Anyone.Starting Chemo in October 2016?

VLH · October 2016

Julianne, interesting how different oncologists vary their procedures. I'm glad that you got your "girly girl" treat. :-)

Barb, I've solved that problem to a great extent by doing a Facebook update to Friends only. It limits the number of calls I get, but people feel like they're keep abreast of what's going on. I provide few details, e.g., "I finally finished the two weeks of pesky IV antibiotics. Woot!" I don't say when I' will be / have been somewhere that could reveal when I'll be away from the house..."First chemo completed earlier this week. So far, so good!" rather than revealing a day or time. Most of my closer friends text me or do Facebook Messenger so they don't have to worry about awakening me from a nap. I feel incredibly lucky to have a lot of people pulling for me and hesitated to share info that way, but it was truly exhausting telling the same story to 20-25 people over the course of a week. It was like reliving every step repeatedly & sometimes feeling that I had to comfort and reassure them instead of vice versa. You can set the privacy for posts to a very small Custom group, too. Trust me, the cyber spies of the world already know you have breast cancer the second you do a Google search on the topic. This method helps me feel more in control.

Lyn

b2alicia · October 2016

JR74, I love your dreamcatcher. It's just wonderful!

Abracadabra · October 2016

Hi lidabit - when I went to chemo, I took frozen grapes and mango, goldfish crackers and a granola bar. I knew that they would be providing water and beverages like ginger ale etc. at the treatment centre. I ate my regular breakfast in the morning, and then snacked and sipped on ice water during the chemo session.

After the chemo, plan to eat small amounts throughout the day. Greek yogurt and scrambled eggs are good for some protein. Honey Nut Cheerios with milk worked for me. Peanut butter on whole wheat toast. Ensure or Boost can be useful. I was attracted to salty foods like canned chicken noodle soup and saltines and grilled cheese sandwiches because they made my thirsty, which helped me to drink a lot of water (which you have to do after treatment to help flush out your system).

I had no interest in preparing food for myself (or my family!) I was fortunate to have friends and relatives dropping off casseroles and prepared dinners for us, and my husband made a few meals as well. If I had had to come up with something, it would not have been more involved than throwing something frozen (like a store-bought lasagna) into the oven, so having some stuff like that in the freezer ahead of time would be a good idea if you have to get food on the table for others. Soup and sandwiches ... that kind of thing.

I'm sure the others will have more ideas.

Best of luck on Wednesday. Let us know how it goes!

Barb

lidabit · October 2016

Barb,

thanks for the great ideas! I love the idea of frozen grapes. My chemo is going to be about 8 hours so having something to snack on the whole time would be ice! I have a plethora of people volunteering to bring me meals, but I am worried about not wanting to socialize or not feeling up to what they are bringing. I have a list of dos/don'ts and I think I am going to put a cooler on the porch and just let people know that if it is out, then to please drop and go. This makes me feel very rude, but I am trying to make sure I am focusing on myself which I have a hard time doing.

Anyways. I go to a look good feel good class on Tuesday. Running around this week to stock up my kitchen with easy snacks and a bunch of little things.

Hoping all is well with you!

Elizabeth

Miles · October 2016

Abracadabra: Oh my tummy hurts from laughing so hard….For those of you just reading here are her earlier funnies :

"I recapped my tooth story."

"On the topic of my nose hair (never thought I'd start a sentence with THOSE words)"

"I haven't lost hair anywhere else yet... as if the nose hair was jumping in ahead of its turn. Although, maybe it's like that old joke "If your feet smell and your nose runs, you're built upside-down!". Maybe I'm built upside down ..."

"My dog Max keeps glaring at me so I guess it's time for a walk." (I'm seriously…. In love with Max he sounds like a sweetheart!)

Oh… seriously grateful. You are so funny. I never thought I would be laughing so hard on a breast cancer form… whew… my tummy muscles actually ache from laughing so hard..

B2alicia,geneskirt and everyone on here: (((hugs)))

Lyn: my potato chips are heathy too….

JR74: I love the Dream catcher! What a good idea. I hate that you have gone through so much. I hope things go better for you in the future.

Julianne: Yes! YeS!!! YES!!!!! I don't want to talk about all this sometimes. I too "don't usually call people back right away when they call to see how I am doing." I think sometimes it is exhausting to have to take care of the people who pity me for having this. Sometimes I don't want to comfort them by telling them how good I am doing in spite of all of this. I also have "days when I don't want to talk about treatment, how I'm feeling, what I'm doing or the next treatment." It is more than Okay for you to wait as long as you need too. You are taking care of yourself and that is what you need to be doing right now. Everyone else can wait….

