For those starting chemo in June
Comments
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I posted a few hours ago and it didn't take. Who knows how I might have screwed it up. I had to call my daughter tonight and ask her what all I had planned to do because I forgot what was on my to do list.
I made reservations for a dinner theatre for the night before my next chemo. Of course I am supposed to fast after 8:30 so I probably should watch my intake. I have a long weekend coming up Oct 8 and plan to fly in to TN and see my folks. They are elderly and I have not told them anything about all this yet. Since my radiation is scheduled during the holidays, I knew they would get suspicious if I didn't go in for any of it. So, I am going to let them see that I'm okay and plan to stay okay instead of telling them on the phone. My boys are planning to drive in for support when I tell them. They are 240 miles closer than I am. My parents are such worriers. I don't think I will even go into the HER2 and high risk etc. Just the clear margins and good stuff. My only sibling was killed in a car wreck at age 36 and they get shook real fast.
Has anyone else bloated? I was already having some stomach problems before this. I now look like a 58 year old pregnant woman!
12:41 and still wide awake. 6:00 will definitely come too early tomorrow.
This post is completely different from my other one, but I don't really remember what I said. Doo doo doo doo (twilight zone song).
I do miss watching the sports now that my kids are grown. They are taking their time about getting married...which is fine with me...so I have no grandchildren yet. -
Strange things are happening this morning. My feet are very swollen. My incision site is draining more that usual (never really stopped and the chemo slowed down the healing process). There is a big red blotch on my leg looking a lot like the beginnings of a reaction. I have bloody discharges from my nose. I need to remember where I put the side effect info they gave me. Hope you all are well.
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Janie, I have heard of the feeet sweling from Taxol and Taxatere. I have a lot of bloody nose blowings because the chemo affects my sinus but it does sound as if the red bloch is a reaction. You probably need to get ahold of your onc about the swelling. Some people wrap their legs or something. I am not sure but I think you can get swelling in the hands and feet. You would want to make sure its the chemo doing it.The onc may be able to give you water pills or something to help. I didn't have any swelling so I really don't know much about it just what I have read.I have to go to Rad. Dr. in about an hour so I better get ready. Later Girls, Mary
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Mary, good luck at the rad doc and tell us how it goes. Thanks also for the encouraging words. I'm feeling a bit better today.
Janie, I agree you should call the doctor if you haven't already. Those may be side effects, but hopefully there's something they can give you to reduce them. Hope you sleep better tonight. -
Hi Girls, Hope Janie is doing better let us know and glad PJB is having a good day. Its natural we get a little down, we have been to hell and back and we have an uncertain future so a little down is normal I think, as long as we don't dwell on it too long. Well I go for my simulation on Oct the 20th. and start a couple days later. She said the fatigue shouldn't be bad, no more than I have had and she said I should be feeling a lot better than now so I am thinking its not going to be bad at all.I asked about heart damage but My tumor was on the right side so no heart damage from rads. and I asked about lung damage and there will be some scarring but shouldn' t be a problem. It will kill a few nodes in the armpit but thats the worse that will happen so I am ready. She wants to wait 4 wks. so there will not likely be burning but I tan easily so I am not worried.She seemed to know what shes doing so I am in her hands.Got the million dollar dog home today. He seems fine but has to take meds. for next couple wks. His med. bill ended up $526.00. Can you put a price on love??? yes $526.00 I don't know if I love my husband that much. I must he has been lost without that dog even though he says hes not attached to it, its mine. Well have some errands to run and the dishwasher is calling my name. My kids bought it for me and they got the wrong kind, I wanted the one that loads and unloads itself.They got me the kind I have load manually. Darn kids!Talk to you girls later, Mary
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Hey gals. Thanks for the concerns. I am doing better. The rash has disappeared and the hands are not so swollen. The feet still are. It has been a very long day.
Mary, glad the puppy is back and healthy. -
Janie, Glad you're feeling better. Hope the feet get better, too, and that you have a restful weekend.
Mary, did they tell you if you have to put creams on and stuff from the start? I'm a little confused about that. I'm so glad to hear the pup is OK. I imagine he's running around like crazy.
I go Thursday to find out and also to the regular onc to find out when I start Tamoxifen. Tuesday do a lung scan to see if the spot they saw (and didn't think was cancer) three months ago is there or gone or what. I guess I want it to still be the same, as that would mean it wasn't cancer, I think.
