TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

Gretagirl, I love that you took a bike ride! I'm trying to muster the energy to take a walk. I was a bit constipated last night, so I succumbed and took a Senokot-S...which might have been ill-advised, as I had diarrhea all day. (We can talk about these things, right?) My stomach has felt settled for a few hours now, so as soon as my husband gets back from some errands, I'll go with him and the dog at 10 p.m. to traverse the neighborhood.

I was advised to inject the Neupogen in any subcutaneous area in my stomach, lower part of upper arms, or upper thighs. Something about the stomach area makes me squeamish, so my husband has been alternating upper thigh areas. I take the Neupogen out 15-30 minutes prior to injection. I haven't experienced much bone pain--only some localized pain at the point of injection. The shots each night have hurt a bit more as the days have progressed, though. First I suspected my husband was getting the med into my muscle, but now I believe it's the effect of subsequent days of injections. I'm counting down each of the doses...tonight was 5 down, 23 to go. My husband says he's going to be an expert by #27.

I'm on dose-dense AC and having CBC testing done every two weeks; blood draws will be done 2 days prior to infusions. I've been pretty leery about infection and have avoided crowds. I run a marketing company and have the freedom to work from home, which is convenient, if occasionally lonely. I was considering going out on an actual date with my husband on Saturday, but that will be at the nadir of my AC, so I think I have to come up with something a little less exciting.

Re: well-meaning people, I vent to my family members about the things I've been told. I have one very close friend I adore who keeps telling me, "Flax! Flax! Flax!" and sending me links to healthy sites. At the same time, this awesome girlfriend is my craziest pal...she drinks like a fish, eats poorly, and has, let's say, a somewhat unhealthy lifestyle in terms of other choices. I know her heart is in the right place bla bla bla but it still bugs the hell out of me when she lectures me about lifestyle.

JenPam I have an issue with constipation and took 4 Senokot S yesterday and finally had a small BM this morning. I am going to try taking Prunelax ciruelax today a friend recommended. I took a bottle of Mag Citrated last time and will not do that again!! Best of luck to in dealing with it!

Jerseygirl1927 I try to get 120 ounces a day. Most of it water some Gatorade. It's not easy but I try

I am headed to get Neulasta shortly!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Magnesium.

Jen,

that Flax thing leapt out at me..I have a flax eating friend too who believes as long as she eats flax she will never "join the club"...I was a vegan before my second diagnoses and a vegetarian before my first..never ate flax then...but now..I just tell her about this from Dana Farber..any ER+ can use this at the flax pushing flacks.

http://www.dana-farber.org/Health-Library/Phytoestrogen-s-Role-in-Estrogen-Positive-Breast-Cancer-Patients.aspx

ugh very annoying I almost want to take them all out but I know she won't do that she's very pro keeping lymphs in and I know it can cause issues taking a lot of lymphs out ..should I just let her do the SNB and hope that one of the1-3 lymphs she takes out was the one on the ultrasound? I wish I was more proactive before chemo and demanded a SNB I thought a pet was as accurate but it's no

that's what the plan is but they haven't done an uktrasound since before chemo so I'm not sure if it will even show up..my surgeon seems to believe if it doesn't the. Either it didn't have cancer to begin with or the chemo killed it so there's no need for them all to come out I'm just uncomfortable with the thought of leaving anything in me that ever contained cancer

no not as of right now I'm not they say depending on what the SNB shows I read an article saying DFS was higher in people who recieved radiation even without positive lymoh nodes but aggressive tumors I'm going to show them this article not that I'm begging for radiation but I don't want this to come back EVER

Sula..."flax pushing flacks"...I love it! You wouldn't happen to have been an English major?

Steph, I highly recommend against having all of your lymph nodes removed. I had 25 removed (all from levels 1 and 2) on my left arm & am at lifelong risk for lymphedema, which can be debilitating. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to have to protect my arm constantly from heat, bugs, scratches...and it's only been 5 weeks! My understanding is that the sentinel nodes are the first ones to show cancer, so with your surgeon doing a SNB, those nodes will be checked during surgery for any involvement. If nothing is there, that's a good sign that you're in the clear. It does sound very frustrating--I'm sorry!

I had no nodes involved but back then if your tumor was over 5cm they didn't do SNB they took at least level 1 nodes out to find out if there was any involvement. I had 10 nodes removed from the left and developed Lymphedema. I was told my risk was low.

