Chemo group starting December 2014

Hello Siren! Have a port install scheduled locally for 12/5. Possible participating in a clinical trial or, if not, getting "standard of care" chemo locally. I guess the port date could move depending on how things go. Maggie

Thanks for starting the December 2014 group, Siren40!

For you, and all who join in the following month, we'd like to point out some helpful links, starting with the main Breastcancer.org site's section on Chemotherapy, including what to expect, types of chemo meds, and side effect management.

There are some really helpful key threads here in the Chemo forum too!

Great tips and practical advice on the following discussion board threads:

• Tips for getting through chemotherapy
• More Tips (and a Shopping List) for Getting Through Chemo
• PORT PLACEMENT: Detailed description of process
• Head Covering Options for Hair Loss
• wig advice
• Cold Cap Users Past and Present, to Save Hair

Also, Last Month's Chemo thread might be informative!

Hope you find this helpful!

--Your Mods

I should be starting chemo in mid-December. Not sure if it'll be ACTH or TCH (getting several opinions), but already bought my wig and am ready to go.

Looking forward to commiserating and sharing strength through this site!

Siren... Interesting ...your perjeta comment.

I just came from oncology eval at MD Anderson. I flew from the east coast to Houston.. thinking that perjeta and herceptin as a dual treatment would be an offering (or soon an offering) there. I was surprised to be told perjeta was not ready for "primetime" for my situation. (er-, pr-, HER2 (3+).... Your comment is most welcome and helps me feel a bit less foolish for my excursion!

Good morning ladies!

I thought I would chime in here too since I joined the November group only to have my chemo delayed till Dec 1. So looks like i am with you Akitagirl and Laura. My port surgery was this past Wednesday (Nov 19). Just soreness at the site of the incision. The surgeon was going to put the port on the right side opposite my lumpectomy but decided to put it on the left because physiologically it is a better placement. Have any of you had pain when you bend down to pick something up (after having your port put in)? I hope that will become less as healing of the port continues over this next week. Hey, we all have Thanksgiving week off to prep and be ready for chemo round 1.

May i introduce myself (we all did intros and started posting pix of ourselves in the November group and it made it a lot more cozy for all of us…). I went on a hat shopping spree last week at Macy's and posted many of those pix but really ended up over at Teavana and spent my money there. haha priorities and apprehension i guess.

+++++++++++++++++

My name is Bonnie. I am 57 and live in northern VA (west of DC) with my husband Peter. It is a second marriage for both of us (married oct 2003) and we each brought two kids into the mix. My two boys are in college, one at Cortland SUNY and the other in Tucson at U of AZ. My two step kids are awesome; Lauren is a veterinarian in Philly doing her first residency there and my step son David is a BMW master auto mechanic here. We live in a townhouse and love our little garden..it is a kind of zen place for us where we can watch the wildlife that comes, especially the birds that migrate in to our little jungle like oasis to find refuge. The squirrels and chipmunks, however are the bane of my existence because they go after the bird seed, plant the peanuts in my beds) (that the neighbor graciously puts out for them) and the chippies tunnel everywhere and fill their little cheeks so full of sunflower seed that they can barely run. (those little hoarders!!)

I work full time as a sales arborist in the tree care industry and plan to work through chemo. [ I have a trip planned to the Yucatan Feb 20 -March 1 that is already paid for. Told the oncologist I really want to go on that trip and could we work that out. ] (Peter & I are both in the same line of work and are both arborists. We help people make decisions about their trees and landscapes. My employer has been generous with time off even though i filled out the FMLA paperwork..they carried me for the two weeks i was out back in early October after surgery. I consider myself lucky. My office manager is wonderful and is filling my calendar with appointments to I am not too busy during this time. As for telling my story to those around me, I decided right away to share with all the family here and there and made an announcement to our guys at work on one of our 6AM morning dispatches way back in July. They are supportive and it opened the door for them to be comfortable talking to me about it too. That took a load off me too to share with others. My regular clients have been great too. I don't tell everyone (you know you pick and choose) but some folks you just know it is right to do so. I have learned that many of my female clients have gone through breast and other cancers too...

