Starting chemo August 2017 - would love some moral support!

MsMisha,

He is amazing, he spent another 20 or so minutes going over stats with me and stressing that he is using supporting data from clinical studies and it made me feel better.

Today was actually uneventful except when it came to the Taxotare- I had a reaction to it, tingling and itching, no hives, but change in my breathing ant it felt tight. The stopped the infusion, ran me on NSS for 30 minutes and another shot of Benadryl. Resumed the Taxotare and ran it very slowly. So far, the only SE's are slightly blurry vision that comes and goes, ABD pain and cramping and many trips to the terlit (yes I know is the wrong way to spell it, but I get a kick out of it) I am getting a shot of Neulasta tomorrow and I started taking Claritin today. Hopefully, it will resolve some of the expected bone pain.

Picachu- my cat that's mama had to be put to sleep cried all day when I came home looking for her. That was heart breaking. The good news is he is getting a sister in two months. A baby grey chiuahuah I'll be calling Smoak- after Felicity( 'Talullah' ) Smoak from the TV show 'Arrow'. Its something to look forward too. I can't wiat.

SweetP

I'm not certain if you've checked but if you go to he Pantene Beautiful Lengths website, they will give you a number to The American Cancer Society Wig bank and will possibly have a location that's not to far. They called me to schedule a consultation to try fittings with stylists/ I also have Blue Cross PPO and I had them review my policy- fortunately they will pay 90% up to $300 for a quality wig and gave me the number's and addresses to them. The Oncology nurse I spoke to for over an hour was so helpful and is sending me nutritional and exercise literature as well. (Also forewarning me of some not too healthy forums on line and limit your exposure or you'll drive yourself nuts) I love listening to live music, music festivals, hiking, yoga, walking to my local grocery store, painting, photography, cooking, gardening, and dancing- they make me feel so alive which is what I need more than ever now. This past Saturday I went to see a band I've loved for 20+ years and it was fantastic, ---- thank goodness for UBER since I won't be drinking much alcohol.Good luck!

Gingernurse

Hi everyone - thanks for sharing all that you have about this crazy journey we are all on.

I have my first treatment later today (AC - Phase I of my AC-THP). Of course I am very nervous but want to just start already. The thinking and wondering about it is harder for me.

I wish you all well and am happy to be able to support each other through this. More to come soon...

Thanks PauletteK and Willow22 for checking on me. My second day went fine! I took a walk with my husband in the morning, stayed home the rest of the day, and had a reasonable appetite - no queasiness. I am on leave from work, which has eliminated a lot of stress. Neulasta pod worked well. Hope this continues but I hear that once the steroids wear off may not be smooth sailing - time will tell.

Ang006, fellow Long Islander, how did your treatment go today

Kritti - my doc suggested to use salt and baking soda with water to rinse your mouth for mouth sore. I actual do that after every meals.

Tea - my problem with steroid is I can't sleep at night. Also I found Day 4 and 5 are my tough days also.

I'm going to have my second infusion tomorrow I hope my SE would be similar to the last one.

Hi all!

Thanks for all the good thoughts. I am finding a lot of comfort in reading your posts.

Yesterday (Day 1 of AC #1) went well - although I didn't get the infusion until much later than scheduled because they were running so behind. They prescribed zyprexa (olanzapine) for the four nights after each treatment for nausea and to help sleep. I took one last night and did sleep for about 8 hours without issue. This morning, I woke up feeling like I had weights on my legs. They feel so heavy. I am wondering if this is the zyprexa.

About to take the decadron and try to go for a walk. Also drank lots of water the day before Day 1 and all day yesterday. Hoping that helps too.

Have a great day everyone! I am sending you all positive energy and comfort.

Ang

Ang - I have the same SE my feet felt heavy after chemo.

Have a wonderful day ladies and heading out for my second infusion.

Afball - I have the same treatment but I'm much older you. I'm doing this one day at a time, not pushing too much just hope I can finish all these before Christmas so I can have my celebration. I like work at home during this time bad days you can put in an hour and good days you can put more hours in

I'm off to have my second infusion 🙏🙏🙏

toughcookie and Paulette - looks like we all are hoping to be celebrating by Christmas!

Hi Gingernurse, just wanted to let you know that nails are not always negatively impacted after chemo. I just finished chemo and my nails are still very healthy and strong.

Happy Friday everyone! It's been a while since I've checked in to the Aug. group. Had my first infusion 7/20 and will have my next one next week. I was hoping my hair would stay intact until round 2, but it started coming out in strands a couple of days ago and has not stopped. I had long hair that I cut to a short bob about a month ago, so I'm accustomed to flipping my hair throughout the day. And each time, I get strands of hair. I'm just hoping to keep what I have now until after my sister's wedding tomorrow. I was able to get 3 wigs from a local breast cancer resource center, and am so grateful to the staff that was so nice and helpful; they gave me peace of mind through this time. I think reading everyone's experiences has helped me deal with the expectations that come with hair loss. However, it was a little traumatic, since it came on so suddenly. I didn't have any scalp pain that supposedly precedes hair loss.

For those who are getting Neulasta, make sure to take the Claritin an hour or more prior to getting the shot. The bone pain for me was crazy esp days 5-7, and kept me up all night. The next time around I will probably take Claritin the day before and see if that helps.

Kritti & Willow: Looks like we are all on the same regimen. Yes, the taste thing was unexpected, but it seemed to only last a few days for me. I took Biotene for some rawness I experienced on my tongue and roof of my mouth. I didn't know if the mouth pain was from the lozenges or the hot tea I kept drinking but the Biotene did help. By day 9, I was feeling almost back to normal but headaches and hot flashes are continuing for me. Tylenol is helping the headaches, and air conditioning for the hot flashes.

Paulette - glad your second infusion went well! Good call on the sleep mask, I just about fell asleep from the benedryl drip, but a sleep mask would tip the scales! I've started doing the salt/soda gargle, hopefully it'll help.

Sunny - I got my hair cut last weekend in anticipation, as well. My scalp has been a little sore today - like hair-achey - how it hurts when you take it down from being up tight all day. I had actually been growing it out for the past year and a half after my daughter was diagnosed with Alopecia and lost all her hair. I was able to donate 6 ponytails of 9-10 inches, at least it didn't all go to waste, even if it wasn't as long as I had wanted.

Afball - I'm 37yo as well. Personally, I would be leary of flying during the late fall/winter because of all the germs. I have 2 kids in elementary school and I'm dreading them bringing home crud.

I'm also hoping to be done by Christmas. I'm praying 2018 will start off with all my major treatments and procedures done so that i can just focus on recovering. I'm kind of in freak out mode today. I had to see my Dr due to huge inflammation for a tick bite i got Wednesday (day after first treatment, of course). Not so much worried about Lyme or anything, just the fact that the bite is so red and angry, I'm scared of it getting infected.