Starting Chemo December 2015

Good morning ladies, the wig lady told me the eyebrows don't go u til the end, so I am hoping she's right. I love the wig out but yeah at home I chill in a knot hat, my baby doesn't like the shaved head. The American cancer society has wigs available for free, just make an appointment. The lady there also gave me like 10 hats that someone knits for them.

Thursday is my #2 and a friend is going this time to give my hubby a break. All of my friends want to come but unfortunately the cancer center only allows 1 visitor per person. Nothing private in this place, that sucks!

Have a great rest of the weekend

Twirp26, did you try the Lindi skin care yet? How is everyone feeling who had treatment #2 this week?

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Smurfette26, I'm sorry you were feeling down the other day. I'm glad you at least got to visit your son and grandkids. Here's hoping you are able to fulfill your plans for Christmas 2016.

brithael, good luck tomorrow. I will be getting my 2nd infusion. I will echo previous comments on what to bring and how to plan for the days after. In addition to any information provided by your doctors and nurses, a lot of the tips from people experiencing this firsthand should also be helpful, even with the different regimens.

Sammy3, I think you are a day behind me. Is your round 2 on Tuesday? If so, good luck in case I can't comment before then.

Regarding the baldness, I agree with a lot of you that it's not too bad once you get used to it. Yeah, it's annoying to not have hair, but it frees up a lot of time in the morning. That will come in handy for low energy days. And I was expecting my head to be cold all the time. In private, I don't really need to keep it covered. I'm using a wig or hat outdoors and in public. I must admit, I come off as a bit of a bad@ss like G.I. Jane and Ripley from Aliens.

welcome KhinMD. Sorry you have to be here, but this is a wonderful group of ladies. So I am right with you on the hair Kris and Chinacat.I just haven't summoned the courage to shave it. A lot came out today after my shower and I wore a hat to family Christmas we had. My daughter wants me to go ahead and do it but my husband seems reluctant to help. I have had so much bleeding with my period that my MO wants me to come in for blood work tomorrow morning. Plus my daughter came down with a bad cold today. I'm praying that nothing happens to delay my next treatment. I just want to get through this as soon as possible

I also got the Brian Josephs conditioning gel for lashes and brows. I have been using it daily, hope it works to save my brows and lashes.

I've been MIA lol. Had my first treatment on the 17th and that night was pretty horrible. Then felt fairly good for the next three days apart from everything tasting like it was over salted. Then it hit me - really bad vomiting. Yes - I took all my anti-nausea meds, but they'd run out!

So after a few injections of maxillon finally got on top of it.

Had my blood test today (day 11) for neutrophils and it was only .7 so have had the neulasta shot. Now just hoping I don't get bone pain, as the joint pain from femara (still on it for the triple positive bc from 5 years ago) is not great.

I hope everyone is bearing up ok.

Hi Smurfette! We are on a few pages together xoxo

I remember reading something about restless legs on some previous pages?? Magnesium does wonders for restless legs.

Trish

xoxo

Lou53, you WILL make it through this!

Trish-Anne, Yes, everything tastes salty!! I keep asking everyone if things are salty. I thought it might be a SE but wasn't sure. Now I know. Thanks:

Question for all that have shaved, did you use a razor to smooth your head? Hats are just sticking to my stubbs so my husband wants to get the razor out today. I don't know why but I'm worried about getting cut. Weird, right?

Answer: We ook the razor to my head and it's SO much better.

Trisha Anne I'm so sorry you are having a hard time with SE's. I'm sending positive thoughts your way. I hope it gets better for you.

Lou53, YOU GOT THIS!!!! I know you do, we all do!!

Chinacat, that is funny you asked about straight razor because my head was bugging me so bad with those little hairs poking. My husband did mine last night and it made a world of difference!! I had a bit of an anxiety attack in the middle of shaving but worked it out and finished. I have some red bumps on my head. Hoping they go away soon.

Lemint, relax and take care of yourself!!

Well that damned period showed up! I'm heavy anyway so it will be interesting to see how long (normally 4 days of heavy) this one will last.

I kept the stubble because I wear a knit hat to bed and it helps keep it on my head. I am doing super antiosmoothies this week leading up to Thursday and round number 2! I am so sorry Lou53 for your suffering! This is an easy week at work with only 8 hour days then taking the 31st then back at it on the 1st. Have to get end of the year reports done!

Have a great week!

Salty...YES! Nice to know it is not just me. Even water is tasting odd so I have to put citrus or something in it. Does anyone have a "smell" in their nose that doesn't go away? I think it is the smell of the medicine. I got my hair cut shorter for the last time today and as she dried it, all I could smell was that awful smell. If anyone is experiencing this, let me know if there is anything that helps.

I have signed up for the look good class as well. I go the end of January. She said it was fun and they help you with your wig, scarves, make up and give you full size things of nice make up to take home. Looking forward to it really. I live in a fairly small town so it will be nice to see other women who know what it is like.

Thank you all for words of encouragement girls.I have had a rough time so far. Now I hope I don't have a lumpy head when I buzz my hair off. Lol!

Sammy3 - I'm totally going to the next "look good, feel good" program around me. Here I am, 40 yrs old, and I need to learn how to wear make-up! I'm a biologist, always have been a kind of "natural gal" but now it's coming back to bite me! I also heard Taxol, my next treatment, is pretty tough on eyebrows/lashes. The thought of losing them too (although I think it'll be down the road a few months), ugh.

