Starting Chemo in Nov 2016

Had my 6^th and final round of chemo on Valentine's day. Having my usual SEs (stomach issues, side pain, fever, fatigue, blurry close up vision, etc…) but as of today I feel much better. I didn't have any neuropathy before chemo 6 (I didn't do anything to try to prevent it), but after chemo 6 I get an occasional numbness/tingling in my left arm. It seems better now, but I'll mention it to my MO at my followup.

I'm glad chemo is over – I don't think my body could handle another round. I still have to continue with Herceptin every 3 weeks until end of October, but at least it's not chemo. I haven't celebrated yet cause I'm waiting for my taste buds to come back to normal. They usually improve after week 2, and I'm hoping to see big improvements past week 3. I'll celebrate then when I can really enjoy food/carbonated beverages again.

I'm scheduled for my mastectomy at the end of March. Looking forward to feeling well again.

I had my last infusion today was #6 I'm so relieved. I hear you bellasmom, I don't think I could tolerate another round. It's a lot. A lot on my body and just a lot emotionally. But I'm finally done. Just hope my SE are not too bad

Bellasmom, congrats on being done.

Bellasmom--congrats on finishing the hard stuff. I'm 5 weeks PFC and still don;t have taste back although I'm tasting things like sweet/salty/spicy. Just can;t taste flavors yet.

Hopfull--I said it ion other forums, but congrats on your last one. You had 2 more than me on the same regimen and going through the cold caps too, I admire your strength. I don;t think I could have gone through 6. As my husband would say-- "you would have" and of course I would for my kids but mentally I was done. I pray neither of us has to go through this again!

Congratulations to everyone who has finished chemo!! I can not wait to get to that point!! I have #7 on Friday (out of 8)....I"m getting there!!

Daisy: Welcome to the group!! wow I can't believe they missed it and now its stage 4...but it sounds like they have a good plan in place for you to beat this demon!! Feel free to vent, cry, cheer etc in here, we are all here to support each other. We also have a facebook group if you want to join that, let us know and someone can get you added.

Nanpop- What is the reason for no surgery if you are stage 4? Is it to prevent it from spreading? Just curious....

I just had a week off of work (winter break at school) and it was so nice, the only dr appt I had was to get my cbc labs done...I felt great all week...I dread having to feel crappy again next week...

I am meeting with a radiologist today for a consult...I am far from starting radiation (still need to finish chemo and then have double mastectomy) but I have questions about whether I actually need it....everything I have read said that if you are triple negative, no lymph involvement having a double mastectomy and have (had) a tumor under 5cm does not require radiation.....my oncologist wants me to have it, and of course I will if I really need it and it will improve statistics by a lot (to prevent reoccurance) but I want to hear some of that from the radiologist...both of my surgeons were surprised that I would need it.

I also am an hour from the closest radiation center, so that would be 2 hours a day (after work) plus the time I'm in getting radiation EVERY DAY for however long they say I need it..*sigh* I'm tired thinking about it....and I would have to wait 6 months after it ends to get reconstruction switch to my implants...that would be NEXT YEAR! I'm scared of having expanders for all that time!! ugh!

Well have a great week everyone!

PS Who is watching April the giraffe waiting for her to give birth? LOL I"m obsessed!

Becky

BG46TN, I'm sorry that your treatment plan has been extended and that you'll have the long commute and exhaustion of radiation, but I think it's encouraging that your dr's are targeting the plan to your specific circumstances and they have your long term survival firmly in mind. I hope all the research into better treatment for triple negative moves along because it seems that tn's alwalys need the mostly severe treatments.

amw5, It's great news that you are getting such a strong response to the chemo. Do you have 8 rounds of Taxol left? You might get a complete response. And I surmise, I hope this is true, that if the lump is shrinking so significantly that stray cells are being eliminated, too.

Thx ladies.

aterry - I did dense doses, so I'm finished with chemotherapy.

BG46TN - Thx. Well, my surgery is in a few weeks. I'm getting a double mastectomy. So, there's no need to check it again prior to surgery. I finished with chemotherapy on February 21. I just wanted to show people my tumor shrinkage progress.

hi Pamela. I have very bad muscle pain. I told my MO I feel like I've been working out real hard cuz my bones hurt the way it does day after a work out. Guess it's normal. My calves hurt. My upper thighs in front and my neck . I'm not experiencing my teeth being Soar but a couple months back my nail Nail beds felt soar. My jaw feels soar though as if I been chewing gum all day. I know, i juSt want to feel normal on top of this I think I have chemo brain at times. And I also ended my menstrual cycle a month into starting my first TC round.

Hope everyone is doing well.

This is definitely more of a muscle ache than a bone ache. More like a tightness. Especially at night it's hard for me to squat down or climb into bed if I'm putting my knee up first and resting my weight on it. The teeth, it's only the left side where everything else seems to go wrong (the side where my BC was). I'll see how that goes today but I'll blame the muscle aches on the taxotere since Hopfull totally described the same pain.

Funny story, I was drinking a raspberry Light & Fit yogurt drink yesterday and thought of how good it tasted and wondered why, then I was like...wait....I CAN TASTE THIS! I lost my taste the day after Thanksgiving. I can distinguish between sweet/salty/bitter but I haven't tasted a flavor in months. Such a little thing, right? But it made me so happy! I still can't taste my mint toothpaste or any other flavors, but it's a start that things are going to be OK. Now if just my eyelashes would come back in, the number on my happiness scale would rise!

pmevans50--I'm only in my 2nd week out of 6 of rads. Today is day 9 out of 30.

Hopfull-My last menstrual cycle was the week before my surgery. Although 47, I had normal periods up until then. Last week I did have some clear vaginal discharge for a few days--I mean a lot! (TMI?) Like I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I got my period. It left as quickly as it started, so only a few days but it made me think that something is starting to work in there.

No food texture issues aterry, but I really liked cold crunchy things better than warm things. Chicken and veggies get boring since they are bland and mushy but a cold salad with creamy goat cheese and nuts gave me a great texture.

BG46TN--They seem to disappear faster w/ each infusion.

Happy Women's Day (enjoy what's left of it). My wish for the day is that we continue to get funding for breast cancer which, though it occurs in men, is basically a women's issue. Google had a fun doodle. And here's a nice acapella rendition of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun(damental rights):

Aterry--I hope you get the answers you are looking for with the MRI. Please keep us posted!

Aterry, I am in the same boat as you. I am on # 9 of 12. I will get scans in April.

For me the worst part of this Taxol is the neuropathy. I have tried everything from icing to B6 and nothing works. I am also on my 2nd nerve medicine (lyrica) and still not helping. My feet are swollen, numb, and painful. My fingers are only slightly better. Last week they lowered the amount of Taxol to try and help. It didn't so I am not sure what else they will do. I want to finish this chemo cycle, but fear that soon I won't be able to walk or do fine motor tasks (even typing hurts). Thank goodness Spring Break is next week and I can relax a bit.

BG and others, sorry about your tastebuds. Hopefully they will return quickly after this chemo.

Hope all the rest of you are hanging in there. This too shall pass