Starting Chemo in May 07

Hey, I just looked at your post and know now what's a chillow and I'm going to go tomorrow for one thanks you that's going to help me and my sister in law .....WOW!!!!

Oooh, Amya, I like the sound of that! "I HAD cancer." Very nice!! SOOOO psyched for you that you're having your last one on Thursday. YAY!!!

My last one is the 23rd--anybody else have a chemo after me?

I'm getting better slowly but surely. I think this time has maybe been slightly easier, probably because I wasn't going into it with a cold. Tomorrow I get my pump off--yay! THat means I get to take a LOOOONG lovely bath.

Hey, does anybody have their radiation plan all mapped out yet? I meant to ask my onc when I should have an appt. with that dr., but I forgot so I'll have to ask him at my next appt. I have to get my port out before rads, too--they had to put it in on the same side as where I'm getting rads, because the other side it would have been in the way when I play violin. I'm starting to be curious about my post-chemo schedule. It's nice to think ahead to moving out of this yucky stage!

Hugs to all,

Amy

Amanda I'm so happy for you that Thursday is your LAST one!! and to everyone else who is doing their last one next! Amy, my last one is the 23rd also. I cannot wait for this stage to be DONE!!!

This 2nd Taxol has been much easier than the first. Sleeping better helps a ton (and really I do think the Chillow has helped a lot) with every facet (mental and physical. Also getting over feeling like I am somehow "superior" if I skip pain meds and actually TAKING the darn giant ibuprofens every morning and night helps too. I hope the neuropathy doesn't continue to build - that sort of freaks me out.

Noticing that my eyebrows have thinned a lot... eyelashes (I usually have a lot of them) are just beginning to show a few gaps. Dang I'd hoped to dodge that bullet. I'm being veeeeery careful about pulling any of those hairs in any way, hoping they will hang in there. We'll see...

Hugs,
LeeAnne

I'm in the June group, and I got my bloodwork yesterday. I always get a Neulasta shot the day after treatment, but even then, my WBC yesterday was at 0.8. They didn't put me in the hospital. I'm thinking it's because I dont' have a high fever? They did start me on antibiotics, and I got a shot of procrit, which scares the heck out of me, besides, I had a really strange reaction...my hands turned purple last night when washing them, getting ready for bed, and all the veins were popped out like they were swollen...I could even see the veins in the tips of my fingers...scary.

anybody else had problems with procrit?

Gracie (from the June 2007 group).

Amy, I have striped nails too. Not bad, but they look different. I hope you enjoy your vacation and feel good the whole time!

Gracie, I felt bad last time I took Procrit. The first time I didn't notice anything, but it was the day after my last A/C so I felt bad anyway. My hands didn't do what you described but I just felt yucky and had trouble falling asleep.

Brendanissick, Sad to hear of your hospitalization. Do you do dose-dense? If so I don't understand why you would not be on neupogen or neulasta. Seems like it should be automatic. Even for women doing treatments every three weeks, we always hear of people having problems and ending up in hospital. Hope next one goes better.

I'm still feeling good and trying to prepare myself for surgery at end of month. I'm feeling very motiviated to organize and clean right now. I'm going to go tackle a pile of bills right now.

hey.....................what happened?
As I was saying.....(or trying too)
when you have DARK brown hair....anyway....
My last treatment is 8/16 too Brenda. I used to be excited about that until I found out triple negative was a bad thing and they just hadn't come up with any additional treatment....
Sorry to be negative girls.
I'm just tired. Tired of being sore, tired of being tired, tired of bein bald, tired of not wanting to go out, tired of being stuck.....
I'm also sad. My dad was sick like Stephanie's ..... my dad died from lung mets 3 days after my 41st b-day, July 27th.
I hope Stephanie's dad isn't suffering.
k......'nuff of my pity party.
I thank God for all you girls on this site and all the inspiration I have gotten from it.
Single gal, never a mom, live alone......I cherish this website while I'm going thru this.
Thank you!
I feel better now....just ate about 2000 calories of cheez-its while typing this post.
155 here I come!
Hugs,
Traci

((((Kim))))) - it sucks to be inpatient, so glad you're out
(((((Traci)))))) - you must be so grieving - July 27th is so recent (did you mean July 27th of this year?) - all my condolences, and I'm so sorry you have to go through being sick while grieving. What a bad year.

I too am single, no kids, lots of friends and close family, but having you all here - it helps immensely.

