Who is starting chemo in September 2016?

This is Emily.

We went in this morning for chemo day 1. Everything went very well and she had no reactions to the meds. They plugged into her port at around 09:30 and we finished about 4. They said it would go much quicker next time. Emily sucked on ice during the Taxotere in the hopes it'll spare her tastebuds a bit. They installed the neulasta patch and gave us the anti-SE meds before we left. Now we wait and watch. 1 of 6 done!

Stay strong!

Seq24- I requested these on 8/31. I was quite surprised at how quickly everything has come in. Phil's Friends sends a lovely package including-fuzzy socks, hat, blanket, water bottle, kleenex, chapstick, a journal and pen, bible, CD, and then a few personal touches according to what you select.

I know how much I stressed, especially when it was time to go to sleep. I cried myself to sleep most nights. I am an A type personality, I like control, when I lose that it messes me up. For me the hardest part of this has been the sense of not having control over anything. So, I cut off my hair yesterday, losing my hair on my terms. It made it easier. Coming here and learning from all of you wonderful ladies has certainly helped me to prepare for chemo. They were all quite impressed at how prepared I was. I had my cooler with 4 waters and one apple and one grape juice. I had my chipped ice to suck on, all kinds of snacks, my blanket, and my oldest daughter to keep me in good spirits. Maintaining some sense of control is key for me and knowledge is power. The next few days are yet to be determined and I imagine they will be much worse, but hope that I'm pleasantly surprised. The first one is the hardest, because you build it up so much in your mind. I promise it will get easier. Stay strong think positive thoughts and before you know it you're on the other side.

Cancerpicked-thanks for the tip for the natural alternative to more chemicals in my body to fight nausea. I hope to pick up some tomorrow, or maybe later this evening if possible.

I think the $30 is what would be considered "paying it forward

How is it paying it forward if the next person also has to pay 30 dollars?

So what are all these freebies? I've learned about the wigs from American Cancer from you all but don't know the others. In my wig info searches I found a great local listing for all things BC related through the Komen website, better than any others so far. There was a local salon listed that provides free consultations and wigs, and it turns out the buzz cut and wigs fitting and styling and scarves! My wig is on order now and already have a scarf. My only thing was I really want a hair cut now pixie-ish, not buzz just yet. Couldn't talk them into a cheap cut and paying $50 for a cut that will fall out in less than a month is just not an option for me. Going to a beauty school tomorrow for a cheapo cut hopefully. Still not sold on the whole wig thing but I'm not out anything and might get more freebie scarfs which I totally prefer

Hi AngelaKS-

Welcome to BCO! So glad you're here, and we hope you find this to be a place of support as you begin your treatment!

The Mods

lmencken, ACS74: I'm also on the same protocol and start on the 16th. Good luck to both of you and I'll be interested to know how you are doing.

Thank you all so much for these tips! I haven't had my chemo Ed class yet but I feel that I already have

B

Bagsharon- I encountered the same $30 fee from fighting pretty. Since I could see the products and don't know that I would use them/like them I opted not to do that. It is a great idea, just not for me.

CC2016 For freebies, go to breastcancerfreebies.com. It has a lot of links on the right side for awesome freebies. I cut my hair into a Pixie cut yesterday. I lost A LOT of hair, but it's not as bad as I thought.

AngelaKS- welcome! That's a great name you have there, my name is Angela, so I'm sort of biased. For Phil's Friends you can fill it out for yourself, or have a close friend/relative do it for you. Either way is perfectly acceptable, as one of the other ladies did ask permission.

Beebs2704- sorry to meet under these circumstances, but let me know if I can help in any way.

On the SE note- metal mouth surfaced during treatment, but lemon drops helped with it.

lmencken, ACS74, beebs, bagsharon … we are on the same protocol. I had my meeting with the MO today – first infusion is 9/13. No chemo class – she said, this is it- no one will tell you more than me, and my nurse on infusion day. She is real no BS type. She said she doesn't believe in icing (cold caps, mitts and socks) – chemo is supposed to affect the whole system, and limiting access to parts of the body was not "intuitively effective". They don't even give ice chips – so, if I want to suck on ice (which she said, why?). Will get the Neulasta syringe to take home with me and inject on day 2. Claritin – she says "an old wives' tale that actually works. Zofran will go in the premed injection, and will get a Compazine prescription for home – as needed. She also added Dexamethasone 4x to prevent fluid accumulation. Lorazepam if I have insomnia (though she said I could have melatonin start 3 and go up).

