June 2007 Chemo

Hi Ladies,
haven't checked in for a while and holy cow!!

I have tx #4 of A/C Friday and already dreading but last one! Then, I'm taking Herceptin alone, starting 36 rads and will start Tamoxifen after rads so far from done but DONE with chemo....although I feel pretty good this week. tx #2 I was sick the entire two weeks, tx #3, I was leveled sick the first week. I'm not sure which is worse to tolerate.

I'm also tired of being bald and wishing my summer away. I have fine, blonde hair so I'll probably be bald until next summer!

Did anyone catch the GMA, Robin's return? She looks good but I was upset how they are trying to portray bc as a breeze to get through. The treatment is devastating to some of us and I felt offended they tried to act like it's not a big deal. It's just not that easy.

Susan

Love the grandkid stories Terry and Shrink!

Couple more years and my oldest son(21)should be married off and working on grandkids for me! (my DD25 is not interested in kids and my youngest son is 17 and better keep it in his pants!!!

gotta run - just popping in trying to catch up!
good luck with treatmens and se's this week everyone!
Dawn

GMA= Good Morning, America. Robin Roberts was just recently dx, had her surgery and is back to work with breast cancer segments on the show. I have not seen any of the shows so can't really comment but the thread on "Just Diagnosed" is enough to make anyone livid.

Sorry, Lisa, to hear your WBC was down. Hope the Neupagen works much better for you than the neulasta. I go for mine today, the neulasta. I don't know why my onc insists on giving it to me 48 hours after when I feel like crap and can't drive myself....grrrr

DebbieK and Kathleen, I'd love to hear from you about your second Taxol, hope all is well.

Shrink, let me know when you come up again. I'm about 30 minutes from Lockport but maybe we can meet for tea or something. :-)

Dawn, too funny about your comments and your youngest. LOL I have two not married yet and feel the same way but at 20 y/o and 18...I can only hope for the best.

I ordered the book, The Breast CAncer Husband for my dh to read. But, I'm reading it first and I keep saying 'yes, yes, yes!"...at first he tried so hard to do the right thing but I'm feeling so emotionally distant from him these days. Anyone else having trouble communicating with their spouses? He's just not there in the way that I need him and unless I have a meltdown, life keeps chugging along while I'm standing around still scratching my head at my situation.
Well, that was a bummer of a comment....gotta run and get ready for my nurse visit....
hope everyone has a good day.

I'm very behind on everyone so trying to catch up some today.
I just spent all of last week in the hospital diagnosed with congestive heart failure so haven't been online but now feeling like a little bit at the puter is ok, it's just hard to breathe.
I know some of you have been talking about Taxol. My daughter just did 12 weeks of it and she did fine other than being tired. Me, I had a hard time on it 4 yrs ago, we are all different. I hope those of you starting taxol don't have too many problems.
Tomorrow I see my Onc, I don't want anymore Taxotere, I'm afraid of it now although it didn't cause the heart failure. Whatever he gives me will have to be someting that isn't hard on the heart.
Best wishes to you all,

My white blood count was under one last time, 0.8 and they didn't put me in the hospital. My hemoglobin was 9.3, so I'm anemic and they started me on procrit, although I really didn't want to take it. But there's not much else to do. I've heard that iron supplements won't do much good, because this has to do with the bone marrow, and iron supplements won't change that, or the number of red cells you have.

Galnok..I am SOOO sorry about your diagnosis...I have to admit that's one thing I've been VERY worried about. I already have a heart murmur that I take medicine for daily, and congestive heart failure runs in my family, so I've been worried...I have a second echo tomorrow since I'm done with Adriamycin now. I'm hoping for the best, so we'll see. Can you tell me what happened, and what to watch for with the CHF? I will of course, keepyou in my prayers. What will they do for it? Are there medicines you can take to help it out?

Had my first TAxol on Monday...did really good at the infusion, but have had the hand and foot syndrome...hands really swollen, red, hot, burning, so they put me on prednisone for a few days, plus B6, to try to get it under control.

Hope everyone else is doing good with their infusions. I keep you all in my thoughts all the time.

Gracie

Bonnie, you'll most probably sleep during the Taxol infusion due to the benadryl they give you beforehand. I know I slept a lot!
Last night was the worse so far, the joint aches and pain kicked in but not too horribly bad. The worse part, and this has been ongoing for me, is that my heart tends to race after chemo and it literally kept me up all night. Poor dh didn't get any sleep either due to me squirming all night.
But, the nausea and foggy head of AC isn't around this time for Taxol, that is a plus. I'm going to take some Tylenol later if the pain gets worse but honestly, it hasn't been that bad. I'm also extremely tired, even before my sleepless night last night.
Oh, and dealing with constipation again, I thought that was over too...surprise on me.
Good luck today, Bonnie, I'll be thinking of you.

Dawn, I'm almost to the point of putting my last three taxols on hold till my breast has time to heal. I'm so sick of dealing with that AND chemo. It's been almost three months since the infection and the wound has closed a lot but packing is still required. I'm relating it to the last five pounds you want to lose on a diet, it seems they never come off...well, the last 1 cm of this wound is taking FOREVER to heal.

Pam, I was just thinking of you yesterday, wondering how you were doing. I'm sorry you're having to deal with added physical problems. Have the drs said what is causing this? {{{Pam}}}
So much on our plates, it seems.

