Starting Chemo May 2015

Hi Jo and thank you for starting the May group!

For you, and all who join this group, we wanted to provide some helpful links, starting with the main Breastcancer.org site's section on Chemotherapy, including info on what to expect with chemo, types of chemo meds, and side effect management. Also, the Treatment Side Effects section is a great resource for tips to help manage any side effects you may experience.

There are some really helpful key threads here in the Chemo forum too! Great tips and practical advice on the following discussion board threads:

• Tips for getting through chemotherapy
• More Tips (and a Shopping List) for Getting Through Chemo
• PORT PLACEMENT: Detailed description of process
• Head Covering Options for Hair Loss
• wig advice
• Cold Cap Users Past and Present, to Save Hair

Also, Last Month's Chemo thread might be informative!

Hope you find this helpful!

--Your Mods

Hello jo68, thanks for getting us going.

im here to moan and jolly with you

thanks for the tip on the thread eagle mom.

Hello. I'm new to the blogging scene but feel the need to connect. I'm scheduled to start TC on May 7, 4 treatments, 3 weeks apart. I have a lot of anxiety about it. I'm a single mom to a kindergartner so am stressed how to continue a sense of normalcy at home. I just had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction on April 10 and am still healing from that. Feeling like jumping into chemo while still recovering from surgery is crazy. Looking for any support or guidance, or just new friends to share the journey.

Hi DayLily! So you feel like you need to nap each day?? What treatment plan are you on? I'm trying to figure out what to expect once the chemo starts, like if I'm going to need help at home.

Hi Rainbowfan, we had the same surgery on the same day. I start the same treatment plan as you on May 14. I, too, am wondering what to expect. Pretty scary for me. I could not take the pain meds after surgery because I got so sick. So, I stopped and just took Tylenol. So, this medicine is a lot stronger and I am worried about SE. However, I am thankful there ARE medicines to get rid of any stray Cancer cells. I want them GONE and never come back! We will have to plow through this together!

Hi, Wow, I also had my second fill today! Nothing to it.....even did a couple hours shopping after. I am recovering really well. No pain, just know I had something done! LOL Not really funny, but humor helps. NOT looking forward to chemo! We' have to compare as we sit in the "chair". I have a chemo class tomorrow to learn all about what to expect (sort of).

I am wearing a great little bra....Cobbie. Soft and stretchy. Goes over the head. I love it. We have a sop that sells them, but I bet there is a website.....will look.

Anyway, need to get to bed. I cannot lay flat, but prop up pillows and it is working. I usually am up 2 or 3 times a night as I am getting used to drinking 80 oz. of water a day. Drinking a lot helps chemo.....so I have heard.

So happy to have cyber friends to get through this with me!

Lynn

I shall be joining you all in May too. May 14 I start cycle 1 of 4 - on a 3 week cycle. Good luck to all,.

thanks Rainbowfan, cocktail is the same as yours. Not sure why it's not showing up... I'll check my settings

Catsrus - we are the same medicine and same schedule. I think someone else is too. I hope we can help each other get through this!!!!!!!

Hello to all the May chemo starters! I will be starting sometime this month, don't have the cocktail yet, and this is my second time in 2 years. I found out about the recurrence 1 month after the anniversary of my first surgery. Like mysunshine48 I had a bilateral mastectomy 4 weeks ago and am just waiting to start chemo. My first time was pretty easy, no sores, nail problems or anything else much, I even had my regular appetite! I had a little nausea but they give you meds for that. I just want everyone to know that we all react differently to the chemo and not to stress yourself out before you start. I may have a different reaction to the new meds but hopefully not. We will get through this and you are never alone!

Hi All,

Rainbow - I'm a Michigan girl, too. I had bilateral breast cancer two years ago - BMX with DIEP reconstruction. No chemo was recommended. (Same stats as you, Rainbow, so I'm surprised that they are recommending chemo for you unless your oncotype score was high.) Anyway, like Linda, I chose a different route from the recommended hormonal med. The Tamoxifen made me feel really bad (fatigue, joint pain, etc...) so I went to a naturopathic doc and did supplements instead. That was just one of my mistakes. The other was not realizing that I was at a greater risk for recurrence because they had to go back in to get clear margins on my left breast. So now the cancer is back in the left breast and in 1/3 lymph nodes. I'm joining this group but my 1st chemo was actually yesterday, April 30th. I am doing TC 4x's - every 3 weeks. I wasn't sure what to expect but so far so good. The steroids have made it near impossible to sleep so that's been probably the hardest thing - but tonight was my last steroid pill. I feel a bit weird - taste buds fine so far and no nausea but my tongue feels weird. My whole body just feels odd - but it's all manageable. I actually had a hugely busy day today - walk this morning landed me at an estate sale. Then helped my college daughter get unpacked as she just moved home. PT this afternoon and Neulasta shot this evening. Plus we have a gentleman from Zambia flying in to stay with us beginning tonight (for my husband's work) so I was trying to clean house. I probably over did it today but I'm planning now to rest all weekend - hopefully! A friend of mine says the steroid "high" will have worn off by tomorrow and she says I'll be pretty tired for the next three days. All in all, I'm pleased so far at how I feel. Counting the days until hair loss - I'm expecting it in about 13-14 days. I might be shaving my head on my daughter's 20th birthday. She'll remember THAT birthday for forever!

