April 2015 Chemo Crew... Starting in April? Please join us!

Hi All,

I feel as though I have been gone for a while - I had my first infusion on April 2, and it wiped me out!!! Within 2 hours of leaving the infusion center I was nauseous...and within hours was up vomiting for 5 hours straight. And that is after the zofran, emend and steroid cocktail. After that, I had the next 7 days of dry heaves and extreme nausea...ugh. I had to use Ativan under the tongue to settle my stomach long enough to take the antinausea meds, I have developed a new foundness for ativan! Needless to say - I am hoping some adjustment will be made for the next round...I lost 7 pounds in 7 days. I have my second infusion next week, the though of it makes me sick (and a bit weepy). I have never been nauseous like this before - it was awful. On a positive note- other than fatigue...nausea was the only SE I had...

Sounds like my discomfort will pass in a few days Kbeee. You have a really positive attitude about your job. That is awesome

Ali - no I didn't get the Nuestela shot

Hi April Crew ,

aim 40 yrs old single ,I have started my chemo Tuesday April 7th and its called Halavan this is my 3rd time Chemotherapy since 2012 since my cancer is coming back every year even though i had bilateral mastectomy in 2012 but it seems there were some breast tissue left behind the last 2 times ,but still lucky since it is recurrence only in my same breast 3 times ,

about chemo, this time i feel a bit nausea and very bad taste in my mouth ,i just got one ,i will have it every week , 2 weeks on and one week off , i don't work and i feel like depression this time since i even don't wanna go out at all ,i don't want to talk to anyone or do anything. i just want to pass the time and days .

i am just hoping i don't loose my hair again since they have just grown from the previous chemo and can't loose them again

i recently joined this site by a friend suggestion and keep reading the posts , i see i am not the only one in this path.

Hi ladies,

Thanks to everyone for sharing your journeys. It has helped me so much through this roller coaster ride. I work full time so it's hard for me to log in and post a reply. When I get home I get busy with my four kids ages ranging from 17-1😊 I am trying to live my life as normal as possible so I keep my self pretty busy.

Today was my 2nd taxol chemo treatment .i will be going for my treatments every Friday for 12 weeks then ac. What days are you working ladies taking your treatment?

My first chemo was different than the second one . With the first one I felt light headed within the first 10 minutes. By the 2nd and 3rd day my energy went down . Staring the 5th day I felt like new again😀

Are any of you ladies doing taxol first? It seems like most of you are doing AC first then taxol. I emailed my doctor this week so i could discuss with her why she went that route.

Today with my second infusion everything was great I prepared myself and had ice during my infusion and took my anti nauseous medication after dinner . I had so much energy afterwards I don't know if it was because of the steroids they gave me or what. I'm hopeingthat the next few days will be a breeze as well. Now if I could only fall asleep

I'm praying for all us tonight that God will restore us and be with us every step of the way.

Love,

Margarita

Hi Ladies, happy Saturday. I am going to go get coffee and donuts and Dunkin' Donuts with my two daughters shortly.

I was able to pick up almost everything on my list yesterday - still need flushable wipes (they had them, but they were all name brands/expensive, so I'm going to look for cheaper :-) I needed to get more ibu for the house too, and I bought a bag of Easter chocolate that was on sale - except for those two things, everything else was for BC SE "management" and it came to $180!!! Freakin' chemo. I know that some of it won't be just for chemo, the rest of the family can use the meds too, but still, I was shocked at how much OTC stuff costs, and once again reminded of how healthy I actually am already. Aside from ibu and some Tums, I rarely have to buy any other OTC stuff.

Allison - I forgot to say how great your look in your before/after pictures. What an accomplishment! I also undertook a goal to lose 50# by the time I turned 50 - I got really close, I think I was at 47#. It took me over a year of relentless exercise and eating right. I was SOOO tired. This was in 2013. I ended up getting off schedule because I was working, taking two classes to finish my degree, and it was Christmas time. I put back on about 5-7lbs, but I did get back to exercising, but got a cold and skipped a few days. Well, it seemed to spiral from there - I walked outside, but I guess it wasn't enough exercise, so I ended up 20# back by my 51st birthday, and now I've gained back the 50# + I know they say that all the time - if you take it off too quickly, but I didn't at all. I just litterally have to fight my body to keep at a healthy weight, and I got tired of fighting. I get good sleep now instead, but I'm not happy about the weight, and I am really not happy that chemo may have me adding more #. Very discouraging. So, I'm possibly going to go buy a used Bowflex tredclimber today. One thing I feel is that I'm totally burnt out on the treadmill. Wow, that was way TMI.

