEAN and fought off the Dementors, and "Others" keep telling is how tough and strong and amazing we are. And we protest and say that we are weak and tired and just didn't have a choice, but those "Others" don't really understand. They see a strong woman who endured a cancer diagnosis, gave up a breast, made it through 6 grueling rounds of chemo, and came through it all with a smile. The reality is that I spent just as much time WEEPING as I did smiling, and most of the time I really didn't FEEL strong or amazing. 

    HOWEVER, I decided that I'm going to try to see myself like those "Others" see me. And if I squint a little, I CAN kind of see it. I mean, I DID that, what they said. I DID make it through all those things. And I DID smile more than I thought I would. And even on my worst days, when I was simply too weak to even get out of bed, I still mustered up the energy to whisper "I love you" to my husband and children, and to catch the kisses they blew to me from the doorway of the bedroom. So MAYBE, all that strength and amazingness "Others" saw in me IS there. Even when I don't FEEL it. MAYBE I AM that person they think I am, even if just in part. And MAYBE I should be proud of ME for getting here, to this place, this place that seemed so far away just a few months ago. 

    And YOU Ladies, should be PROUD of YOU too. :)

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  • EverForward
    EverForward Member Posts: 242
    edited July 2014

    Ddkath70, congratulations on your last round and GREAT SIGN!!! Die, little fuckers!

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  • Jaimieh
    Jaimieh Member Posts: 2,373
    edited July 2014

    #8 DONE. 4 more weeks of weekly taxol than a week of herceptin and perjeta and finally a little break :). My hands are burning today and I still needed extra magnesium but my liver functions are coming back to normal. All of my counts are slowly creeping up which is great. I started working out last week and I am hoping that tomorrow on my steroid high I can get another workout in. I found that I do not sleep well unless I workout. So on the nights that I workout I get a full nights rest making the hard things that much easier to handle. So yesterday when I started with a cold I really wanted to cry because it is messing with my T25 workouts. 

    Ddkat h Congratulations on your last chemo. :). 

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited July 2014

    Congrats DDKath70! Love the sign

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  • nancybel
    nancybel Member Posts: 81
    edited July 2014

    Happy Birthday Football.  

    Congrats to ddkath

    and Cold; thank you for sharing that.  You are so correct in the we don't see ourselves as others do, but we are strong and brave, but only because we have so much to live for. Hugs and prayers to all. 

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  • mmtagirl
    mmtagirl Member Posts: 509
    edited July 2014

    FBN, happy birthday! 

    cold, always love your posts.  You have a way of getting to the heart of what we all think in a very with way.

    DD, congrats on finishing up!

    Jamieh, I agree with you on the exercise.  I sleep so much better and have less fatigue if I can get some form of exercise.  My feet are burning tonight, too.  Started glutamine this past week. I hope it works!

    Only 7 rounds left!  Woot woot!

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  • clarrn
    clarrn Member Posts: 557
    edited July 2014

    Congrats DdKath :)

    Happy belated FBN!!

    Beautifully said ColdinCan

    So happy to be getting my Taxol today!  Drinking tonnes of water so that it might be easier to stick me!  Go veins go!  

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  • Timbuktu
    Timbuktu Member Posts: 1,906
    edited July 2014

    Cold, your post gave me goosebumps.  You are so right, we think no one else understands but maybe they see something we don't.  I think powering through every moment doesn't allow us to see the big picture.  Maybe when it's all over?  But will it ever be really over?  Either way, I'll try to power through every moment in the best way I can, and that is something...  But what other choice is there?

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  • boobieprized
    boobieprized Member Posts: 36
    edited July 2014

    I finished up chemo 4 weeks ago and for the past couple of weeks, I have been having some serious muscle fatigue.  When I get up to standing, I walk like a 100 year old person.  Is this common?  I am pretty sure it's muscle rather than bone because my entire body feels like I have done 5 hours of bootcamp, everyday.  Stretching and walking aren't helping much.  I have a call in to the chemo nurses.  I am hoping this is just a side effect that goes away.  Fast.  Lol

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  • Timbuktu
    Timbuktu Member Posts: 1,906
    edited July 2014

    I hope you will let us know what the nurses say.

    When I had CMF, 3 years ago, it went on for 6 months.  After I was done I expected to get back to normal quickly.  I took walks every day in sun.  One day I noticed blisters on my skin!  I called the onco nurse and told her something was weird, it was 3 months post chemo but I still had a bad reaction to the sun.  She said "Three months?  That's nothing!  That stuff stays in you for a year!"    Surprise!  To tell the truth I'm not sure I ever did get back to my previous energy level, but I'd gained a lot of weight too so It's hard to tell.  Good luck!

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  • linda505
    linda505 Member Posts: 847
    edited July 2014

    Boobieprize - I am also a little over 4 weeks PFC and I also have muscle ache, fatigue and stomach issues (reflux, indigestion, gas) ughhh.  I keep waiting for my energy to come back but it hasn't yet.  I think we have a ways to go yet...

