Starting Chemo May 2008

Hey all,

Just got back from the pool.  Remember my 2pm appt?  Didn't go in until 4.  Seems the nurses are going on strike on the 4t and the hospital is taking all next week's patients and cramming them in to day and tomorrow...nice eh?

Everything went so smooth, even the IV infusion .  The nurse po-poohed the popsicle idea and told me it was a waste of time, but all thru the "A" part I faithfully ate my lemon ice.....bought my Biotene and will use it tonight.

Feeling very sleepy, just took a Zofran, Keflex and gonna curl up on the sofa...

BTW ladies, thanks for recommending drinking, I ended up (due to the 2 hour delay) drinking 3 quarts before the IV, plus the 500 ml saline and I had to get up 3 times after the "A" to pee.  By the time it was done, I was peeing clear!!!  Yippee, now to push more fluids while I watch "Rambo" with ds....

ranDelerious...

Okay I feel like such an idiot.  In my defense, I have been skimming the posts as I have been a bit light headed since my first chemo last Thursday.  I thought Kristy was really going on vacation!  LOL  I thought she sure is brave going so far away.  And I saw reference of a couple gals going to the pool.  I was so jealous that I had to go to work!  I must read slower and pay better attention!!!!  But I made myself laugh a least.

I had a boost of energy today and actually baked for my daughter's graduation party.

Roxi - so sorry you are getting grief at work - shame on them treating you this way.

Go Gators - so sorry you had such a rough time.  Do you take anything for your stomach before you even have a reaction?  My doctor put me on Nexium and said I must take one each morning until I am completely done with chemo.

Otter - you said you are almost at #4 - is this the last one? 

It's almost the weekend!!!!!

Just wanted you all to know I'm not so loopy now.  But still tired.

Sorry, Roxi about bad work situations.  Had that earlier this year.

And Eyes, I soooo get the waiting part.  Soooorrryy.

Robin -

Thanks for adding me to the list.  My first treatment did not go so well and I have been reading the board picking up lots of good information / tips, having a few laughs as well.     Jean

Thanks for the welcome.  So far I have been able to run through chemo (3 miles a day), but found that I needed to skip days 3-6.  The fatigue during that time was incredible.  Was that the same for you?  My onc is a runner as well, which is nice.  Have fun in the Race for the Cure, I walked mine here on May 11 just couple weeks after my surgery.  Jean

RanDelerious - Good for you for eating your lemon ices thru the Adriamycin drip! Don't let that nurse talk you out of it - or popsicles or ice chips! While there's apparently no "conclusive" evidence that it helps, there's overwhelming experience of every-day people - myself included - that says it does help! A close friend of mine (who happens to be an onc nurse, but not at my onc) told me to do that, & my onc's office routinely gives each person getting A, a cup of ice chips to suck on. By making the tissue in the mouth cold, it seems to help prevent that tissue from developing mucousitis (sp?) & mouth sores.  I just wrapped up my 4th AC tx this past Tues (5/27) & w/b starting on 12 wkly tx of Taxol + Herceptin on June 10.

Great job with all those fluids, too!

Hi gals,

Day 2 of tx #1 and so far, so good.  Took a Zofran last night before bed and then one veeeerrry early this morning and it seems to be working.  Slept well (probably b/c little dd was at grandma's) and when I went in for my f/u hydration this morning, they said you look good, you're eating and drinking - go home! 

We'll see what the rest of the weekend is like.  How is everyone else from yesterday?  The weird tooth thing and loopy feeling went away after a few hours, so that's good to know. 

And Desi NJ, I hope yours goes as smoothly today.  Let us know.

I'm off to pick up kids from school!  I think my oldest dd was glad to see me "whole" yesterday - I think she was worried I was going to come home bald or missing a limb.  lol. 

Hey ladies,

It's the weekend. Seattle is gorgeous and sunny. I wish you each a weekend of laughter, good moments, reflection, calm and a nice breeze. I hope those who went through chemo today are home and resting. 

Wal-Mart for Biotene? Familyrocks, you KNOW those of us from Seattle cannot step foot into a Wal-Mart. It's so not Seattle. I will try to find it somewhere else. I once brought a whole box of popsicles to women on chemo. Duh. Of course it works. Plus, it tastes good.

Eddie - You might find it at Fred Meyer.  I haven't looked.

eddie, I found Biotene all over the place, once I started looking for it.  All the major pharmacy chains had it--Walgreen's, CVS, Rite-Aid; as well as WalMart and some of the bigger grocery stores.