E: Good luck with Chemo starting on Wednesday. I'm starting on Tuesday. I was told to eat something I wouldn't mind coming back up….Yeah; not a pretty picture. So I am going with chicken noodle soup and toast. I guess it depends on what time you are going for your Chemo my appointment is at 1pm. When is yours?

Lovz to all y'all

Miles

FightingTheFight · October 2016

Julianne - People will not always know the best time to check on you or reach out to you. So you have to trust yourself to know when those times are. And if it's not the right time, you know you'll connect with them when it is. It's better that way all around. You won't be unduly pressured and their efforts won't be in vain.

There's a quote on the check-in desk at my chemo center that simply says, "you're doing the best you can." I think that's true for all of us.

Abracadabra · October 2016

Lidabit - after I sent my earlier post to you, I realized I forgot to suggest this link:

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/69/topics/706846?page=58#idx_1727

It is a very detailed list of stuff which you may or may not want to have during chemo, including food tips. Certainly worth reading through.

The other thing I forgot to mention which really helped me post-chemo was ginger tea. I went to a health food store and found something called Herbal Tea Digestive (made by Four O'clock Herbalist) which has the description "used in herbal medicine to help relieve inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract". Each bag contains chamomile flowers, peppermint leaves, and ginger. It was wonderful for settling down my stomach, and I highly recommend it (or something like it).

Miles - I knew you were a kindred spirit! I have been telling my family for years that I am a very funny person, and they either roll their eyes or ignore me. Thank God for Max the dog ... he doesn't laugh at my jokes per se, but he looks at me with great sympathy when the others ignore me. We learn to take our support where we can find it!

I am off to the gym, ladies. I wish you a beautiful day.

Barb

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Julesbabe55 · October 2016

Morning Ladies:

Thanks for the advice. I truly appreciate your comments and thoughts. Now to have the very direct conversation with my husband who is trying his very best in all of this. I don't know where I would be without him even when we have differences of opinion. It's the little things he does like buying paper towel dispensers for the guest bathroom and kitchen so I don't need to use towels to dry my hands. Or buying the gentle cleanser for my hands that are drying out between the hand washing and using hand sanitizer. Thing like that that I either forget or would never think of buying for myself.

Taking a break from work right now - I should be reading emails or something like that but I'm not. It will all be there when I get back to it in about a half hour or so.

Enjoy your day everyone!

Julianne

Al12 · October 2016

Hi ladies,

I am trying to keep up and read everyones updates. Sounds like everyones spirits are high and doing well. I am so glad I am too doing well. Yesterday I joined my friend with my kids and husband to walk making strides against breast cancer it was such a surreal experiance in the beginning of the walk I was so overwhelmed I started to cry. I cant believe I am part of this family now, warrior now and future surviver. My kids who are 11 and 12 had such a great time and it was so good for them to be exposed and be surrounded by such amazing people.

JR74, Congrats and the dream catcher is beautiful.

I do have a question I did get my period yesterday and thought the oncologist told me I will not get them while in treatment. I guess maybe this time but not next month. I am worried though because it's so so heavy and this does not make things any comfortable when I'm at work. Anyone else getting their period while starting chemo? I am 43 and not in menopause yet.

Melindawv · October 2016

Hello everyone,

After saying I would post more, that certainly went out the window. But I am keeping up on what is happening and seems that everyone is Still hanging in there.

I will let you know that I had my port put in the 12th, was nervous but everything went smoothly, had to sleep on my back for a few days but it is healing nicely but does stick up some, but would do it again.

Had my first chemo the 13th for 7 hours, long day and was tired for sitting/laying in that chair, port was nice and so was the nurses. My birthday is the 15th so my 22 yr old daughter arraigned for my area to be decorated and donuts and flowers, so everyone had a good time wishing me happy birthday. It was really nice.

The 14 went after the shot which wasn't bad, felt good that day and night but then Saturday started feeling some of the aches and pain but it was manageable.

Sunday the 16 was probably the worst day for nausea, the meds they gave must have worn off and I started the Zophran, but didn't seem to do a lot.so I laid around and tried to eat, which was pretty hard to do.

Today is Monday and it is my first day back to work. Have had a lot of questions and stares, some surprised to see me some wondering why I still have hair. I work in a male dominated field and they are sometimes word struck but all mean well.

