April 2017 Chemo

momojcbc - thanks for sharing . Sending you good thoughts for this part of the journey.

I am scheduled for first round Wednesday.

Anne - ref Neulasta: I called my insurance company Friday to make sure all was covered. I was told the chemo will be covered at 100% ( cause I have met my out of pocket, sigh) but the Neulasta needed pre-authorization because it requires my insurance to do a "high dollar review". So the insurance faxed my MO a form and they were to send it back to see if we can get it approved before my first treatment. Neulasta is expensive. I realize insurance coverage varies from plan to plan so no one else may encounter what my insurance has said but wanted to share with others.

My MO's office told me about a program where there is a co-pay, the Neulasta's company covers the cost after insurance and my co-pay so I feel better now about the cost. I could have 16 Neulasta pods during chemo which sure could get expensive

I looked at the head covers web site this morning. I am thinking about trying one of the halo wigs for the summer as a whole wig sounds hot. They had a great selection of eig

Grocery shopping was hard today. What will I be willing to eat? Not eat? Have some smaller meals in mind so hubby can fix himself a meal, if needed. I stocked up on water, rice, soup, crackers, popcicles, simple proteins, bananas, and bread. Feel like having a "going away" meal tomorrow night before the chemo journey.

It's all real and we are all going thru something we never expected to be doing. Thank you to all those before us who shared their stories. It sure helped me in my journey to be ready and strong.

Hi ladies. I am 28 years old and dx with triple negative breast cancer 3/7. I just completed IVF and will begin chemo on 4/7. Treatment plan is AC 4x biweekly then Taxol for 12 weeks with Carboplatin given every 3 weeks while receiving Taxol. The genetic specialist got back to me on Friday and out of the 17 breast cancer genes I have no mutations. They are saying I have a sporadic case. I'm remaining positive knowing I will get through this but as 4/7 is creeping up I am getting very anxious of the unknowns of chemo as everyone reacts differently. I'm looking for others to talk to during my journey.

HI all, so glad this group was started. Unlike a lot of you I had my MX first on March 2nd, 2017 and immediate reconstruction with tissue expander. I also had my port placed at the same time. Due to the size of the DCIS and nipple sparring not being an option, I decided that surgery first was best for me. As it turned out the Invasive component of my cancer was small and all margins are clear. No lymph node involvement as well. So early stage which is good news for me.

I start chemo on Tuesday, April 4th. I will have TCH (Taxotere, Cytoxan, Herceptin) every three weeks for a total of twelve weeks then just the Herceptin every three weeks to complete one full year of treatment. I will also have the Neulasta shot via on-pro the day after each chemo session.

I agree keeping up with all the appointments is a full time job. I hope to be able to return to work the middle of the month. My docs want me to wait and see how I react to the chemo before returning.

I have also been told my hair will begin falling out in a couple of weeks. I have purchased one wig and a few scarves and will see how that goes. I'm really not a hat person, have never worn a scarf before so I will be watching some you tube videos for direction. I did go to the Look Good, Feel Better program offered near me by the American Cancer Society and this was a big help in giving me some guidance with makeup. So I do feel a little better about appearance now.

Good luck to all you ladies. This is a journey none of us signed up for but with the support here we can all get through this together.

Port question - I had it installed Thursday. I have 2 steri strip locations that have a water proof clear tape over the steri strips. These are supposed to remain until Tuesday.

My question is - where is the "port" part? Is it one of these incision areas? Wondering where I put the Elma cream on Wednesday??

Momojcbc - thanks! There is a spot between the 2 incisions that feels puffy so I thought that might be the "port".

Hope tomorrow's a better day

Anne, so glad you won't have to worry about A copay for Neulasta!!

Ref port cream, I asked my MO about that after reading about it on these boards. Turned out it was part of the process and would have been prescribed along with the anti nausea meds

well..... my latest road bump. Uterus is atypical hyperplasia, close to cancer so it has to come out BEFORE chemo so chemo delayed a couple of weeks

Gotta admit that worries me.

hi all

I am halfway through chemo FEC x4 T x 4 ...I finish June.

Generally I find first 7 days of the cycle are slow on everything, appetite,energy & bowels !!.

Water is vital drink as much as u can it makes a big difference to overall well being... on food I have protein shakes ( I am vegetarian) which I can stand easy. On food little & often works best for me... the couple of days after steroids I am constantly hungry so I give my self a break and eat what I want ! Otherwise I try to eat healthy good breakfast of oats & fruit , hearty soups and snacks on fruit/ nuts to keep fibre & nutrition going.

Second half of the cycle I can eat normal as most side effects have eased by then.... so I make sure I enjoy the good days to make up for the off days.😀 .

Ginger cake / biscuits are great to fill a gap and settle the stomach... also rice pudding/ fromais frais are good protein/ dairy but easy on digestion. Frozen yogurt is great too.

Avoid your favourites around the days of chemo ... I have developed some kind of mental phobia to them now ! I can't stand my favourite biscuits it just transports me straight back to the chemo room !

Boiled sweets / gum help with the odd taste post treatment

Keep an eye on getting plenty of fibre it will be key to helping digestion issues ( I have them every cycle)

Overall remember your body is recovering constantly throughout the treatments so give your self a break...eat well but try to enjoy when you can too ... there's plenty of time to diet later.

Best wishes to you all xx

Kelly - glad the dental work is behind you. Hope the extraction helps quickly.

I told by daughter about the delay. She asked me " what happens if the cancer spreads while postponing chemo". Tough question to answer.

hello everyone.. I'm a bit nervous. I start chemo 4/04/2017. I have been reading the different post and I get courage from reading them. Ithe probably won't even hit me until I sit in the chair to get the first chemo treatment. I was running around today trying to find facial cleanser and lotion today like a crazy person. I stay in my head about chemo.. I did purchase a wig. I'm kinda nervous about my hair falling out. I did cut my as low as I could so hopefully it won't be so traumatic for me. I'm grateful for this site.. so many things that I worry about..my nails,skin datkening..you know all the benefits of taking chemo. But for now it's good to chat.. one more day before my first treatment..

my newest update: got a call from MO. We are moving forward with chemo on Wednesday. I now have an appointment with a gynecologist oncologist the day after chemo so hope nauseous ness is under control the next day. Oh and I will have the Neulasta pod on so dressing will be fun

Feel better about not postponing chemo. Will see what happens next!

And thanks to the person who posted the chemo diva link. I have an appointment to get my long hair cut off so I can make a halo out of my own hair which sounds pretty cool.

eicats - will say lots of prayers for you, hoping for the best possible outcome on the liver biopsy tomorrow.

I agree with your comment about being ready to get the drugs going. As much as no one wants chemo, I am mentally ready to start this process so I can get on the other side of chemo and move on to surgery. Wednesday starts the chemo count down. 4 AC and 12 T....bring it, let's do it.