Starting chemo August 2017 - would love some moral support!

I have a question for the group -- many tips say to start the anti-puke meds ASAP even if you don't need them. (I am all for it by the way!) My calendar from ONC says, start Zofran Day 3, every 8 hours. it does say I can start compazine or ativan as needed on Day 1 (today) and Day 2. So is it the Comp or other that I should start as preventive or nip it i the beginning? I am still on steriods today and tomorrow. Any thoughts or tips on when to start this even if I don't need it?

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OCDAmy - the infusion itself was uneventful - my first one was today. Now to ride the wave of SE's and manage them. And thanks others on this thread, I am sticking with bland food myself.

KBy - my ONC sent my meds to the pharm directly - not from the infusion center, personally I would push to get them. No one should suffer, they kept telling me that over and over again

R - a fever is the earliest sign of an infection - please call at least and although inconvenient - we want you stay on track, get it early -- do it for yourself, you deserve it. This is for you and your family.

VL22 - you have given me hope beyond day 6! Woohoo -- I also changed my chemo day from Thursday to Wednesday today - so that I could have the bigger wave hit on the weekend. My little calendar says that my white counts may be low until around Day 9 - trying to figure out when to schedule things outside of chemo treatment -- like pilates 1:1's .. so this will help me.

Stay positive all - we will get through this.

Travel Girl - I started my anti nausea meds as soon as I got home. They did nothing for me, but everyone is different. You just don't want to let the nausea get ahead of you. By day # 4 I felt really bad so called MO and they had me move to Ativan and steroids. This time I have a new game plan. Steroids and Ativan, no Zofran or whatever the other one was that gave me a headache. Knock on wood it works! If not, he's putting me on a patch for #3. But from day 6 on I really felt great.

Hope you feel great too

Travelgirl: I'm going to chime in here re anti-nausea because I was so confused about all these meds as well, and when to take them. So here goes:

Steroids and Zofran for days 2 & 3. Ativan is for when you feel restlessness/anxiety from steroids, so it is recommended at bedtime. I was told to keep Compazine in my purse, so that I can take it as soon as I feel nauseous. The instructions say every 6 hours or as needed, so I follow this schedule after the Zofran days. The thing with Z is that it causes constipation so you have to take those meds too. Hope this helps!

Rebekah: hope you're feeling better... The week after my first infusion I had a similar issue. I had a 100.3 temp late one night and major bone pain. I freaked out but didn't want to wake anyone up just to take me to the ER.I took Tylenol and it went down after 30 min. The next morning I called the on call doc because I was worried about the never-ending bone pain, and mentioned the high temp. he basically told me to take Tylenol or Advil and to call back if the bone pain or fever persisted. I didn't like that answer so I called my MO's office when they opened. They showed more compassion, but basically told me the same thing. Call back if it persists... At least it gave me peace of mind, knowing that it wasn't deemed serious.

Rebekah, hope u are better today!

Travelgirl, I'd say take the nausea meds since I waited till I went to sleep and then got sick. I intend on taking them as soon as i get home next time lol.

Lcin, I wanted to preserve my fertility and freeze embryos but time was literally of the essence and my oncologist was adamant that we start treatment asap. So I didn't have time to do this. The fertility doc did do a base ultrasound and bloodwork though, so that once chemo is done I can see how my eggs are doing and maybe THEN we can freeze some. I'm hopeful. I had a miscarriage a month before I discovered my lump, so I was very sad that i couldn't freeze embryos. but again, i try to be hopeful. I do have a lovely 7 year old boy, who brings me so much joy.

My bone pain is getting better, I did call my onc and the nurse said to go ahead and take aleve along with the claritin. but said if it doesnt subside to call again and im assuming she will call in a script for something stronger. I'm hanging in there!

Ladies, have a good Friday!! Stay positive!