I am early stage but they found the sentinel node to be positive, hence the chemo added to my plan..sigh. I was a Pan Am flight attendant back in the 80's for 13 years and was lucky to travel around the world. I became a certified holistic practitioner a few years ago (but haven't done anything with that other than my own self knowledge) and recently completed a plant-based cooking certification back in July. I'd rather teach others to cook better for themselves.

I LOVE to cook food that is delicious, worldly (many cuisines) and organic. My latest cooking ventures are with Rebecca Katz' cancer kitchen books. Lots of great recipes not just for cancer patients, but also for anyone wanting to eat delicious and good-for-you food. Each Friday, I trek (by car of course)20 miles each way out to a local farm to pick out my own food as part of a full diet CSA including raw milk, yogurt, eggs, goat cheese, meats and of course the herbs and veggies and organic flours. It has become a bit of a weekly ritual to go get food at the farm. The grocery store now seems a step down and only I use that to supplement things the farm can't provide like condiments, spices and things like that. It has made me become creative with cooking.

These past few weeks I have been contemplating my life since getting the chemo challenge laid out ahead of me.. and decided to go through my house and rogue out stuff and do the overdue purge. That is liberating if not tiring! And the dust flies, so wanted it to settle before chemo days arrive! lol My boys won't be home till mid December and by then I imagine most of us here will be sporting our new head gear or being just plain bald and beautiful (indoors of course). I haven't been wig shopping yet. I like the hats with the hair extensions though. It might be fun to have a few styles and have fun with it this winter.

Geez, what a rant! Oh well, I am a very early riser (tree people usually are) and love the solitary quiet time of early morning to think and catch up with friends online. I look forward to traveling this road with you here together as kindred spirits on a journey.

Wishing you all a lovely Sunday.

Bonnie >: )

Good Morning Bonnie, and welcome!

I am so envious of your expertise in horticulture - something I have always wanted to learn, but cannot seem to be able to memorize that sort of information. So instead, I just appreciate the beauty. :-)

However, my husband and I are both "foodies" and both love to cook! We live out here in Colorado, so our access to fresh farm products is very limited. However, we try to always cook in season and my favorite cookbook is the "1 hour" book from Williams-Sonoma. We have two girls, aged 14 and almost 11, and they are going to be in for a big shock when they go off to college and have to eat like normal college students. :-)

Have you ever visited Tuscany, Italy? Brian and I went for a week (the day after I was dx'd with cancer) and had such a fabulous time eating the fresh cuisine. Our trip included a cooking class, which was a total blast and we pretty much drank enough wine to...well, let's just say that we had plenty. No wonder they work late in the mornings, take 2 hour afternoon breaks and then stay up late!

At any rate, I honestly believe that your dedication to holistic health, including diet, will enable you to sail through chemo! As I previously mentioned, let's all remember to drink lots of water and stay hydrated.

SIREN - About the fasting... the idea is that you are 'starving the cancer cells' and making them more susceptible to the chemotherapy. It also puts your normal cells into a "resting pattern" or another way to look at it, in a stance of cellular salvation - meaning that they won't be as active during your chemotherapy, and hence the thought is that it would lesson the side effects of chemotherapy. Google: "research studies on fasting during chemotherapy" and look at some of the NIH studies that post. Make sure you stick to the 'official' sites and none of the "Oprah-like" sites. Sorry...that was probably rude, but just trying to say that reading more science than opinion tends to be more helpful. ;-) There are also a couple of discussion boards on this site - look up 'fasting and chemo' and you should find some links to studies done.

Finally, thought you all might be interested: I have qualified for a research study that looks at women with official "NON-HER2 positive", but under ELISA have actual "LOW HER2+). Although my FISH test came back negative, when they sent my tumor for the ELISA test, it came back as 1+. So, I will be randomized either into the standard of care arm (meaning CT for 6 sessions) or the arm that includes Herceptin. This arm includes Herceptin during the 6 CT sessions and then just Herceptin for the rest of the 12 months since first dose. In other words, you are taking Herceptin for 1 year total. The rationale for this government-sponsored trial, is because they have found that women that did test positive and treated for HER2+, when they re-tested their tumor with the more specific analytic tool, they discovered that many of them were actually quite low in the HER2 count. However, they also found that these low-HER valued patients still benefitted significantly from the addition of the Herceptin to their other chemo treatments. So, if this study confirms that then there will be two outcomes. 1 - we will start testing more specifically for the level of HER2 within each tumor, and 2 - if there is any sign of even a small amount of HER2, then the standard of care would change to add that therapy to the treatment plan. Pretty interesting, huh?

