Starting Chemo in JAN 2007

Day 4 kicked my butt! I went to work for a half day yesterday and today, then came home and really crashed! Hope this abates soon!

Here I am, post Chemo 1. It was like a day at the Spa. I was pampered in my reclining chair, and didn't even feel the pricks in my port. It took a little effort to find the entry to the port, but the prick was not there. The nurse says that in two weeks it will be easier, because the swelling will be down. So, I sat in my chair and had all my meds, the steroids, the anxiety drug, the ani-nausia etc. I was given a blanket and dozed off. My husband woke me up when he came back from home with the camera. Next I woke up again when the nurse came in with the first med, the "red coolaid" and I can't remember which one it is, but it is pushed through the IV by the nurse, who took a generous 30 minutes for it. Next came the IV, and in total it took me about 3.25 hour. I can even get chemo massages: 15 min for $10. Have to check that out. The first one is free.
Now about the Neulasta. I think doctor's office have pitbulls working for them. This morning at 12:00 I got a phone call from the onc's nurse, and still I had no approval for neulasta. "hang in there," she said, we might have to move the chemo to tomorrow. NOT. Half an hour later the insurance company had given in. Now, what is important to remember is that the insurance company treated the request as a request for medication, but the doctor's office treated it as in-hospital treatment. And there is a big difference between the two. So, the insurance company decided to allow the treatment, and the pharmacy review board was bypassed. Good to know. Well, I'm tired and I'm vegging in my bed. No nausea, but I think I will sleep well. Hope that is the same for all of you. I can't believe it: only 7 more sessions to go.

Mizsissy,
I think my hair will fall out tomorrow too, since it is day 14. My head has been itchy for a week and had really thinned out when I got it cut last Friday really short. Are you doing dose dense? My next infusion cycle 2 isn't until next Wednesday.
Amera,
Day four kicked my butt too. I thought that I could go to the mall and walk around. I got all teary and had to have my family take me home to bed!. Take care everyone. ilene

Hi Ladies,

We're back. It's been a rough few days but here we are thru day 5 and Tae is a bit improved. The fatigue is still there and everything tastes like yuk - those are the biggest problems. The nausea is less and less now but still occasional. And the daily headache. Advil helps. Trying to find a food that she will eat more than a spoonful is my greatest challenge. Tae also says the water started tasting bad yesterday. Does anyone else have this taste aversion? You know y'all are heroes.

Terry 4 Tae

Hi T4T,

Yeah the taste aversion thing is a problem. I would not say I have had serious nausea, but most foods just do not appeal to me. I can't stomach any kind of meat or poultry or fruit at all. Mostly just a little pasta or bread. It is a little better today, I had an egg. Not that aversion to food is a bad thing for me . I had to switch off the Food channel on TV. Paula Dean and all that butter made me seriously nauseous!

Hi Terry,

Now I get your name t4t...it's cool! Congratulations, Tae is through the worst part and will continue to feel better.

I had taxotere which strongly affected my sense of taste, and it depends on what Tae got (TC, AC?). Sweet things tasted awful, even my favorite tea, but I loved things with texture, like lettuce and celery. Strangely enough, fish tasted even better than before. Salmon (well cooked) is a wonderfully nutritious food for someone recovering from a chemo infusion.

In my case, my taste improved and was practically back the second week of my cycle. But it is very important to wash her mouth out with warm salt water several times a day (espec. after eating) because mouth sores can develop.

Keep up the good work!!!

xxxoo Mizsissy

I know what you mean about the taste changes. I had frozen a container of my favorite soup to get me through the bad days. Just the smell of it simmering on the stove as I heated it up made me nauseous and I couldn't even try it. I have found that dry cereal...sugar pops, honey wheat puffs, etc. work well to munch on and get me started in the morning. I also have cravings for celery (of all things!!!)

Yesterday was my first good day. Today is my 6th day after chemo (if you count the day chemo was given since mine is in the early morning) and I woke up feeling fine. YEAH!!!! So rest assured that the queasiness does finally pass. I'm even going to try a trip into town today with a friend who's a 12 year breast cancer survivor. We'll see how tired I get. I really admire you, Sirgen, and others who are still working through this journey. You are indeed strong ladies!!!

Good luck to those of you who are facing chemo today. My thoughts are with you.