Willow - My view on chemo changed when I was crying to my MO about my delay in chemo. He assured me that we were still in the "sweet spot". Then he looked at me seriously and said "we cut the cancer out, this is just a clean up job, just in case." From that point on I was relaxed. Instead of seeing myself loaded with rogue cancer cells, I see myself as needed a bit of cleaning up. Yes, it's bad, but I know it can be done.

Clearpath - I think you do have nine lives! I've always greatly appreciated each day and my family , but what has changed is we don't put things off. We are campers and went on many weekend trips this summer spontaneously. We're going to Universal Studios with my parents next week and planning a trip out West for next summer. I find myself being more patient in traffic and not so quick to judge.

Some mornings I wake up and I'm still in disbelief that I have breast cancer. None of us deserves it. But I'm going to live life to the fullest

Rebekah, How are you doing today? I hope that your fever came down.

How is everyone else doing?

Hugs all

TravelGirl -I started Compazine as soon as returning home from infusion and took every 6 hours, except at night when I took one Ativan before bed. I did not have any significant nausea.

My temp is back to normal and body no longer achy. My canker sores are still horrible but MoM seems to be helping somewhat. Good thing I need to lose weight because I am dropping pounds. Not the healthiest way to do it though. I think I have myself to blame for the canker sores. We eat a pretty Mexican diet (husband is Mexican) and we make homemade salsas. I made one on Monday that was soooo delicious and then I kept thinking "eat what your body craves". hahaha. That does not include salsa. Or chips. Dont do it ladies!

If I can get canker sores under control I will be fine. Has anyone heard of laser treatment for canker sores? A doctor here does it.

Willow and Team - yes, love the idea of sharing things that are positives out of this experience. I too am learning to ask for help and accept help - not only for me, for others around me.

I am working on trying to keep a journal, I find looking back at it in the future helps to keep perspective as well - so that the day to to day of life doesn't let you forget to be grateful. Because we do get past this and we start living again, even if more mindful of mortality.

My daughter is flying in for the weekend today and staying through Monday - I am grateful to have the company and she is happy to be useful and part of the process. The last time I was dx, she was in her second year of university and all I wanted her to do was stay focused on her education - this time she is older and wants to help. I also know that it is hard on her, as she is also worried about herself in all of this - so while that is difficult, we will focus on today. I am going to focus on the quality time and maybe with the help of a little pure CBD oil, relax ride the wave of SE's and enjoy the time.

I started compezine this morning - thanks for the tips all. yes, willow, they told me the chemo pre-meds had some long acting anti-med, which is why they said 2 days later.

Sorry people are suffering with mouth sores! They were the worst thing for me last round. They haven't re-emerged this time. I'd like to think it's something I'm doing....biotene toothpaste, toothbrush with a very compact head so it can't hit the inside of my mouth, salt water rinse/waterpik asap after eating anything, and Peroxl hydrogen peroxide mouthwash right before bed. And a big insulated cup of ice water with me at all times. When I had the sores, Ambesol and ibuprofen helped control the pain when I wasn't eating, but nothing stopped the pain when I had to eat something

LCin312--Lake Superior is the center of my world so we aren't that close after all. But I think living near a Great Lake can only help us both, don't you?

My nurse navigator called this morning and was surprised as all y'all about the clinic not sending me home with at least some compazine. She is calling in a prescription even as I write this!

It's day 4 for me and I'm still doing well. I've gone to bed by 12:30 the last two nights and that's a big change for me--I'm a lifelong night owl and usually stay up until 2:00 or 3:00am. No bone pain though. And eating blander has kept the big D at bay. Last night I had two boiled eggs and a blueberry PopTart for dinner. Nowhere near as good as the pizza I had the night before but no digestive issues, either!

I'm generally a pretty positive person and have a hard time staying down for very long. I had two really dark days when I found out I needed chemo, even wondering if my life was worth fighting for. But I have an unending supply of hope that I cannot overcome--even when I want to give up I can't! I'm like George Costanza on Seinfeld: "Hope is killing me!"

