CMF Question

HI Maryland!

Keep an eye on your mouth sore...anyway as a natural way of dealing with them...I had weekly acupuncture while I was on chemo.  And although I had serious "dry mouth", I did not have the mouth sores that often go with it.    I also felt I had more energy after acupuncture though it was not permanent and I did need to go back every week.  I mention this because you , like me, do not want to add 4000 new medications to hide the side effects.  At the end of my treatment, when my onc was surprised at the level of dry mouth I had, without having had mouth sores, she mentioned that acupuncture could do a lot to relieve chemo symptoms.

For nausea, in addition to the kytril pills,  I sucked on ginger candies or drank ginger beer which is not a beer at all, but is a strong ginger ale.

Anyway take, care all.

Mandy1313

Hi Maryland,

It sounds like you have a good start on your CMF treatments.  All of we "ladies" are always so concerned about the loss of hair.  It's such a hard issue for us to deal with and we fear the loss of hair sometimes as much as the actual treatments.  Very few gals lose enough of their hair while doing CMF to warrant a wig.  It usually thins and often only you and your hairdresser will notice.  I used the Nioxin hair products during chemo and kept the thinning down to a minimum.  They were a bit cashy, but I really think they made a big difference to me.  You can buy them at many hair salons and often find them a bit cheaper on-line.

Another trick to help soothe nausea is the old-fashioned lemon drops (Brach's) that have the slight sugar coating on the outside.  I think that most of us have tried different things and are just passing on suggestions that have worked for us.  Since we're all different and responded differently to the treatments, you'll probably get lots of suggestions to try!  :-)

You can do this!  Just go one day at a time and before you know it, this part of your journey will be behind you.  Check in often and let us know how you are doing.  Ask questions!  We've all been there!  Hugs from Illinois!

Rita

Maryland - we can all do this!  Glad you are feeling better.

I had my first infusion last Friday and Neulasta on Saturday.  Just now starting to feel the bone pain, but bring it on!  The nurse said it means the white cells are being made just not being pushed out yet.

My second infusion will be November 7th.

Diane, thanks for your kind words.  Couple more thoughts, I did "swoosh my mouth with a product called Biotene during the first couple months (not daily but occasionally ... Hated the taste) and wasn't noticing mouth sores so stopped.  I also sucked on some ice chips (again during the first 4 or 5 infusions) and think I became a Little more complacent after each visit and I was not having issues.

My thoughts are you have a positive mindset and will trudge along just fine.  Seek support in the ways it works best for you.  Throwing this out there ... I had about 4 close friends that I scheduled separately to haul me to treatment.  My hubby would have more than happy to be there with me but I personally felt that friends want to "do" something to help.  This gave them a real purpose, saw the process and maybe even became less nervous about chatted it up with me.  The unknowns we're revealed.  Win-Win !!!

MARYLAND-we can do this!  PM me anytime!

Mandy and Diane....I'm so glad that you have each other while you are going through this.  It always helps to have somebody who is going through it at the same time to compare notes and cheer each other on!  You will be amazed how strong of a bond you will develop between you.  Both of you have such positive attitudes and that is SO important.  The rest of us will be here to cheer you on also and help in any way that we possibly can!

Carol, I am so glad that you popped on to add info about their specific treatment plans!  I keep up with you by your Facebook posts and love the pictures of your walks that you post.   You have done so much to further the funding of breast cancer research.  Hugs!

Rita

Hi..Mandy and Rita,

          Thanks for your support, it is so great to have someone to compare notes with, and our situations are so similar.

           I am continuing my daily dog walks, did some stuff around the house, then my sister and I had a Halloween party for the Grandkids......now I'm tired!!

            Work day tomorrow so I'm going to try to go to bed earlier! 

             Mandy keep in touch......Diane

Hi Everyone, I notice unfortunately we have some new names on the boards. Please feel free to ask us any questions. Ritajean was a tremendous source of comfort to me, as well as all my other friends I have met on the board. I did the IV CMF. I noticed a person here said there dr doesn't do cmf anymore cause they had better luck with the taxores. My doctor told me that for every 100 patients who receives TC or ATC, only 10 receive benefit. We are overmedicating our breast cancer patients with medication. And consequently getting secondary cancers from the initial chemotherapy. So it's not necessarily a bad thing to do CMF. I was thrilled to be able to do it.  I feel like I did do enough to battle my cancer. And I see you guys are asking the hair question. Keep in mind I am a 5" 2' long haired curly haired Italian, my hair is my pride! It was the first thing I asked!!! Will I lose my hair! While my hair DID thin, it was not enough for a scarf or a wig.  I didn't put it up in a ponytail and was careful about brushing it and used biotin shampoos on my hair. I am also a Zumba instructor and was able to teach twice a week during the entire chemo. My chemo was 16 weeks, every other week all infusions.  I had a nulesta shot which I was not able to tolerate and switched to nupogeon 3x between each treatment and was upped to 4x by the end. Read back over the last couple of pages, there were a few of us battling this together, and we put out a lot of info of what we were all going through. If you have questions and would like to inbox me privately, I would be honored to help. Good luck! It's doable. Take it one day at a time and be KIND to yourself!! xo Robin

Robin - I took Claritin starting on Thursday before my Saturday injection and kept it up for a week.  My MO said that the bones start to hurt when the white cells are being made and stored.  It only hurt Thursday an Fridayl  By Saturday, I was good.

Maryland, if you are on facebook, private message me, I'll tell you my name we can be friends (i'm friends with a lot of ladies on here) there are pictures of me before during and after treatment, you can see the proof with your own eyes! Believe me, losing my hair terrified me more than treatment (but I knew I was vain. LOL  I'm a Leo, I love my hair! ) Robin

Mandy and Leslie........wishing you both smooth treatments next week!     Diane

Ritajean - My liver enzymes had to be retested this week because they came back high after my 10/31 blood draw.  The re-testing came back within normal limits so my MO thought there might be a lab error.  So...on to my second chemo infusion tomorrow.  After that, I will 1/4 of the way through.  WooHoo!

Ritajean,    Had my 3 rd infusion today, it went well, now back on the pills for 2 wks.  Wbc was low, but not low enough to keep me from my infusion.  Feel good, last two weeks off of pills were great!  Hate to go back on them, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

                    Haven't missed any work, but cut back a few hours a week.  Can't say I'm any more tired than usual.  And so far hair is holding on!

                     After next weeks infusion, I'll be 1/3 of the way done!   Yeah!  

                     Thanks for checking on us......keep in touch..........Diane

Thanks Rita!

Good to see some of us "oldies but goodies" still on these threads..just wanted to add my encouragement...I am celebrating 14 years as a survivor...it is doable but still caution watching the liver....