July 2020 chemo club

I’m supposed to have TCHP #5 tomorrow...hoping that all is well, but it’s about time for a hiccup. My rbc were lower again, my potassium is still low (although I did forget to take it the day before my blood test) and, I hope I’m being a hypochondriac, but I saw my nephew on Wednesday and he came down with a runny nose Thursday. Now I feel like my nose has been runny (which it has been because of chemo side effects I feel like) my throat is kind of sore tonight, I sneezed... and coughed... I hope I’m just freaking out. I want to get a good nights sleep and hopefully wake up in the morning feeling 100%...but the steroids Jack me up. On the positive side, I have not had a fever. And it’s been extremely windy, dusty, and smoke in the air the past few weeks. Maybe it’s allergies and side effects? Fingers crossed.

I hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend! And prayers everyone is smooth sailing this week

mtspacekac, thinking of you today.

AnnatheBrave, that's good advice. I've thought about scheduling one of those as well - maybe along with a massage!

My eyebrows have started to fall out — particularly the left one. I still have weird, random stubble growing on my head and leg hair that refuses to fall out, but my eyebrows are giving up.

In other news, the first week of cycle 3 was surprisingly good. I had stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea of course, but I didn’t spend the entire week sleeping and I had several hours on each day where I didn’t feel too terrible. The second week has been a steady improvement every day and the last couple of days I have only had mild nausea hit near the end of the day.

Tomorrow my husband and I are going to a cabin in the woods of PA to take pictures of Fall colors and escape from our every day lives some. I’ve been looking forward to the trip for several weeks and I hope it’s as relaxing as we want it to be.

One week until cycle 4

Just popping in to announce that I have completed my chemo as of Tuesday!! I'm hoping I don't get a ton of side effects like I have been getting... Patiently waiting for them to pop up. lol. I have been cold capping to help save my hair and hope it makes it through the next big shed in a few weeks. I'll be starting tamoxifen at the end of the month. Praying for little side effects from the pills. Also hoping port will come out and implants in by the end of the year. Good luck to those of you that are still on your chemo journey I'll still check in from time to time.

Infusion #4 (last one) in the books. I dreaded it, but itwas uneventful and not bad at all. Far easier than number 3. I'm officially done with chemo. Now on to rads.

iamloved, I haven’t had the wrinkling that I recall, but I have had tingling in both fingers and toes which comes and goes. Could you be dehydrated?

Hello, I just found this site although I started chemo July 9, 2020. I've completed the AC dense dose 4 rounds every 2 weeks.

I've now started on and just completed my 3rd treatment of 12 weekly rounds of Taxol.

Surgery to follow chemo Decemberish - Merry Christmas. :-) Then radiation following surgery.

Doing my treatments on Fridays so I can recover a bit by Monday so I can keep working as much as possible for my insurance (and income of course) as long as I can. The NP called me a beast Friday but that's because she saw me prior to the benadryl and steriods. Ha!

I am also experiencing the wrinkling fingers and also burning toes/top of feet since I started the weekly treatments.

I also have the peeling fingertips! Moisturizer seems to help some. My fingers and toes don’t get tingly exactly, but my hands and feet do often feel like they have a sunburn and hurt when I put too much pressure on the skin.

Those tingling/burning sensations are symptoms of neuropathy. For most of us, they don't get worse. For some of us, they do. Please let your doctors know if they get worse. Neuropathy often goes away (mine did), but more serious cases can lead to permanent disability.

Has anyone dealt with a sick significant other? My husband woke up at 4 this morning with a sore throat, and scared to death he was going to get me sick. He sprayed disinfectant all over the house, and then couldn’t sleep so decided to pack up and head to our ranch house until he is feeling better. I think he is over reacting a bit....but I guess I don’t want to get sick either. My 3 year old nephew came down with a cold, and the hubby was around him a bit working outside last weekend...so he is afraid he caught it too.

I’m hoping and praying that I don’t get the cold, how horrible is my immune system? Can it fight off a few germs?! I’m pretty careful about hand washing and stuff around the house.

mtspacekace - You can fight things off but may take some help from drugs because our immune systems are taking such a beating. My hubby is super-protective and reactive as well but better safe than sorry. I had a hard time fighting an infection that is a superbug (caught probably at the infusion center since that's basically the only place I go right now). It set up in my bladder/urinary tract and in my eye. Just keep your doctor on top of ANYTHING that is unusual for you. That's what helped in my case. I stayed vigilant and asked for a second bladder screening when I finished antibiotics (wasn't offered/recommended by either doctor). Glad I did because it took a second round of antibiotics to get things truly cleared up.

Are any of you working in office environments while going through chemo? I’ve been working from home, but it sounds like I might have to return to the office in early November, which is pretty scary with Covid. My office is open floor plan and desks are mostly 2 feet apart. They have done a few things to help protect people, but the mitigations don’t seem like enough. ((Continuing to work from home does not seem like an option — big corporate push to bring the office back to 100%.))

My other option would be to take leave at least until I’m done with chemo and have my immune system back — so something like 6-9 weeks of leave. I have the leave, but I hate spending so much of it at once when I still have months of treatment ahead of me.

I have an appointment with my MO tomorrow and it’s definitely something I’m going to be asking him about