I guess I'm getting Neupogen instead. 3 shots. One this afternoon one on Monday and one on Tuesday. Is there a difference in side effects with this vs Neulasta

Jen,

Journalism....but my husband and I are screenwriters so we play with words all day long. I just hate people telling me what to eat or not eat etc...re: bc. I was a freaking non drinking vegetarian the first time and the second time a non drinking vegan. I've always taken care of myself , I'm in good shape, wear a size 4 and STILL got this disease!!!! Somebody telling me to eat more cottage cheese???!!!!

Ginger, welcome to the group that no-one wants to be recruited to. It does sound like you have thing in order but it has probably been a crazy overwhelming 2 1/2 weeks.

If you are having port and muga the same day, I wouldn't plan on working 1/2 day before just for scheduling sake. Keeping busy is good, but no sense in rushing around. Treat yourself kindly and gently. You will be sore post port and they use sedation so you will need someone to drive.

Neulasta is available as an auto-injector that releases med 27hrs post application. Neupogen is a daily injection (think of it as short acting) and given 2-7 days depending on response. You do have to be observed 30 min post initial injection to watch for reaction. This is the protocol at the spa I use. Do you have somebody to give the shot or are you going to administer it yourself? Also check with insurance to see how covered. Your nurse manager may be able to help.

I had #5 of 6 TCH every 3 weeks and doing H only the weeks between. You will figure out which days you may need to recoup. Mine are 5-7 , everyone is different. (Day 0 is chemo/spa day)

Gingersnappy, my wife was given a 5-day dose of Neupogen, a week after her first infusion when she started having fever and later confirmed to have neutropenia. It worked great and her fever was gone within a day or so, and she didn't have any major SE from it. So now the MO decides to be proactive and gives her Neupogen 24h following infusion. We have not heard of Neulasta until we found this website - not sure why the MO didn't suggest that in the first place. It's supposed to be more convenient than Neupogenbecause it only requires a single dose per cycle if I'm not mistaken.

geewhiz, I'm relieved to hear that you had so many nodes removed & have been active without yet developing lymphedema! I know it can be a huge problem...Iago, that sucks about developing LE & I'm sorry you're dealing with that. I'm a diver, and I can't help but wonder if I'll ever dive again. OTOH, there's the fact that underwater I'm in a compression (neoprene) suit and I have the added pressure of the water--great!. OTOtherH, there's the wrestling with equipment and trying to tug on the wetsuit, which is very taxing and abusive to the arm--not great. For the moment I'm trying not to think about never diving...and I might have to have a suit tailor-made & start donning and doffing my gear in the water to eliminate some of the lifting.

MMay, I just finished seven consecutive evenings of Neupogen shots. I need seven more weeks' worth (alternating weeks). I understand the side effects to be similar to Neulasta but less severe because the dosing is more gradual. My MO said I could consider moving to Neulasta when I move to the next phase of chemo--once I'm not on a dose-dense regimen--but he recommends sticking with Neupogen since (a) I've shown that I react well to Neupogen, and (b) he believes the bone pain will be more pronounced with Neulasta. Do you have someone to administer the shots for you? By the way, try to avoid muscle and really go for a fatty area. My husband and I were focusing on the tops of my thighs, but the meaty undersides are the places to head.

Hi Ginger! You can see I addressed my Neupogen experience. The shot itself has burned a few times, but honestly I think that's because it was being administered intramuscularly (by mistake). I have had next to no bone pain so far, though there has been a vague achiness from time to time.

Suladog, I thought I might have recognized a fellow English major, but journalists/screenwriters fall right in line. Everyone in my family loves playing with words. My 21-year-old son once spent an afternoon creating a Bananagrams puzzle entirely in Latin. I think that about says it all. I aim to eat better than I was prior to BC--not tough, since I pretty much ate whatever I wanted, including lots of junk food--and I still believe "everything in moderation." I refuse to give up my delicious nightly ice cream, and if that's what kills me, well...I'll blame it on Breyers. (Let my estate know after the fact, m'kay?) P.S. Step away from the cottage cheese.

Welcome newbies!

Gingersnappy -- I worked through chemo, too, but I reduced some of my work commitments so I could get some rest in. I didn't have any problems with fitting Neulasta into my work schedule, but my clinic was 10 minutes from the office.

JenPam -- I had 20 nodes removed and haven't developed lymphedema (yet). I go swimming with my son almost every day; it makes me feel more limber.