I am starting chemo in July 07. Anyone else?

When I started chemo, I didn't think of 'months'. I thought of 'cycles. I had 6 3-week cycles of TCH (ended in January 2007) and those cycles were what I marked on my calendar. Each chemo meant one fewer cycle to go. That was much easier on me than thinking of the months ahead.

I crossed those chemo days off my calendar with GLEE!!!

Good luck to all of you!!

Janet

Hi All,

Back from a weekend of great weather and Rock Climbing in Rumney NH. I am actually am going to start chemo on July 2 as my onc wants me to revisit a tiny area in the RB via an MRI biopsy tomorrow which is fine. He wants to check out what the chemo might be zapping but most likely is is not anything. They will do this with areas that do not show up with ultrasound or mammo...this is a relatively new thing so I do not know any women that have done this yet. I threw out a question in the just diagnosed forum so we shall see what it is like. The MUGA was similar to a regular MRI scan and it is cool to see how strong heart muscle actually is as it is doing it's thing. They take some of your blood via an IV and then mix it with a radioisotope, let it sit for awhile and then put it back in and do the heart scan. It takes about an hour. My course (as of right now) is 4wks AC and 4weeks Taxol. As I mentioned earlier I am strongly questioning the A and so may insist on forgoing that for Est pos reasons. I have already spent around 200 bucks on hats and my wig is on order....but it is so hot today. I cannot imagine busting that out in the summertime. The wig is mostly covered by my insurance thankfully as a decent one will cost you around 400.00.

Asia my girl, the dose dense(2wk)regimen has been shown to be a more effective treatment than the 3 week. For dose dense your doctor should be putting you on Neulasta(or something like it) for your white blood count. If not then ask why not...this will give you an added boost. The doc should not be waiting for your counts to nose dive for this. My Irish cousin Mary works for Amgen and we were talking about how the Neulasta needs to be given right after the 1st treatment. It is big bucks so let me know if that is covered within your health care system. Irish cousins come in handy!

Off to a yoga class!

climbergirl

Hi ladies. I will see my oncologist again on July 6, but when I saw him the last time, he talked about the 2-week dose dense type of treatment.
I had my mastectomy on Friday and was home on Saturday. I am doing better than I thought I would, except I was nauseous the first few days. Just have trouble sleeping comfortably.
I just got some pathology results back - tumor was 3.6 cm with clear margins and no lymph node involvement - whew! But the tumor grew over 1 cm in the 4 weeks I waited for surgery. This makes me a Stage II, so I assume the same chemo plan, and probably rads, too.
I had an expander put in, so first stop is the plastic surgeon on Friday, and hoepfully, I can get this drain taken out!
Karen

Here is a question with regard to the growth of the tumor: did it grow in the 4 weeks before surgery, or did it just turn out to be larger than they originally thought? With mine, the doctors said they could measure it with ultrasound and MRI (both showed different measurements), but they could not truly know its size until they did the surgery. They said this is particularly true with Lobular, which I have. And the tumor did turn out, in fact, to be larger than the MRI and US tests showed.

Donna

P.S. I got my last 2 drains out today. YIPPEE! I go for a fill in two weeks.

well, girls, count me in too. I am seeing my onc on July 2 for final decisions. Having port put in on the 9th and first treatment will be on the 12th or 13th (yes that same Friday the 13th). The mammogram that found my cancer was on Friday, the 13th of April. So that date has a whole new meaning for me. I am supposed to be having dose dense AC x 4. I have heard about the Adriamycin that was mentioned here, so I intend to talk about that too. Climbergirl, I'm close to you, in Kingston NH, just over the MA border. I had a 2nd opinion at Dana Farber, was trying to make my decision about chemo or not. I'm getting my treatment at the Exeter Hospital. What a lousy way to spend the summer, but I'm gonna grab those good days whenever I can. Good luck to all and god bless.

Betsy

Figsgirls,
The 'icky' word is perfect. I have to go back for a third surgery this Tuesday for a node dissection. I have appt with PS 23rd so I will see if he can fill then. He did fill during surgery and said that I would only need a couple fills before changing it out but that will wait until after all tx done.

Mominpa,
Did you ask your PS about the movement and the feelings you were getting? The onco had a comment about the pressure of the fill affecting the chemo. Not sure I understand that because the chemo concentrates on the new cell growth, etc.,,,right?
This is all so confusing but I beleive the more we read and research the better we are.

Hello to all of you. I've just read all of the posts for July chemo girls. I meet with my onc on Tues. My lumpectomy was 6/14 with SNB. My margins are not clear, but nodes were! Dr. says it wouldn't do any good to do more surgery at this point unless oncologist disagrees. Tumor was orginally thought to be .8mm, but turned out to be 3 cm. So, stage 2 with chemo and rads for me, or "everything but the kitchen sink" as per dr. Like all of you, this is certainly not how I planned to spend the summer. I've decided though, that this summer can be crappy, but watch out 2008! I have so many concerns, fears, etc. about all of this and of the future. I don't know if I'll be able to work through treatment. I'm a social worker, going into homes working with families and their small children. I also am a single mom of three, 15, 11 and 3 years. We are so busy!! It's so hard to accept outside help, isn't it? I know I'm going to have to though. My company doesn't offer insurance. Komen fund took care of mamo, ultrasound, MRI and consult. But, how am I going to pay for the surgery, chemo, rads and follow up in the years to come? I'm going to apply for Medicaid, hope that will help. Ugghh! Like many of you, seeing a lot of waking hours and feel like a zombie at times. I'm thinking about all of you and hoping the best.
I think this board is so great. It appears that others going through this at different times have really been a great support to one another.

Kim

Raye,

Thanks so much for your encouragement it helps to hear from someone whose been there and back. You had the same treatment I'm starting on July 2nd, and I'm also triple neg. Wow can't believe you were able to work, that really inspires me. I'll just keep repeating, I can do this, I can do this.

Thanks again and hope you have a great summer!

Count me in for the onco on the 2nd. I made it through the MRI it was a challenge to say the least. This is all so overwhelming some days, I am glad to have foud this site. This place helps me to know what to ask the onco when I am there.
Keep you posted and keep dreaming, smiling and laughing everyone.

Vickey,

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm going to the wig salon next week and going to have some fun with this new adventure.

Kim

Ok,


Woo-hoo!

So today is the my first day of chemo and I think also Gagals? I am er/pro pos so I get the standard 8 weeks of 4AC 4 Taxol. Although I did meet a woman going through Abraxane trials and she says that that is shown to be better than Taxol both in patient tolerance and in efficacy. I have a number of questions for my Onc before I get my transfusion @ 11 this afternoon.

One thing that I did last week was go to a place called the Wellness Center and hook up with a BC cancer support group which I highly recommend doing if you can. It was really helpful to meet some woman that have already made it thru chemo. I came away from it with a respect for those that have worse diagnosis than mine and a sense that this is going to be something that I can manage and not lose my life to for the next 4 months. I met a gal that has to do 15 months of this stuff and that was a trip.

A few of my questions are related to what people do with sun protection when they go outside. I know that there are UV shirts and stuff. I can't see being indoors all the time on nice days so there has to be a way to do it. I know that drinking tons of water is super important days before and after treatment and I do that anyway with all the yoga stuff. What other questions are people wondering about?

Raye99 I have always loved your cute picture and have read many of your posts that you did on treatment. Thanks for the good wishes.

~climbergirl