November 2014 Starting Chemo Crew

bonnied - very cute hats! I'd have been unable to stop myself buying them all! As it is, I'm going through my mom's collection -she passed two years ago but she was always adorable in her hats and I couldn't bring myself to part with any of them. Now they're coming in handy to wear over my activity caps. This chemo may make a hat wearer out of me too in the end!

Hi ladies.  I had my fist a/c infusion yesterday afternoon. It went well. No side effects to report. So far so go good today too. I will keep you posted. I start the neuprin shots tomorrow self injections for seven days. Have clariton eready to go. I did take ativan befoe I left for infusion to relieve the an anxiety. Although I really didn't feel too anxious to begin with. But you know as soon I would get there... Nerve attack. Vein for infusion. Which was a bit complicated and they are now ordering a port for me. Hopefully be put in before the ,4th. Blessings to all.

In a nut shell....pretty anticlimactic!

Hugs to all. Janine

I just got back from my second Chemo. Four more to go! It was very uneventful. Just feeling tired.

Here's a picture of me with one of my new turbans. My Chemo takes place in a hospital. It's comfy, but definitely doesn't look like a yoga center! If this Chemo is anything like the first, I'll experience my crash on Sunday and Monday. I'm going to be proactive and take more stomach meds this time to see if I can avoid the heartburn tho.

Love seeing the pictures of everyone. It's great to put a face to all the names

Amylsp, you are just 2 weeks ahead of me on the same treatment. I can see what my head is in for! Like many of you, I am recording the different stages of my treatment. Here I am 11 days ago in MY "chemo lounge" (not all that swank) and yesterday getting much of my hair cut off before losing it. I've been going to my stylist for years and used to have a really short cut that I decided to grow out when I retired. We had to laugh when after all that trouble, it is all going away! She cut it for free and has offered to shave my head when the time comes, and to style the wig I'm going shopping for tomorrow. As someone said, it'll be like "say yes to the wig"!

Hi Ladies -

I'm here to tell you that all this will be in the rear-view mirror before you know it. I had my last infusion three months ago, and it is already starting to feel like ancient history. So hang in there. You will get through this and be better than ever.

I found it therapeutic to summarize my experience in an essay, and friends who've passed it around have apparently found it helpful as well, so here it is:

https://medium.com/@AShepherd/how-i-lost-my-hair-found-my-groove-86628c04b894

Stay strong!

amy I love your turban!

lucyshoe. What a fun adventure to dig out all those wonderful hats and give them new life. You'll have to send us some pics of the hats or model them for us

amylsp love your turban, you inspired me, I ordered some online tonight, thank you! Ps you look radiantly beautiful in both pictures which also inspired me to get ready and wig shop as I'll be shaving probably by next round on 8th. I'm still secretly hoping I have super powered hair and its chemo resistant, I am honest I am but I know that is a dream

Thanks Chris! I too was secretly hoping I wouldn't lose my hair. I hope you find a beautiful wig that speaks to you. To be honest, I'm feeling nervous about wearing my wig in public for the first time tomorrow. It just screams 'wig' when I look at myself in the mirror. But my husband reassures me that's because I know it's a wig, and it's different from how my hair has ever looked. I will probably only wear my wig occasionally. I look forward to having fun with the hats and scarves.

annsf thank you, am diving into your story, and especially thank you for the positive thought of encouragement, yippee, 6-8 months ahead this will be a tiny path of my history :

Janiner pre ativan I was like a pet behaves when going to the vet, maybe they thought I'd bolt but after I was all nice and relaxed. Nervous humor with me, I kid when I'm really stressed

Hello all ... i've been reading this thread for about a week now and have found it so helpful! I wasn't sure I'd chime in but have some questions I hope some of you can shed some light on or at least validate what I'm experiencing. I had my first infusion (T/C) on the 11th and am feeling just about 100% again. SE's weren't incredibly bad ... at least not as bad as I had worked myself up to expect!!

Biggest complaint started about 48hours after treatment and lasted 3-4days was an absolutely excrutiating headache. Nurse at my Onco office suspects it was the Zofran. I understand Zofran can cause a headache, but that severe?? I really assume it could be attributed to anything that was given to me or that I took. I'm just not sure why she immediately suggested the Zofran.