Also, the eyelash thing pisses me off - I noticed this morning that about 1/2 are gone. Its funny that it makes me so mad - lose my breast, not mad; lose my hair, resigned; but my eyelashes - now that's going too far!! Insult to injury, it just makes me mad. And the image of me walking around bald (though with stubble), no eyelashes and eyebrows that are rapidly thinning is sort of funny - I mean, can you tell that I'm mad if I don't have eyebrows??? bwahaha...ah well, it's either laugh or cry

Night all. BTW, once again, I highly recommend the slow-release morphine for the taxane pain - only have to take one little pill every 12 hours, or every 24 if you can go that long.

Hi Amy---thanks for asking about the heart stuff. I had a baseline MUGA before chemo, then another one after chemo, but prior to starting my Herceptin. (These were standard tests...my heart felt/feels fine). Anyhow, I guess there is a lot of interpretation in these tests. The second MUGA looked "weird" enough that my onc called for an echo-cardiogram. This was read by my father's cardiologist and declared normal. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I have had 2 Herceptin treatments and will now have MUGA scans every 4 months to make sure that the Herceptin doesn't damage my heart. Good thing (HAHA) is that if the Herceptin DOES damage your heart, they just put you on old until you "recover." From what I understand if your heart is damaged by AC chemo it's not reversable. Did you have any kind of heart scan prior to chemo? I think this is very common...

Had a visit last week with my onc...appointment was for 4:30 pm. I called at 3:30 and asked if she was running behind and they said by 1 hour... My sister (my rock) and I got there at 5:30 and saw the doctor at 8:30!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine...4 hours late for the appointment! Good thing I love her... Went through all of my side effects and she said that I didn't have the easiest time, but I also didn't have the worst. She was surprised by my reaction to only 4 AC treatments... She also said that her younger patients have a more difficult time with chemo and that the 70 year old patients seem to cruise through them with few side effects. Counter-intuitive. I don't have to see the onc for 4 months. I am coming up on almost a year since my last mammo (and diagnoses...) Almost time to go for my yearly mammo and I am dreading it...

I had a very bad reaction to AC chemo with my nails. Black lines on my thumbs and index fingers. Big-toenails practically fell off...really vile. Lookse like the black on the fingernails has stopped, but toes are a goner! They will probably take more than a year to grow back. Nice reminder/souvenir of the ordeal.

I actually have peach fuzz on my head. My hair isn't growing back fast enough for me. Lost all of my hair on my body on the AC chemo. I too have dark brown hair, so my scalp was whiter than white. (Still is). Lost about 1/2 my eyebrows and lashes. Again, skin was so white where eyebrows were. Traci and Amy, I know how you feel with sick of being sick, sick of being bald, sick of getting infusions every 3 weeks. Oh, and I am single and live alone, so I totally relate!! Oh, and to add insult to injury, my peach fuzz seems more white than brown! ARGH.

Hey girls,

I have YET ANOTHER new medical experience to relate. I'm getting so tired of these! This morning when I got up and put my contacts in, I just couldn't see right. It took me about 30 minutes to figure out that my eyes were completely DILATED. We're talking HUGE pupils, like when they dilate your eyes at the eye doctor. I called the onc, and they were the ones who figured out what must have happened. It seems that when I removed my scopolamine patch last night (they give me those after chemo to put on for the nausea) I got some of the medicine on my fingers. I then removed my contact lenses without washing my hands first (I know, my bad, I should always wash my hands). Apparently the medicine from the patch will make your eyes dilate. So now I'm spending the entire day in the house with all the blinds shut as tight as they can go, and feeling basically cross-eyed and sick to my stomach. Onc says there's nothing I can do, I just have to wait for them to go back to normal, hopefully by tomorrow. Before this I was actually on a really good trajectory (for me, anyway) of feeling better, and had even planned a couple of errands for today. OH WELL. Grrrrrrr! I'm also really "shaky" today, not sure what that's from. You know, like when you pick up something a little bit heavy and your hand trembles? Just sort of flighty, somehow, so I can't really get myself into a napping state of mind, which is what my eyes wish I would do.

TOTALLY relating to the white head and eyebrows--my hair was really dark too. I'm really wondering what color/texture it will come back as--I had straight hair when I lost it, but always had curls as a kid. Hmmmmm....

Amy

Well, that one worked....what the heck?

Anyway.....thanks for all the messages you guys. My dad did just pass away from lung mets. At least he only "really" suffered for a few days. I really feel for Stephanie cuz she just went to be with her dad in Hospice. It's not an easy thing.

