Starting Chemo May 2017

notanisland- I visualize chemo killing cancer cells one at a time as I drift off to sleep. Boom! Another cancer cell blown up. Boom! There goes another one.

Radmonkey, my MO checks my WBC one week out from AC chemo and then 2 weeks out, on the day of my 2nd chemo (prior to infusion). Because the lab is right there in my MO's clinic I can get the results in minutes. If my WBC is not high enough, infusion is postponed and I will get sent home.

It doesn't sound like everyone gets the blood test a week out but this was always to be a part of my AC treatment schedule and I'm glad (in hindsight) because although my MO expected me to be at nadir around Day 7, I was at close to zero immunity! If I hadn't found out I would surely be out having a grand time on this Memorial Day weekend. That would have been a mistake. Instead, I've taken extra precautions to avoid infection that I don't have the means to fight off. As for the extra stick, it hasn't done any harm so far. I made it through Saturday by keeping myself busy around the house and visualizing my bone marrow making white blood cells.

And thanks DodgersGirl for your visualization tip. I think the sound effect (BOOM!) will really help me kill off those horrid cancer cells!

Love Pugs - Day 3 and I woke up hungry again. I ate well yesterday, but very small meals. I made a huge splurge and went to our newly opened Fogo de Chao. I'd say its a pretty big splurge for a vegetarian to go to a Brazilian steak house. I did indulge on a little pork just because it looked so good. The constantly hungry doesn't seem to be effecting my too much during the day. I'm trying to eat smaller nutritious meals

I had my port placed on May 15 and first chemo on May 19.  I have to say I did not expect the port site to be so painful.  My incision still hurts some after 2 weeks.  The actual chemo session was not bad at all, but I've been so extremely weak since day 5 from the session.  I'm assuming that's normal.

Angel,
Our diagnosis, timeline, and treatment plan are almost identical. I am on day 13 after my first dose of TC chemo and I have hardly had any problems with nausea. I was nauseous during my treatment but that was a result of the chemo caps I was wearing in order to try to save some of my hair. Once I got those caps off, I had no problems -- a bit of mild queasiness the next day or two that was solved with the medicine they gave me that dissolves under the tongue.

I hope it all goes well for you. I find that writing in my journal has helped me process all of the feelings I am having about cancer and it's treatment. Yoga, mediation tapes, and spending time doing normal things outside of the house also helps.

Hi Ladies,

Angel, I can relate to the emotional roller-coaster you describe. It's to be expected with all you have to process and a good cry can be very therapeutic too! I have an 11 year old daughter (as well as a 21 year old away at college in the US), who sees my chemo as an opportunity to give me a make-over. She envisioned me in a long, curly, blonde wig and false eyelashes! This coupled with my new fake breasts conjures up images of an aging drag queen......fortunately I was able to dissuade her and we left the wig shop with a short, sleek brown bob. It looked awesome in the store but when I tried to recreate the look at home it resembled an ill fitting toupee!

A friend sent a link for yoga and meditation and I have been doing the meditation for children whose parents have breast cancer with my daughter. Although she initially dismissed the idea, we actually had fun with it and it helped open up a good dialogue. I find breathing exercises helpful to combat anxiety too. For anyone interested here is the info:

This website has many resources on it: http://yogabeing.net. The yoga cd is downloadable for free. On Soundcloud.com, under Yoga Being; there are hours of meditation for patients as well as caregivers.

Another good resource is: www.headcovers.com They have an inexpensive selection of head coverings, beauty products for people with cancer and wigs too. A friend who has been hairless for 8 years recommended their site and especially their eyebrow tattoos, which she found easier to use than drawing them on daily. Honestly, at the moment appearance is the least of my concerns, but my 11 year old daughter seems anxious about all the upcoming changes. I'm making the effort for her sake. She seems reassured if I can appear as "normal" as possible.

I have mentioned The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz before, but as I devoured her chicken vegetable soup with ginger meatballs following my 1st infusion yesterday, I wanted to mention it again those of you who might be interested and missed it on my 1st post.

I had my first AC yesterday and am feeling great! No nausea and a good appetite too! I was given a regime of medications to combat the side effects of chemo and have been following it closely. It's been much better than anticipated! I'd been advised to suck on pineapple juice ice-pops and to drink 3L of water the 1st day. I sucked on the pops and ice throughout my infusion. I am not sure if all the water helped flush out the toxins (only had 2 instances of red urine(lol) from the "red devil", but it's worth a try. I am in Germany and am being given G-CSF instead of Neulasta. I was surprised to see that my 1st shot is scheduled on day 5 following chemo and then for the next consecutive 5 days. I will be getting blood checked on a weekly basis. I had asked the Dr. if G-CSF was the same as Neulasta and about the off-label use of Claritin for combating side effects. She seemed confused about the Claritin but confirmed the drug serves the same purpose. I think there is a little bit of a language barrier because later the nurse came back with a prescription for Neulasta. However as I'd already spent over 600 Euro on the G-CSF, I didn't think my insurance would be happy:)! Maybe I'll use it for the next round. Is there any downside to using the Claritin? The Dr. here advised me to use Ibuprofen for the pain.