Rita

Day 2 for me. Fell asleep at 9:00 last night. Had to get up to go to the bathroom twice, because of all the water intake However, I was dizzy, had to hold on to walls etc. The dizzyness is still not all the way over, although I can walk without holding onto things. I ate a bowl of oatmeal, although it filled me up all the way. Had a little orange juice with the vitamin pill, and I skipped on the milk although milk is the most important. I have my daughter take me to work. I don't trust myself driving. No headache, no nausea, just dizziness.

Hi Ladies,
Day three for me counting the day of chemo (as it started early in the morning). Not feeling too well today. Took compazine twice today, should I get the Zofran? Feeling queezy, not actually sick. Strong smells affecting me, feeling tired. Did go out for a walk though, it's still cool here today in Florida, so I took advantage while it is.
Aches and pains kicking in also, must be from the Neulasta.
Hope tomorrow is better.
Cheers for now....
Glad to hear how all of you are doing. Hang in there and I am sure we will all find our own food combo's to keep us going.

Hey Robertin...you look different!!! Did you just go ahead and buzz it or did it fall out. You've got great bones I think you look even better than with your hair.

One of the serendipities about this is that it gets you to be really adventurous with new hair styles...!!! i've worn my hair long my entire life and now I like it short so much I don't think I'll ever go back.

I am sorry you were dizzy at all; have you talked to your onc about this?

Mizsissy

Hi Mizsissy,
I figured, I had the haircut, and I will show it off here. Yes, It is a buzz and it's covered by hats most of the time, although I like sleeping in cold rooms, so the hat goes off at night. Funny enough the avitar did not change on my browser. I'll have to check it with IE. It's 1:30 right now, and I'm still at work. I have check my spelling a little more, and I am a little tired, but all in all, I'm having a good day. I'll be at the oncology dept today to get my Neulasta shot. I'll ask them about the dizzyness.

Thanks for the welcome Mizsissy,
I do have Aloxi, decadron and a more powerful ativan all as part of my pre meds prior to the AC. Then, I take more ativan,emend and compazine over the next few days. I even went back the next day for a 2 hour hydration drip to cover all basis. The odd thing was that I had ZERO nausea until day 5. It's not totally horrible, just that feeling like when you find out your pregnant...I can live with it.
I did lose my hair on day 16. It took a couple of days to come out and even then, it stopped at peach fuzz. My sister shaved my head down so it wasn't as traumatic as if it fell out in clumps. I had a ton of hair!
Here's something fun though - my sister and sis in law threw me a hat party this past Sunday and we had about 40 women here at my house. It was the most uplifting, fun, positive day. We celebrated my new head and I got about 30 hats and a bunch of earrings, scarfs, etc. It was a really great day.
I can get through this, we all can!

Hi everyone,
Day 7 for me and starting to feel a little better. Day 5 was awful. I had to call hospital at 11pm because of stomach pain and 99.99 temp. the doc told me to take vicodin and if fever went up that I should go to er to check blood counts.
The vicodin worked- pain finally went away as well as the low grade fever, but keep running about 99 at night. Has anyone else ran a low grade fever? It seems that day 5 and 6 were worse for me. Probably because the emend wore off.
Robertin, I know a couple of people(too many with bc!) that hardly had any side effects and they are still cancer free years later. The onc told me that everyone gets the same dose, whether it is every 2 or every 3 weeks. We all just react differently.
Tracy, I still get nausea on day 7. I guess everyone reacts differently.
Irelandmb and Jan, I know it is hard and frustrating, but hang in there- this too shall pass. We have to take each day at a time- so everyone tells me.
RitaJean, I hope you had a good time today.
I went out to lunch with friends today. It seems I feel much better after i
eat lunch.
By the way, for the first 4 days, I have been enjoying my favorite comfort food- soft boiled eggs on toast, only to read in my food book they gave me at the chemo center that soft boiled eggs are not good to eat while on chemo. You can eat hard boiled eggs, but no soft yokes. maybe that is what wasn't agreeing with me. Go figure.
I hope everyone has a good night.
Viddie

First time doing this. Started chemo in Jan. going for my 2nd treatment 2/1. First round wasn't as bad as i imagined, like a really bad stomach bug. I'm stage I, had a lumpactomy in Dec. Will have 8 sessions of chemo every other week to be followed by radiation.