Nathan has his first two soccer games tomorrow. He had to have about 5 water breaks during a 45 minute practice last night, so I'm not sure how productive he's gonna be for the team. But it makes him smile, so it makes me smile, too. Thanks for the kind words when I was feeling so low. -
Hi Girls, Glad to hear your better Janie. PJB The Rad.Dr. Said If I start burning she would give me cream but since I don't sunburn easy I shouldn't burn. I asked if the tumor site was deep would there be burning and she said that didn't make a difference in burning. The burning came from your skin type(how easily you sunburn.)I have talked to 4 people now who said they didn't burn just got kinda red. They also said the wore out feeling wasn't real bad.My dog is doing great. He is a little lazy yet but almost back to normal, well for him. He just runs and doesn't pay attention and runs into the wall. He runs and goes to jump on the couch and hits too low and about knocks himself out.He is a little short in the brains but he is a male so there we have it.I have a soccer game to go to today also. My grandaughter is going too and we are going shopping for jeans after then she and my grandson are staying all night so I guess we will go bowling tonight. I hope you guys win your soccer game,they get exciting.Good Luck to Nathan. Hugs, Mary
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PJB, good luck with your scan. You let me know as soon as you hear about it. I am saying a few extra prayers.Hopefully its just scar tissue from a past lung infection or neumonia. They are pretty good at reading those x-rays and scans so if they think it is nothing it is probably nothing. A big Hug, Mary
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Good morning ladies. It sounds like you have fun weekends scheduled. Have a wonderful time.
Mary, from the way you describe the probable burning, I guess I will be toast in November.
PJB, Let us know about the lungs. I am sort of in the same situation. My cat scan showed numerous tiny nodules in my lungs. If I understood them correctly (information overload), they were too tiny for the Pet Scan to pick up as cancer cells -- or not. The last time I saw the onc, I asked him if they were gone after chemo, would that mean they were cancer because he had alluded to that before. He said either that or an respiratory inflammation that cleared up. So if they are gone, I will not really know for sure. If they are there, that means something like granulamatosis. You just don't know what to wish for.
Hugs to all,
Janie -
Janie, I will be praying for you too. Gee,I feel bad for you two girls it has to weigh on your nerves.I will be praying that we get good reports from both of you.Its like when one has something not good we all feel it with them and I am pulling for both of you. Hugs and Prayers to you both, Mary
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I had my 2nd taxotere on Thursday and so far so good. My taste is gone, but I feel pretty good. I hope I don't get as down and out as last time. I went shopping with my sister on Wed. for a dress for her daughter's wedding- didn't find anything, but it was fun having her try on stuff she would never have tried on her own. Thursday after treatment- lunch out and more shopping. I try to get as much done here on my good days without overdoing it- which I usually do, but I as so thankful for these good days. 6 out of 8 treatments done.... YEAH- I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just in time for all the Holiday treats I like! I think many ladies on this post have moved on to rads. We will be there shortly too.
Renee -
Renee, You are almost done thats great. Are you doing wkly. or every two wks? It does feel good when you see the light at the end. I am still waiting for my taste buds to come back but I just had last Taxol on Tue. so it will be a few days yet. I have to get a red blood count shot Tue. cause my counts were low last Tue. but the red don't hurt like the nup. shots.(bone pain) Did Nathan win his first game PJB? I hope so. We lost 3 to 0.The kids had fun though. My 12 yr. old grandsons school baseball team won so they are going to State. They have done real well this year. I am proud of his team.Talk to you girs later. Mary
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Mary, well, they don't keep score really at the Y team he's on, but, yes, they did win. Nathan's kind of the daydreamer of the group, but he had a GREAT time. it was so fun to watch. Sounds like your grandkids are pretty accomplished athletes.
So Nathan decided he wanted to stay at his granny's tonight, so after about 4 p.m., I had the day to myself. So, of course, I went to the Dillards 75 percent off sale. Had fun but my feet are really complaining. Oh well. And, of course, it's 8:30 and I'm bushed and ready for bed.
Renee, two more to go. That's great! Time flies when you're having fun, right?
Janie, did all that nasty swelling go down? Do you know when your scans are? Did you put it in your post and I just forgot? (Completely possible.)
Oh gosh, I almost forgot. I have fuzz! It's white or gray or blonde or something and not my usual dark brown, but it's definitely fuzzy. Will I be a gray 41-year-old? That'd be fine with me... -
The post I did last night didn't show up again. I must be getting in a hurry and clicking the wrong button. Oh well.
