Anyone.Starting Chemo in October 2016?

yay, my platelet count was up today and I was able to have chemo. It came back on it's own but caused me to miss 2 chemo treatments.

Great news, Connie!

Lyn

That's great news Connie! Hopefully you have minimal SE's (since due to the delays you had a bit longer to recover from the last treatment).

It's been 4 weeks since my last treatment and certain small things are getting better. I had my first Herceptin only treatment last week and I seem to be tolerating that well. My taste buds seem to be recovering. Though my muscles are still weak, I get exhausted easily and still have neuropathy in my fingers and toes. Also, I'm scheduled to have my lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy on Friday (the 10th). I'm praying they don't find any remnants of cancer and that I'm in the clear.

Today would of been a chemo day but I am 7 days PFC and super emotional... I hate cancer has made me so vulnerable.

Fighting... sending positive thoughts and prayers.

I think maybe super emotional goes along with it for some of us. There's no doubt that I've been super emotional for quite some time. I'm wondering if there's an underlying fear that it will come back once chemo is over. Right now, I'm thinking I'll be dancing for joy once it's over but that may easily change.

This last chemo has made me so tired that all I want to do is sleep

Connie1240

I noticed you get Carbo and Taxol weekly,I thought they added Carbo every 3rd week.I considered adding it but had such a hard time with AC I decided not to.Now my doctor is talking about adding because my tumor looks swollen and I have an armpit node that is swollen

Yes, I do have Carboplatin every week. They did reduce my dosage because my platelet counts got so low. I now get 3/4 of the original dosage but taxol remained the same. As far as side effects, I have really only had exhaustion. Of course, I've lost my eyelashes since this regimen began but I'm thinking more about SE that really affect your quality of life. I had some leg aches but since I started taking magnesium in addition to the Claratin, they went away...and really weren't awful to begin with. I think I mad it through the AC pretty easily too though. They never did come up with a definite cause of my getting so ill after that ended but are blaming it on the Neulasta.

Hello everyone,

It's been a really long time since I posted but I've been reading everyone's messages. I'm finished with chemo now--last Taxol was on January 30, but instead of my usual not-so-good week followed by a good week, I had a horrible week 2 post-infusion with fevers and a thrush infection in my mouth that made it too painful to eat solids (or anything much.) Over this whole chemo process, I've had one day in the ER and two in the chemo clinic fighting pretty high fevers of unknown origin...ugh. And then at some point during Taxol the neuropathy started, which makes me feel off balance and ancient. I'm generally an emotional mess these days, despite the fact that that fevers are gone and the mouth issue seem to have cleared up. Even though I didn't really have nausea during chemo, I didn't have much of an appetite either, and have lost 14 lbs. on an already slim frame. I'm still forcing myself to eat and have been drinking a lot of nutrient-dense smoothies.

I start radiation next week, dry run the day after I have the port removed (looking forward to this, SO much) and then 30 days of rads, which will take me into early April. Because of some miscommunication that I still don't quite understand, even though I'm BRCA 2 and the original plan was to have the bilateral mastectomy surgery with expander reconstruction before radiation, the plan has changed to have radiation first, which will change my reconstruction options to the extent that I think I'll just go flat. I'm very tired of being medicalized (and also very tired) and don't want to have reconstruction if it's surgically more complicated. I would like to get back to something resembling a real life--wouldn't we all.

In the last few weeks, one of my daughter's closest friends from childhood died of a very rare liver cancer at 25, one of my best friends was nearly killed in a snowstorm related car accident, and my closest housemate's mother is in very fragile shape and in the hospital after being found unresponsive while on vacation in Florida yesterday. He flew down today. It's getting so that I don't want to answer the phone and it's hard to keep up much positive energy given all this. Plus, just screw winter in Boston. However, I'm almost sure I felt some hair stubble on my legs during my last bath, so maybe....?

Love to all,

Kate

Hey ladies. I've been MIA for quite a while. Good news is I finished my last round of chemo on January 19th. I have the beginnings of some fuzzy hair sticking out. Straight out like a troll but hey, it's hair! I have been struggling with a roller coaster of emotions lately, some days even more so than during chemo. I guess recovery is a process that doesn't always happen quickly as we'd like. Getting my energy back is also a slow process but its coming back a little more each day. I will have having my exchange surgery by the beginning of April. I can't wait wait to get these hard uncomfortable expanders out!