Another tip I picked up in the waiting room is to wear dark colored nail polish to protect the nails from UV and prevent them from flaking. I believe there are natural products available.

Good luck on your journeys! Be well!

I started TC chemo yesterday and have been working my way through this thread during a pretty sleepless night. Thank you to everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences so far.

Hallsnj5- I just read one of your posts that made me feel better about some of the decisions I've made on my journey so far. You have been through a lot. Thank you for sharing. I had extensive DCIS with positive margins and a small IDC tumour with micromats in one lymph node, so despite getting a bilateral mastectomy my MO recommended TC x4 and RO is recommending 25 radiations treatments post chemo. I had immediate reconstruction and have TEs. Am trying to figure out when to do a change over to silicon now that radiation is on the table (but I suppose that topic is for another thread...)

I also wanted to mention that icing finger and toe nails is standard practice at my hospital . They said that for the patients that keep their nails cooled for most of their taxotere (docetaxel) treatment they see very few nail complaints. They provide something similar to a ziploc bag full of ice for each hand/foot and said some people wear fingerless gloves and socks with the toes cut off to help manage the cold discomfort. Probably something pretty easy to bring yourself if your clinic doesn't provide. The ice was almost melted by the time the taxotere was finished, but still very cold. Of the two types of chemo I'm getting, apparently the nail issues and icing are only important with the taxotere. So the nurse took them off when they started my second med, cyclophosphamide. I also used a cold cap (to hopefully help keep my hair, partly in the hope of looking a little more normal for my kids (4 and 7), so was pretty frozen and shivering through the first part, but thankful to have a heating pad,some warm blankets and a good friend to help me laugh about how silly I looked... Highly recommend bringing a heating pad if you're doing icing!

Had my port placed today, went well. They gave me injection to relax me (conscious sedation) and the next thing I knew it was over. Minimal discomfort, took 2 ibuprofin when I got home. They left the needle in place for my first infusion tomorrow morning so I won't need to apply the emla cream before I go. I have patient education 1 hour prior to infusion, but I wish it could have been today so I could have my bag packed with what I need. Thankfully I have gotten some great info from everyone here to help me be somewhat prepared. Hope all goes well tomorrow. Wondering if I will be able to sleep tonight!

Hi Ladies,

Things are crazy here. Just when I thought i was doing pretty well, I got the shingles rash. Then it was going pretty well again except for a mild sore throat and a slightly sore ear that came and went. Then WHAM, Major tooth pain! Top, bottom, top, both, bottom... ugh, it felt just like when I was grinding my teeth at night, so i ignored it and made sure to wear my bite guard, but after a couple days, no improvement. Yesterday and today it was really bad, I mean, multiple oxycodone bad. Since all the pains are on the same side of my head, the docs seem to think sinus infection. But no stuffy nose, no pressure behind my eyes. I'm calling all over the freaking place--cancer center, dentist, canceling some other appointments... About 4 pm I have to pee, and OMG!!! UTI!!! So back to the phone...cancer center, primary care physician... managed to get an appointment with the PCP at 1:30 Wednesday, but in the meantime, AAARGH!!! So I'm off to the store for cranberry extract, and massive quantities of Ben and Jerry's for my mom who just had painful eye surgery and is freaking out about her pain and my symptoms. Took the cranberry tablets in the parking lot--with WARM water that had been in the sun, as it's like 90 degrees out today--GACK!!! Picked up some dinner, and I've been on the internet ever since, trying to figure out how I could have all these symptoms but NO FEVER. No chills, nausea, cough, sniffles, nothing. I actually feel pretty good, except for the horrible tooth pain and the UTI pain. But amazingly the cranberry stuff is already working, and no pain when I peed a few minutes ago, but LOL, BRIGHT orange pee!!!

Ugh, what a day!

