I am starting chemo in July 07. Anyone else?

Hi Ladies,

Abbi, I am so happy for you, 1 more to go, that is great news.

Rose, so nice to see your feeling much better also.

Abbey, 1 more for you also, I am so glad we can all close the chemo chapter very soon.

I feel wonderful, last chemo was Nov 5, not enough hair yet to go topless (scarfless). I started radiation Dec 3, have had 8 boosts already and start whole breast rads tomorrow, today was picture day and remapping.

I hope everyone starts feeling great real soon. I haven't been on in awhile, been busy busy, working. Today is a snow day and my daughter and I baked lots of cookies.

Take Care All, Charlene

Jane...that's good that they are lowering your dosage of  Taxol.  Hope that the tingling goes away quickly!  My "hair" is also growing...mine is still fuzz too...but more of it is coming in, so that makes me happy.  I actually never did loose all of my hair...i've always had a little fuzz on my head...but it's gotten much fuller/thicker in the past couple weeks.

Abbi...I also have my last chemo this Thursday!  However, I will be sick for about a week following treatment ...but I'll be done! 

Have a great week ladies!

Isn't that wild that the 2 "Abbeys" are finishing the same day?



I'm counting the days at this point, CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THURSDAY!!! I don't get any side effects, so when I'm done, I'm done.... sorry you'll be feeling yucky... but at least you know it's the LAST TIME!!!



My hair's coming in really nicely. If it were summer, I might just go w/o a scarf, but it's cold here in Pittsburgh - I need something for warmth.



Who else still has treatments? We don't want to abandon you out here... You have all helped me so much these past 6 months that I ain't leavin' this thread until we've all finished.



On a similar note, who's headed over to rads in January? I don't have a start date yet, I guess we'll discuss that on Thursday.... but I suppose it'll be mid to end January.



Port comes out January 9th!! Yippee on that... while I'm glad I've had it through the 16 treatments I've done, it drives me nuts.... can't wait to be rid of it.



Good week, everyone..... I'll be back doing the happy dance on Thursday afternoon!!!



Abbi

Well, I've decided to take the plunge today. I have about 1/2" of very thick hair. I looked at myself in the mirror and didn't think I looked half bad. Put on the scarf and thought I looked actually worse.



So I'm goin' commando!!! It's definately a "short" hairstyle. People will be wondering if I did this on purpose or if I have Cancer. With the scarf, there's no doubt.



Heading off to the local food pantry where I volunteer on Tuesdays. Can't wait to see the reactions!!!



Abbi

You rock Abbi!  I also can't wait until the day that I can go without a scarf...it's not quite there yet for me either.

CHEMO IS DONE!!!!

WAHOO!!

FEELS SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!

It was great.  The 4 nurses and one of the Drs. all came over and did a dance for me (yes, even the Dr danced).  My mom brought a big brass bell to ring and left it as a gift for other patients.

Then I danced my way all the way down the hall and outta there!

I go for my first rads appt next Thursday, port out on 1/9.  Start Tamoxifin in 2 weeks.... so I'm movin' on.

Is there a "starting rads in January" thread yet..... gonna check that out now.

Abbi

Congrats Abbi on getting through Chemo!!  I admire your stamina in doing 12 weeks of taxol!  I was fortunate that I only had to do 8 chemo sessions every two weeks starting in July.  I started 7 weeks of rads just 10 days after my last taxol and just completed the final rad session today. 

  I did not get tired during rads, I think that I got adjusted to that during chemo.  I also made sure to exercise at least doing something every day through rads.  I really think that helped, even if it was only a 20 minute Yoga video.  I put cream on at least twice a day from the very beginning.  While I got red/pink after a couple weeks, I never had any kind of burn until five and a half weeks into the treatment and now I have a burn in my armpit.  I don't think I paid enough attention to putting cream in my armpit during treatment as I should have.  That is a problem area because their is constant friction.  I am hoping it heals quickly. 