When I was in Walgreens yesterday, I got a call from MO's office, and I'm scheduled for training next Wednesday with port placement after. I'll probably be scheduled for 1st infusion either 20th or 21st.

New April ladies, I have been keeping a cheat sheet of our user names/real names - feel free to add your real name if you want to share (it is only available to those who have the link) and chemo start date - there are other columns of info, but you don't have to fill out if you don't want to: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Goesf6x_13...

Lynne

Yay Mama! I'm happy that you are feeling better today - about 4 days post treatment, correct? You confirm my thoughts to have treatment on Monday or Tuesday. I had read suggestion to have treatment on Thursday or Friday so you can use the weekend to recuperate. Scr*w that - I want to feel better by the weekend so I can enjoy my family and other activities. If work suffers, oh well. I am planning on working through my treatment, I will take a sick day for the chemo seeing as I'll probably be limited to what I can do for 4+ hours (I could plan to bring laptop, but the dr. said they don't allow cellphone use, so I couldn't attend conference calls ). And then I'll figure out how to handle the SE based on how I react. I only have 4 paid sick days left, so I'll take them unpaid after that.

I could go out on STD for 60% of pay, but I figure I'd have to take more than 8 sick days a month for STD to be a better deal financially. I could also take vacation days so that income doesn't take as much of a hit, but part of me really would like to take a vacation after all this is over!

The other option is to delay the start of STD, I'd like to get through June 12, which will be my 20th anniversary at my company, before I would go out on STD. Then I could finish up chemo plus a couple of weeks to get strength back, then go back to work and do radiation with working, which should be totally do-able.

It's all so much to think about, and so much unknown - I hate that part, just not knowing how it's all going to pan out.

-Lynne

Hey KBee,

I too am going through this for a "second time around" and was glad to see your post. In Aug. 2010, I had a radical lumpectomy on my left breast-chemotherapy and radiation followed. All was good for several years. However, with this new reoccurrence (Oct. 2014) and a Her2+ status, I was given neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for three months (Dec-Feb) and then underwent a BMX (March 11th). On April 9th, I started the "last leg" of chemotherapy (which will be the hardest because the drugs are stronger and my body has been "beaten up pretty good"-as the oncologist nurse told me). Today, I woke up anticipating feeling really crappy but I'm happy to report that despite some queasiness and sluggishness, not doing too bad overall (now who knows what tomorrow will bring but I'll take this for now). Hoping that the side effects won't be too bad. Thanks again for posting!

Allison - I swear that stuff drives me crazy! Especially when you do exactly what you are told to do and follow up, etc., then you have someone else saying, "no, that's not what we need" etc., or whatever. I just can't stand the inefficiency.

I'm glad to hear that your first treatment and so far after is going ok. Your hair looks great.

-Lynne

I've been taking compazine for about 4 days now.  It's not a huge dose but I've taking it around the clock since day 2. It doesn't take all the nausea away it just takes the heaving urge away. So no real side effects from it.  But then again. .. everyone is different.  

Hi everyone - still having quite a bit ofjoint / muscle pain. I took Xanax to sleep last night. Today, I have slept on and off for a few hours. As far as the nausea meds, my nurse gave me a triple dose of Zofran at the infusion. I took another 6 hours later for the next day. Then I found I could stretch it out to 10 hrs and then finally 12 hrs. The last Zofran I took was Friday Morn. Never took the Compezine. The Zofran is highly constipating

PositiveSpirit: I just started TC yesterday, Fri,4/10, 56 days after my lumpectomy while we waited for oncotype results. My MO said as long as we started by the end of April it would be okay. That would have been 77 days. So you should be okay. Rockerwife started TC on 4/7 so she's ahead of us a little....We'll have to all compare notes on TC as we go forward.

