Starting Chemo March 2015

wpmoon, part of my bike motivation is Cheryl and I share a donut on our Saturday ride lol. So that day we are riding for the donut! Last week I had half an old fashioned glazed donut and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice with puréed pineapple in it. Yum! I actually find that forcing myself to exercise when I am tired rejuvenates me. The hard part is getting off my ass and doing it. But having Cheryl keeps me honest. She is the voice in my head saying go, go, go! I'm not sure I would do as much without her being there.

Diane, my primary care doctor gave me Diprolene topical steroid cream for my bee sting and it is working great. So maybe you need a stronger cream than an over the counter version? Might be worth asking about because your rash looks painful.

Katy, I get blurry eyes too with chemo. I have three different prescriptions, and depending on where I am in chemo cycle I have to change glasses. Old lady eyes, close up vision gets terrible.

Lemonade, you could also be having a slight allergic reaction. Do they give you Benadryl during infusion? It helps me a ton. First round, everything started itching, couldn't stop. Put Benadryl in, no issues. So you could be having a mild allergic reaction.

Shaz, I am right now in love with plain yogurt mixed with fresh fruit. And sour cream. Both are so soothing!

Avmom, Woohoo! Great job getting through the red devil!

Sorry, on a steroid high, will probably post like ten times tonight. Hopefully you won't all be sick of me!

Katy my Jack is the same way, and he is white too. But he is 12 now and has hemangiosarcoma sun induced blood tumors. So we have to get them lasered off every two or three months.

Oh have I said f*ck cancer today? Lol.

Mysunshine4, Ask anything!!! I felt a lump at the site of my original tumor, which was about a centimeter from my nipple, 11:00 position. I felt a lump which felt identical to original tumor, same spot, above reconstructed nipple. I called BS. He sent me to PS to see if it was realated to reconstruction. I'd had lots of lumps after fat grafting, but this one felt different. PS sais it felt just like scar tissue, and it is right where he splits the pec muscle...a common place for scar tissue. I had a bad strong gut feeling, and any time I have had that feeling, it has been correct. PS agreed to do an excisional biopsy. After biopsy, he said he grabbed it in 2 pieces....looked like scar tissue. He was shocked when it came back positive for IDC. His sweet nurse cried when she told me. The pathology was much more aggressive this time. MRI, ultrasound, and PET showed nothing more. When I went in for further excision with BS to ensure clear margins, he tried to find sentinel node (which only works in 50% of time after recon). He could not find node, but felt around and felt what seemed like a hard node (about 4 inches away from other tumor). It tested positive. They took 13 more nodes. The next day, I found out the 13 nodes were negatve, but the positive "node" had no lymph tissue. They sent it to Mayo. It tested negative for breast tissue too. Just IDC growing in the soft tissue undetected by imaging. It was an even more aggressive tumor than the other. That's my long story of how I landed here again. It is very rare to have it happen that way with my original tumor stats.

Itaychick, I exercise every day too. It is my sanity saver.

Diane, Keep calling. Be persistent. My ex-MO told me to ignore the lump because I was not at risk for recurrence. I went to someone else. It sucks that you have to advocate so hard for yourself. I hope you get relief.

I had AC #2 yesterday. So far, like #1, no real problems. Hemoglobin took a bit of a hit. Hopefully it does not keep dropping at that rate. For now, enjoying every good day I get

Hi,

My round 2 day at the spa went well today. I am also cold capping,so it's a lot of work, especially for my husband who is my official capper. Some of my neighbor girlfriends gave me a Crown ski cap to wear over my cold caps, so I felt like a queen.

Pp

And when I got home there were flowers waiting from a friend of my parents, a woman who I've only met once.

I am so very grateful for all the love and support from friends, strangers and especially this group!!!

Here's the chart I made for myself to track meds and SEs.

I only slept 30 minutes last night due to steroids.

Hoping for better tonight.

Wishing everyone peaceful rest and good luck kicking butt in the chair and with whooping those SEs.

XOXO

Carol

Bekah, gorgeous. Don't let the husband see you in that, he will jump your bones!

Hey Bekah, are you hitting that coconut oil again?? The scarves are beautiful, and you look fantastic! Good Luck tomorrow, I will be praying for a fast trip to the chemo bar, and limited side effects! Almost done. Take Care, Cheryl

Bekah, you look SO FABULOUS!!!!

Aahhh, these sterioids. Have to get up in 5 hrs. Ugh!

Thank you Cheryl and Italy. I still startle myself when i see bald in the mirror. Wish i cd find scarves that look good on me---The wig gets warm and itchy.

I guess I'll see if blondes have more fun at the bar. (Its no spa for me)

Good luck, my friends

Love, arlene

Arlene - both wigs look awesome on you!

