Starting Chemo October 2014

Leto, great news on that last treatment, you go girl. My first treatment of Taxol had the fingers and feet numb but since then nothing. I have super dry hands and feet. I have been using Aquaphor also for diaper rash its like Vaseline to the 4th power.

I also will be seeing what the topic recommendations are for surgery since mine is coming up in March.

I got a letter yesterday from my surgeon advising that at the end of March she would be leaving the practice. That's 2 weeks after she works on me. I am not sure if I feel some kind of way about it or not.

Moving on to surgery now. Because the BRAC2 test was positive, I'm having a double mastectomy. And since I'm post-menopause the ovaries will be removed too. I meet with the surgeon in 2 weeks to see if I can have them done at the same time. It will be 2 different surgeons. If this is the case, I will post-pone reconstruction for later in the year. Today is the bone density scan. I'm back on the road leaving Sunday to Toronto for a week. I'm hoping this will be my last trip for work on this assignment. I've been traveling every other week and coming home a week for chemo. It's been a tough schedule but now it might be slowing way down and I'll have a lot more time on my hands for all the up-coming appointments.

I'm really glad I had the chemo treatments before surgery. They are both really, really scary, but doing chemo first will give my body a little break before I have to have surgery. I'm hoping this will aid in a quick recovery.

Good luck to all and thank you. I'm still going to participate in this site because everyone here has been my ROCK and I don't want to lose contact with you. Hugs, Hugs, Hugs.

Leto,

I'm sitting here with happy tears falling down my face after reading about your last chemo. I am so ready to be done. Please do keep in touch.

Congrats, Leto! What an awesome family you have!

Hi ladies ... I hope everyone is doing ok and not having to much trouble with side effects from treatments. My second A/C treatment was rough and the fatigue was worse than the first treatment. ( I have them every 21 days ). I was suppose to have my third treatment this past Tuesday ( Jan. 27 ), but my chemo nurse called Monday afternoon and said my oncologist didn't like the results of my blood work so there would be no chemo on Tuesday . She scheduled my blood work for Monday, February 2 and chemo on Tuesday, February 3. Well guess who has her 60h birthday on the 3rd ? ... Never, ever did I think I would be bald and sitting in a chair having chemo treatments on my 60th birthday. I guess this will be a birthday to remember always, unless I get dementia or Alzheimer's. I am counting my blessings and thankful that the cancer I have ( HER2 positive 3+/clear lymph nodes) is treatable. I guess we will watch the Super Bowl, and celebrate my birthday early. Do you'll get to see your MO very often ? I always see his PA.This time I want a copy of my blood work. Take care everyone . ((( Hugs ))) and prayers for each one of you on this journey.

So I asked MO if extending steroids for 3 days after chemo tx can keep the dreaded SEs away why can't they be taken for 8 days with same result? They can, he says. Well please give them to me! My SEs have been pretty awful on days 3-8 post-chemo then it takes me another week to get back to full steam. So he did. Fingers crossed. Hoping NO SEs with this tx, my LAST!!!!

Leto, the neuropathy does get pretty bad, make sure your MO knows about those symptoms you're having. I get it but thankfully not as severe as yours and mine always goes away in just a few days.

Tobycc, Darn right! I made that little desk top bell sound like a freakin' gong!

Nottoday, knowing it's the last really tx does help. I have such hope and excitement that I'm done except with rads. I asked the MO about all the reports I've heard from others that radiation just whoops ya. He said that comes from those who didn't have chemo, they have nothing to compare to. Hopeful life will return more to my normal. Sick of being run down.

I've lost my eyebrows but only the outside half of both. I have these little Charlie Chaplin wigglers and I don't even care. Don't even bother to pencil them in anymore. Still have my lashes, thinner but there. My feet are repulsive. No pedicure now since September, absolutely revolting what has formed on my heels. Aquaphore helps but those deep crevices within the nasty callouses are still there. My skin is peeling around my toes but no issues with my toenails. My fingernails are another story. I have deep horizontal grooves x4 at the base of the nail beds of the first three fingers, both hands. Books say it's a sign of trauma to the body. Who woulda thought chemo was a trauma?!? I have several fingernails that appear to be lifting away from the nail bed, starting at the top and working toward the bottom. Uh oh, hope they don't fall off. Ouch! Most of my fingernails are discolored, this baby shit yellow-brown. Kinda ugly. But that's it. Nothing shattering for sure, nothing a pedicure and time won't fix.

Hang in there, Girls, you got this!

Becca: extra days of steroids are good, but just don't be as deluded as I was (I'm sure you won't be!), and try to get back into your old exercise routines too quickly under the manic influence of dexamethasone. I still have a sore lower back from thinking I could do some leg lifts my muscles weren't prepared for.

But, most of all, congrats on finishing! I bet your nails will be back in good shape before long.