I'm doing one different treatment - I went to an Integrative Med doc at University of Michigan and he prescribed Mistle Toe Therapy (Iscador) which is widely used in Europe but not FDA approved yet here. It is supposed to help with the white blood cell count - so maybe I didn't even need the neulasta shot? I have to give myself an injection of the med every 2-3 days. It also supposedly helps with chemo side effects so I'm willing to try it - but it's pretty pricey and not covered by insurance. At my MO's request I've discontinued all my antioxidants until after chemo but she's still letting me take my probiotics and melatonin. OH - if you haven't heard this already - make sure you take Claritin a few days before and after getting the neulasta shot. It supposedly helps immensely with the joint pain. My shot was only 5 hours ago so I'll have to let you know in a few days if it worked... I can't tell yet.

So very grateful to those who are sharing your experiences with TC. It's very helpful,to hear and we face this monster.

They did not do the octnotype test on me. I had 5 tumors in my left breast, the largest being 2.5 cm and the rest they referred to as seedlings. They explained that the octnotype is meant for 1 maybe 2 masses, not 5. They did find pre cancerous cells in the right breast. These finding combined is what has lead them to suggest chemo. I was surprised. It I guess I get it when you look at the quantity.

I am meeting with a naturopathic doctor on Monday to see if there are some natural things I can do. I'm also asking more about the cooling caps to help save your hair.

TC is pretty standard, I think, for ER+, PR+ and HER2-. HER2+ (or Triple Negative) really changes things. MD Anderson wanted to treat me as basically stage 4 (since mine is a recurrence and it's hard to know for sure if it is "new" or "left overs") and throw the hardest chemo at it -which would have been Taxol weekly for 12 weeks then every 2-3 weeks of Adriamycin and Cytoxan. Adriamycin is tough on the heart, though, and since I'm already going to be radiating near my heart (since it's left breast) I've chosen the less aggressive chemo. Hopefully that won't come back and bite me someday but UM agreed that the aggressiveness of the other treatment didn't seem necessary.

SO.. two days out and I feel really good. I ended up taking Tylenol PM last night since the steroids (which I had to take one day before, day of, and day after chemo) were making it hard to sleep. That really did the trick. I slept well, feel rested, and I'll probably have to force myself to rest today even though I don't feel like I need to. I've been doing a water/baking soda/salt gargle every time I eat something to be proactive with mouth sores which could develop. I also am using Biotene to rinse. I'm taking the claritin and have little to no bone pain. Honestly, I really don't feel like I just had chemo. Even the Iscador/Mistle Toe Extract is supposed to make you feel a little "flu-ish" for a day but that hasn't happened either. I have excellent docs and people all over the world praying for me. I'm hopeful that I'll continue to have good reports for y'all. We can do this!

A patient at MD Anderson recommended that I paint my nails black. I'm going to go look that up now to see what that does.

Kristin

I am starting neoadjuvant Chemo on May 4th. I will get weekly Taxol for 12 wks, followed by DD AC for another 12wks, then surgery and rads, and possibly more chemo. I am triple negative and have two tumors about 6cm apart, the largest is about 3.5 cm, but they say that they may be able to get clean margins since I am a bit bigger breasted. I am hoping with chemo that it would improve my surgical outcome.

klanders - painting your nails a dark opaque color is to try to prevent nail lifting, lines and ridges, and discolored areas associated with Taxotere.  It is thought that preventing light penetration to the nail bed helps with this, as does icing the fingers and toes during the Taxotere infusion.  I used bags of frozen peas and started about 10 minutes prior to the infusion and continued for about 10 minutes past it.  Nail lifting and loss can be a difficult side effect, and cause permanent issues so the polish and icing are easy things you can do to possibly prevent this.