Starting chemo August 2017 - would love some moral support!

SimplySammi11, sending you all hugs for the upcoming infusion and treatment. It's odd that the doctors didn'It send prescriptions out, but perhaps you are right. I didn't get a hint of an RX until orientation/education; mine was the day of port surgery and my heart Dr's appt. Hopefully, things will improve for Heather (her appointments).

Something one of my friends keeps telling me is "You can beat this!". Beat this, sure, but not looking forward to losing my hair either. I'm about to call the ACS to try to set up an appointment for trying on wigs near me; they forgot to call me. I'll let you know how that goes even though I am also looking into synthetic wigs online. Not too expensive and more choices than I thought.

Heartfelt wishes and if you have any questions, this is a good place for that.

Well I had my echogram this morning. Dumb question: What are they looking for with the Echo test? My MO told me to get it done because Herceptin could mess with your heart .... and that's all I know. I tried asking the tech this morning but she was definitely NOT the talkative kind. Got nothing out of her. So I lay there on my left side and just kinda watched the screen in silence .... all the time wondering: what the heck are they looking for???

I'm just popping in from the May chemo group to wish all of you who are about to start good luck! I did four rounds of DD AC, and am halfway through four rounds of DD taxol. It honestly hasn't been as bad as I expected. Feel free to PM me or post on the May group if you have any questions. Good luck

Love pugs - I'm so glad to read positive comments that give us positive energy

PK, bilateral mastectomy is BMX (or what I thought it was). She'll be going through dense dose A/C first once every other week x 4. Then 12 Taxol treatments weekly.

I feel so unprepared for her because the Patient Education is the same day as first treatment. All the what helps and doesn't question while she's getting an infusion will have to wait. We didn't get cold wraps for her hands and feet yet either.

I told her to put a list of questions together and I would too and together we should have most concernes covered.

It's been a busy week for us already. So I'm a bit emotional tonight and trying to keep my mind busy.

We will get the PET scan results given to us as well.

Praying and staying the course! Stay strong warrior women.

Samm

Sammi, Sorry to hear about your daughter. She will get through this... one day at a time.

I got a call from the nurse at my MO's office. I am scheduled to start chemo on Thursday! I haven't had a port placed yet or had a chemo class, nor do I know what my regimen will be. I'm a little confused that the process has drug on for so long but now we are full speed ahead! I will meet with my MO tomorrow so I hope to have everything cleared up tomorrow. I really don't know how I feel about not having a port....

Rebekah

PK and Rebekah. Whew I just took something for sleep and saw these posts. Now my screen is all fuzzy. I will try to get everything typed out.

Thanks for those suggestions. I will have my husband take her home and I will get out with a list and get it together for her.

Rebekah my mother had her first chemo treatments via a regular vein in her arm because they wanted it started to quickly and no surgeon could place her port until the next morning. I didn't like that idea but they said it was safe this one time and she did fine. Of course she was in hospital at the time.

I've heard they put them in and infuse right after too. So you should be ok. Just have them explain anything you don't feel sure or comfortable with.

Well it's waaaay past my bedtime and I'm hoping to sleep good to wake up good emotionally and see Heather through this as positive as we can be.

Keep us posted on what's going one with everyone else. Ok eyes are closing. G'nite Warriors

Hi all,

Got the port implanted Monday and on my way walking to the OR a nurse said to me, 'I have the same DX as you did and you know, you don't have to get chemo- you can just opt for radiation."

As I layed down on the operating table my heart sank. I'm asking myself WTF am I doing? Am I making the right decision? Why did my doctor tell me I have a better change of getting TCHP chemo for 4 1/2 month prior to surgery to reduce the chances of reoccurrence. Terrified, I still went through with it. They gave me only Toradol during the surgery nothing for pain and may face was numb to my ear.

I'd come home to find that my 18 year old very ill cat was transitioning into the dying process. I was like geez universe- how much more am I going be punished this year?!?! My ex roommate who robbed me blind and didn't pay for a thing while using all of my good skin and haircare products was so nasty, condescending and full of narcissism, said,' things could be worse, you could have cancer' ( making herself the center of attention as her mom had just passed of CA month earlier). When in fact I did, just not knowing it yet. She tried to move her brand new boyfriend and his kid in. On top of that, her 3 year old dropped my cat down the stairs and he died a week later. I changed the locks ion my house and put her stuff on the porch. I was nice enough to put it under a tarp- DUMB ME.

Now back to the cancer... I called my MO and said I don't want chemo, I'll just have my ovaries removed and chance it. He was furious at the nurse in the OR and wanted to know who she was and explained she had absolutely no right to say something like that to me without knowing my DX- I am HER2+. I have already cut off 4 ponytails at 9" each to send to Pantene Beautiful Lengths thinking I'm paying it forward, but I just questioned why did she say this to me?!?!?! I'm absolutely terrified, and I live alone and have no one to help me if I get sick.

My MO called me back and explained to me again (as though I could remember what he'd said the first time because I was so overwhelmed) that HER2 protein is an extremely aggressive protein that replicates itself uncontrollably and could easily grow in other parts of my body. Then the actual surgeon who placed the port called me and left a message because my MO called her explaining that I changed my mind and I'm guessing wanted to know who this nurse was. Why would this nurse say something like this to me without knowing all the facts? I'm already a wreck. Unless you are an oncologist or an oncology nurse- which she wasn't she had no reason in the word to say anything like this to me! It sent me into a frenzy considering I was already hyper-emotional because I had to euthanize my dying pet later that night.

