Starting Chemo May 2015

I woke up this morning feeling like this is my last few days of normalcy probably until the end of the year. It's an odd feeling. Getting my port placed, chemo ed, and echo-cardiogram this week then it all starts on June 11th. I didn't feel this way prior to surgery but chemo feels like a whole new world.

Jen x 3:

Thanks for the info. I will be less worried knowing this, and state of mind must be at least a part of how one is apt to react to infusions, don't you think?

About my weekend: Friday I was awakened at 3:00 am by a pounding in my chest. Since there were some issues regarding my cardiac fitness for taking Andriamycin I was a bit worried. I lay back down, meditated, and the palpitations seemed to subside, sending me back to sleep. Awoke feeling ok, but around 11: am while sitting at the computer the symptom returned. I called my PCP's office hoping I might get in for an EKG just to check but was told to go the the ER immediately, which I did. (If you ever want to jump the line at the ER, just say you have chest pain!) They did an immediate EKG, normal. They listened to my heart, normal. They sent me for a scan to check for a blood clot in the lungs, no blood clot. So by now I'm convinced the heart had no part in this odd condition, but what did?

What made this a bit more complicated was that the day before I had been cooking a big batch of arroz con pollo and used my great big ol' Le Creuset cast iron oval Dutch oven. I had to get it down from its high shelf and move it in and out of the oven several times from a very awkward position. After I thought about it I realized that the pain I was feeling from the palpitations was in the two places where I had doubtless strained my muscles, the chest (right in the center) and lower back.

Anyway, about 3:00 pm the pounding finally ceased, I was admitted and fitted with a heart monitor. There was some talk of keeping me in the hospital over the weekend and getting me in for a stress test first thing Monday a.m. to which I had no intention of agreeing (to the stay, not the stress test). About 10:30 pm the mysterious pounding returned, and by now my sore muscles were even more sore and the discomfort was much worse. By 1:30 am when the nurse came in I explained what was going on and she went off to see what she could do about the pain. I'm figuring they'll shove a couple of Tylenol at me, but when she finally returned (I was pacing up and down because by this point I couldn't lie still) she brought morphine – a pleasant surprise. She said that morphine had fewer side effects when combined with heart problems, so she slowing injected (to prevent nausea) the 1 mg. dose, eventually I slept and awoke at 6:00 am with no more thumping and bumping. They had telemetry running on me the whole time and there was not a sign of any cardiac irregularity.

Finally on Saturday afternoon I saw a very sensible doc who had to agree that whatever this thing was, it probably was not cardiac related and agreed to discharge me. But what, I asked, could possibly have been the problem? He said sometimes low blood pressure could produce a similar symptom. In fact, my bp had been running very low and getting lower, not higher, throughout my hospital stay. My PCP had added a beta blocker to my ACE inhibitor a few days before my first infusion and I had noticed at home that my bp was lower than usual (which I thought was good, right? Wrong.) So he told me to stop the beta blocker & keep track of my bp. So far, so good.

I have to assume that this episode also had nothing to do with the chemo, especially since I was nearing the end of my first cycle, altho' that idea had been floated by the RN. So watch that bp and don't let this happen to you!

Kadychiv: I have #2 tomorrow. I slept a lot the first week after my 1st infusion and expect to start doing the same tomorrow. I'm also readying as best I can for the mass surrender of my hair — started wearing my fedora today because the hair has gotten decidedly more sparse. I am not prepared for my scalp hurting, tho'. I've been of good spirits about it but I'm sure when I see myself in the mirror completely bald I am likely to feel like you did.

I've gone off regular caffeine use, but I keep a jar of brewed espresso in the fridge so when I need to get up and go I can take a slug, usually no more than 2 Tbsp., and do my going. I'm drinking so much water I'm not too worried. Then I come home and go to sleep. I'll be interested to hear about the B12. Feel better

surprised--wow, you had an eventful weekend! Feel better and good luck with round 2.

Day 6--so far, so good. No nausea; I've only taken 3 zofran since chemo and 1 compazine so far. I have been putting on my seabands and wearing them for several hours at a time. Managed to get out and run errands today and cook dinner, play a little with the dogs. I'm tired but didn't come in and immediately crash into a 3 hour coma like yesterday's dog-washing adventure. Only mild bone pain today. I also got a hair cut--from the bottom of my bra to above my shoulders. It's about a foot shorter but figure it will be a lot less messy and stressful when it starts to go in about 10 days. Water intake staying a little above 100 oz every day plus a large bottle of Gatorade.

I have noticed several of you mentioning your going to "chemo ed." Who supplies this? I had none, had to self educate, and I missed quite a bit of info until I went to my first infusion. For instance, I still don't know if I'm to get a second Neulasta shot, tomorrow, the day after infusion #2, or when I'll get it again. It was by far the most expensive of all my drugs, by the way. I had simply been told by my onco doc that I'd be getting A & C, no mention that it would change to Taxol after the initial 4 infusions. My onco doc is one of a firm of 4 oncologists who run 3 chemo centers and are opening a 4th soon. You'd think they would have enough patients to supply more info. I thought it was very nice that the onco doc gave me several opportunities to ask her questions, but as we all know, one has no idea what questions to ask, especially when you're sitting there a little shell shocked because the story about your lumpectomy has suddenly changed to include the necessity of chemo.

Glad to hear you're all hanging in there. If you can possibly get some exercise--even a few short walks--you might have more energy. Research shows that, odd as it might seem, exercise helps with fatigue.