Mary, thanks for your prayers and support. This board has been a Godsend.
Renee, I know you must be excited to have reached this point.
PJB, I don't know yet when they will do my scans. The last time I saw my onc, he said he definitely wanted to follow up on the lungs. I see him again this time. He also found a spot on my back and I have an appointment with their dermatologist in October.
Yeah Mary, it is always buried in the back of the mind, just like I'm sure BC will be the rest of our days.
This has been a pain-filled weekend. I went against the latest news warnings on Vioxx and took one last night. It helped for about 4 hours.
South Georgia is slated for severe weather today. If you don't hear from me for awhile, you can guess the power is out.
Hugs all around,
Janie -
P.S. - PJB, the swelling is not as bad as it was Friday. I am somewhat stiff and feel arthritic all over. I probably need to exercise it away. Like that's going to happen.
I think I see new hair growth. Like I said, I still had a few strands left, but it appears like some more is sprouting. It is 90% black/brown and 10% gray. -
Hi Girls,PJB, sooo glad to hear you are getting fuzz. Mine is white too so I don't know what the heck I am getting. I was med. brown with some auburn but I had grey so I dyed it and had lt. highlights.Janie, you be careful down there. I have on Fox and it looks pretty windy.I tuned in this a.m. to see if it came ashore yet. I was beat lastnight too. I hit gap kids as they had a sale and my grandaughter got some clothes after we went to the ballgames. Yea PJB my grandsons the brothers 7 and 12 are very into sports. They play every one so their mom is always on the go. They even watch every spot on t.v. Everytime I take the 12 year old to Phx. I have to take him to a Diamondbacks game. We enjoy it so thats what matters. It keeps me busy running from one game to another and when they have games at the same time my daughter and I split and each go to one.I am glad Nathan had fun. Did you find yourself shouting out plays to him? You will. It starts with soccer and next thing you know they are into baseball then basketball. It just feels so good to see them happy and so proud of themselves.Well girls I will be back later. Hope Renee is doing o.k. Mary
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So far, so good. We are under a tropical storm watch and our neighboring counties under tornado watches.
My kids and I are sports oriented. Patrick was too little to do much until he took a growing spurt his senior year. He played in all the school bands and played tennis. I have two boys and a girl. My daughter was the athlete. She played fast pitch softball, basketball, and tennis. She was also in the band. She and one son are still in Tae Kwondo. I miss children's sports. We now are spectators. Catch the Braves whenever possible. The kids still go to UT's ballgames -- football and girl's basketball. My oldest is on his way back from Knoxville as we speak.
I post a message ever so often to keep our thread at the front where we can find it easier. -
Mary, mostly I kept yelling to Nathan "WATCH THE BALL" because he'd be out there examining his shoe laces or something.
Janie, hope you guys fare OK with the weather. it's gotta be pretty tiresome by now to have all these storms coming...
Really having problems with my feet again. I can't walk real long, and I'm concerned since I've got a trip to New Orleans planned right after Christmas. Hope this neuropathy resolves itself by then. I think if it doesn't by the time I'm done with rads I'll go see the acupuncturist.
P.S. - I started an Oct rads post. The closer I get to Thursday, the more nervous I get. -
PJB, have you taken the B6 or whatever that vit. is for that? My fill-in onc said if I got the neur.in my hands, feet or both she would give me a script for it because it helps some people. She said the over the counter doesn't work so let her know if I needed any. I didn't get it so I don't know if it works or not. Hey, Glad to see you started thread cause we are done here. Just waiting for everyone else to finish up. I will check in later have to run grandson home, Mary
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Looks like I will be the last dog to be hung. Although I started AC June 7, I still have 8 Taxols to go! I will be lucky to start rads by the end of November. I will read how it goes with you all, so I will know what to expect.
My daughter agrees that my hair is coming back! I used to have a balding spot I inherited that I had to cover up. We can hope that new hair grows there. I should get something good out of all this. Right?
The storm is now due during the night sometime. My schools are already closed. I can use another day off. -
Mary, I didn't know about the prescrip B6. I've taken the over the counter stuff off and on. (I'm so bad about taking pills. I only take my vitamin about every other day. I'm gonna have to learn to buckle down when it comes time for Tamoxifen) I'll ask my onc about the prescrip kind on Thursday. Thanks.