I bought a 100+ year old house four days before getting my cancer diagnosis. The bathrooms and kitchen are desperate for a complete remodel and I decided to move forward with these projects despite doing chemo. I just don't want cancer to be the only big thing in my life right now. So I'm working with a designer (who, I found out, is also a BC survivor) and we're going to start on the upstairs bathroom ASAP! I'm so excited!

And as I keep telling everyone, I don't want to do chemo, but I also don't want to die of breast cancer in my 50's. I'm still aiming for dying of old age in my sleep!

Hi ladies! It sounds like everyone is still making it... one day at a time! I'm on day 3 of tc#2, and feeling exhausted. Definitely more tired than the first round. I've managed to gain 4 pounds due to the constant low level snacking to curb nausea in addition to eating large quantities of lemon Oreos and peppermint patties because they're the only things that tasted GOOD for 2.5 weeks.

Nausea meds - I take Zofran twice daily - once in the morning and one 8 hours later. Then I take 1 compazine at night, because it causes me to be sleepy. I have valium for anxiety/sleep problems as needed.

I buzzed my head last Friday. It was coming out by the handfuls and it was stressing me out like crazy. We made it a family event - all 3 kiddos helped. The 9 and 7 yo helped buzz while the 16 month old tried to put it back on. The positive on this is that I get to share this bald experience with my 7 yo daughter. As I've mentioned before, she has alopecia (it happened quickly almost 2 years ago) and she's a Rockstar. I got a wig and she suddenly started wanted to wear hers, but I'm slowly shoring up my courage and left the house today with just a hat. I talked to her about team how to be brave like she is and we're planning a mother/daughter bald photoshoot. Here's pics - shaving, with my wig, and my Rockstar.

Looking good Kritti! Love the photos, and the pic of your baby putting your hair back on cracked me up... Love your daughter's 1st day of school pose! Definitely a Rockstar!

Rebekah, DH and I love Mexican food, and put pico de gallo on everything! I have been using Biotene only to head off mouth sores, and it has worked as long as I keep using it. The moment I stopped, I developed the onset of thrush within a week. It took 3 days of Biotene use to clear up. The instructions say to use it up to 5 times a day, so I did whenever I stayed home. But in general, I would use it at least 3 times a day. I have heard of some folks using topical products like Kanka for mouth sores.

Willow, one positive result for me is that I'm spending more time with family. DH and I have been staying with my parents off and on during this experience. I stayed with them for a month after mastectomy since hubby works long hours, and I didn't want to bother with people coming over all the time to check on me. They have empty rooms at their house, so we just camped out in one of them. It was nice to have a good home-cooked meal. We stayed with them again when chemo started, thinking I would have terrible SEs. Just spending the time with them is nice. My siblings would also come over whenever we stayed at our parents place and just hang out. Prior to this, it would be months before we would see each other and we all live within 10 miles of each other!

I'll be seeing my plastic surgeon (PS) in about an hour to figure out what this "infection" is. When she attempted to drain it yesterday, she said it didn't look infectious, so I don't exactly know what that means. I got a message from my MO this morning, and he said we will pause the chemo I was scheduled for next week to let my breast heal. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long. I just want to get the treatments over with.

rdeesides - I hope you are feeling better and your fever is under control now. I am slowly recovering from a seven-day D and fever ( with 100.4 and up for 5 days). I ended up with an emergency room visit for the fever but fortunately no infection was identified. My onco said I could choose either to be hospitalized or go back home. I decided to go home to avoid unnecessary exposure to germs and virus. I am glad the fever is reducing over time as the symptoms of diarrhea is under control eventually. I lost 5 lbs (I'm skinny to start with ...) But I'm working hard to eat more to gain the lost pounds back before my next chemo on 9/6.

And I totally agree that it might be better to avoid greasy food and watermelon(!) before the treatment since these things seems irritate my digestive system as well

Walking - take care yourself, I would go home also, stay in hospital is more risk then home. I'm running out of ideas what to eat.