June 2007 Chemo

Hi Gracie, bless your heart, you are sure having a hard time of it w/this chemo and nausea. Maybe you should ask them to change your nausea meds to something else? There is no reason why you should be having nausea for so long, atleast I would think so! Why don't you give the Onc's office a call and tell them what is going on, maybe they can help you.
Ah yes crying over the hair loss. Well it is definitely a tough thing to go thru, we all know it grows back but it doesn't change how we feel at the moment.
I would imagine with your not feeling well that it compounds your reactions to other things, I know it does me and we are all going to go thru down times and then up times, just seems to go with this little adventure we didn't ask for. Maybe you might try an antidepressant, alot of women take them. Sometimes tears are good for us along with all the other feelings that invade our thoughts and minds, the good and bad, we unfortunately have to deal with it all in our own way. I have my tears believe me.
Please write whenever you just want to talk, sometimes that in itself makes us feel better and we're all here to support each other.
Don't worry either about not being here all the time, we all have our on and off days, that is natural.
Big big hug and hope today is a little better,

Linda I love it! The flashiest headscarf and earrings you can find, thumbs up to you!
Wish I could pull that off. Maybe I'll just go bald and really blow their socks off. lol

Gracie, I understand how you feel...here I was for my first treatment and so excited about all the anti-naseau meds...Emend, Compazine, Lorizipan and one other. Felt good trough infusion time and about 5 hours after, I started getting queezy. So, I took one of my just in case and it came flying back up, took my stronger just in case and an hour later it came flying back up. By then, I just kept vomiting an couldn't keep anything down, not even water. Ended upin the ER that night. They gave me IV fluid, Lorizipan and Zoloft. That knocked me out and when I woke up, I was slightly dizzy but no more vomiting, what a relief. I slept pretty good and day two & three have been slightly squeezy, but not vomiting. I have zero appetite...trying to eat crackers, applesauce and of course the fluids but nothing is tasting good and it's an effort to chew.

I'm going to ask them to change the meds around next time and hopefully I will not get so ill the night of treatment.

I'm so happy most of the rest of you are doing okay.

Hugs,
Susan

Hi to All,

Gracie and Susan, I'm so sorry about the hard time you both have had. I feel so fortunate I haven't had the vomiting. I do take the Zofran and Lorazepam and feel nausea for at least six days. I've had my third Tx and it is day 7. I finally feel somewhat normal today. My second Tx the nausea lasted a good 9-10 days so I swore I'd drink more this round. Just like Linda mentioned, I think the more you drink the sooner you get this stuff out of you and on the way to feeling better. But it's the hardest thing to find anything I want to drink. Water is the worst. I just keep changing my drink of choice. I've tried every different juice I can think of, Gatorade, lemondade, ginger ale. It seems like they are okay for one or two glasses, then they taste as bad as everything else. Milk probably has worked the best for me, as long as it is ice cold.

Bonnie, thanks for posting the pictures. You look great and have a beautiful family!

Honeygirl, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved cat. I had a 14-year-old golden retriever who I held while she was put to sleep. It broke my heart. Our pets bring us so much unconditional love. There is nothing like it.

My prayers and best wishes to everyone for a good week.

xoxo
Kathleen

Hi, all,
Gracie and Susan, I'm so sorry to hear you're suffering so badly with your treatments. I wish there was something I could do but writing and sharing with us hopefully will make you feel so not alone in this. {{{Gracie and Susan}}} I know they push the water but I was told in my instruction sheets to avoid water and dairy products if I felt nausea. Ginger ale and flat classic coke were recommended instead. I'm sure you've tried all the old home remedies already. I wish I could be of more help.

Bonnie, YOU ARE WOMAN! You look fabulous. I am kinda enjoying my bald state and don't care if anyone sees me w/o a scarf or hat. Went to a family reunion over the weekend and my uncles and I compared hair status. LOL

Pam, I wonder if you pinned a pink ribbon on your turbans and scarves if that would help stop the staring. It doesn't have to be blaring but a discreet little ribbon might accessorize it just right. :-)

Melody, I'm so sorry to hear of your cat. Our pets truly do become a part of our families and it's sad when we lose them. Hugs to you.

I"m doing really well this time around, one week out and I feel, dare I say it, almost normal. I've had bad constipation though this time and have tried everything. Hopefully something will kick in soon.

The home visiting nurse still comes everyday to change my packing and dressing. It is taking forever for this to heal. At least the infection is gone and the wound is closing up, from 4 inches initially to about 1 1/2 inch now. The nurse says probably in two weeks it should be healed completely and I will be off restrictions. Hooray, I can't wait. I think my butt is growing roots to the sofa.

That's my update. HOpe everyone is doing well, Good luck to those having tx this week!!

Honeygirl - I am so sorry to hear about your cat. It is so hard to let them go especially when they get so old.
I had to put my dog Nikki down in November (she was my personal trainer during my four surgeries last year), at 15 years 7 1/2 months. I miss her terribly.

I've been trying to keep up with everyone's posts - it sure is a busy time for our group.

I will have #3 A/C treatment this Thursday. If the first two are any indication I will be taking a relpax for my usual migraine on treatment day and plan on being disfunctional through most of the weekend! At least the emend, compazine and ativan are doing their job fairly well so far!

I am a big fan of Christmas (check out organizedchristmas.com) and our local radio station has a Christmas in July day where they play the music etc so I was on their site and found where you can click on Britney Spears bald picture and up comes 134 pictures of various "stars" that they have removed their hair! After clicking through them, I certainly feel that I don't look as funny as I previously thought since they have makeup artists and I don't!!