  The actual radiation takes less than 3 minutes and the repositioning of the machine adds another few minutes, so you are generally on and off the table in 10 minutes or less. I would definitely recommend joining one of the rad groups and also read a previous one to get ideas on creams and such. 

  I am jealous of some of you and your hair growth.  I finished dose dense taxol on the 24th of October and it completely decimated my hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes.  I just now have about and 1/4" of growth.  I am hoping it grows fast because when I return to work after the first of the year, I am not planning on wearing a wig!

  I hope Abbey finished her last AC successfully and is up and around for a great Christmas. 

  My next step is hormone therapy...

Merry Christmas to you all and hope 2008 is a great year for everyone!

Linda

Oh and two things I forgot:

One, I AM RUNNING AGAIN!!! Yay me! Actually it is 2 minutes running and two min. walking but I am building up. My goal is to race again in early March for Buffalo's Shamrock Run (Great post-race party!!)

And the other thing - to those of you who are celebrating Christmas - have a wonderful one. Enjoy and God bless!!!

Donna

Today was my grand chemo finale and I am the one doing the happy dance!  I finished my 12th Taxol today. I began my chemo journey on July 19th and finished today, December 27th. Yahooooo!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited to tell everyone that it was my last chemo. I've witnessed many woman coming in for their last treatment and I always thought how lucky they were and how I wish it was me who was finishing, and here I am, I am finished!

Abbey, enjoy your break and do let us know how the tests turn out on the 27th. It sounds like things are progressing nicely.

Linda, thanks for the tips on rads. I stopped in at the radiologist office to set up my consultation on Jan. 14th.

Donna, I can't wait to start back on an exercise routine My main complaint on the Taxol the past few weeks has been the nails. I've lost half of my big toe nail and the others are extremely sore. I've been kind of limping around and have been limited to a few pair of shoes that don't press on the toes. It's really slowed down my walking. My fingernails have been very painful the past week especially. Luckily, I'm done with the doses and hope to see an improvement in a few weeks. I have white spots around the edges which appears to be an area the nail is lifting. I have trouble zipping, or doing much of anything which involves touching my nails. Wrapping Christmas presents was a challenge. About 4 of the 10 fingernailss are extremely painful, kind of like a sliver is stuck under the nail. Two of my toes started oozing clear liquid. It was like there was a blister under there. My fingernails that are sorest are purple/red, no green or black yet. My big toe is dark blackish green and very gross looking. I hope a beautiful nail will grow back in its place. My other big toe is clear. Strange. Oh well, it's a small price to pay to be free and clear of the cancer.

Jane 

Hi Ladies,

I am soooooooooo happy Abbi and Abbey are done with chemo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahoo, we all made it! Congratulations to everyone done, or almost done. Rads are over half done, 3 weeks to go. Happy New Year to all!

Take Care Charlene

Happy New Year to all! 2008 HAS to be better than '07 was!

This past Friday I had my one month post-chemo checkup. I went to the chemo room for my port flush and it felt soooooooo good to be one of the people who is DONE! Like Jane, I always used to envy the women who were getting their last tx, and the ones who just came back for a checkup...now I am one of those people who are done!

And my eyelashes are growing back!

Increased my pattern to 5 min. run, 2-3 min. walk, with a big 6 1/2 min. run at the finish!!! Feeling great!

Oh and I started Tamoxifen on Friday. No side effects to speak of.

Donna

Are they "real" tatoos for radiation?  Do they ever go away?

Oh man......just when you finish, you get a cold. Hope you're feeling better this weekend.

Margie - your surgery was today. I hope it went OK and you're feeling OK when you read this. I had my bilateral first and chemo second. The chemo was WAY worse. Healing from the bilat was pretty easy. Hopefully it will be the same for you. Let us know how you're doing.

Well, it's supposed to get very warm here this weekend so I'm looking forward to getting outside a lot with our dogs. I hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Donna

I'm home from the bilateral, it went well.  I'm not in too much pain so that's good.  The drains stay in for 10 days to two weeks, that's going to be a pain in the butt!