Starting Chemo October 2014

Had 1st visit with my MO. I start my chemo on 10/8 with Cytoxan/Taxotere, 6 rounds then a month off then 6 weeks of rads.  Then he proceeded to tell me that in one of the scans a "possible" spot was noticed on my liver. I go Sat. for a ct scan of my abdomen. He seemed to act like it was no big deal and that it was a standard thing and prob nothing. Not sure if that was true or if I just saw his poker face. I also wonder why my surgeon didn't tell about this at my last visit. Tomorrow I have an appt. with a nurse to go over the treatment plan and get some helpful hints. Should be about 2 hours. Also have to stop and pick up the drink stuff for the ct scan. I still can't believe all of this.

Trekgirl, I'm sorry to hear that you are going thru more testing and pray that it is nothing.  I have very similar stats as you and my MO wont do scans UNLESS there are symptoms at this stage because they are likely to be false positives, so your doc probably wasnt giving you a poker face but was trying to reassure.  So hang in there and keep us posted.

Tx went well yesterday.  Felt fine during it.  The Adriamycin irritated my vein and so they had to start a different iv for the Cytoxan.  Funny thing was that I didnt feel any pain or irritation but my skin got all red and starting getting bumps near the iv.  Once they flushed it out and gave an ice pack it went stopped right away.  Feeling ok this morning.  Was fairly nauseous last night, but tolerable.  Took the meds this am and feeling better.  Getting my haircut later this morning.

Welcome ml14333!

Question for you ladies-  how open are you/do you plan to be with acquaintances about going thru chemo?  Im not trying to put it out there neccessarily but I find when people ask questions (what made you decide to cut your hair short?) I find I cant come up with anything better than Im going thru chemo.  Not that I mind being open (and I certainly do need to go into detail), I just dont want to make people I dont know real well feel awkward ( theyve seemed ok thus far).  Would love to hear what you all are planning to do.

hyphencollins, I'm open too about my situation, I wear my heart right on my sleeve. You should see the 'pity looks' I get. They're so frequent that I've decided instead of letting them continue to cause me distress I'll turn it into a contest, who has the best pity look. So those that know me know my 17 year old and youngest son was killed in a car accident three years ago, a year later my grandson was born with very serious heart defects and had open heart surgery at 4 months of age. 4 days after being discharged from the hospital his dad, my 3rd oldest son, was hit head-on by a 3x drunk driver going 74 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. My son was so critically injured he was not expected to survive the first 24 hours. He was in ICU on a ventilator for 13 days before he stabilized. And now, less than a year later, I'm diagnosed with breast cancer. It is a lot but my grandson and my son are doing wonderful. Baby is meeting every developmental milestone and his daddy returned to work just this week, only 10 months after the crash.  My cancer, if you have to have one, is the best bet. I feel very blessed actually. But oooohhhh those pity looks, I couldn't bear them before I changed my perspective. Now we have some really good laughs after receiving one, though not at the sender's expense because I do believe they genuinely feel bad and I sincerely appreciate their concern. Scoring the looks is just another coping mechanism, a way to get through all this garbage. It's way easier to laugh than to be angry or sad. I'll tell you though, if my mama were alive she would win the contest hands down. She had THE best pity look ever! 

Keep your heads up, Girls. This too shall pass. 

Trekgirl they found a spot on my liver as well on MRI, had to get a ct scan to look closer and it was exactly as they assumed, hemangioma which are very common, large population of people have them and don't know it. I was told similar to birthmarks on the liver. Try not to stress too much about it until the results, although easier said then done. I'm guessing why your doctor didn't seem too concerned, even on MRI I think they know if it's malignant by the shape, only using a ct as confirmation. My docs didn't seem too concerned which made me feel better. Prayers to you either way 🙏.

Trekgirl I had some areas on my liver as well.  Some calcifications in areas which showed on the CT scans.  MO wasn't a bit worried about them and neither am I.   

Holly take the generic loratadine, don't take a chance.  You won't be a bit of good for your kids if you're in the hospital with an infection.  I started taking the loratadine 2 days before the chemo and had the Neulasta shot yesterday.  Painless.  Still taking the loratadine.  I haven't had any bone pain except in my left knee which was giving me problems before.  My MO nurse said loratadine was fine.  It's all about the active ingredient.  Your MD must have a deal with Claritin.  

hyphencollins I'm pretty open about my situation.  It's amazing to me that among my acquaintances that I may not have seen in a while there are some who will let me know they have been there.  I haven't really gotten a lot of the pity looks.  I guess because I look like I am handling it so well.  I cover well.  

Feeling a little more fatigued on this second day , took a nausea med this morning, but haven't really felt any nausea.  I am a little fuzzy headed and made quite a few mistakes here.  

Hugs 

I'm drunk off my chemo cocktail so I'll keep this short hope everyone is doing fine. 