I hope to catch back up on everyone soon, I see a lot of good advice on here so far and I do like reading about how people are doing.

Once again I will say I plan on making more of an effort to hold myself accountable here because I believe that you can gain a lot of strength from each other.

Later ladies,

Melindawv

freak4fiber · October 2016

Hi all new to this thread and looking for some advice. I started chemo on October 12th. Things seemed to go okay. My biggest complaint was a bit of cramping and diarrhea. When I went for my 1 week labs and nurse visit the nurse told me my WBC were low gave me a shot and sent me on my way. By that evening I was in chills with a fever and admitted to the hospital where i spent the next 4 nights. It seems at the time of my nurse/lab visit my WBC count was 1. My neutrophils were 0. Apparently the lack of WBC set off a unknown underlying case of diverticulitis. It took the 4 nights in the hospital to get them back where they were supposed to be. I am a relatively healthy 45 year old. No other major medical conditions. I am afraid to go back for another treatment. I have 8 and 11 year old children I need to be here for. I cannot let chemotherapy complications kill me. The reasons was recommended for chemo are younger age, 2 separate tumors, both tumors over 2cm and Oncotype DX scores of 19 on one and 21 on the other. So I was at the lower end of the intermediate risk for recurrence. Any thoughts on stopping the treatments? Thanks

Abracadabra · October 2016

freak4fiber - Wow, I am so sorry that you had to go through that terrible experience. I'm no medical expert, but it sounds like you need to discuss this with your MO immediately. You mentioned that the nurse gave you a shot - was it Neulasta (some people get this to help raise their low WBC counts after chemo)? You also didn't mention which chemo regime you were given. There are different combinations of drugs and different schedules of administration, each with their own benefits and disadvantages (i.e. side effects). The MO should be closely monitoring your reaction to the chemo, and adjusting as necessary to make the treatment effective and tolerable for you.

Good luck, and let us know how things go. I'm early in the process myself (1st chemo on Oct 3), but I have always heard that chemotherapy is not pleasant, but it is do-able. I'm hoping that is true, and wishing you all the best.

Barb

Miles · October 2016

Melindawv: Thank you for reporting in. Go easy on yourself. Taking care of you is the most important thing for you to do right now. We love hearing from you and there are days when "checking in" is to much for any of us. Easy dose it. I'm glad you are here.

freak4fiber: So Scary! I don't have any advice for you. I do hope the best for you and your family.

I hope everyone finds something to smile about today.

Abracadabra · October 2016

Julianne - your husband definitely sounds like a keeper!

Al12 - participating in that walk sounds like it was a wonderful and powerful experience.

Melindavw - belated Happy Birthday! Glad that the worst of the nausea has passed - you sound like you're doing well. I'm glad!

Miles - a funny thing happened to me today. I was driving to my friend's house for lunch, and I guess that while driving my mind started to wander (chemo brain?). Suddenly I clicked back to reality and realized that I was going the wrong way ... I was driving the route I used to take to drive my son to school I guess that when my mind wandered, my auto-pilot clicked on and chose a familiar (but wrong) route. Anyway, I circled back around and arrived at my friend's house a little late. She came out to greet me and asked if I had had trouble (I'm usually on time). When I told her what had happened, she immediately told me "Don't Think and Drive!". I thought it was hilarious.

Well, it was a beautiful autumn day in Montreal. The leaves are falling ... and so is my hair. I'm at day 14 post chemo and when I got up and washed my face, I saw a number of hairs in the sink. I went to the gym, and I could feel little tickles of hairs as they fell from my head and touched my face and shoulders. After the gym I showered and dried my hair ... more floated out. I was going to lunch at my friend's house and didn't want to be shedding all over her furniture, and so I arranged my short straight hair into position then put on enough hairspray to lock every hair into position, and then sprayed on a little more for good luck. I swear, if it had been a windy day, my hair would not have budged! It worked, and I guess that's what I'll keep doing until I go for a buzz cut.

Have a pleasant evening!

VLH · October 2016

Barb, that reminds me of an old Bobby Vinton song from decades ago, but no mention of falling hair drifting by the window. ;-) I'm getting my buzz cut Wednesday evening. It's only Day 9, but my friend is busy the rest of the week so will take the plunge early. I talked to the nurse navigator at the ACS wig bank. She said she only has a few wigs right now. I can't afford to go over the $350 my insurance will pay and don't know what that will get me, but she mentioned a couple of area places that work with a lot of cancer patients and my oncology nurse said I can get an Rx tomorrow. Since I'm usually hot & my skin is delicate, I'm sure I won't wear a wig daily. I just don't want one that screams, "Cheap wig" from a block away.

