Starting Chemo in JAN 2007

Robbin--Yeah on the no side effects yet! I was pretty okay, just tired, for the first few days. Day 5 was bad but mostly tired. I never did throw up but did feel more nauseous than on other days. You may just breeze through this. I was told hair would fall out in about 14 days. I'm on day 10 now and it's still there.

Cindy--When I went to my daughter's dr yesterday (after telling them my situation) the secretaries all gave me that sad puppy dog face you get when you're a CANCER patient. It could've also been that I've gotten a really short haircut and was wearing a hat. It looked like I'd already lost my hair. This part of it will be hard to get used to. Not the hair loss really, but the looks I will get. Don't want that kind of attention. I guess the cancer thing just freaks people out. I am so jaded these days. Sigh...

I feel like an imposter in my wig though. I think I will moslty go with scarves and hats.

Glad round 2 is going well for folks. That makes me feel much better.
Amera

You will lose your hair approximately 14 days after your first chemo. And its like clockwork too! As for throwing up, hopefully never. Just keep taking your anti nauseas like prescribed and you should do well. I never got sick or threw up.

Welcome, Nandy,
Robbinjaye, That is great news!
I have not been nauseous, but very tired everyday until around 1:00 pm, and just a little queazy. I take amend in the morning- this morning will be my last pill, but also I take decadron until tomorrow. I think the decadron (a steriod) is what makes me a little jittery and sad, and also a headachy. I can't wait until until I can stop taking them after tomorrow. At night I feel great. This is only my 3rd day. Hopefully I will be able to feel better quicker in the morning.
How is everyone else feeling today?
Viddie

Hi all it sounds like we are all making it through! Good to see all the pictures!

1st AC yesterday. No nausea at all, just tired, but manageable. I was given compazine, atavan and Emend. I am not looking forward to the side effects of the decadron, so I decided to half the dosage and see how I do.

I plan on going back to work on Monday, I think it will be OK. I am going to have to start wearing a mask later this week, I get about 2 inches from 20+ patients per day and this time of year brings the germs! (I am an eye doctor)

Good luck to everyone this week!

Hi girls - just checking in. I'm hanging in there - a little tired tonight. Amera, my skin is really dry too - I use Burt's Bees Carrot cream - it's thick, but sinks in. RobinJay - the hair falls out 12-14 days like clockwork. But now, 25 days in, I have stubble and it's not coming out - my guess is it will in 9 more days! But - proof that it does grow back. The things people say - my husband was telling my sister-in-law that the dr. had mentioned a prophylactic mastectomy and reconstruction - she said that she's considering a boob lift(she's 60 - I'm 49 - I'd be happy to have my old saggy one back!). Some people just don't get it! But my beautiful grandaughter just left, I'm going to have a bath and go to bed. Take care all.

Well, good morning Folks!

Welcome Terry. Tae is so lucky to have a caring supportive husband like you. Keep us posted on everything that's going on!

What I thought was the start of a celebratory weekend, having finished my first week of chemo in good shape and good spirits, is turning out to be a bad weekend. I feel fine, but I found out that my insurance company rejected my Neulasta shot ($3800) and has not yet approved the taxotere ($2800). This means we would have to pay for all this out of our own pockets.

The insurance company thinks I should be using cheaper alternatives.

This really frightens me as we just went through a long drawn out ordeal to get my regieme changed from AC to TC because I have heart problems. AC is probably a lot cheaper. If I have to take adriamycin, I might not want to do chemo, or we might have to take a second mortgage on the house so that I can take taxotere.

Of course, the appeal process hasn't been started yet and I can hope for a good result, but this adds so much tension, and it will probably not be resolved before my next treatment, scheduled this Thursday.

BUMMER!!! Everything was going so well.

Mizsissy

Hi ladies........

Lynn...I hope your first day headache wasn't as bad as mine. It was simply horrid and I, too, plan to talk to my onc about what can be adapted for next time. There has to be something they can do to help us avoid it.

Mizsissy....thanks for the info on posting the picture. Also, no I did not have the oncotype DX testing. My oncologist was sure I was going to be in the grey area without ever giving me the test. I also had a grade III tumor (aggressive) and that coupled with my age, caused hime to recommend the chemo. He left the choice to me and I decided to try to attack it from the start...with the option that if the chemo became too much for me, I could stop and go right to the radiation + Arimidex. Will you be doing the Arimidex once you're through with the other treatments, too?

Also, this past week is the first time I posted on this site. I started a thread for Illinois women on the "Help Me Make It Through Treatment" site but once I actually started the Jan. chemo, I decided that you ladies looked like a pretty neat group to join! So glad that I found you and posted!

Melia, I think your hubby is acting quite normal. I think our men want to solve our problems for us and when they can't, they don't want to see the problems we are still facing. Sometimes I think that females are really the stronger sex!!! lol

Hope you ladies all have a good day. I'm taking it easy today. This is day three and I'm still a little nauseous even though I am taking the compazine so I plan on just taking it easy and working through this.

Rita

Hi Rita,

Comfort yourself in that you are in the worst part of your chemo cycle. Tomorrow you may feel more tired than usual, but from there on in, it gets better!!

Arimidex. This is a difficult subject, and I did quite a lot of research on it because I thought I'd be skipping chemo and going directly to hormone therapy, but like you, my cancer turned out to be too aggressive.

Most women I have communicated with here on the forum have a lot of discomfort on Arimidex, mainly bone aches. It is a little disconcerting to me, that one of the healthiest, fittest, most positive women I know on this site, Fitchik, is so miserable she's giving up on the drug.

