Starting Chemo in JAN 2007

I also did TC, truly the 1st tmt was a breeze. I did notice the SE seemed cumulative. The fatigue increased with each tmt. I felt a little nausea, but totally controllable with meds, and didn't even have to take them every time. I kept waiting for something awful to happen and it didn't. I had neulasta the next day and did sleep quite a bit on day 3. I hadn't slept much the previous nights because of the decadron. My sons are older than yours, no matter, kids hate to see mom not feeling well. Spend time having fun with them when you are feeling well, when you are tired rest. Watch movies together, let them read to you, tell silly stories. Try to let them see that you are the same mom. When your sense of taste changes, milkshakes usually taste good - let the boys help you make them. Make sure they still spend time with friends and try to keep a regular routine for them. I think that it helps for the kids to see that some things will remain the same. You are starting something new and scary - believe me, I found the worry much worse than the actual tmt. I hope you sail through this, it will be over before you know it. YOu will be in my prayers tonight. Good luck. - Sandy

Hi everyone. I am from the October 06 board and I just read all of your posts. First thing I have to say is I am so sorry that you all have to go through this. I also wanted to tell you that I was right where you are 5 months ago. It is a scary thing but you will get through it.
I have my #7 treatment today and I am looking forward to my last one on February 19!
About the headaches, with my first treatment I had a terrible headache. I told the nurse and they slowed down the drip and it really helped! So don't forget to tell them about the headaches.
The port will get so much better. I hated mine when I got it. Now I forget that it is there! Ask for a prescription of Lidocaine. It is a numbing cream that you put on 1 hour before treatment and you can't even feel the poke!
The fuzzy head thing...I did the weirdest things on A/C. I was so fuzzy that I cooked a spoon into my brownies! That was just one of many chemo brain things I did.
About the wigs, I wore mine 1 time so far to a baby shower. I have hot flashes from "chemopause" and I just can't do the wig. I go with scarves. And even if you are not a fan of the T.V. show Survivor, go to the website and buy a Survivor Buff! They are the best for sitting around the house. So soft and cozy! My friends sent me 2 in the mail and I wear them all the time. It is like a little "tube top" and you just throw it on your head. I love it!

Mizsissy my insurance denied the Neulasta shot too. They did approve the Nupregeon though and I do the shot at home myself usually for 3 days. Ask about it. It's hard at first but I learned my stomach is the best place to do it. The arm was too painful! I don't even feel it and you just get a little sting from the medicine but it's not bad. I'm on Taxotere now. I really hope they approve it for you. I just can't believe we have to fight for care from out insurance companies! I'm in Michigan too. If you want to talk P.M. me.

I just stopped by to give you guys some love and ended up writing a long winded post. (I can't sleep tonight)
Just know you are not alone and if you have any questions just PM me and I will try and help you out.
Take care and good luck with your next treatments.
Trish

Hi IrelandMB,

I've done my first of 4 infusion3 of TC and like you I was terrified. Everyone is different, but let me tell you that for so far it is a breeze! I'm not kidding.

You won't notice anything for the first two days. Then towards the end of Day 2 and Day 3 you will start to feel achey in your bones (this is the neulasta building colonies of white blood cells). Your taste and tactile sensations will change. You will also feel tired and very blah and have little interest in doing anything that requires mental energy. Day 4 is more of the same, but then on Day 5 or 6 you'll start to feel like your old self.

Doing TC for me was like have a mild case of the flu--without the fever. No nausea, just fatigue and mental dullness. Days 6-14 of the cycle--at least for me--were perfectly normal days. I have been strength training and running all through this. Walks are a great help because they get you blood going, and a good idea even on your worst days. Anything that gets you out of bed.

Maybe exercise is really what is helping me?!!!

Warm soaks in your favorite bubble bath are another soothing activity.

Your white blood count goes down days 7-10...make sure you don't expose your self to crowds, groups of children, or people with infections.