Let the fun begin. I am doing this for the extra 4-8% reduction in 10yr recurrence chance. So that I have peace of mind that I did everything I could do be healthy and see my kids grow. ..

Good luck ladies. Will keep you posted.

Leydi - you are doing your hormone pill simultaneous with chemo?  I'm thinking I should ask to do that?

Acupuncture would be very nice....

Magic mouthwash truly is magical! I was doing salt water rinses, Biotene toothpaste with super soft tooth brush, no floss, water pik on low, Biotene mouth wash, and ice chips during infusion to ward off the chemo mouth sores and I had no mouth problems. Then I woke up the morning after the ER with swollen and painful throat and tongue and huge canker sores. Hard to even swallow water. I don't know if it was due to the really strong antibiotic they gave me or just a coincidence. But the doctor called in the magic mouthwash to a compounding pharmacy and I can now eat and drink again, after just one rinse! I am truly grateful for magic mouthwash! I'm day 7 post first infusion,by the way.

Take care everyone!

smilethrupain- My MO has the same stance on icing (cold caps, hands, feet). She said there is no substantiated studies to show their efficacy. Her concern is that since it prevents the chemo from getting into the iced areas that it's a risk that a cancer cell is missed. I agreed with her. She did recommend the ice chips during Taxotere and our center did provide ice, but just in case I brought a bag of crushed ice chips with me in a cooler. She prescribed claritin and motrin for bone pain. She advised no motrin except following my nuelasta pod then back to tylenol only. Which really sucks because I have one heck of a headache right now and tylenol doesn't phase them. Where are you located to be next to a top five center? If my husband were still active duty I would be getting treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. However, when he retired we moved back to AL to take care of my aging parents and there are no top notch facilities here. With that said, I am pleased with my care and my doctors do seem very knowledgeable and current with everything.

AngelaKS- I hope all goes well and you get some rest!

LisbethS-Thanks for the tip about magic mouthwash! I hope I do not need it, but my throat is already scratchy feeling. Insomnia is kicking in, too-I've been up since 4 am. Did you take nuelasta? I'm just curious how long the bone pain lasts..

lmnecken- thank you for the good vibes. No nausea at all so far. I started zofran last night. I have had an upset stomach, so you will be running to the bathroom if you're like me just not for vomiting. I am very fortunate that my company pays disability (I never thought I'd need it), so I am out of work until 21 days after my last chemo treatment. I do intend to work through radiation. I will have missed over 5 months, but my boss is insistent that I am his top performer and he wants me at 100% before I come back. Everyone at the center said day 3 is hardest. I will you keep you posted.

Stay strong, stay positive, and keep fighting!

ACS74, I'm in MA. Thanks for the note. I think most of the studies with cold capping (that I managed to read since yesterday) are from Europe and they measure the efficacy on preventing complete hair loss. And I think there is enough evidence that they work more than 50% of the time. I've been thinking (also since yesterday) about the less than 1% risk of scalp mets with cold cap... Because of my oncotype being close to high risk, I'm choosing to do chemo - to get 4-8% possible reduction in risk. I came to the conclusion that to me, every single % matters. So, it's a hard choice.

I don't have great hair to begin with, and I've been shedding a lot since surgery. My MO said that I need to talk to a scalp dermatologist who specialized in stress hair loss.

What cold capping won't help with is my eye brows and eyelashes. And if they are gone, that would be hard - to my kids I'll look sick/different. I have big dark brown eyes with defined dark eyebrows and very long eye lashes... No wig for that. I'm rambling now - broke down in MO's office yesterday because I think the reality of the next 3 months is finally setting in.

lmenken - Yes, I started chemo last week and tamoxifen last night. You could always ask your oncologist what he/she thinks about starting hormone therapy right away but you should know that it would be against standard protocol, which is to start hormone treatments after the completion of other active treatments. My cancer is 100% estrogen receptor positive and at a more advanced stage than yours. I think my MO wants to throw all available guns at it right away.  Side effects are expected to be increased by doing them at the same time as well.  Finally, I did look for medical studies on the timing of starting hormone treatment. You should feel reassured that the studies that have been done seem to indicate the starting hormone treatment after completion of other treatment is at least as good, and sometimes shown as marginally better, than starting them concurrently.