I did cold caps and am watching my brunette hair turn quite gray as it grows out. When I look in the mirror, I feel like I'm meeting someone new. But, it's OK. I'm a grandmother now, and I'm looking like one. Lost hair many other places, and everyday, I examine all parts for growth, but haven't seen any new hair, yet.

llovecoasters: I did the bell ringing with my husband and our friend, who helped us with cold caps. It gave me something to look forward to. But I can see how it wouldn't work for everyone, and I worried some that there were people there in the infusion center (which is huge so all kinds of patients), who might not have the opportunity. I bet you and your DH could find a great, alternative way to honor this milestone.

On Monday, I'm having gallbladder surgery. Not at all related to chemo, just happened to discover gallstones during it. Yikes. I've always prided on being so healthy. Now, I think I might as well pitch at tent at that hospital.

Happy weekend, all.

Thank you for the good words, Ladies! They mean a lot!

I too felt guilty about ringing that bell, for how it would make others feel who were still in their chairs. There was only one older gal there when I finished. She looked like she had been through the ringer. She smiled warmly at me and said, "Congratulations". I believe it was heartfelt. I smiled back and wished her only the best. I had already chased my family off to get a table at our favorite steak house so I was alone, I really didn't want a celebration at the hospital. I did have TWO glasses of wine later though And it was GOOD! My kids tell me they have a celebration in the planning though, at the request of my extended family and friends. I asked them to wait a few weeks so I would be in shape to celebrate too. Though I'd prefer they'd just let this go wo any fanfare. I only want to get back to my normal life, whatever that is.

nottoday, best wishes for your upcoming surgery. Heal fast! Wishing you didn't need to go thru this at all let alone so soon after chemo. No worries about me over-doing anything. My leg muscles are so weak and achy I can barely make it up a flight of stairs. Don't know if this new symptom is the chemo or my anti-cholesterol med. Will wait and see. I've been coloring my once almost black hair for years. I'm done. It will stay whatever color it comes in. I'm done worrying about how old I look. Despite what my daughter thinks. I am 55. 55 year-olds have grey hair. Grey hair can look stylish. I'm so there.

Tobycc, 5? Yowsa! Relieved to hear 'no pain' though. Haven't had any pain up to now, glad to know that streak will continue.

ilovecoasters, do what you need to do. There is no wrong or right way to get through this. Getting through is the mission.

The best to All! I'll be thinking of you each and I'll be cheering you on.

There is no bell to ring at my center but that's OK because I know I would not ring it. Not because it doesn't deserve to be marked but because I do see the folks who won't have that opportunity, some older and many younger than me. I will mark the occasion though I have been thinking about hitting the trampoline bounce house just to flip out a bit. Lol

We think maybe 3 more treatments. Yay!

There is no bell ringing at the center I go to.  For me, that works.  I would feel bad, I think, celebrating when I know that some of the people I have met will never ring the bell or celebrate finishing chemo.  So...when I finish, I would like to go to dinner at my favorite restaurant, then go home to rest.  It would be really really cool if my husband and kids did something as a surprise maybe a week later, but I don'ts know if that will happen.  It's not that they don't love me, they do, but I don't know that they would think of it.

On another note, I was not able to have chemo this past Friday either.  There was an uncomfortable amount of pressure in my neck when they flushed it with saline and not much blood return.  My MO is afraid there may be a leak so I have a dye study on my port tomorrow.  Will see what they say and go from there.

It is frustrating, but all things happen for a reason and this will all work out too.

Speaking honestly and reassuring you I have a very compassionate heart and soul, if it's your milestone marker to ring the bell and signal your success, ring the bell. People on long-term chemo know what they face, they are aware not everyone else faces the same.  If we take a look, we can all look over either shoulder and in a minute find someone worse off. A successful completion of chemotherapy should be celebrated if you need it to be. Some of you have just taken the most difficult  journey of your lives, one that will forever change all our lives.

Aww Mandy! I'm sorry you have this setback. Well, you have no choice, you have to get the damn thing replaced and just keep moving forward. Know I'll be right there with you to cheer you on.

There is no bell to ring at my center, I will cheer all the way home after my last Chemo treatment the Thursday.

Mandy sorry to hear about your port and surgery. Will be in my prayers for quick recovery.

Ladies:I finished my 12 rounds of Taxol on 1/8 and receiving Herceptin every 3 weeks but I have a few nagging problems: first, I have had recurrent UTIs since that last week. It's just awful. Never saw this on the boards. Second, really bad neurapathy in both feet and goes up to my knees. Third, my hair is not coming in fully-meaning large bald spots. There are sprouts of whit here and there. Am I expecting too much or should there be more growth?

There are other issues but these are the ones that worry me

Hi Sophie14, I had my AC/CY every two weeks with a Nuelasta shot that kept my numbers up.  My RBC dropped but stayed within range for treatments.  Check your clinic because where I go I can actually get my lab tests about 10-15 minutes after they draw my blood so I know if I am going to be treated before they even show up with the bags!  I have 3 treatments left and I am so excited but yet nervous as I will find out at the end of the month from the MRI if the 5cm lesion that I cannot feel has shrunk.  Praying every day!  Good luck with your treatments.