I'm on Day 13 and my scalp's beginning to get a little sensitive; I'm probably going to lose my hair soon.

I am so relieved and I hope you will be too to find out how easy this is. I've had a worse reaction to antibiotics. Don't worry that you aren't getting effective treatment. Research shows that taxotere is more effective than many of the other old standbies.

Take care and let us know how you're feeling.

Mizsissy

I had first AC on Fri (1/25). Really not bad at all. But I understand some of the effects are cumulative. No bad nausea, just kind of an aversion to food, and tired.
After my chemo with the ativan in my system, and the steroid infusion before the AC. So going home I was feeling OK. I told my friend that we could stop at the mall for a little while, just to walk around for a little while. Well I guess I was in a bit more of a haze than I thought. Yesterday I asked my friend where this bag with 2 shirts came from. She said "you bought them at the mall after chemo" Now I seem to have a vague recollection of looking, but I really don't remember buying ....

Hi ladies
2 treatments down...2 to go...(chemo that is) have 10 more Herceptin's to go! It's going pretty fast for me...Diagnosed late Oct., surgery end of Nov., chemo early Jan & need 2 more small operations for reconstruction (implant and breast lift for other side) I'm trying to look at the bright side of things
Going to the plastic surgeon, physical therapist, oncologist and inbetween blood work keeps the weeks going fast.

I love my free wig from the American Cancer Society...please if you haven't, go to their website and make an appointment...alot of the wigs have real human hair and are great...I took mine to a wig specialist and they cut and hightlighted it...won't leave home without it!

Hope time is flying by for everyone...take care
ERS

good morning gals
Well i am off today for # 2 of FEC see how i do with the nausea .
The first was not a great time i suffered with the nausea greatly . Will make sure they know today at the clinic . I also shaved off my hair (what was left of it) last night . There is a certain feeling about doing it , its adds power to your fight , that JI Jane type . I do not have a wig am using scarves. It lifted that sicky feeling from me anyway .
Will check in later I expect to be at the hospital most of the day today.

I think I've gotten hit with a stomach bug. Everyone in my family has it but in the middle of the night, I was assuming it was some very delayed reaction from the chemo. Is that possible? I was more nauseous than I was during that first week. I'm now on day 12. I remember reading somewhere they you will get your everyday illnesses but that you automatically assume it's the chemo. The Compazene didn't work. Blech. Maybe it's hitting me harder? Okay, back to bed. Hope all is well with everyone.
Amera

Lynn,

That does sound unusual. I haven't experienced anything like what you described. Anything else unusual? Why don't you discuss this with the oncology nurse...and get back to us!

Just call me Nursesissy...

I did call the onc. No temp so they said it was probably a benign bug but to watch it. My parents and husband all have it so I'm wondering if I got hit harder because of the chemo and blood counts. Feeling much better. I hate all this second guessing stuff.
Amera

Speaking of second guessing, I'm tired of that roller coaster ride too. Turns out I was the FIRST PATIENT EVER REFUSED NEULASTA by my insurance provider, who is the biggest provider for my oncologist's practice. Thank you very much!!!

I'd feel fine about doing the shots at home except that I have a history of idiopathic, anaphalactic allergic reactions to drugs, faint often when shot, and my husband and I just lost our favorite cat because we were too squeamish to give her shots of Procrit. She always acted so wierd afterwards we thought we were harming her. So I'll make extra trips to the office for neupogen. No big deal.

The onco folks feel so bad they decided to let me have the shot for free and the company that makes Neulasta has agreed to replace the vial they used at no cost!

Which made me wonder about taxotere. I saw that it cost $2400 per 100 mg taxotere infused. Hmmmm. When the onc folks were on the phone today, I asked, how much would adriamycin (my original regieme) would cost instead. $300. Oh.

Hope they don't catch me on that one, like 4 infusions from now when the bill is $10,000. But not to worry, chemo drugs don't require approval or so she said. Hope she's right.