Well, have to get ready for more dr. appointments today... I hope everyone has a great day!

Akitagirl

I spoke to the November group about making up a closed FB group page. I need names to invite you to the page… It is called: Winter 2014 chemo crew The page won't create until I add some names then we should be able to add others once we get it going.

My name is Bonnie Deahl.

I will invite those of you who are interested in a group over there. I will come here too because there is a lot of great info here. FB group might be easier for us to chat and remember each other.

I look on FB daily, so that would be fun to keep in touch that way. Thank you for setting that up!

Quick update: Had my echo cardiogram done this morning - last step before confirmation of whether I am eligible for the clinical trial. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be randomized by COB today or tomorrow at the latest. Otherwise, everything looks like a "go" for chemo next Thursday.

I know a few of you are starting on December 1st. Are you getting nervous? Preparing? Any last thoughts?

R.

Hi everyone! I am right with you all. I had my port placement last Monday the 17th while getting a lumpectomy recision. Just today I started to not feel the pulling and burning and heaviness of it all. I too can feel the tube as I am thinner up top. I actually felt like it was gonna fall through my body when I would sit up or stand up. Thank God it's starting to not be as noticeable. Siren40 I am also from Philadelphia! What hospital are you getting your treatments from? I am going to Aria Torresdale for treatments but had my surgeries at Holy Redeemer. I have my first appointment with my ONC on 12/1 and I expect to start treatments the same week. I would love to share my experience with everyone and hopefully we can all pull through this together. I've been doing research daily on side effects and keeping notes on what will help. It's nice to meet everyone and best of luck as we go through our journey.

Bonnie I would love to join the Facebook group.

Hello everyone,

I would like to join the group as well.  I don't have a start date for my chemo yet but it is likely to be Christmas week.  Although the nurse I spoke with today said it would be ok to defer until after Christmas which I might do.  Will need to speak with the cancer clinic/oncologist about that at my next appointment. 

Looking forward to hearing everyone's experiences and wishing nothing but successful treatment with minimal side effects for all!

Good morning ladies ... I would like to join this group if I can. I am HER+2/positive3+. I don't think I know the words to express how I feel about this journey that I am on now. I have been gathering all the prayer warriors I can get and it must be helping because I can talk to the doctors without crying my eyes out. I will be getting my lymph nodes checked and a port put in on December 8 and start treatments December 16. It will be 4 treatments of adriamycn 21 days apart, then cytoxin once a week for 12 weeks. Surgery will follow and then radiation hormone replacement therapy. I would also like to join the facebook group if possible. Plgnc48@aol.com My name is Phyllis Munn and I am in Hope Mills, N.C. ( 59 years old ). I am thankful for finding this web site and sad that so many of us have to fight this cancer monster. But I know we will fight it like girls and not give up. I am so use to being the care giver not the one needing the help. Take care everyone.

Tanya, they first told me I would need to start chemo the week of Thanksgiving. I was supposed to have started it this past Monday. I asked if I could wait until after Thanksgiving since we are driving 4 hours to be with family and I really wanted to spend time with family before being sick with chemo. They didn't have a problem with me doing that. It doesn't hurt to ask if you would like to wait until after Christmas.

Thanks for the tip Special K re the FB page and our info. Trying to keep the FB page secret over there so appreciate your input on our personal stuff here. I think the emails are the smoothest way to add over there.

Thank you for chiming in with support too since you have gone down this road and can be a mentor to us newbies. I will check out the hermit club. (cute name).

I had my surgery (lumpectomy and breast reduction both sides to match up) and port surgery last week. Surgery went well in late sept. The drains were a pain and i was afraid to shower so sponge bathed for a while till they came out. I was lucky to find a cool bra shop locally with a certified bra fitter (especially for surgical bra wear. Make sure to get a prescription when you go bra and wig shopping and many insurance groups will at least some of those expenses and even for regular bras after you are done with the surgical one.

Bonnie