My first chemo session was pretty good knock on wood. I got my neulasta today too and they do it in stomach area so I didn't have to request it. . I happened to take Claritin last night and I took another one b4 the chemo and will do it for (4) days  after. I can barely read or even remember why I posted this ugh nap time!!!!!!

*edited cause my brain was moosh, had a quick 20 min nap now the clouds are slowly lifting.

Wendee thanks for post. Gives me hope. Still a week out. PET scan Tuesday before they decide what cocktail to use. Frustrating day but Dr did give me buspar to help ... thankful for that.

Ladies, we can do this ....... I think. Have to be strong. Can't let our cheerleaders down (hope I can live up to their expectations). 

Hi! I ordered a wig. The styles have names - mine is April. My daughter and the great wig stylist made it a good time in all this mess.  I start treatment Tuesday and I am going to stop finding projects around the house that "have" to be done - all I HAVE to do is show up for treatment. And pack my chemo bag. Oh, and buy generic Claritin. Thanks to you all, I feel as prepared as I think I can feel. Thank you.

thank you wendeeB! I had my friends mom come over and poke me after reading risks/benefits as far as pain but everyone seems to fare well with the Claritin and Tylenol/ibuprofen. The anxiety of administering to myself didn't help! I took it about 9pm last night, my back is a little achey but I'm soaking in Epsom and drinking tons of H20 along w the Claritin and others. Thanks for your response! 

Hi everyone. I hope everyone is doing well and hanging in there.  Welcome to everyone new, I look forward to getting to know you.  I'm day2 past infusion.  Not feeling great but tolerable.  I have had bad headaches so they took me off the zofran and taking compezine, which makes me sleepy.   But my head is better and I'm not nauseous, just unsettled, so its ok.  I probably could be more active today, just lazy.

Hollyd, I got the neulasta yesterday and my MO only recommended Tylenol if needed.  So far ive been fine although I have been taking Tylenol for headaches anyway.  Hope you are SE free because it seems like it can prevent further issues down the road.

I may have posted this yesterday but I got my haircut into a short bob.  My three year old said she didnt like it!  (She's into long princess hair). Oh well, its only temporary anyway!

Thx everyone for the reassurance about being open about chemo.  Its just weird, isnt it? 

For those starting tx next week, make good plans to enjoy this weekend. 

Hi Ladies,

I'm starting my chemo treatments October 14th.  Unlike most of you, I will have chemo first before surgery as we already know that I have a positive lymph node.  I have been on a bit of a whirlwind with diagnosis on September 23rd; IDC, 1.6 cm Stage IIa, 1 lymph node, ER+/Pr+ Her2- node.  I feel fortunate to have gotten appointments very quickly and not having long waits with too much time to obsess.  I have genetic counseling on Monday, it takes two weeks. Tuesday meeting with the PA to get details of the process. Friday having CT and Echocardiogram, and next Monday will get a port.  I'll have dense dose adriamycin and cytoxan for 4 cycles then 12 weeks of taxol.  I felt confident with my teams advice but am reassured to see from other posts that this seems to be the standard for my dx.  I'm working on my to do and to bring list and appreciate all the suggestions, already ordered tea oil.  I plan to go wig shopping next week and get a few hats and scarfs.  I hope everyone's treatments go smoothly.

Hi ladies!

When I got home on Friday, my BS called and my port placement will be on Monday, 10/13/2014.  I have to be there at 6:45 am and the surgery will be on 8:45 am.  She said it will take about an hour and then once I come out of anesthesia, I can go home.  I asked about going to work for a few hours and she said that wouldn't happen. 

I do have a few questions.  She said she will go in through the mastectomy scar, thread the vein and come out further up.  Where will it be?  Near the cavicle?  Will it be noticeable in anything other than a turtle neck?  If so, can I just put a bandaid over it?  How do I care for it for the next 6 months?

I had my port put in on my right side during my bilateral lympectomies because my lumpectomy on my left side was very high on the Breast. It's connected to the major vein in my neck. I find it annoying but it's not that big of a deal. I'm wearing cowl necks and higher neck shirts. You can always throw a scarf on if you are worried about it being noticeable. I haven't started chemo yet but I've been told it's the smart move to get a port placement. Best of luck with the surgery!

lyancy5486

Can someone tell me what is in achemo bag?  My first chemo treatment is thursday

Add me to the list! Starting chemo on Friday the 10th. Woohoo!  Was initially shocked at finding a walnut size lump at work but thought "surely it's just a cyst!" Then the mammo and ultrasound-and because I work in healthcare,  I just had to research what cancer looks like on Google-- and there it was! The same thing I saw on the monitors was listed as IDC! By the time the biopsy date came and I asked the dr what she thought it was,  I was pretty sure what she was going to say and was coming to terms with having the big C. So now I'm ready to get this thing going! Thankful for groups like this to compare notes with and get support from!