Starting Chemo March 2015

Hi - just wanted to pop in here, several have mentioned the dehydrating effect of coffee, but from what I have read is that if you drink caffeinated beverage(s) routinely, your body adjusts to the caffeine, and it really is not dehydrating. But, it can have a diuretic effect (makes you pee). http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition... I just get irritated when people - especially medical professionals - spread that myth.

Regarding alcohol, it's the same - you absorb fluid from alcohol, but it is also a diuretic, and with alcohol, the effect is more severe (as anyone who has had a few drinks knows, once you "break the seal" with drinking, you seem to need to pee every 20 minutes). That can lead to dehydration.

Bottom line, I wouldn't skip the caffeinated coffee, but I would make sure to drink water for every alcoholic drink I had. Personally, I quit drinking the day I got my 2nd diagnosis. It's been over 2 weeks now. I'm not sure how long it will last, I do enjoy a glass of chardonnay or an occasional martini, so I don't see myself not drinking forever, but I am definitely going to cut way back.

I was prescribed oxycodone for the lumpectomy pain. They gave it to me in the recovery. I was fine, then they brought me up to discharge area, and all of a sudden I got nauseated and felt like I had bed spins. I didn't throw up, but I felt like I was going to. That made me hesitant to use it - I stuck with ibuprofen. After the 2nd surgery, my DH kept suggesting that I take the oxycodone, so I did the second night, and I had the most restless sleep - weird dreams, kept waking when he was snoring, I felt like it was a very light sleep. Then I remembered that I was given cough syrup with codeine once, and it was the same thing - bad night on that. So, I am not a fan of the oxycodone.

Lynne

Just peeking in and thought I'd share something about the crash after steroids. My first 3-4 cycles were really hard. By the last two, my MO had me tapering off more slowly, and that really helped me. I also took half as much orally compared to the earlier cycles, with his approval. I still cried at least once a day I think all during chemo, but at least the crash after steroids was minimized. I also continued to drink coffee, even when it tasted horrible. I'd have one cup a day, to avoid the withdrawal headache. I tried to stay as hydrated as I could, but got extra fluids once when I wasn't able to take in enough fluids due to a migraine.

Good luck to you all. There were times it felt like it would never end, and now I'm three months out from finishing. You do get through it.

I survived the birthday party! Today we had my son's 6th birthday party at our house. I woke up this morning not knowing how I'd make it through. I was exhausted and had a really bad headache. The naseua this go around seems to have been a lot worse than prior and I had a really bad headache and sinus headache. I sent my husband to go buy cupcakes for the party and Claritin-D for the blasted headache. It took like an hour to kick in but I felt 100 times better. I think the chemo was startin to wane to. Once I was up and moving I felt so much better. I did get a little winded and overheated on occasion but it was easy to manage. The party was a success!

Yesterday was horrible. I'm amazed at the difference a day can make. My scalp has been super sensitive the past two days though my hair seems to still be firmly in place. I am having some shedding but not in clumps, just strands.

Next big thing for us is our trip to Savanah, GA and Legoland next week. Then as son as we return round 3.

I start tomorrow. Very nervous. I bought stuff for my chemo bag and any possible side effect. My husband is insisting on going with me in case I need a friend. I'm probably booting him out after a bit. Today I'm cooking some food ahead to freeze for low energy days. Friends have filled my freezer with soup.

It's all getting real.....

I did the genetic testing. Lots of cancer in my family but I was negative across the board for the 16 cancer genes.

My husband and I separated in July. There was no bad guy, we are still best friends and he is my rock. I think he wants to be there both for me and for him. So I agreed to let him come. If I think I'd be better alone once things get going he will leave. I'm really nervous tonight so currently ok with some hand holding on the schedule for tomorrow.

Italy: I have some feelings about the genetic testing. I think they are scaring women who are not high risk into having this expensive test. If you are not Jewish or you have a lot of family and not much cancer, I am thinking I don't know if I would have it. I want to see how much they bill me for it and I am going to appeal it regardless, even though they told me they wouldn't pay of it in advance. I don't have much family and the only cancer was my dad dying of prostrate cancer. Do you know if your insurance pays for it? I was told after the fact to google my carrier's coverage, which I did. I might be covered now that I have a second cancer but maybe not because it is still they same KIND of cancer. And I wouldn't say this in the main boards and of course anyone can read this but I think that the BRCA test is like when you read all the women with really small cancers like 3 mms having complete BMX and recon. I just think it might be a rash decision made in fear. Of course if you are covered for the test, I would probably have it just to know, especially if I had daughters.

Italy: Also, I posted an article in another thread about your chances of having cancer if you were BRCA +. They said you had a MUCH greater chance of getting cancer if your mom was diagnosed below 35 and the chances of getting it if your mom was over that were much lower. It makes me sad to see women getting prophylactic BMX's when their risk % isn't much higher than the general population. I can find that article and post if if you want.

