Starting Chemo January 2015

lisaj514, thank you for your support and ice pack info. I will start Taxol on Wednesday. I am not looking forward to it but I can't wait to finish my chemo.

SweetHope, I am sorry about the lack if result. I hope you can get treatment on Monday.

Bpgas, good luck with making the right surgery decision for you. For me it wasn't really a difficult decision as my tumor was 7.5cm and I had a whole bunch of smaller spots just waiting to explode into cancer all in the same breast. I knew that one had to go. I was larger breasted and to reduce future issues on the other side I chose to have a bmx. Besides, I have wanted a reduction for many years, just couldn't afford it and couldn't see spending the money I didn't have. Now my insurance will pay for it. 😆

well, I am off to Tuscan. Have a great day ladies.

mousrach? We have that to look forward to

jlstacey, yep it is right above the wild chin hairs! WTH?

PMR - Thanks! The Biotin is great and super cheap. Drug Mart always has a BOGO sale and I stock up. Maybe it grows hair too good

My fuzzy friends, sometimes we just have to laugh! But I have read some very creative ways to remove the stubble, lint rollers and Duck Tape! And since my mastectomy, my armpit hairs have moved, some to my arm and some to my side, and a few left in the armpit. WTH? Was that in the fine print that I didn't read? Oh geeze, small price to pay I guess. Have a great weekend.

wow. This conversation has gotten hilarious but so real.

I was wondering about the facial wiskers. I was getting them befor my cancer dx. I haven't had to worry about them since chemo but afterwards? Is that going to be more of a problem? I sure hope not. I guess my concern is mainly because of upcoming forced menopause. I am supposed to take a pill for the next 10 years which will send me into menopause faster than my normal bodily cycle. I can't remember the name of the pill. I am 44 years old and still pre-menopsal with only a few symptoms here and there of menopause.

Hello again to everyone,

Don't be afraid of last AC treatment, it feels really REALLY good to know that there are no more treatments, less stress seems to mean less SE for me. Tired, very light nausea, spacey, nothing really tough. Treatment #3 I got a low grade fever, slept for almost 3 days straight, just up to drink, eat, walk Otis and pee. then more sleep, I felt like cement. I looked like cement.

My onco nurse cried last Thursday because of all the SE I reported when she was asking questions and taking notes. She said AC is the toughest regime that they do at the clinic. I said, I am so glad to be moving through it and out of it. Like many of you, I take all my energy to try and heal or at least cope, anger seems so counter-productive, sometimes brought on by steroid but I try not to enter into with intent. But I am very clear with people. I say, "I need you to tell me what you are actually going to do because I am too sick to interpret or enter into any sort of cloudy or chaotic decision space with you. Whatever you do is fine, just be clear, let me know, and show up if you say you will" If people cannot do this, I have walk away from them for now. Not forever, just for now. got no time for ill-communication. exhausting.

I am still scared sometimes. I have the possible metastatic spread to a spot on my rib, I was approved for the BRAC1 & 2 test next infusion. The results will guide decisions about keeping my right breast and ovaries. I WANT my ovaries. But what will be will be. More scans after chemo, we shall see. I am cautiously optimistic.

To answer your question, SweetHope, I have Taxol regular dose for 12 weeks. My onco says (and I read here in an article too) that single dose causes fewer SE with no loss of efficacy of the chemo. Same bang for the buck. But I don't know, still lots of SE outlined in my chemo teach. I am not happy about the huge dose of steroids in the IV. Sigh. I am hopeful it will be easier, but I have a wait and see approach. Hope you hear back about your heart, sweet lady. That is just freakin hard.

My nurse did an mental health evaluation: one question she asked was "how do you feel about your diagnosis now?" I said well I feel that this damn AC better work! But then I said, hey I am making plans for the future, simple things, a container garden for my sun porch, going to cancer yoga on Fridays, having friends visit, celebrating the end of chemo with my father and family/friends on his 80th birthday at the end of June (that made him happy!) Planning projects when I can return to work full time. Traveling around in the fall with my aunt, to the mountains, to the Orcas islands, then visiting friends in L.A and Albuquerque. So I said, I guess I am felling optimistic, like this treatment will end and I will heal and move forward with my life, whatever my new self is like. I still don't know if I have fully accepted that I have cancer. Seems like a long process, a long way home, but each step brings me closer. I would say that I am not a religious person, but I believe we all live in the light and love of god, of the holy spirit. May that light and love enfold all of you, and hold you, especially those that are fighting battles on multiple fronts, and give you strength and peace of mind. I pray a lot and lay my troubles down.

Well, I have written a short novel so GOOD Night. Fight cancer like a girl y'all!!!

Also, Marjo, thanks for the big welcome back. That just made me feel REALLY good! All right, going down to make some scrambled soft eggs for brekkies with little organic tater tots on the side and a banana. It's my electrolyte delivery system of salt and potassium when I am drinking water like mad.

Have a good Sunday all!

