Starting Chemo May 2018

L8BMR thank you for the tips. I'm thinking I will have a port put in, in between my treatments. I'm in California, so it's 11pm here right now. My appointment is tomorrow at 9am. I am not nervous now, but I'm the kind of person that is generally ok up until the actual moment. I'm afraid I will have a panic attack once they call me back into the infusion room. Thank you for adding me to your Rosary list. Hoping you're doing well with the steps you are in now.

5 more days until I start chemo! I’m getting a bit nervous; want this all just to get over fast! Tho the herceptin will continue until August of 2019

Hello everyone. I just wanted to update everyone that I started chemo on 5/15 (AC) and Neulasta the next day. I'm taking my nausea meds by the clock, drinking tons and tons of water, never letting my stomach get empty by eating very small snacks and walk even when you don't want to - as instructed by my onco and so far, I had have no side effects. I'm almost afraid to put that in writing. I'm so very sorry for all of you that are suffering - I truly thought I'd be there with you, however, I still have a couple of days left before I am in the clear. My thoughts are with everyone starting and going through this journey.

mianola, that is awesome news! Try to keep some type of protein in your snacks; it will help with muscle tone and energy level. Hoping everyone has a great weekend. Spring has finally arrived!

For you beautiful brave lady, I added whip cream ‘cause you’re looking so good! Hugs & Luv

Hey ladies--back home and feeling fine. Very uneventful. I figure I'll eat while I still feel good, so I'm having a banana with almond butter and will cook an egg. I took a Zofran and will probably pop a Compazine before bed, mostly cuz why not. I'm not expecting much nausea--I tend not to run in that direction. In fact I was there long enough today to get a hospital lunch and I kind of wolfed it down--not typical for me!

Hi everyone. Thinking of all of you and the stages we travel through in this chapter of our lives. I am now at Day 17 of my first round. One week after the chemo my WBC was super low but did go back up. On day 16 (yesterday) during early morning hours, I experienced a return of the nasty bone pain I had Days 3-6/7 and spiked a temp of 100.5 which seemed so rogue in the scheme of the chemo track. Disappointing for sure, as for a week, I really felt great. So went in for labs and found that the WBC was very high and that the fever was most likely a later side effect from the Neulasta. That drug, although necessary, has been a beast for me. I had another attack of the gnawing bone bear in the early hours of this morning. Popped 4 ibuprofen and found some relief. I find it amazing how fast the days have gone and will be looking at Round 2 May 24. I’m feeling mildly curious about how different Round 2 will be from Round 1. I’ve read many posts that speak to the many differences between all of them.

Good luck to all of us. Stay strong. 💪🙏.

I'm almost a week out from my first infusion, this weekend was a little rough. Pain level was higher but nothing I couldn't handle and just a tiny bit of nausia but it passed. The Clariton trick must really work, the Nuelasta pain was not near as bad as I remembered from the first time so thats a blessing for sure!

We are supposed to go out of town for a car show this weekend, it'll be the first time since the beast reared it's ugly head that I have ventured away from home and I'm quite nervous.

I think it's normally an automatic thing. Chemo kills you white blood cells and leave you open to infections and all sorts of nasty things you don't want.

Hello Everyone. Thank-you letting me share a quick story with you, especially for those of you who are deciding to buzz your hair. A good friend of mine has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She had made the decision to buzz her hair as it started falling out during chemo (she started in March). A few years ago I read on BCO the suggestion to throw your hair in your yard so birds can collect it to build their nest. I told her about it and she thought it was a fabulous idea. Well, this week she found a nest in one of her hanging baskets with her hair woven in it by mama and papa bird. How cool is that!

Wishing all of you the best during chemo and through the rest of any treatments you may have.

Wonderland, I wish I would have read this before I threw mine away! What an awesome idea!

I start tomorrow - 12 weeks of Taxol, one year of herceptin. Penguin coldcapping.

I spoke with my oncologist yesterday and am feeling much less anxiety about Treatment #1. But I'm still pretty nervous!

I appreciate all of you who have gone before and are now sharing your experiences. Thanks for paying it forward!

mobscene/inna--I read on another of the chemo threads one woman's description of her emotions going into #1, and I thought it was so spot on. I've repeated it to many people. She said she was "anxious/ready/terrified". What I can tell you with only one behind me is that the actual infusion was pretty. . . boring. I think my adrenaline was pretty high--after the Benadryl I got a little spinny but never really tired. I've told myself that if I get sleepy this Friday I should just go ahead and nap. Why the heck not. I brought way too many snacks/distractions. I was there long enough to get a lunch provided by the hospital, although I don't think I'll qualify going forward with the shorter Herceptin drip. Between being on my phone (post a pic!) and reading the newspaper, that was pretty much all I had time for. Didn't even pull out the iPad to watch any Netflix! I think it was also good that we had a somewhat busy weekend planned--I went to the gym that afternoon, cooked dinner that night, and the following day we had two parties to go to. Two days afterwards my brother came for an overnight (picking up his daughter from UVA). My tx days are Fridays and I've already bought tickets to a movie for Friday night. The steroid effect is a real thing--in fact I took a Compazine the first two nights to help me sleep (it worked pretty well!). And the only SE I was aware of was feeling a little foggy Sunday AM--Day 3 for me.

I remember feeling that morning very much like the morning of a surgery--very calm, just "okay finally it's time to do this". In a way easier than all of the anxiety leading up to it. The day you think will never come actually does. You get past it. Life goes on. And thanks to my BCO sisters, I know the next 11 weeks will come and go, and the months after that, and then this will be behind me. And we're all holding your hand along the way.