Ya'll are brave for shaving. I couldn't do it. I cut I short and the rest fell out/washed out. I'd say I'm down to about 5-10% of my hair left. Call me crazy, but I think the damn stuff is growing! When I walk through the house w/out a hat I can feel them flapping in the breeze! I have about 50 hairs left that I call my comb-over bangs and I stick them out of my hats to attempt to fool people. Lol, its a desperate attempt and I'm probably not fooling anyone!

Periods: Technically I'm in the middle of my second one this month. Lucky me. Apparently I'm very much NOT pregnant. First one was about a week after 1st chemo, regular monthly time, but was very light and only lasted 2 days. Second one was about a week after 2nd chemo. This one is heavier but not concerningly so. So, why no tampons?

hey guys. Had AC #1 7 days ago and got neulasta the next day, but today my MO said my counts were not good and she put me on antibiotics and told me to watch very carefully if I get a fever. I don't want to have to go to the hospital or delay my next chemo!!! I've felt well overall except slight nausea and lack of appetite (I've lost 5 lbs which she wasn't happy about). I hope my WBC come back up quickly!!!

Thanks so much for the positivity china cat and Twirp26. Really appreciate it.

Seems a few of us are struggling at the moment.

After my first chemo everything was overwhelmingly salty; even water. Now all food and drink tastes bad but not that salty. Guess that's an improvement. Just managed to get a couple of wafers down. It's not much nutrition.

I have the stubbly head too as my breast nurse strongly advised against shaving due to the risk of cuts and nicks. Our immunity is so compromised. The spikes are not really bothering me as I mostly leave my head uncovered. Just too hot here.

Hubby is back to work today after 5 days off so feeling a little lonely and certainly not well enough to go anywhere. (We live out of town) Hubs said if I need him to come home; even if it's "only" for a cuddle to call him and he'll be right here. Feel so lucky to have him and his supportive cuddles.

Hope everyone else is feeling supported. Hugs, Donna.

Lawyer180 I went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe and had their triple berry, oat smoothie with a spinach & kale super pack added. I'm trying to load up on my leafy greens & berries to help boost my immune system. I can eat the raw veggies now; then during chemo and until I see the doc follow up we all have to stay away from raw veggies & sushi.

it is comforting reading the posts and seeing that my experience so far with fec-d is pretty much the same. I do notice that you guys get neulastim earlier then we do here in new Zealand, we get our injection on day 4. I am on day 15, day one was the worse, after i finished getting the chemo, i had an iron infusion as well, as i am usually low due to heavy periods. I started getting nausea about an hour after i got home, and it intensified for the next 7 hours, until i vomited and then I felt much better.I took all my anti emetics, so I did everything in my power to cope. The next few days I still had anti emetics to take, I had nausea on and off, headaches on and off, and needed laxol for my bowels, and drank water like a fish, all I could think about was wash this poison out as quickly as possible.I have been o.k, my last blood test showed my white blood cells had taken a big drop from 10 to 3, I am a bit weary, had a blood test this morning in prep for clinic visit tomorrow. Clinic visit will be good as it is my first meeting with the Dr since having chemo, so be good to see bloods and share with her how I have been going so far.I think my wbc are trying to get up there, I'm thinking that may be why I am so tired, we will see.I an looking forward to connecting with the threads and comparing experiences with you all. I was diagnosed in august this year, in nz we have a breast screening programme, so when i turned 45 I went along for mine, that was when the breast cancer was picked up. Since then i have had 3 surgeries the biggest being a full mastectomy with axillery node removal, I am having chemo because cancer was found in one node, i also have pleomorphic lobular cancer which tends to be a bit more aggressive and likes to travel. I will then have radiotherapy, followed by a full mastectomy of my left breast, as they found cancer there also, then tamoxifen for 5 years. So that is me in a nut shell, I am still getting the hang of reading the threads.

I finished round 2 today. Was similar to the first. I was there the same amount of time even though the Herceptin and Perjeta infusions were a half hour instead of an hour, and I was only monitored for any reactions for a half hour between those two infusions. I don't think I will need to be monitored at all next time. The reason for the added time was getting blood work to make sure my levels were okay, and meeting with a nurse to discuss how I was doing. This wasn't necessary before the first treatment.

PezGal - I'm right there with you on the makeup. I'm a biochemist at a pharmaceutical company, so I work in a lab a lot and don't have a need to wear any. I'm not going to know what to do when/if I have to use an eyebrow pencil. I think the reason for no tampons is the increased risk of infection. I got my period right before my first weekly visit for bloodwork. When I told my nurse, I can't remember if she warned me about not using tampons, but I had picked up on the warning beforehand. Most women might not be in any real harm from using them, so this may come down to "better to be safe than sorry".

Speaking of my job, I perform testing on monoclonal antibodies to help patients with certain autoimmune diseases, respiratory ailments, and cancers, making sure they are safe for use commercially and in clinical trials. Interesting how I am now on the side of testing antibodies and the side of receiving them as a patient. Although I've never worked with Herceptin and Perjeta, they are also monoclonal antibodies so the methods used to test them are probably similar to the ones I use.

After I was diagnosed, I noticed a company I was interested in applying to (if I don't get promoted next year at my current job) has an antibody in development to treat HER2+ BC. It is in Phase 3 of clinical trials, typically the last step before FDA approval. Of the 7 drugs I've worked with, only 2 have made it to Phase 3 and FDA approval. It's encouraging that even though there are currently effective treatments for BC, there could be more in the future that are even more effective. Even Perjeta hasn't been around that long. It received FDA approval in 2012 to treat metastatic BC. I think 2014 was the first year it was available for other stages.