Yeah, I figure I"ll be switching between the rads posting and here. Still got some girls to get through chemo...
How's the taste thing coming? I still have a couple things I can't taste very well, but most everything is about as well as it was before chemo. -
Janie, We have all been big sports people also. I love to watch fast pitch softball. My dad was a softball pitcher all my life growing up. He had a chance to go to pro baseball camp way-back when but went to Korea instead and never got to camp after that.My son played all sports but settled in to basketball only in high school as he was 6'5" so he was a natural center.Those were the good days. One daughter played volleyball and the other dauhter was in class officers and raised money for charities.They are all gone now.But its grandkids now and its just as exciting. PJB, my taste buds are usually gone until Tue. when I start getting a little so since I am done with treatment I hope Wed. I will be starting to taste. BURRRRR! its in the 40's this morn. It will get up to 70's today.I have to work so I better go get ready ,I have to be there at 7. Hugs, Mary
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Sounds like everyone is having fun watching their children or grandchildren's sports. I miss that now that the 3 guys are in college- no grandkids yet, but some great nephews and nieces to play with in the mean time.
Day 5 after Taxotere and it hasn't hit to bad... could I be lucky this time? I would like to taste food- makes it hard for me to eat.
I am on every 3 weeks so it's taking awhile.. I didn't know about dose dense treatments when I started- ugh- didn't find these boards soon enough to know what to ask.
I have some grey/blond 'goose down' on my head. Looks funny but it is hair.
I bought 2 warmer hats last week, a pink angora one and a black and grey faux fur one. Lots of cute $10-$14 hats at Burlington coat factory.
We are having some warm weather yet- 70's here so I will enjoy being outside as long as I can... I'm not a fan of the cold and snow, but I wouldn't want to live in Florida either right now.
Renee -
Renee, yea, I suppose you guys will be getting snow in a couple weeks, huh, with the cool summer you've had?
So how many treatments left to go? I' m glad to hear you are having a better time of it this round. Surely if it was gonna be bad, it'd have done so by now. -
Hi Girls, well guess the heck what I finally got today???? My wig. It is cuter than on the picture. I love it and its just the right color. I was really worried about that cause with big almost black eyes(dk. brn)eyes I can't get too light of hair but its perfect and its a cheapie from Paula Young. It looks better than my $125.00 job. Its a petite and my other one is average and its too big but this one fits good.My husband likes it too. Now all I need is eyebrows and lashes so I can wear it. I just look awful with painted on ones.I look like the first thing you see is my brows sticking out like they are too bold and I use a med. brown pencil. My brows were black and brown.Oh well. I just got home at 6:30. Took my boss to Dr. in Springfield and he took me to Red Lobster. I had salad still can't taste Darnit! Well talk to yous gals later.Mary
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Mary, I'm glad the wig looks great. Took them long enough to get it for you, but I guess it was worth the wait. I'm taking my two "marsupials" over to the beauty salon tomorrow to see if they can be fixed so I like them better. Also have the CT scan tomorrow. I'm not too worried about it, so that probably means it'll come back bad.
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PJB, Good luck with the animals AND the C.T. scan. Please let me know how it comes out. I am praying for you tonight.I have to go get a shot tomorrow so I won't work a full day. I will be checking in off and on to see if you have any news yet. A Big Hug, Mary
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Hi All,
I was without power for nearly 24 hours, but I guess it is all over except the clean-up now. We made the weather channel! We are so much better off than those in Florida. We will be headed that way later. I have my lst appointment early in the morning. Labs, Port Flush, PS follow-up, Onc, and Chemo -- a fun-filled day. JAX just got storms like we did, but we will be driving through some counties that were hit hard.
PJB - My thoughts and prayers are with you today. Will you know something right away or do you have to wait until you see the doctor again? -
Renee, I am not a fan of cold and snow either, I will admit its nice to see the first snow of the season, its pretty to have the ground all white and sparkley and snow at x-mas is a must and just makes the season ultidey and cheery but after that lets face it, its a pain in the ah butt.Slipping and slidding to and from your car and work; its crappy. So my question is why do we live in it? I wish I knew.Janie, Glad you are o.k. hope you have a safe trip today and you ol party animal don't forget your party hat.Sounds like you will have a great time consuming day today.Good luck with your treatment. It will be interesting and sad see all the damage.I wondered if you got hit very bad.Glad your o.k. Later girls, Mary
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