Amy, I was saying how your posts make me laugh. You can tell you have a really good sense of humor. Sorry about the eye thing. Have you tried wearing blinders on your eyes to sleep? I don't think I could go to sleep without them.

Virginia, a friend of mine lost her entire big toenail when she stubbed her toe on something. She went to a fake nail girl and they managed to put one on her toe that looked totally real. Maybe you should try that!!

Anyway, gotta get back to work girls. I'm taking my stepmom to a comedy club tonight so we can both have a well deserved belly laugh.

Y'all take care.
: ) Traci

Quote:

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This 2nd Taxol has been much easier than the first... I hope the neuropathy doesn't continue to build - that sort of freaks me out.

---

LeeAnne, I also have neuropathy after my 2nd Taxol treatment and it also makes me nervous because the oncologist said that I wouldn't have it after the first two treatments.

It's not too bad, mostly in my thumbs and first two fingers on each hand and also my toes. I also have a feeling like I am walking on a marble on the ball of my right foot.

I have two more treatments on the 15th and the 29th.

Pat

Hi everyone
thank you for the good wishes. I guess we are all experiencing bad side effects from the last of our chemo. I think of you guys often and you keep me going.
Lizy - I was not on dose dense. The doctor caring for me in the hospital told me that I should have been on neupegin shots from the beginning and he also said that maybe one more treatment or 1/2 doses should be enough as it looks like my heart is also getting screwed. My suggestion to my onc will be one more tx and that's all. What do you guys think? I figure I don't want to damage anymore body parts that don't need it. Also my son with lupus took my set back really bad and started having symptoms. I don't want him to get sick again because that would be awful. He could die!
Traci so sorry to hear about your dad. Your in my prayers
Aimster - I also feel very trembly. My legs feel like led. I guess the cumulative effects of our chemo is catching up with us now.
take care and prayers are with you all
Kim

Hi girls,

I'm so glad we're all here for each other. We're from such different places and life stages and all that, but we're bound by this experience. I agree with Kim--I think of you all often and it helps me.

My eyes are slooooowly getting better. I called the on-call onc last night because of the shaky feeling and also because I wanted to know what I'm allowed to take to alleviate the headache/nausea/etc that my eyes bring on. He told me the shakiness is the steroid STILL--I had no idea its effects last that long! I haven't had a drop since Tuesday at 1pm, and I still feel it a bit. It's better now, though, and I slept the best last night that I have in over a week. What a relief. He also said that my eyes are going to be dilated for 3-4 DAYS. UGH.

We're going on our family vacation on Sunday to St. Louis--I can't WAIT. We're staying in a suite in a big hotel (the kids have a SEPARATE ROOM!!) and just doing fun stuff around St. Louis every day. And we'll hang out in the hotel and eat lots of neat places, and the kids will have a blast. I hope, anyway!

Amy

Taxol number 3 went the best yet. They cut the Benedryl down to 25 from 50 (what? it's an iv - don't know the measurements) and that way my legs didn't get all twitchy AND the entire thing went much faster with only one bag of Benedryl to drip! Yeah! Plus I brought my laptop and the wifi worked and that was a nice distraction.

Our Portland Race for the Cure is September 23rd and I created a team today (Team Lulu - my nickname) and got my page set up. If anyone wants to see it (not asking for donations at ALL peeps, just sharing) it is found here:

http://race.komenoregon.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1040&px=1343784

Nice to accomplish something worthwhile during chemo!

Doc told me it could be a year before the tingling in my hands and feet goes away... yeesh. The acupuncturist is going to work hard on that. During her schooling she did lots of time in the public health clinic working on neuropathy in Aids patients so she knows what to do.

Amanda, you are DONE with chemo! Woohoo! I'd be cracking the champagne if it were me. In two weeks that's what I'll be doing.

Well I'm going to enjoy my steroid energy and freedom from pain and walk the dog. Take care everyone.

Hugs,
LeeAnne

Me again! I have a question for Amy. I went to see a radiation onc 2 days ago and mapped out my plan for rads in Oct/Nov (I have tissue expanders and due to a slow healing surgery site on the left, haven't had a fill yet). Anyway, I have a port also, but he didn't mention anything about removing it before radiation...oh, it's the other side!! I just realized. They told me I need to have the port in for 2 years. I guess I answered my own question!!!

Lorain