Ladies, ahem, is anyone else dealing with horrible, clear-the-room flatulence? I expected some D issues, but I'm rather dreading my doctor's appointment and errands tomorrow. I accidentally left a bag of fridge stuff in my van after my last grocery trip so no yogurt on hand so I may try Pepto. If you see a news report about a noxious cloud blanketing the south, that will be me.

Lyn

VLH · October 2016

I'm so sorry about your situation, Freak4fiber. My cancer is a different type so I can't offer any meaningful input; however, I would try to pin the oncologist down on the potential benefits of chemo versus the risk of treatment given what's happened so you can make an informed decision. Perhaps a gastroenterologist could also consult on whether any modifications could be made to the treatment protocol to continue while protecting your digestive tract. I know you must be terribly worried.

Lyn

Abracadabra · October 2016

Lyn - I haven't had flatulence as a side effect, so I can't offer advice except that I've read that herbal teas like ginger or mint tea can help settle things down. Good luck.

I have an appointment at the Canadian Cancer Society tomorrow morning to look at wigs ... if there is something that looks ok I'll bring it home, but if not I'll probably just go with scarves. I'd rather avoid wigs entirely than try to wear something that looks unnatural ("Excuse me ma'am, is that a possum on your head?").

Loopy

VLH · October 2016

Possum on your head. Tee Hee!

freak4fiber · October 2016

Hi my chemo is Taxotere and Cytoxan. The shot was not Neulasta but I believe a similar type of drug. I think it was called Zarxio. I recieved the shot 1 week after my chemo which was apparently to late. I am talking with MO and they plan to take preventitve measures and adjust dose. I think I am just darn scared to do it again. When they say people who have had cancer can have PTSD I can understand. Thanks for the responses I appreciate the support.

Abracadabra · October 2016

It's completely understandable that you're scared ... you went through a terrible experience. We rely on medical experts to make good decisions on our behalf, and when something goes wrong, it's alarming.

But we have to continue to look forward, to find our way through this. I hope that the remainder of your treatment, whatever it entails, proceeds smoothly. I'm on a completely different chemo regime than you so I can't comment on that part, but I am happy to send lots of positive energy your way!

Best wishes,

Barb

BevSue · October 2016

Hi Everyone

I'm not a big poster but have been following you guys. I have my first treatment on Thursday. The waiting and anticipation have been a thorn in my side but your positive outlook and humor has helped me tremendously. Have a great evening everyone.😁

VLH · October 2016

I hope all goes smoothly, BevSue!

Lyn

Miles · October 2016

Barb: lol!!!...."Don't Think and Drive!"….freaking hilarious! "Excuse me ma'am, is that a possum on your head?" Bawwwhh…. Laughing so hard I have tears…

Lyn: I will watch the news for your story… he… he….he..giggling…

Freakforfiber: I am going to be on the same Chemo meds and you are… scary.

BevSue: Welcome! So nice to have you here and I also love the humor here. Laughing about all of this goes perfect with all of the tears we shed. I'm scheduled for my first Chemo tomorrow.

Today I turned 45 and my big ta da will be Chemo tomorrow… my Birthday $ went to by supplies for SE's and well it is going to be an adventure. I'm really grateful for all of you for your words and experiences.

Nfullblume · October 2016

Good luck tomorrow, Miles!! And a huge Happy Birthday.

Bevsue, I'm loving all the positivity and joking as well, "noxious gas cloud"...note to self... lmbo!

I've pushed my first treatment to 11/2, because I can't get the port installed until 10/25 and I'll feel more comfortable with a week of healing first. Did a chemo education class today. My husband learned a lot. And I bought a few wigs this past weekend. I already cut my hair in a pixie/boyish cut, thought it would make it easier on me when it's all gone.

Can't wait to hear how you guys are doing.

Julesbabe55 · October 2016

Barb - where do you come up with these? LOL "Possum on your head" - going to have to figure out a way to work that into a conversation or two. And yes, my hair has started falling as well - noticed after washing it this morning. So off to buy some hats and pre-tied scarves tomorrow.

Lyn - sorry to hear about your gastro issues but certainly on the look out for the news story about you. You'll be a star and we'll all be wanting your autograph.