Right around Day 7 after treatment I experienced terrible back pain/spasms. I'm really not sure if it was the so-called "bone pain" from the neulasta shot because to me it felt a little more muscular than "bone" ... with what I can only describe as waves of pulsating pain. It started suddenly, but occassional then turned nearly constant. I took some Rx'd Oxicodone to help me sleep. By morning it was gone. Anyone experience anything like this?

Also, underneath my fingernails hurts like crazy. This started just the other day (approx 10days out). I heard nails can get brittle, maybe even fall off. Really hoping this isn't the start of this. Hair is still in tact at this point so I didn't expect my nails to be turning on me this quickly. It's not a "tingly" sensation either - just hurts. Per some suggestions I read on here, I did use "sally Hansens Hard as Nails" (applied before I was feeling the pain underneath).

Lastly, my nose is very, very sore! I haven't read anything that suggests a sore nose. It's so irritated inside. Is this remnants of the drug coming out (fluid) andirritating the lining of my nostrals?? I've been using a saline spray but it does not exactly help - at all. . Any suggestions? I'm worried that it will never heal before next treatment & only get worse.

Thanks to all or any of you who can shed any light on some of these strange SE's I've experienced. I had a lot of the "typical" ones as well but managed thru them fairly well. These just seem out of the norm of what I expected.

My best to each and every one of you. This has been one wild ride ... and not exactly the ride I anticipated taking shortly following a 40th bday! I appreciate being in touch with others who are on this journey with me. I've talked with many who have walked in these shoes before me and who have been extremely helpful, but there's something to be said for having people there *with* you, experiencing it real-time.

Long story short : Turned 40 in April, Diagnosed in June - hence the "midlifecrisies" surname ;-). Bilateral Mastectomy in Sept. w/reconstruction (expanders). Stage 1c, Grade 2 Node 0 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma w/DCIS, ER/PR +. 4rounds of T/C started Nov 11. Married, two kids (5 & 8).

Thx all. :

Sharing a picture of a chemo shirt my daughter found online that I wore at my infusion yesterday. You can get it with the zipper on your port side. It opens for the nurse to access to put in the line the you you can pull the flap over and button in one the line is in. I liked it as I didn't have tops that worked well for port acces. This was my 3rd of 4 AC treatments, then 12 weeks of Taxol.

Chemo top is at:

http://www.onedayapparel.com

Hi all: We were on a tear last night with new posts! So great to read each one. AnnSF, thanks for the post on your hair. It is inspiring as I go wig shopping today. I also love that website, so many interesting looking stories there I have bookmarked it for future reference.

I am feeling so much better nearly 2 weeks out. I think I was getting a little depressed after feeling nausea 10 days in and thinking I would be that way for all 4 months. As long as I can get a break to recover, I'll be OK. One side effect still bothering me that I haven't read about yet is a burning itchy rash on my hands which developed a few days ago. The nurse said it is probably from the taxotere and that I should avoid sun and hot water. Sure enough, just sitting in the car all day down to Tampa and back, as well as my daily walks has exposed my skin to the sun. I also have red blotches on my face probably from the same thing. My skin is already damaged from all those years working in the sun, and that contributes. So far my nails are OK. I am using hydrocortizone and moisturizer, cool water, even ice packs. And I am now using fingerless gloves when I drive or am outside. Turns out those ladies with the gloves in days gone by were helping themselves medically. I have a pair of old fashioned cotton gloves I bought at a thrift store to wear at night, which helps.

I read that many people love their ports. The kind of creep me out and was glad when my doctor said I have great veins and did not give me one. I was amazed that after 7 hours of a needle in the back of my hand there wasn't even a mark--until 11 days in when it got all red and itchy (but so did my other hand). A port scares me, but now I'm wondering about a year's worth of sticks every 3 weeks. To port or not to port?

I've found that Ocean saline spray helps with the dry nose.

I use the Elastagel mittens and booties during the taxotere infusion to ward off neuropathy and nail problems. I have Round 2 on Monday, so I'm wondering what SEs I'll have this time