Take a look:
http://washfm.com/cc-common/gallery/display.html?album_id=47296

Hope everyone that has been having trouble with their treatments are feeling better!!

Dawn

Hi,
I just started AC chemo on 7/5/07. I was so nauseous until yesterday, still queazy, but atleast I was not asleep. They said the compozine was knocking me out. I woke up with headaches on Sunday and today and took some ibuprophen and tylenol, whatever I could grab. But they told me it was OK to take it as long as I did not take it for any fevers. I am on dose dense so I will get it 2x a month for 4 times. I have had the world's worse hangover and food poisening, and this is worse than both. I am hoping the next time might not be so bad, but I am going to be better prepared, I hope. Drinking water has never been a problem for me, I am a big proponent of getting in my 64 oz a day, but after this, I am lucky to get anything down at all, but I am trying. I had not thought about trying different liquids, I will do that next time. I am getting well hydrated today, but I think it is too little too late. My pharmacist said I could keep taking the ginger root for the nausea, it was easier on my system than the other drugs. And seemed to work as well. Cheers
Garnet

Had chemo#2 (AC) on Thursday and felt OK until Monday when I felt weak, cold and nauseous. I did take Odansetron 8 mg later in the day and it helped. I find that eating small meals frequently is better but I'm craving strange things. Last night I had gobs of cold spaghetti. At least I could eat by then. I've lost my taste for chocolate and orange joice. One day all I wanted was a wedge of lettuce. Hope you're all doing OK today.

Thanks for the idea Terry...my step-daughter did bring me some straws and they are helping. Ginger ale is helping as well. I did keep some elbow macaroni down last night and this morning I'm trying to munch on some dry corn pops (can't do the milk). I've lost another pound (7 now since Friday) so I now I really have to try to push this as much as I can. I'm hoping I'll get over the hump really quick!
Hugs,
Susan

Susan, I lost 10 lbs after my first tx (I've since gained them back and then some..sigh) so I feel for you. Nothing tasted good but chicken soup/broth and oyster crackers. Have you called your dr?

Hi all,

I just did my 3rd AC out of 4 last week. After that, I switch to 12 weekly Taxols, then radiation, then 5 years of Tamoxifen.

I am hoping to visit my fiance in Turkey midway through the Taxol--the oncologist says okay. I won't have seen him for 6 months, as he was doing his mandatory Navy service in the Turkish Navy. He won't be able to come here for another 4 months after that as we await his visa.

But I was wondering if Taxol will have all the crappy side effects of AC? Will I still feel nauseus, have a giant headache, blurred vision, fatigue, etc.? I was assuming Taxol must be "easy" since my onc is making me do it every week for 12 weeks. But will I be okay to make a big trip and act chipper for my fiance in the middle of Taxol? All I know about Taxol is the neuropathy. I don't know any other side effects, or even if it causes hair loss. I already lost it all on AC, but thought it might grow back during Taxol...

Thanks,

Sharon in MO

Stage III BC
dx 4/19/07
Started AC 6/4/07

Hi Sharon,
I had this saved because I thought they would put me on Taxol, but they are not.
The following Taxol side effects are common (occurring in greater than 30%) for patients taking Taxol:

Low blood counts. Your white and red blood cells and platelets may temporarily decrease. This can put you at increased risk for infection, anemia and/or bleeding.
Hair loss
Arthralgias and myalgias, pain in the joints and muscles. Usually temporary occurring 2 to 3 days after Taxol, and resolve within a few days.
Peripheral neuropathy (numbness and tingling of the hands and feet)
Nausea and vomiting (usually mild)
Diarrhea
Mouth sores
Hypersensitivity reaction - fever, facial flushing, chills, shortness of breath, or hives after Taxol is given. The majority of these reactions occur within the first 10 minutes of an infusion. Notify your healthcare provider immediately (premedication regimen has significantly decreased the incidence of this reaction).

I feel so good today, and feel like I ate everything in sight today. They said next time, they are going to try me on Zofran instead of the compazine. The nurse said I was not in the 70% that the compazine is effective for. Hoping for less nausea next week.

Hi, Linda:
How do you guard against airplane air? I am traveling to Philly on July 26.

Sharon: Did anyone tell you about wearing a speacial sleeve on your arm when you're on a plane so you don't get lymphadema?

Hi everyone. Susieswan and Garnet , I hope you are feeling better. I had my Third of four tx yesterday. What a time that was. They had trouble with my port. They couldn't get it to back flow my blood. The meds were flowing , But slight blood re-flow then none. So they turned me every which way but loose and still nothing. So they tried a bigger needle. Boy did that hurt! She got it to re-flow twice said she knew it was in , but that it was probably sucking againist the side of the vein and causing the suction. So when it came time to take the "red devil" the Doc said no way and to acsess a vein on my hand. So they did. After she was done she started taking syringe off of the cath. and it just broke off! Said they never seen that happen before. So she had to stick another needle into the cath. line to flush it out. What a time. They did tell me to take my Kytril sooner than I have been , and it seems to have worked for me. My nausea hasn't been half as bad as it usually is for me so far. I have to go back today for my neulasta shot. For some reason , I thought I would only get one that would cover it. But I guess I thought wrong. Also they are scheduling me for another echo-ultra sound to see if the red devil is causing any heart problems.
Pam , hope your third treatment went well. Lets us know.
Take care ladies. Hugs and Prayers , Melody

Oops on the Taxol thread, it's under "Help Me Make it Through Treatment"..not "Just Diagnosed". Sorry for the mistake!