Anyone starting chemo in June 08

Dawn, I'm jumping over here from the Taxotere/Cytoxan board.  I wondered why you were getting TC x 6 dose-dense, too, but now that I've read what your tumor looked like, it makes more sense.

I'll bet these are the reasons your onco wants to approach this thing aggressively:

1) your tumor was nearly 2 cm. One cm and 2 cm are sort of magic cutoffs oncos use when thinking about recurrence risk.  My IDC was also 1.8 cm, and that was one factor my onco used in recommending chemo at all.

2) your tumor was grade 3.  That means its growth patterns were aggressive, and that can pose a greater risk of spread--one more reason to mount a strong attack.

3) you had 2 positive nodes.  That is probably the main reason why your onco wanted to use a stronger chemo regimen.  The tumor cells had already escaped from the breast tissue.  You probably know the significance of the positive nodes.

The only other factor my onco used in deciding what I would get was my Oncotype score, which was 26. That pushed him (my first onco) farther toward recommending chemo. Yes, Oncotype testing is currently approved just for node-negative BC; but that might change some day.

otter

[Note added in edit: I forgot.  One more factor my onco used was age--older patients tend to benefit less from chemo, and have less aggressive tumors (and have fewer years to preserve). He said I was still "young".      Apparently, a few more years under my belt and he would have leaned the other way.] 

Tina,

She is wonderful, I had seen her before when I had breast cancer on the right side  in 2001.  the cancer was caught so early that I didn't need chemo or radiation.

My appointment is 10:30, I believe, but I'll probably be a few minutes early.  Maybe we'll run ito each other,  BTW, I'm still reading the purple folder.  I live in Hardee County, a very small town called Ona.  I work in Arcadia at the sheriff's office, so most of the time I'll be in my uniform, green shirt and tan pants, once I start chemo.  I hope to get on the Thursday afternoon schedule.

I will be starting my chemo in June too I am assuming.  I had a mastectomy May 14 and a port put in this last Friday.  I have appt with onc this Wednesday to schedule scans and all the rest.  Had a lot of postitive nodes and know I am a stage 3, as well as an emotional wreck.  I am expecting very aggressive txs.  I have been reading all these board topics inside out and decided to log in.   I am very glad to have a place like this to educate myself as to what's around the corner.  deecsw, my "poop hit the fan" too and I can't seem to get the speed turned down! 

KKing.....36....37 in July....so we probably didn't hang in the same circles........but neat that we've met here.....hows that great big new hospital....we moved away just before they started building it...

Renee....good luck to you....I have young kids....8 and 6.......and being a mom is demanding at the best of times....I imagine you have had to be a very hands on mom for longer than most of us......and that makes you a very special person......you will get through this for you and Becca......but don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.....remember to take care of you too......

Sad that the list keeps on growing.....but glad to have a place to call home on this board......really enjoyed keeping up with the "May surgery gals"......looked forward to logging on to check how everyone was doing?.....kinda weird....I know.....but kinda where my heads at right now.....

Jax

It is hard to tell the kids.....I am putting that off.........they know I had surgery........but I told them it was just like daughters tonsil surgery from a couple of years ago.......when I got home they wanted to look down my throat and pump me full of ice cream.....lol....they do realize now that the surgery was under my arm.....and that's where we are........I know I will have to tell them before my hair falls out......but figure I have more than a month....till that happens.......and there is no sense in worrying them yet......I am quite sure my daughter will be very upset about the bald......she is very vain.....I think it's her age.....but she does think of herself as quite a Diva.....and all her little friends think I'm the "cool" mom......woops........don't know how I can keep up that image tired and bald......but it's amazing what we can do for our children......my son probably won't even notice......he is a truely male.......lol

Jax

hunkydory and rmpoulson--quoting those wacky high school musical kids, "we're all in this together" (can you tell I have a 7-year-old?). It sounds like we'll be starting tx at the same time. I am happy to have found this site and this thread and hope that we all can be helpful to each other over the next few months. I hope it's not as bad as I'm anticipating. Think positive..think positive...