Glad to know you're OK Amera, and hope you can walk now Lynn. Sirgen, how was work today? You don't have to feel guilty if you stay home tomorrow; I think Day 4 is the worst day, at least by popular vote on this thread.

Hi, I also posted this on another thread.
Thank you all so much for your comforting words, support and prayers.
As you indicated, not knowing is the worst part. I was at the ONC office from 9.15am to 1.30pm. Got the premeds, then cytoxan and finally Taxotere. I did have a reaction to the Taxotere which I brought to their attention straight away and they took me off it temporarily, gave me more Benedryl and Saline and then turned it back on. It worked fine then with no issues. My husband sat there with me the whole time and we watched a funny movie, which made the time go by. I continued to drink water trough the whole thing.
Was very tired due to the Benadryl I think (I don't normaly take a lot of drugs, only an advil if my head is going to explode) So I think this hit me fairly well.
Slept a few hours this afternoon and now am up feeling pretty ok. Fingers feel puffy/swollen, Feeling like a headache is trying to start. Only issues is that pharmacy said Onc did not get preapproval for the Zofran, so they would only issue it if we paid over $1000 dollars for a couple of tablets. The onc had also prescribed composzine (sp?) so I think I will just go with that this evening and see how I get on. Will get the other tomorrow.
Sorry for going on, but I figure the more we can share with one another we can learn and avoid some of the pitfalls we get into.
Gentle hugs back to you all for your support...
Take care.

Hi Ireland,

Glad to hear you made it through your first chemo ok. I had TC just like you. They gave me Zofran with IV before my chemo and the only anti-nausea pills I had at home are the Compazine and I barely needed them. I took them for one day after and never needed anything else. You might not need anything but the Compazine. FYI, I had a really really bad pounding headache the night of my first chemo. So try to stay on top of it if you can.

Lynn

Hi Mizsissy,

See, that's why this board is so great. My first chemo is tomorrow and the Neulasta shot is scheduled for next Wednesday, so no shot has been given. I just started wondering because you wrote about your experience. So, thank you, thank you, for mentioning it, because it saved me $4000. Not only can I switch over to Nuepogen, but I have a nurse in my house. My daughter, the LPN/almost RN has been at home since August, and she is an old pro at giving shots. She used to give herself Epoetin shots while she was waiting for a kidney transplant. She can teach me, or she can do it for me. So, thanks and I'll keep you guys informed of who will win, the doctor's office or the insurance company.

Hi everyone,
Amera, I hope you are feeling better. Rita, I hope you are feeling better also. Good luck, Shorti. Lynn, I hope your foot pain improves today. Mizsissy, I am glad you got to the bottom of this insurance problem. Thanks for being there for everybody. You are a very positive force.
Well, this is day 6. I was great until day 5, as some of you mentioned could get a little tough. I was not nauseous, but I had heartburn and stomach pain all day yesterday. I tried pepsid ac, protonix and tums and compazine and after I spoke to the nurse and nothing helped. I spoke to the nurse yesterday around 4:00 and she asked me if I had thrush or a fever. I had neither and she told me to call back if I got a fever or felt worse. At 11:00 pm , I had 99.9% temperature. My normal temp is 97.6 and the nurse on chemo day told me to call if I got a fever over 99.5 because of my range. I called the hospital and the on- call doc called back. He told me to take a vicodin for pain and to go to er the next morning if my temperature went up over 100 so they could check my blood cells.. I did eventually fall asleep, and the pain did go away, and my fever dropped to 98.6.
I have no pain today, but I am very tired, weak and nauseous. Now I have a sore throat. I guess I will call onc again. I want to feel better. I am a little disappointed in myself- where is my strength?

Viddie, that day 5 is a shock, isn't it? I was sure that since days 1-4 went so relatively well, it was going to continue on like that. You are strong. I don't think anyone could get through this any better than this group has. Glad you feel some better. I wonder if you've picked up a bug. I'm sure we're more vulnerable even if our counts aren't low.
Amera