NCBeachGirl, What a nightmare! I'm sorry that so much has happened at one time. But if you take each of your symptoms separately, they are each very common to cancer patients with low immunity. As soon as my PCP learned of my BC DX she checked my vaccination chart and scheduled Shingles and Pneumonia vaccinations. Both take 2-3 weeks to be effective, so it was important to bring my vaccinations up-to-date asap. Anxiety, disease and/or treatment that weaken our immune system increase the chance of a shingles outbreak. I was also instructed to see my dentist prior to chemo and to have an oral care plan in place before treatment began. This doesn't ensure that problems won't crop up, such as oral mucositis (an inflammation of the mucous membranes in the mouth) or teeth-grinding (which you already suspect) that cause pain in the teeth or jaw muscles. These too are side effects of diagnosis and treatment (anxiety, low immunity). Within 24 hours of having a Total Body Bone Scan and CT Chest/Abdomen/Pelvic (both with contrast) I came down with a monster triple-bacteria UTI that had to be taken care of before chemo could start. I did not have a fever. Five days of sulfa drugs took care of it, but I have since been extremely careful, knowing now that my low immunity after AC #1 makes me even more susceptible. I don't know if it helps, but in addition to the 3 liters of water I drink daily, I also drink cranberry juice. And as soon as I feel the urge to go to the bathroom, I'm there! None of this helps you right now, but I guess what I want to say is, try not to stress. The UTI treatment may delay your next chemo infusion, but that will give some extra time to raise your WBC, take care of the UTI, solve the pain in your teeth and recover from your mild case of shingles. I'm wishing you well, NCBeachGIrl!

Hi Ladies!

Dogs woke me up at 4 am. So what do I do after I let them out? Get on the computer and try to figure out my symptoms and what to do about them.

I'm frustrated that the cancer center didn't take a more active interest in my symptoms. So I'm going to the primary care physician at 1:30, and she's not gonna know if this is all just chemo side effects or if I have some kinds of infections. Ugh. I will call the cancer center again when they open and make a bigger fuss.

Our town's new and wonderful cancer center is opening in the fall, and they'll have wonderful coordinated care teams and all sorts of services and resources....why couldn't I have waited a few more months before getting cancer?

Ear hurts a lot now, throat hurts more, and the teeth still ache, and I had a little stuffiness in my nose when I first woke up. Still no fever, in fact it's only 97.7. But I did get immediate relief from taking the Azo cranberry tablets (the ones with urinary tract anesthetic medicine). YAYYYY!!! Great stuff!!!

I'm taking an anti-viral and I've been using my CBD hemp oil topically on my shingles rash twice a day and I have almost no pain, only very little itching once in awhile, and the rash is shrinking, no more blisters or scabs (I never really had much of that anyway). The virus that causes shingles lies dormant in the nerves, and in a shingles infection, it travels along a particular nerve to the surface of the skin where it causes the rash and blisters. I'm attributing the very mild shingles to my use of the CBD oil (have been taking the tincture under the tongue three times a day for several months). It's supposed to protect the nerves, and I do believe it's doing just that!

Well, I suppose I should log off and try to get some more sleep. But now it's 5:35, and our neurotic border collie usually eats about 6. My night may be over...sigh...DOGS...gotta love 'em, but ugh, sometimes you want to wring their little doggy necks!

My first Chemo session went very well, no allergic reactions, thank the Lord!  Feel very tired from the Benadryl but, it may also be from the lack of sleep last night from the steroids.  Long day, arrived at 9 and left at 4.  Neulasta at 6:30 tomorrow evening and _{I have been taking my Claritin to offset some of the pain that is associated with that.  Feeling good, feeling positive.}

_{Cross posted} 

NCBeachGirl, so sorry all of this is hitting you at once. I can imagine the fright.

MsRobin - I totally feel your need to stick your head in the sand. I felt like that myself most of yesterday.

I went back to work after taking 7 weeks for BMX (1 week was spring break). I started on a Wednesday because of the holiday and let me tell you I was exhausted! I walked in the door at home and crawled right in bed. It was great to see my students, but I did not have the stamina for it on a day 5. My plan is to take days 4 & 5 off after infusion the rest of this school year. This means that I'll only have 12 more days to teach this school year! I think it will be a much better plan of action than trying to power through it all

Ever since talking with my MO about my struggles with eating, the subject has been gnawing at me. I understand that insurance companies are in the business of making money, but to make a cancer patient suffer like that is just madness. But it does explain why I often came away from these boards feeling like such a lightweight. You all seemed to be handling it so much better! People are working, doing yoga, even cooking, and I was struggling through each day doing a whole lot of nothing. Now I know that many of you are having your nausea much better controlled, and are therefore able to manage your lives better. It all makes so much sense now!

Now that they know the lesser meds are not sufficient for me, I'm confident they'll be approved. We did get a letter saying it was being reviewed, while stating that the generic must be tried first. I'm fine with that. I just didn't realize that better options were available, and thought that my level of discomfort was the norm. It's the stereotype of chemo treatments, right, that you be miserable and nauseous the whole time. I just figured you were all stronger than I, able to power through your sick stomachs and carry on with life!

It's my own fault, I suppose, for not making it clear until now that I was not managing well. I'm trying to remember if I ever told him before that *every*single*bite* was a struggle to get down. And that includes every sip of water. I was looking ahead to my next two AC treatments with a combination of extreme dread and horror, not sure how I could handle another month of this eternal queasiness. Amazingly enough, there has been no vomiting and I'm grateful for that small favor.

Anyway ladies, thanks for listening to me rant. Here's to better management of my stomach in the days ahead !

Infusion #2 = done!