I spoke to my MO for 25 minutes and he said HERCEPTIN has years of medical stats showing it si very likely to reduce reoccurrence and that my tumor was already greater than 2 cm.

I am starting tomorrow but I am really terrified. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

Gingernurse - I'm sorry to hear about all of your troubles and concerns. Cancer treatment is really scary, and it's hard doing it alone. Your post really made me sad. Not because I don't think you can do this, because you can. But because cancer is so very unfair, and having to deal with the other crap life throws at you on top of it is just more unfair. But, it's really great that your MO took all that time to talk to you. It sounds like you found a really good one.

PauletteK & Autum 1031: I hope you gals are up and running soon. Day 5 was better than 4 (for me), 6 a bit better. Meds are good and I try to use them before it becomes a problem. Hugs.

rdeesides: oh my goodness, I've heard of the port being put in the morning of or after the first infusion. I believe that the port is great, I got it 8 days ago, just had a shower yesterday and it was virtually painless for the infusion (not hunting around for veins). The port installation did leave me sore for a day or two and stretching the arm out is a no no. Also, after surgery for the port, I could not drive; is that a factor for you dear? They gave me Fentanyl twice during the procedure (or maybe the surgeon had to repeat himself).

Gingernurse: I have witnessed similar bouts of ignorance in my day. You and I have similar BC, maybe not the same, but the same treatment; TCHP, followed by surgery and possibly rads (for me). I work in a retail setting and I come across that more often than I'd like. Not from health professionals, mind you, but people who may think they are being "helpful".

teaspoons: I'm so sorry you're having a bad time of it. Did you call your nurse hotline? I did for a different issue cause I'm tired of taking imodium. Have you been alternating zofran and compazine every 4 hours? You can ask the nurse about that. Uber hugs for you.

Willow22: I told the nurse about the flushing and she thought it was the steroids since I hadn't taken anything else yet at that point.

Hey there everyone

Starting chemo on 8/16 with port placement on 8/15....these blogs are so full of info, but it is overwhelming to say the least...has anyone had trouble working during chemo? I am hoping to not have to use too much time from work as both work and working out help distract me from this whole ordeal, and I cant imagine sitting around binging Netflix (well, not the whole time)

have any of you been able to work and exercise throughout this process?

oops...I had listed all my dx and treatment info, but I guess I had to go back in and make them public so everyone could see...still getting used to this site...

I am bumping up therapy as I was just recently diagnosed with either soft tissue or bone mets...unclear which, but going aggressive with treatment this time around...I am also BRCA1 positive, so perhaps I should have been more aggressive last year even though no one suggested it...

I should probably figure out a way to add this info somewhere...

I have heard that days 3-7 are the worst, so I am starting mine on Wednesdays hoping that my worst days will be over the weekend and I can figure out a way to keep working...the more I read, the more it is obvious that everyone is so different when it comes to side effects, what works to relieve them, etc...I guess I am trying to do the best I can to prepare for something that you really cant prepare for

Today I received my chemo recommendations and have some difficult decisions to make. The mo is strongly recommending TCH x 6 then herceptin every 3 weeks for the rest of the year. He then (very reluctantly) also gave me a choice for taxol + herceptin for 12 weeks and then herceptin every 3 weeks for the rest of the year.

They ended up finding a second 1.6 cm tumor in my right breast, very close to the other one, but the lymph node was negative and the surgeon got "excellent" margins. He was also pleased that the two tumors were separated by healthy tissue. It seems to me that having a second tumor would put me in a higher stage, but they're still calling it stage 1b. My left breast was clear.

I'm worried about working through this. I have a demanding job that requires a lot of mental focus, creativity, travel and interacting with all kinds of people and I usually work way more than 40 hours a week. I also have an 8 & 11 year old. I'm super busy and feel overwhelmed with the addition of this to my already over scheduled life. The chemo and 12 months of herceptin is a huge commitment! I'm also not used to making important decisions without having a really good idea of what the final outcome of my decision is going to be. I would never make a decision in work or for my family that had such an uncertain positive outcome.

I'm getting the port placed next week and will make my decision by Friday so that I can start chemo before I go back to work from my BMX surgery which was on July 17.

I'm on Day 2 right now, and doing OK. Fairly fatigued. A few years ago I had a sudden onset of some neurological symptoms that were never diagnosed despite months of testing (trembling, fatigue. tremors) and it seems the chemo triggered my Mystery Illness today. I was able to drive my son into summer camp, though it was rough. I hope tomorrow & next day are OK too. He'll take the bus when school starts, so I just have to get through the month of August and somehow get him to camp. (My husband has to work very early in the morning and can't take him). I overdid a bit today, then crashed around 3 PM and zonked out for a few hours. I didn't attempt to drive into work, going to see how I feel tomorrow.

Toughcookie-- I plan to keep working, at least I'm going to try. My job is also demanding, and I have a 6 year old. I do have the ability to work some from home. I am the primary breadwinner for the family and carry the insurance, so I want to work as much as I can before having to go on leave so I don't jeopardize our insurance.