Hi All! Yesterday was my first Chemo treatment, which went off without any problems. My DH and I got home around 230pm and I was fine until about 445pm and started to get really tired that I had to sit down (something that was never good at). I dozed off for a few minutes on and off but work up around 630pm with a dull headache between my eyes and my stomach felt a little weird so I ate some crackers thinking I was hungry, but the feeling was still there not thinking that the nausea meds. were not working anymore. I never had morning sickness with my two kids, and also psyched myself out of vomiting when my family was sick, which always worked for me. Was getting nervous and called my MO to see if I could take any of the anti-nausea meds I had at home, which he approved along with ibuprofen for my headache. Downside it took about 2+ hours to kick in but was able to sleep without any issues from 1230a-500am. I made a note to make sure I continue to take before that last does wears off completely!! This afternoon is my Neulasta shot, which I am hoping I have no major effects from..but time will tell.

Question - I purchased the Sea Bands and put them on last night to see if it would help me. Should you only wear them for a couple of hours or could you wear them for as long as you want? I haven't taken them off yet and wanted to see if anyone felt weird once they removed them.

Suprisedat65, Sorry to hear you had a rough go, but hope you are feeling better!

Magnolia63 - thanks for the info regarding the wigs. I wish I would have know about this sooner since I ended up purchasing 2 wigs (1 human hair/ 1 synthetic) that cost me over $900 and that was with my girlfriend/hairstylist who got a discount. What makes me so mad is that my insurance company will not cover any of the costs because they feel that a wig is like cosmetic surgery; you don't really need it! My husband is on disability and I just submitted my papers as well...not sure if I would qualify but it would have been worth a try

Be strong everyone and have a good week

Saw my PS this morning, I've joked with my family and SO that he must really like looking at my boobs because I've seen him 4 times since surgery 4 weeks ago. My MO told me to ask him if he felt I was healed enough to begin chemo next week and he gave it a thumbs up so we're still on schedule. Then, I was surprised when he said he didn't need to see me again for 2 months. I guess he's tired of looking at my boobs

Magnolia63, I appreciate that wig info as well. Checked the page out and there's quite a bit of information about other programs too. I hadn't planned on a wig but now that we've scheduled my chemo to last until late Fall, it might be chilly enough that I could deal with a wig then.

I hope everyone is feeling better...I just finished 2nd spa visit. So far so good except for the brain fog. Nebulasta tomorrow. I did ask for lidocaine for the port...it only hurts for a few minutes but I am having less patience with avoidable pain, so lidocaine 1 hour before blood draws and chemo. I signed up for a makeover workshop...June 8. Oncologist gave ok for reconstruction in August so won't miss 2 weeks of the first month of school. Bills so far are more than our house and the improvements, around $200,000...Thank God for health insurance. The sun is shining, I am going to rest outside so I am ready for DD's concert tonight

tifree: My second TC was yesterday and today I feel fine except I am more tired. The steroids I interrupt my night sleep. I did force myself out for a walk in the rain both yesterday and today because I am a firm believer in moving when possible. Neulasta tomorrow. Good luck on Thursday.

rosesrx-I really laughed when you wrote about "never trust a fart". Well, don't trust 2 or 3 of them while chatting during a family gathering! Found my panties full and I didn't even know!! Ugh! After 5 days of diarrhea I think it is finally going back to normal-ish.

So glad I learned about the water here. Seems to help.

Also learned the tin taste I have can be helped by the soda and salt rinse. Dietitian said the tin taste was because of extra bacteria in the month and rincing before (and after) eating can help.

Tried on wigs today....looked like the cone heads from Saturday night live. Guess I will wait till I get my hair cut on Thursday.

Oh the chin hairs, that is so funny! Made my daughter promise she wouldn't let me out of the house with them. Even the magnifying mirror doesn't always help.

Going in tomorrow to check blood count. I didn't get the neulasta for some reason

Hope everyone is feeling good today! I'm finally starting to feel like myself but still not back to normal after Thursday's treatment.

An update about what I thought was a bladder infection... I think I mentioned that my MO's nurse saw I called the emergency line Sunday and told me to come in for a urine sample. I went in, peed in a cup, went back to work. Never heard anything back so I kept on taking the antibiotics. Luckily my hospital chain has a patient portal online and you can see all of your lab results, appointments, bills, etc and I got a notification that my test results were up. It clearly meant nothing to me but it did confirm that there was blood in my urine. So I called the MO the next day and another nurse called me back to tell me that it's not an infection and to stop taking the antibiotics. Hmm..ok. So I asked why there's blood in my urine. I stumped her. She kept saying what I was seeing was from the adriamyacin which I KNEW wasn't right b/c the red stuff doesn't last 3 days! She then told me it's probably just my period. Um, no. I know it's not. So she put me on hold and then came back saying she talked to the nurse practitioner and it seems to be from the Cytoxan. It can cause sepsis like symptoms, including blood in the urine. And to just stay hydrated. I'm still not a fan of the answer but I'll bring it up again with my MO when I see her next week. The blood has gone away completely today it seems so at least that is over with. *sigh*

Salt water rinse, then Tums. I take Prilosec daily so I haven't had it since 1st round.

Shanann I also think Tums will give you relief quickly.

Steflove, glad there's no more blood in your urine.

I've been dealing with loose stools / diarrhea for the past couple days to the point that my anus hurts every time I poop like its severely irritated. It's gotten to the point where I'm afraid to go poop. Anyone have this and know of anything to relieve the pain