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/147/topic...

The article is in one of my posts on the first page of the thread.

Eheinrich- I remember almost 3 weeks ago how nervous I was. All of us are before the first one especially, I think. It is not abnormal to feel fear of this very serious unknown. Perhaps the biggest unknown step of your life. I will be thinking of you tomorrow morning. Try to relax using any means available to you tonight. A warm bath, a favorite book or calming music. I find though I am not a big yoga type or meditator that deep breathing, count in 4, out 4, as slowly as you can, does slow your heart rate down and calms you. If you can, check in with us from the chair. You can do this and we are here

Trvler, the closest I have is a grandfather who had lymphoma and a great aunt who had a breast lump like me. My grandfather lived to 75 after a life of hard fast living, and my great aunt lived to be 99. A second great aunt got breast cancer in her 90s. I think the genetic stuff just is more scare factor, and I am not sure it is warranted. My lump is gone, great margins, no lymph nodes, no lympho vascular invasion, pet scan and bone scan showed nothing, not even arthritis. One back disc showed some deterioration from an old injury. And my doctors are going to test me like crazy for next few years. So I just dont see any value, other than BRCA testing for my daughter and granddaughters. It won't change my treatment.

Hair just went, getting buzzed!

Trvler and Beatit- I have you on my calendar for Tuesday and will be thinking of you. You've got this! I may not be on much tomorrow because it's my birthday (and I'll cry if I want to) and I'm going to try to have a normal day. Taking Jack The wonder dog to Cape Blanco where he can run like the wind without a leash. It's a beautiful cliff walk over some wild and unspoiled Oregon coastline, with some conveniently placed picnic benches. Which I will be needing because the fatigue has about swallowed me up.

I too am starting to ramp up with nervousness for my second treatment on Thursday. All things considered I have had it easy, and I don't expect my luck to hold out. I am ready for whatever, but nervous.

Italychick- you are a beacon. Amazing stuff this week! I know it means somuch to you to maintain normalcy in the face of all this.

And SC Coqui- my eyes welled up when I read the birthday party was a success. For you to be making life wonderful and normal for your 6 year old, feeling like you do, makes me humble. You are an amazing, strong, and unselfish woman and you inspire me.

you are wise, Princess of Meh. Good decision

I have something crazy like 55 cousins and no cancer, only my grandfathers generation had any cancer. And at this point, even if I did test BRCA positive, I don't think I would do a double mastectomy, I would just watch and test. I'm tired of being cut, poked, tested. I just want to get to normal as soon as reasonable, and then just endure the ongoing monitoring. But if another lump came up, I would have to think about the mastectomy route.

I'm sorry about your hair, Italychick, but as we have seen you are quite a knockout in your wig. I think you will adjust as you are a very strong girl. In more ways than one.

I am one of those who did a prophylactic double. My tumor wasn't that large, 1.5 on the biopsy, but I was concerned about three things. I didn't want the lumpectomy because of the radiation that my bs said would follow. I had a serious lung condition last year (and had lots and lots of radiation) that nearly put me on the transplant list (another story for another day). So that left me with mx choice. I thought the difference in weight from one side to another would exacerbate neck and back issues. I know that research has shown that prophylactically mx-ing doesn't improve mortality rates that much If at all, and that is because they do follow up with more mammos, biopsies, etc etc. So they catch it. I had very large and dense breasts and I was afraid my life would become a circus of diagnostics. If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I would ever have gone this route I would have sworn never. But as we all have learned here in this club we never wanted to be a member of, we have to overlay our diagnoses over our values, our personalities, our faith, and a million other variables to make that one decision that it right for us. And we never get to know if we guessed right. That's why it's so important that once decisions are made, and play books are executed, that we try very hard to learn that elusive skill of living life in the moment.

I did the genetic testing. With a dx at age 42, paternal grandmother with BC and intestinal cancer (as well as her dad had intestinal cancer) and my dad had prostate CA. I'm also 75% Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry so they were sure something would turn up. But I was negative on all 25 genes they tested. Good news for my DD! But my sister is supposed to get tested too just to be sure.

Italy chick, we are on the same chemo schedule and regimen. I buzzed my hair last Thursday but just noticed the scalp pain and shedding today too. wore a wig to work on Friday and everyone complimented me on the great new hair cut! (I have short hair and the wig I bought online is a perfect color match but a little shorter than I usually wear.) By the end of the day it was bugging me quite a bit since my head was so sensitive so as soon as I got out of the parking lot I pulled it off and rode home with the windows rolled. down and the wind in my.....oh wait a minute...well it still felt great!

A neck pillow is a good addition to the chemo bag. And lip balm. And yogurt.