Gracie, hope the steriods help with the reaction.

I'm always confused when we talk about blood counts because my dr gives my numbers like this: WBC 5200....what does that mean compared to counts using decimals?

Hope everyone has a good day!

Gracie I'm so sorry you already have a heart murmur and also that CHF runs in your family. I can understand your concern and hope they are watching you closely!
As far as I know I have no family history of CHF, this seems to have come out of nowhere.
I have been under doc's care for Angina for several years so do get the echos on a regular basis.
My stomach starting bloating last fall and long story short it just kept at it, then more chemo, Taxotere which I understand also causes bloating and swelling which I was having in my left hand/arm, feet and ankles. Then about 2 days before my last treatment I came down w/a cough which continued to get worse and I had a horrible time getting enough oxygen so went to the doc and ended up in the hospital. He did an echo and said there was too much fluid around my heart. Compared to my last echo my heart is now weaker. It all got confusing cause the symptoms and se's are so similar to the Taxotere. I thought I was just having a really bad chest thing but I knew something was wrong when I could barely get enough air to breathe.
Please be careful and make them watch you like a hawk!
Let us know how your echo comes out and best wishes for a good one!
Hugs,

I haven't taken any anti nausea meds with this Taxol at all, after all of the nausea with the Adria (10 days every time), I'm surprised. but happy.

Terry, I think the prednisone is helping a little, my hands are much better today. But they look like they will peel, oh well, a little peeling won't hurt.

I didn't sleep at all at my first infusion...I got restless leg and arm and body syndrome, lol. I was moving all over. I think they will give me a little less next time.

My echo came back good, so maybe I've dodged a bullet here, I'm going to hope so.

Gracie

Hang in there, Gracie and Pam! Thinking of you.

Those of you on Taxol, is it 4 sessions?

I like hearing family stuff. You girls are funny
So far, Nupagen has not given me a migraine. WBC check tomorrow.

Susan, good luck today... your LAST AC!! This is something to smile about. Mentally you'll feel so much better after this is infusion is done. I so hope the SE are minimal for you.


Anna, thanks for the blood count explanation. I'll have to ask my onc exactly what they're measuring. All I know is he keeps saying I have 'killer blood'....at least something works in my poor body! LOL

Bonnie, how are you today? The nausea has been absent for me this week after Taxol on Monday. Hope you don't need the meds they gave you. They did push Aloxi on Monday though and apparently it is a long lasting anti-nausea med, so not sure if that kept the nausea at bay or if Taxol isn't as harsh on the GI tract as AC.
I love a man in uniform! How sweet they cooked for everyone..yum!

Gracie, GREAT news on the echo!! Hope your hands continue to heal.

Debbie, I'm glad you're doing better after #2. I think it's a hard lesson for us to learn to listen to our bodies, we're so used to doing for everyone else!

Shrink, ha ha on the snow...actually, we're about 2 months out from the anniversary of the freak October storm we had last year...22 inches overnight and we lost power for 4 days. The next day the temps climbed into the 60s! Only in Buffalo.

I'm not sure what your onc is saying about markers in the blood....the only thing I know is tumor markers so of no help. Have you searched on this site?
Or maybe start new a thread, I'm sure somebody out there has the answer.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Hi all
Had my last AC yesterday, and am not unhappy to have that part done and over with. I start on 4X of DD taxol starting September 6th. They are giving me an extra week in between before starting the Taxol. Normally I go every 2 weeks but will be 3 weeks for #5. I am going on vacation so it worked out well. And no neulasta shot today since my next tx is not for 3 weeks. When I start the Taxol, I will have the neulasta shots for it though. I have not been as sick this time for my AC as I was for the last three times. Knock on wood. And from what I have been reading, the SE from the taxol is not nearly as bad as the AC. So, half way done. On the downhill slide now, but still have 7 weeks of radiation.

I know. I called one of the chemo nurses today because I saw 7 red dots and 3 brown ones on my scalp. She checked with the doctor who said it was nothing, most likely a chemo se. I feel like a wimp too. If I had hair, I never would have noticed.

GarnettAnn, have a great vacation! I hope the Taxol is easier for you. The nausea has been better but the rest of the SE are still there for me, unfortunately. I'm not as foggyheaded though, just SOOOOO tired.

{{{Shrink and Gracie}}} I think we all feel more attuned to our bodies these days. Better to call and ask than sit and worry.

I think I'm being released tomorrow from the home health nurse visits but won't know definitely until Monday when I see the surgeon for a follow-up. The wound is not healed but very small yet still requires packing and irrigation every day. My daughter seems to think she can do it and the nurse said it was foolish to keep paying them if she was willing. I'll admit, I'm nervous about not having the nurse come everyday to check me out...it feels as if a safety net is being pulled out from under me. Ah, well, I'll get through this too!!

I am so excited! Three weeks into Taxol and I have my taste back for coffee! I have really missed it. My husband says I have some peach fuzz on my head so maybe my hair is waking up as well.

This sure has been a strange ride ..... every day brings something new. It will be such a relief to get back to normal.

Hope you are all having a great weekend. Debbie

Gracie, I am having Taxol every two weeks for a total of 4 treatments. The SEs are brutal for a couple days but lots of rest seems to help. I only have two treatments left. I can't remember; are you on Taxol yet? What is your schedule?

Debbie