Miles - happy birthday! Good luck tomorrow. Do something "naughty" if you feel up to it.

Freak4fiber - so sorry you had such an experience. Hopefully the next go round will be better. Like Barb said, we rely so heavily on our medical team to guide us through this and trust them. Your experience certainly makes that trust factor harder to come by.

BevSue - good luck Thursday. Post when you can or feel up to it.

Nfullblume - I too had a week between the port surgery and my first treatment. It worked out well - also had a follow-up with the surgeon prior to starting treatment so she could check the surgery spot and give me the all clear to proceed.

Night all

Julianne

VLH · October 2016

Happy Birthday, Miles! I hope you'll get some little splurge gift that isn't SE-related to pamper yourself. Fingers crossed for all to go smoothly tomorrow.

Nfullblume, like Julianne, I think you're wise to give yourself a little healing time before using the port.

Lyn

JR74 · October 2016

Miles! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And good luck tomorrow!

You are all killing me! I try to keep up so I can comment to each one of you individually but I'm just not that good!

I'm loving everyone's sense of humor. If not for that I may have lost my mind already. We have a running joke at our house, anytime I ask the kids to do something for me I always follow it with "I just had surgery x amount of days ago" so now they all laugh about it. My oldest son was talking to my daughter who is pregnant about breast feeding and somehow the conversation led to my granddaughter wanting to be "Ariel" for Halloween and he looks at his wife and says "she wants to be areola for Halloween" without a second thought I said " hey, easy with the areola jokes" ( I had a total mastectomy so I obviously don't have any) everyone was dead silent for about 5 seconds then we all cracked up! Helluva thing to joke about but hey, it was pretty funny!

I go Wednesday to recheck labs. Hoping everything is getting back to normal. The 27th is my second infusion and praying for a better time this go 'round! Constant thoughts and prayers for each and every one of you!! Xo Jenn

Abracadabra · October 2016

Miles :

Here's your virtual birthday party! You get first dibs on the cupcakes, Birthday girl! I'll take the second one from the left please (with all the goopy pink frosting). Yum! Have a nice day.

Barb

GrendelDog · October 2016

Hi everyone -

I've been doing some catching up with all of your stories. Freak4Fiber and JR74 (and others I'm missing!) -- so glad to hear things are improving. Some real roller coaster rides!

It's funny, when I went through my thyroid cancer stuff three years ago, I was glued to the forums. This time around, I find I only want to check in every 5 or 6 days. Interesting how the mind changes how it wants to deal with things, isn't it?

So, had 1st infusion on the 7th, so 11 days ago. I felt like the first three days were spent in a fog of trying to do stuff and trying to take naps! By the end of day 4, the nausea started and couldn't be stopped even with IV Zofran + Compazine. Vomited on/off for the next 12 hours. But I'm one of those people that if I start getting sick to my stomach, I get into a cycle that is very hard to stop. Much IV fluid and anti-nausea later, it all stopped.

Since then, I have been feeling really great. Good energy. Had bad back spasms for about 24 hours a week after the Neulasta shot. I've seen references that this may have been a side effect of the Neulasta. They're all gone now, and I think the only SE I'm having now is I can't sleep well. But my energy still seems good. No real chemo brain fog. Oh, and I feel like I want to keep eating, even when I'm not at all hungry. (Just what I need HAHAHAHHAHA).

No hair loss yet

Overall - doing well at this point. Kind of scared that it will all end on Friday with next infusion. But I'll enjoy the next 3 days of 'freedom' before that!

deemendoza · October 2016

Hello,

Starting my treatment on Thursday October 20th, AC + Taxol (?) 8 infusions total. I'm doing the artic cold caps hoping to keep this frizzy type 3c curl that at one point drove me crazy but since I was told I needed chemo this time around I've found a new appreciation for it.

I tried capping yesterday for practice (room temp) and boy oh boy did I wake up sore anyone else have the same reaction? Just looking for ideas that could possibly make this a bit easier.

I'm I the only weird one anxious to start already? Anxious in the sense of getting it over with the not knowing what is ahead is really making me mentally sick. I figure if I start that's one less and n I'll know more or less the effects I have to deal with.. anyone else working? I only plan on taking the infusion day (Thursday) and the next day leading to the weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to come to work. Any tips on how to deal with side effects at work?

Thank you ladies.

I did it once and I'll do it again.

Anyone.Starting Chemo in October 2016?

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