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  • boobieprized
    boobieprized Member Posts: 36
    edited July 2014

    Thanks, linda.  Thankfully, the stomach issues have subsided.  The indigestion is something else, isn't it?  The dr. does want me to come in tomorrow for labs.  I was hoping they'd just say to continue ibuprofen until it goes away.  They do always err on the side of caution so I suppose I should be thankful.  ;)


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  • boobieprized
    boobieprized Member Posts: 36
    edited July 2014

    Thank you, too, Timbuktu.  Didn't want you to think you're chopped liver!  ;)

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  • SharonDe
    SharonDe Member Posts: 222
    edited July 2014

    4+ weeks PFC and muscle fatigue lingers (seems a little better each week).  Reflux is surprisingly annoying still.  Tastebuds working well.

    My husband was sorting through boxes - brought me a gift - "here, you might need this" - it was a hair dryer.  He thought it was hilarious.

    Ddkath - wanted to say congrats on your last chemo!!!

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  • MomMom
    MomMom Member Posts: 523
    edited July 2014


    Ddkath, Congrats on being DONE with chemo!!!  Yay you!!!  You did it!!

     

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  • Footballnut
    Footballnut Member Posts: 742
    edited July 2014

    hi all

    Got through round 2 of 6 of taxo. I call it round 5.1. My onc nurse told me that my side effects should remain as is throughout the duration of treatment. I hope so!  I got colace and will start taking tonight for a few days

    I bought a generic brand the other day because they did not have colace and saw that there are 2 types of parabens in there!  Good grief!  You can't avoid the stuff!

    I'm paranoid about the skin creme and body washes that I use but it's in everything!!!

    After chemo I came home and slept for 3 hours. Same as last time!  Prior to chemo they give me steroids, Benadryl and something else - I forget. It's the Benadryl that knocks me out. Felt like I was in space!!

    I hope that everyone had a good day!

    image

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  • Timbuktu
    Timbuktu Member Posts: 1,906
    edited July 2014

    What is wrong with parabens?   I must have missed something.

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  • Timbuktu
    Timbuktu Member Posts: 1,906
    edited July 2014

    YIKES!  Just read up on parabens!  I take stool softeners 3 x a day, not always colace.

    WHERE IS THE FDA????

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  • lena-lou
    lena-lou Member Posts: 10
    edited July 2014

    Hi all, just thought I would update since being MIA for so long.  I spent a week in the hospital for pneumonia and severe anemia.  The pneumonia was what was causing those miserable fevers.  They finally got it under control with a ton of antibiotics and I got a blood transfusion.  I got home Monday and am trying to get back to normal.  I've been working from home though - not ready to go in the office. 

    That was my 3rd hospitalization in 3 months of chemo.

    Tomorrow I go see my oncologist to see what his plan is for getting me through my last 10 cycles of Taxol without killing me off with side effects.  

    Congrats to those who have finished or are finishing up - you are inspiring.  And so is everyone else who keeps posting about how you are plugging away and keeping moving forward despite all the difficulties.

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  • Timbuktu
    Timbuktu Member Posts: 1,906
    edited July 2014

    So sorry for all you've been through Lena!  Hope and pray it's all downhill from now on!

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  • jhodro
    jhodro Member Posts: 240
    edited July 2014

    FBN looking good!! Hang in there! The thing they gave you before chemo with the decahedron was probably some kind of antacid, I got Pepcid.

    I am 7 days PFC and I thought, oh, I'm good I don't need the Pepcid anymore. HA!!! Keep taking it! It was an awful day until it kicked in again. Yuck. I went today and had my rads simulation. That wasn't bad. 33 daily treatments there. 4 tattoos (very tiny). Hopefully the time will fly.

    Stay well everyone!!

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  • Jaimieh
    Jaimieh Member Posts: 2,373
    edited July 2014

    Lena I am glad that you are feeling better. I hope your oncologist comes up with a good treatment plan. 

    For everyone who is PFC I would ask for a blood draw to see if your counts are rebounding. It took me a while to feel better after TCh last time but I was also having a ton of surgeries. 

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  • Footballnut
    Footballnut Member Posts: 742
    edited July 2014

    good morning!

    Day after taxol infusion. All night I tossed and turned. Felt tired and awake at the same time!  Lol. Last night my mouth was so dry. This morning seems the same. I'll stay on colace for a few days to try to minimize tummy discomfort and hard stool

    4 more rounds of taxol. I'll go to the next 3 by myself. I've been okay the past few times and think that if rather snooze during infusion to make the time pass quicker. My hubby wants to go to the last chemo infusion. Don't know if I'll ring the bell as I'll still have 10 months of herceptin left. Maybe I'll ring it twice - once at the end of chemo then at end of herceptin. 

    Hope to hit the gym today

    Hope that all are well and that everyone has a great day!

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  • clarrn
    clarrn Member Posts: 557
    edited July 2014

    Good morning to you as well!  I had my taxol yesterday too Football, with 4 more to go and couldn't sleep a wink either! Up all night and then walked 3 miles at 6am before it gets beastly hot out.  Normally I love the hot humid weather but with the hotflashes and extra chemo pounds I am not having fun.  It might be a challenge trying to keep up with a rambunctious 3 year old today.   Yikes!  Praying she naps!

    Have a great day everyone. :)  Off to try to nap an hour before she gets up!

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  • Footballnut
    Footballnut Member Posts: 742
    edited July 2014

    clarm we should chat with each other the night after infusion. Sleeping us near impossible. Then when I do doze off the hubby starts snoring!!!  Lol

    Went to the gym today and did 1/2 hour cardio on the stepper and weights. Now as I sit here the fatigue is returning but I've no time for that today!!

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