I have tried to keep up with everyone but it's near impossible once you get behind. I know several of us have completed chemo and others a near completion. How are you all

Hi Ladies:

Like some others, have been MIA for quite a while though I have been reading all your posts. Glad to hear some of us are nearing the end. My last weekly Taxol is March 14th - so looking forward to that. My hemoglobin has been holding on though I hold my breath every time they do bloodwork. On the 21st I get a triple dose of Herceptin and then I start the 3 week Herceptin regimen. I've been doing ok with the Taxol/Herceptin weekly routine - I get some "not sharp" feelings in my fingers sometimes - it's intermittent so I'm definitely not complaining. Hopefully these last few weeks will be more of the same and no worse. Also, seems that Friday of each week I'm more tired than - normal so I've been shutting down early from work on those days. The work will be there on Monday - I'm not going to worry about it.

Next up is radiation - my onc said about 5 weeks of that however they wait a period of time - I think 4 weeks after chemo ends - before they start. If I have all my dates right, that puts me in the middle of April before that starts and not until mid-May for the finish. Sometimes it seems like it will never end. Kate - did you have to get any scans/tests before radiation? How long did they wait after chemo to start?  I'm not sure what the protocol is. I have the name of an RO so guess I just have to make the call & set up the initial appointment.

On the brighter side, made a reservation for 4 nights in Maine - in between the end of chemo & the start of radiation - hopefully I estimated the dates right. So looking forward to getting away for a bit and looking at the ocean. And spa treatments!! Can't wait.

And the second bright side - I've noticed some eyebrow hairs coming in. Granted I need a magnifying mirror to see them but I'll take what I can get at this point.

That's me for now. Love to all

Julianne

Does anyone else have trouble maintaining concentration on things? I love to read but know better than to attempt to read anything but very light mindless things right now. I can't even concentrate long enough to watch a complete tv show.

Hi Connie and Bravepoint,

I had a terrible problem with focus until my medical team lowered the steroid dose--I literally felt as if I'd been invaded by Martians. Couldn't read, follow plots on TV, even listen to audiotapes. Even something simple like making a cup of tea felt like a million-step process. I don't know what dosage they ended up with, but it made all of those activities possible again. I was really scared in the beginning that I had lost my mind and would never get it back again.

Hope this helps,

Kate

Hi, Ladies, I haven't been contributing much lately. I'm in a rather dark place and hate to be a Debbie Downer when y'all need to be lifted up.

My beloved dog and work partner, Katie, was unexpectedly diagnosed with lymphoma Monday and it's hard to imagine life without her. The financial realities of my cancer treatment have hit with a thud. Katie's vet bills already total $800, I'm supposed to start therapy for Lymphedema, endurance issues and cognitive problems and radiation is still on the horizon. I'll have to borrow the thousands of dollars remaining before I meet my catastrophic out-of-pocket for the year. I'm trying to focus on how treatments I've already completed, but it's difficult with these other stressors. I've not seen my 84 year old mother, sisters and niece for three years so plan to borrow the money to see them between chemo and radiation, but am now worried about Katie passing while I'm gone. Sorry to be a Gloomy Gertrude, gang.

I've definitely experienced a disconnected feeling and inability to concentrate. I read a study about chemo brain. While we can easily see the impact chemo has on our hair and eye brows, it affects our brain cells in an alarming way as well. I agree that steroids can be a factor.

Lyn

Thanks, Connie.

Lyn,

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. It seems that for so many of us the breast cancer is just part of a very bad time.

I'm in a financial crisis too--no work or income since diagnosis in September, and no husband/partner to take up any of the slack. I'm turning 65 next week and will start collecting Social Security, but I'm living off pretty tiny savings and worry about money all the time. And I'm still helping my young adult daughter with some of her expenses, although she is aware of how precarious things are and is doing everything she can do live frugally. Unfortunately her father is no help to her.

Have you considered a "Go Fund Me" campaign so that your friends and family can help out? I'm going to be doing one in a month or so--I needed to be finished with chemo and I have a friend helping me with the messaging and outreach. It seems to me that so many people ask how they can help, and even giving a little bit of money makes a difference, especially so you don't have to borrow. I've seen lots of medical-related requests with Go Fund Me and while I haven't done a complete financial analysis, it seems that many people are raising in the range of $10,000. That's a significant amount, it seems to me.

Also, you should ask your social worker where you're getting treatment about grants for people with cancer. I got $450 in Whole Foods gift cards from a foundation connected to my hospital, (the social worker had to do the application) which freed up money for other expenses. There's also a foundation in my town that gives to people with cancer, and I've applied to that but haven't heard from them yet. There's also this list of possibilities specific to breast cancer: http://www.pinkfund.org/2016/wp-content/uploads/PF. I have to admit I have barely looked at this one, but once again, post chemo, as my energy starts dribbling back, I'm going to see if any of them make sense for me.

Good luck. We're all here with you.

Kate