I've discussed hormone therapy with my oncologist, and he thinks it is best for me to take tamoxifen, even though Armidex is recommended for post menopausal women and is proven to be more affective against recurrence. Tamoxifen actually has some of the benefits of HRT, because it is a weak form of estrogen, but an estrogen that "fools" the cancer cells and doesn't allow them to grow.

There is a greater risk of uterine cancer with tamoxifen, and I understand, it is also better for sex...but I think this is worthy of discussion.

Mizissy

Thanks for the kind words, Ilene and Amera. This cancer trip has been a roller coaster ride, first with the uncertainties of diagnosis, then with the problems the insurance companies create. I was put on a 3-week delay for my re-excision because of a problem having an MRI approved (and during that time cancer cells were floating around, having fun with the insurance co.!!!)

Now this. What really annoys me is that they are supposed to tell you if you have an expensive procedure coming up that is not approved; in this case they didn't. Who would have thought a shot in the arm would cost $4000? And we may have to pay this and entirely wipe all the money we had put aside for unexpected medical expenses in once sweep and cancel our summer vacation.

Maybe it will get worked out, but in the meantime I'm back on ativan to sleep at night!!!!

Mizsissy

Hi. Rita. wanted to check on you to see how you are doing with number 1.. I had number 3 of 6 and did ok.. but a little less enegry and sick feeling some... cannot even put my finger on it.. the triptorlin shot may be causing my body aches.. but all in all we can do it..hope to hear from you soon.. holly I read you have found a combination that works finally for you congrats!!!
hugs
brenda

Hello Ladies,

Thanks for all the advise on the port. Now I know what to expect. I have decided to go the wigless route, and so I have about a dozen hats/scarves/berets from headcovers.com. I'm quite pleased with them all. Oh, and I found the 2002 olympics beret in my closet. My daughter lives in Utah and she bought one for me. And it covers everything, so after my haircut tomorrow, I'll be wearing that. Chemo starts on Tuesday, but I will look into the Neulasta shot tomorrow, just to make sure I'm not in for an unpleasant surprise. I think I'm preapproved, but I'd better find out for sure. My daughter has gone through two kidney transplants, and I am an old pro at fighting insurance companies and doctor's offices. I keep track of every "explanation of benefits" I get. With some doctor's offices I will keep track of the bills in an Excel sheet, even recording when and with whom I speak. It sometimes took quite a while, but eventually all bills were squared away.

This week I was really ticked off at a doctor's office, and it wasn't even for me, but for my husband, who had a colonoscopy. My insurance company paid all but $58. Two days later I got the bill from the doctor's office, with a large green sticker stating that if I didn't pay within 60 days, the bill would go to collections. Maybe next time we have to be treated by that doctor we will send a notice before the treatment stating that if they don't treat us 100% properly we will sue! How inconsiderate some office people are!

Robin: I have had headaches on and off with the A/C since the very start. I have been using Advil and it seems to work. They don't sound as bad as yours though. Glad that's the only SE so far.

Viddie: I was given Zofran and Decadron to take together the first three days. I also have Compazene to take as needed but haven't used it in quite a while. I think I was giving the weaker drugs as I am diabetic and the steroids make my blood sugar go high. They seem to have worked though without too much trouble.

And I had a hard time concentrating and typing for a few days after the infusion. I would have to edit emails and couldn't focus for more than a few minutes. Couldn't read anything longer than a paragraph either. That's gone now and I'm back to myself. I wonder if that's the chemo brain they talk about.

I did not get the shots for the wbc and so far, so good. I'm on day 11 and have been exposed to strep and God knows what else and am not sick, knock wood. My onc was concerned about the bone pain/loss so will not use them unless necessary. I will not have the levels checked until my next infusion on Feb 8. I really hope there won't be a delay. Am feeling tired but nothing I cannot deal with. I think that and the headaches are here to stay.

Amera

About the headaches. After a rough first chemo (port in the same morning, got deydrated and spent a couple of days in the hospital), the second one was so much better, but I did get a nasty headache again. This time I took my usual migraine medicine (Zomig) and it worked like a champ. Zomig is a little old-fashioned as migraine meds go, but it works for me. I wonder if your dr wouldn't give you something specifically strong for headaches.

Amera,
LOL- sugar free chocolate pudding with cool whip is also good!!
Happy eating!!

Hi Gals, I guess it's a good thing there are no potato chips in the house, because those are my only downfall these days.

I must be lucky because strangely enough, my flavor of chemo has only induced very healthy eating. I don't like sweets, soda, even booze. I love gatarade, lettuce, celery, salmon, lean meats and raw veggies!

Amera, I was reading earlier today about all your mental fogginess and I really can empathize. I really only had 2-3 days of not feeling really good, and the worst part of it was the mental thing. I couldn't concentrate on anything, I couldn't read a book, I couldn't paint, I couldn't sew, I couldn't understand the football my husband was watching, I didn't want to do anything. Everything was boring and any effort seemed like work. Depressing! Then in two days the fog cleared and I started getting interested in things again. The big concern the first time was How long is this gonna go on?

Fortunately the brain more quickly than any other part of the body. I remember my father who was an MD telling me this after a friend of mine was injured in an accident.

I think next infusion I'll plan some very easy going activities, like long walks, soaking in my favorite almond honey bubble bath, knitting (if I can learn how again), mending, things that are pleasant to do but do not require mental input.

More ideas for soothing the chemo brain? Anyone?

Mizsissy