Hey butterfly, my eyebrows and eyelashes started to grow back about a week or two after they fell out. My hair started to grow back after the first Taxol. Biotin works!

If you haven't heard of the Look Good Feel Better class, I suggest that you go. It is on the American Cancer Society website. I had a great time, and they show you how to do make up and you get to take all of the make up home. The make up kit is very nice. Just call and register, it is free. Take Care!

Hello Ladies. I was just reading about herceptin. I am scheduled to start it after my chemo ends on April 27. I know it will throw me into menopause, but I didn't know it was an infusion and that my port will have to remain in. I hate my port. I was planning an: I finished chemo trip with my family to New York City in November. Do I need to do anything or have any special paperwork to get through airport security? Has anyone been on herceptin before? Are there side effects?

Dear Stillstruggling, I am scheduled to start Herceptin for a year starting on April 10. I may have gotten this wrong and will double check when I get to my last AC on the 20th but my understanding is that I will get the first Herceptin through IV with Taxol then after the first three months I will choose between coming to the onco clinic to get a Herceptin shot or they recommend I just learn how to self-administer like diabetics do, every three weeks for balance of year. I may also be wrong but understood that I would likely not experience any side effects... So thanks for raising that point, I will enquire but also would like to hear anything that comes your way. Off I go to the threads to see if there is one...

Have a nice week eveone with a special thought fot Sweethope.

Marjo

P.s. Colourpurple aka Kristin, please report to base? Tambeth please show vital signs...

Hi SweetHope, I have my ECHO at 2:30 and the Cardiologist at 3:30 on Thursday. I also have my last rads that day. They have to schedule the time yet. Hopefully it will be a good day times 3!

I hope you are packed and ready to go, and the phone rings! I wish you the best!

Cheryl

Hi Ladies,

Tennisfan and Stillstruggling; I start my Herceptin with my first Taxol; which I don't have a date yet as I suppose it's more "let's get through the 4th round of AC); however I was told the port will stay in for the full 12 months of the Herceptin infusions; I only have 12 weekly infusions of the Taxol and then I start radiation.

Also, stillstruggling; I have a shot the day after my AC chemo, I go in and they give me more fluids and stuff as well as I am one of those that no matter how much I drink I get dehydrated.

I have a question ladies.....Do you also get the N shot after each Taxol? Or does it stop after you finish the AC?

And I have a concern.....my tumors were at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock on my left side; I had a double mastectomy and then a lat flap on the left side. With the location of the tumors; should I be worried about heart tissue damage from the radiation? I know it's a ways off however I thought about it the other day as I will have 5 weeks of rads M-F.....just a little concerned.

Also, what's the difference between "dense dose" and weekly dose Taxol? Or is there a difference?

jlstacey; thinking about you this week with Chemo #4; praying few SE's and fast recovery....my round 4 is next Thursday; 4th and last!! Yay!!

Sweethope...I am praying for you and that you get word from the echo very soon; the waiting is torture and I remember reading a post earlier saying how we remember the day when no news was good news and waiting for a test results call wasn't such a big deal; now one call can alter your life and is so hard....I am one that likes to be in control too and this has/is teaching me, none of this is in my control; and what will be will be....doesn't make it any easier; but it puts a perspective on it I suppose.

Beachbum....I also hope your echo and all comes back positive news!!

I am attempting to work from home;Ben went into the office; I am trying to be productive however I lose focus in an instant and just can't form a straight thought still.....also, I forgot to add Claratin to my morning meds and have gotten hit with the bone and joint pain worse this time; it's so hard to remember all the meds! And I have had a headache for 4 days now.....mild compared to most but annoying all the same.

You girls make my day; the funny stories, the sharing, the support; this thread and you ladies....this site has been my lifeline through this!!

Fight Like a Girl!!!! NEVER Give Up!!!!

Lara

Lorie and LCH, I had Neulasta after every chemo x 8. The bone and joint pain was progressively worse with every injection. The last one I had after Taxol, and I refused the full dose and requested the half dose, and no problem. But I took Tylenol #3 with codeine with the Neulasta. The pain was pretty crushing, so glad to see it go. Are your bills crazy for the Neulasta? My insurance company was billed $4,780 for every injection. They cut me off from any more Neulasta without approval

LCH - Fight Like A Girl has a store in Westlake near me. The owner is a survivor, and she has the trademark on it. They have cool stuff....

Lorie - You can run up stairs?? Go Girl Go!! I'm impressed. Uh tired...........

Ok, ok, Beachbum I walked fast…you got me! LOL

My insurance was billed over $11,000 for this shot!! (Of course the majority was written off and insurance actually paid a little over $3,000 for it.) I honestly don't know what is worse, the chemo or this shot. I will usually get a horrible headache the day after the shot, then the bone achy feeling like I'm coming down with the flu for a day or two. When I mentioned the headache as a side effect (wanted to know if they could Rx something to knock it out) they said they'd slow down the Herceptin. Wouldn't you think if that was the cause, I would have an immediate headache…not days later?