Why don't you bring your 'roid energy over here...my garage needs to be cleaned LoL!

I go to my LGFB class on Tue - hopefully my body will cooperate.

Bekah

Avmom: Congrats on the final AC!

Bekah: You look gorgeous as usual. Yeah on your last AC!! I hope it is easier for you this time.

Arlene: Very cute wigs. I love the blonde one.

Diane: I hope you can get something to put on that hand. Have you tried anything like Aloe? I know it probably won't make it go away but maybe make it less painful. The lady put aloe alcohol on my scalp when she shaved it and it felt so good.

Lemonade: Welcome to the group. I have not had that SE although I did notice some shortness of breathe for a few days after my port was put in before starting AC. I do notice my heart sometimes now doing things…like feeling like it skips a beat, races a bit…I just try not to think about it because if I do, it makes me sick. I saw someone post the other day that they had permanent heart damage from AC which we all know is a possibility but I didn't have the guts to ask her how she knew she had it. A little…or a lot of denial is sometimes necessary to get through this nightmare.

Indy: How are you feeling today? I think you have to eat what you can stomach. I get so sick of people telling me what to eat, do, etc. I know they mean well.

WP : I am glad you checked in. I have been wondering how you were doing.

Sloth: Please let me know if the lysine works for you. I so hope it does.

Beatl: Love it! Sometimes I regret not cold capping.

I guess I am not that susceptible to steroids. I haven't done much shopping or cleaning. I wonder if you on a different regiment are taking different steroids? And do you take them all the time? Because we AC people only take them at infusion and right after for a couple of days. And when we do take them, we are given Ativan to sleep. Still wake up at 4 am but it's better than nothing.

Went cold turkey last night and took nothing to sleep. Not great but not terrible.

Love and hugs to those in the spa today.

Arlene- I think your make-up looks very subtle but beautiful. Just how you want it. And both wigs work! I know what you mean about hot and itchy though. Scarves and do rags ala Italychick probably breathe better.

Bekah- what a hottie in those scarves! If it's possible, you seem more beautiful in every picture...yeah yeah, I know you only post pics of when you're feeling good. But still. Now. You have got this last one! Now is not the time to worry about 2 weeks from now. Look down at your feet. That's where you are today. And even though I'm in another chair, in another place, I've got your hand. You too, Carrie, we are spa sisters! Today is a milestone for both of you. I honor your bravery in completing these 4 ACs. Even though you have great support systems and a deep well of love and understanding here, you have walked that road alone. Head held high. Brave. Smart. Beautiful. Reserves of faith and grace you didn't know you had. I'm so very proud of you both.

Those of you with taxol to come: I am getting weekly taxol and it is a walk in the park compared to what you ladies going through AC are dealing with. The only side effects that really affect my life are fatigue on days 3 & 4, and even so I am usually able to go out to lunch and for walks and be mostly normal on those days. I do have diarrhea and a dry bloody nose most of the time but both things are mild enough that I haven't had to take any medication. I hope that will be the case for you as well! It really is not so bad.

WP- so glad you checked in. Was missing you and worried too.

Lemonade- welcome. It's so sad we have to meet this way. I hope you find the support and solace here that I have.

Diane- please let us know if you are getting anything for you hand. You're going to have to put your foot down and DEMAND some treatment that works. Go to the ER possibly. Take that pic and email it to the head onc nurse. I am so very concerned. Rashes aren't just painful. They can represent other conditions and your health is complicated. Can you get any love from your rheumy?

Hope everyone has fun at their LGFB and clean-up on the products. It is nice to sit in person with other ladies going through the same thing.

Well, time to get Pauline ready with her lidocaine make-up, and me with a proper spa outfit..I'll check in from the chair..

Everybody have the nicest possible day.

Katy

Thank Carol. I have calmed down a lot since yesterday. It just seemed impossible at that moment that more was going to be piled on. But I don't have to worry about it today, and everyone has reassured me that it's the easiest (2) surgery I will ever have. Your support means a lot

Today Im a bit better since chemo 4 last Friday , but I'm surprised that Tylenol 3's do absolutely nothing for me. I'm terrified of the next taxotere, it was freaking brutal and I felt the worse I've felt to date. I'm feeling better each day although my sleeping is no good. The feeling in my mouth is awful , I can't stand it and food tastes awful. Not eating very much lately either and I have random stabbings of pain , legs , back , head, ear, breast where I had the lumpectomy. Crazy.

Katy, I'm very sorry to hear about your eye problems but it sounds like your doctor thinks it's going to be a breeze. Easy for them to say I know but I think they wouldn't try to sugar coat anything.

My moms still here helping me and thank goodness for her, I don't know what I'd do otherwise. She's just finished cleaning out my fridge. Godsend, I swear.