I'm doing okay but it's just been 24 hours. I'm a little tired. Feel like my legs are walking thru muck. No nausea. No mouth sores, etc. BUT I've read most SEs hit 3-5 days after. Also, my MO didn't tell me until Friday, but I got a neulasta shot today, day after Chemo. It's to stimulate building of white blood cells after chemo tries to kill them. What I learned from this board is to start taking claritin daily to help alleviate some of the bone pain neulasta can cause. So I started Thursday.

I came home with a steroid in pill form to take today and each morning after chemo, as well as Zofran once a day. But again, I learned from these boards that these meds are constipating, so I also bought miralax and senokot!

I brought salty and sweet snacks to munch on. My clinic did the cytoxan drip slowly to reduce nausea. So I was okay when I left.

I brought my ipad with earphones, plus earplugs and eyemask. While it wasn't crowded on a late Friday afternoon, a few nurses were loud and the young couple near me were watching a "Maury Povich" type drama show where every other word was bleeped out.

Anyway, welcome to the boards! There's a wealth of info here!

Hi everyone. I'm up at 5am because puppy Max needs to pee. He comes into the bedroom on my side of the bed and makes a sweet little sigh/breath out of his nose and I wake up with a smile. He's a cute little maltese with little black marbles for eyes. Love him!

So far my SE from my herceptin on this past Thursday are nothing that I can detect that I wasn't already experiencing from the previous week big chemo - TCHP. I've had diarrhea for 5 days straight, but haven't taken anything for it because I tend towards constipation ( I know...TMI ) and the thought of taking something that would turn me in that direction does not appeal. I've had this blasted runny - sometimes nosebleed - nose for days on end and my poor nose is so sore! Today is day three after the herceptin. We'll see how I hang. I also get H again next Thursday and the the following one will be my 2nd big chemo TCHP.

Allicat, your new short hair is very cute. Sounds like you had a bumpy start at your first chemo. Glad to hear you too charge of your care and got things running smoothly. Hoping little SE and lots of cancer killing for you.

Positive spirit, welcome. So sorry for why you find yourself here, but glad you did.

Georgia, I hope you can get yourself well in time for you first tx. Wow! That's a very long drive you have to make. GL on Friday on let us know how you do.

Ankledolphin, I'm not aware of any SE from anti nausea meds, but I think I heard constipation as one - not a problem for me right now, but ya never know when things will change... If you're not taking the anti-nausea meds, does that mean your nausea is minimal? I hope so.

Mel, are you still in the hospital? I hope you're recovering. Thinking about you and praying.

Sheila

Hi Postitive - welcome, but sorry we had to meet here. I'm keeping a cheat sheet of screen name/names if you want to add your given name - I've already added your screen name and sorted you in with the other 4/13, GingerChi, aka Cherie. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Goesf6x_13...) You'll get a lot of good info here, a couple of our members are, unfortunately, going through this for the 2nd time, so they have lots of good tips. My list of stuff to buy was from this thread as well as the March thread, and it really encompases everything you'll need if you get all the SE, not only from Chemo, but from the SE medications that you take.

Marcy, I see you added yourself to cheat sheet already! Welcome. That sucks about the 220 miles! That's crazy. Will you have local care too for emergency situations? I figured out you'd be able to drive from my state (MA) to California and back and 3/4 of the way there again with the # of miles you'll have to go - granted, over 20 weeks, but still! We are on the same regime and will be about 1 -2 days apart (right now, I'm thinking I'll be starting on 20th, but it could be 21st.), so we'll have to compare notes.

-Lynne

Hi Sheila, all set, you name is added.

I don't think there is any scientific evidence, but from what I've read, the Taxotere and Taxol react with light, and that causes the discoloration with the nails. The black helps with blocking the light, but honestly I'm not sure if I can do the black, I'll go with a dark blue or something - can't wait to hear my mother's comments about how I look like I am ill - this time I get to say, "I am!"

Since I won't have the Taxol for another couple of months, it mainly a nominal thing now. I was planning on taking DDs away for a couple of nights next weekend - not far, but just to a sea-side town and enjoy the hotel pool, but we decided and agreed that we won't go seeing it will be my last "well" weekend, and instead we will all do and get mani-pedis (which will cost me about the same as a hotel room for a night!). But, they love them, and it will be something fun for us to do.

-Lynne