January 2016 Chemo!

I start Taxol every other week, starting 3/7.

has anyone on TC or AC had any hair grow back yet??? I'm getting impatient! My leg hair is slowly growing back, but nothing on my head

Friday is my 3rd TC. Most of my hair is gone but my head isn't smooth. I can feel some hair on top of my head and it's gray, not brown like the rest of the hair that's left in the back. I am assuming that the very sparse grays are actually new growth that is about to get wiped out again. I haven't shaved it since my husband buzzed it February 14th. I assume though the rest will continue to fall out. For those of you with completely smooth heads, did you have to shave it or did it eventually all just fall out

My leg hair grows now very very slowly but I still shave out of habit and when I'm wearing dresses. Saving money on those now unnecessary Brazilians. Arm hair, curiously, still there. I've always had very light (texture and color) arm hair but it's still there. Never had facial hair (I mean, except brows and lashes, which are still there).

I do think I'm in chemopause. The one downside to this is that I don't know if my period could strike at any minute. I used to be quite regular that way.

I'm also moving on, from FEC to taxotore

Full hair update:

As far as I can tell I have all my eyelashes, my eyebrows are thinner but not bad, I fill them in. The hair under my eyebrows still grows so I still need to get them groomed!

I still get random facial hair and chin hairs, but not nearly as much.

My arms and legs still have hair, but much less. Leg hairs are few and far between and only visible if I look very closely, if it was summer I would not really need to shave however I probably would (I'm not now).

No hair "down there", front or back (which is nice!! Better than a Brazilian) or underarms.

I have shaved my head bald, however there is still stubble so I guess I would not be completely bald if I hadn't shaved it. But it would be very very thin and patchy.

my onco nurse said sometimes hair on head grows during taxol but it's usually the weekly taxol people if it does. I'm not counting on it. I have teeny tiny hairs growing but I'm sure this last AC is going to zap those away. I asked my stylist for any suggestions to help it grow faster post chemo and she swears that hair,skin,nails vitamin formula Is a must.several of her clients who have through chemo said it helped their hair grow faster as well. I'm going to try it. If nothing else I'll have plenty of B vitamins in my system.

How can you have an MRI with a port in? Isn't at least part of it metal?

As of tonight, I'm only halfway through AC. Hopefully tomorrow will be #3. She mentioned possibly reducing the dose again (80% last time), and possibly skipping #4. Any guesses on what my neutrophils will be tomorrow? .55 last week. Tune in tomorrow and I'll let you know.

buttaflydiva if you get the name of that vitamin formula please share

Congrats to everyone heading into their last infusion or moving on to the second part of treatment. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

paulinek, there are a lot of different brands out there and they most work the same, but I got this one:

KellyChameleon About the nausea associations - I have really bad ones too - I will try to get through them quickly LOL. For one, talking about or even thinking about the infusion room. My adult coloring book that I brought to the first two infusions, the smell of the hand soap at the oncologists office, that queasy drops hard candy that people give you when they find out you will be doing chemo... I literally got nauseous at my last treatment when they had only hooked me up to the saline drip - hoping this lessens with the Taxol. Good luck to you too!

buttaflydiva Thanks for the tips, very helpful! I'm concerned with fatigue since I will be working, but luckily I work from home. For Herceptin / Perjeta - it's hard to separate the SEs I had since I've been getting them in conjunction withe the Taxol. But I would say that the rash after the very first loading dose was probably the worst on my face and scalp. The MO prescribed clindimycin and desonide (steroid) and it really helped. I think that some of the rash/acne is spurred on by taxol and the steroids too.

For me, Day 3 in the evening I get sluggish, it happens like clockwork. By Monday (day 4) I feel fine. I definitely feel best on Days 4-6. EXERCISE HELPS TOO. I can't say enough. I walk, but I also do martial arts. I'm not fighting, I only do some drills and kata because I don't want to get hurt. I get winded more quickly than usual but I just take more breaks. I walk for about 1/2 hour every day at least and only have been going to karate 2x/week (mostly because of time.) It helps so much.

LoveMyVizsla-congrats.....only one more!!

Good luck Jinx

I don't get hives, but last round I got a rash on my chest that my doc thinks is folliculitis. She gave me a topical antibiotic for it. Clindimycin. You might want to try taking a Claritan, benedryl, or a topical benedryl or clear calamine.

so bummed. I was supposed to have my last AC treatment today but my WBC is way too low so they couldn't give the infusion. its crazy because the 1st two treatments I did the neulasta shot and stayed within range, but when I went in for my 3rd treatment my WBC was double the normal so they didn't do the neulasta.  then I go in today and my counts had plummeted. Oh well my nurse said at least we know the chemo is working, so I'm gonna focus on that.  I'm going back in Thursday and hopefully my counts will be back up, so I'm gonna keep fingers crossed and say lots of prayers.

buttaflydiva, I am sorry to hear about your WBC's, but glad to hear the chemo is working.

For any of you going on to Taxol, Taxol has been kind to me. I am on my 8th week of Taxol and I've had minimal side effects. I lost my hair on my 3rd week of Taxol and my lashes are sparse. I haven't had to shave. No nausea, constipation, or low WBC. I don't get the neulasta shots nor do I get neupogen. I joined the weekly Taxol forum and I don't recall seeing anyone taking neupogen shots. The only side effects that I've had are hair loss, acne, and minimal fatigue. Good luck to all of you going on to other treatments and to all of you having scans. Sending all of you virtual hugs.