Hi Ladies,

I am a June girl too.  I am set to start chemo on June 4th.  I am starting to get pretty scared and am wondering if I am even going to be taking the right chemo.  I am supposed to start on AC followed by T for 8 cycles.  I am triple negative and now am hearing that Adriamycin may not really work for triple negative cancer.  There is so much information out there - how do we know what is best. 

I have ordered my wig and it's being custom colored now.  I will have it cut to my regular hairstyle on the day I go in to have my head shaved.  I really can't even believe that I am talking about myself when I say this.  Even though I have had my lumpectomy, tons of dr. appts, etc.... I still can't believe this is happening to ME!

LibraGirl, looks like our diagnosis was about the same except I had negative hormone receptors. I am getting my cath put in this Friday. I start chemo on June 6th but am getting TC + Herceptin. We may be the only people in this group getting Herceptin. Do you have to take it for one year?

I went to Walmart and bought a couple of hats. They were brightly colored patchwork hats with narrow brims all around. The are soft and look washable. These are multicolor but they had a couple of solid colors too. They were $7 each. I haven't found any inexpensive cotton scarves and bandanas don't seem to be big enough. Any ideas anyone?

I also thought the wigs looked too puffy and looked like a birdsnest sitting on top of my head. I found an inexpensive one I thought was cute but my husband doesn't like it. My daughter and I overruled him. It is a kind of bright color (kind of reddish, highlited alot) for me but it didn't make me look as pale as the others and I thought it would be fun to wear sometimes. I am going next weekend to look at more wigs and get something neared the color of my hair. I cut it a little shorter this past weekend so I wouldn't have so much to buzz later.

I have been wondering if my eyebrow hair will fall out. Anyone had any experience with this? I found eyebrow tattos, wigs and kits to draw them one. The temporary waterproof tatoos were the cheapest but sound weird. I have no idea if this will happen or what to do if it does. Maybe I can just get wigs with long bangs that will hide the eyebrow area and not worry about it.

I started a 'chemo box' and put everything in one area so it would be easy to find. I went shopping and got some of the items others have recommended we have on hand. I made a good start but I still need a couple of things. I don't know how I will feel and my husband is not a good shopper so don't want to leave it for him to do.  

Glad to see we have a group going but sad we had to meet under these circumstances.  

Looks like chemo is luxury for me....I had bone scan and my oncologist  is not happy about it. I will have a biopsy now....every thing is uncertain at this point....

Hi Everyone,

Welll looks like the chemo starts for sure on Thursday May 29, so I will be joining in here for sure. Can't make up my mind as to a wig or scarf or maybe both. This is the one thing that is bothering me. Hope I have time to get a wig before I need it. Talk to you all later

Bonnie

BC Canada

Good luck to you Bonnie.  I see my onco tomorrow so will know more then about my treatments too.  I have a strange feeling my txs are going to be aggressive so I am scared sh*&less right now, thus no need for stool softners yet.  You should have time for wig or scarf from what I have read.  Anyway...hope all is going well for everyone starting in this nightmare we have just begun. 

Well here I am at 4 AM not able to sleep so came here to see you all.  My home town is Crofton, which I doubt anyone knows where it is. Well it is on Vancouver Island in BC Canada. I am taking chemo in Duncan but my main Cancer hospital is in Victoria, I am lucky enough to be able to take chemo much closer to home. Take care everyone and good luck with treatments.

Bonnie

Got a call about 10 minutes ago regarding the blood test--all is NORMAL, there was a definite lab error. The tests from 5/19 were run twice and the first set was normal, second set was not. The nurse thinks they may have retested someone else's vial. Nice, huh? In any case, my Creatinine level is 0.7, not 2.3 as they reported from last week. Big difference, eh?

Chemo will start as planned on 6/3.

Yes, not trivial. I guess I will have to stay on top of test results if they continue to use that lab. They said they knew something must be off and so they took another sample yesterday to be certain. They have placed a call to the lab to discuss what happened. What's even more disturbing is that some other patient in that office has some serious issues (including a very high blood sugar level) and they probably have no idea who that is.

Yes, I will receive TC x4, every three weeks, starting 6/3.