Tina, I'm on Taxotere/Cytoxan, so your situation might be different.  I get bad mucositis (no actual mouth sores, just a sore tongue and mouth) around day 3 and it lasts until around day 7.  I stock up on soft foods, and I way over-cook veggies during that period.  Think of things the texture of baby food:  carrots, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, etc., cooked until soft.  I also like ripe bananas, pudding and jello, and of course sherbet and popsicles.  I recently rediscovered graham crackers, which are pretty good by themselves but mush up nicely in milk.  You're right, though--it's hard to get enthused about eating anything.  One of my chemo nurses said to keep a supply of "Ensure" or Carnation Instant Breakfast on hand during those times, just so you can get some nutrients.

otter

Thanks for all your thoughts  and prayers.  So far, day two was fne until about late afternoon and then the nausea tried to start.  I kept snackin on crackers and drinking,but I then it got to the point where I was eating a cracker every 5 minutes and yech!  So, i called the infusion center and the pharmacist said use the compezine...and it worked!!! Plus a bad headache..

My husband's ex came over today (long story, will share that some long chemo brain induced day) and since she works part time as an EMT, she gave me my first shot...6 to go!!!  I took Alleve 30 minutes before and presto felt well enouh to eat my tuna and egg on whol wheat sandwiches!!  Woo hoo, worked out to 75 gram of protein.

Christine: 

gogators; my 5 yo was hiding under the covers on the couch when I got home and then he thought no chemo becuase I still have hair!  All day today he keeps trying to style it for me, but as hard as he is pulling it. I think its his male subtle way of seeing how firmly it still is attached to me!

The only problem we are having is with my 12 yo Grace.  She has been pretty subdued and then late at night, she throws up...she finally toldher dad that she has a pain/lump in her side and thinks she has cancer...poor baby...

Well, its almost time for my Alleve and then maybe some sleep....I managed 3 hours yesterday and about the same today...I need my 7 hours or I fell lilke crap, which is probably why the SE hit me today...

BTW our infusion center kinda ticked me off. I asked the onco and the staff and everyone said, oh sure they have popsicles. Went down and asked and No pops and they actd like that was so yesterday, no one has ever proved it blah blah blah..So, my BFF and I have decided to approach the local Raleys and ask for popsicle donations and when the heat hits 105 in the summer, they will be a treat! 

more later...randie

Randie - Oh those burps!  I kept telling myself "If this is my worst side effect, I'll take it".  But they sure are irritating...lol!

Pepcid worked for me so you probably need something else.  I wonder if Nexium would work?

I had the burps for about a week.  I did not get them after treatment #2.  Not sure why, but I'm not complaining.

I hope you can find some relief!

~Adrienne

Adrienne,

Thanks, will see if it goes away this time or if i need to switch tomorrow...

One more thing I forgot to tell you all.  While we were waiting for my chart to be called, a woman walked by and you know, all of us cancer women love to talk...lol...long story short, she was there to put a poster for the 3 day Koman walk (we pulled an "I LOve Lucy" moment, no one had been manning the info desk all afternoon, so we fond a sticky note, wrote please post and then scribbled initials on it....lol  will let you know if its up the next time we are there). Anyway, the cool part was she had just finished reconstruction and lifted up her shirt so we could see the results.  She looked like "They are real and they are spectacular" .  She even put in a plug for the silicone showing how lifelike it looked...and it did...she said her husband was pleased with the bilateral results and she wasn't doing anything about the nipple.  She said she couldn;t figure out the point of putting one back on for cosemtic, now she can wear white shirts and no bra...whee hee!!!!

When I shared this with my dh, he was more shocked about her putting her shirt up in a side lobby for 2 strangers...lol...I told him that we are poked and prodded by so many people, there are no strangers at the cancer clinic....

randie

I will find biotene today..for the burpers and the pepcid, finally I can something of value with you ... I woke up in the middle of the night the other night and felt like I was in a panic...but no, I felt okay in my mind, but something was burning. I had to think really hard about the pain then it dawned on me that this must be heartburn. I never had heartburn with the pregnancies, but it was burning in the middle of my chest, but no...not really my chest. Maybe it was gas? Oh my God, is this what babies who have collic feel like? No wonder they squall. I had gained a whole new understanding. Did we have TUms? It's three in the morning. What should I do? I'll try go to the bathroom....ho hum. No luck. It still hurts. I go through our fridge and find Alka Seltzer. Hmmm...I think, this if for heartburn, right?

I figure it's safe enough to try. I open the pack, throw the tablets in the water and, strangely, immediately, start singing, Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is. Somehow, this makes me laugh out loud. I drink that horrid stuff down and go back to bed promising myself to give it 20 minutes. GUess what? It worked almost immediately!!!!  Here's the best part. I could hear it working. It was a pleasure. Then, last night, I ate matzah ball soup and a pickle and even the pickle did me in, but it was BEFORE bed. I used that bluchy Alka-Seltzer again, and PRESTO, I slept with only three pee wake ups. How cool is that?  So, for those of you who are experiencing some kind of heartburn, try this.  Plus, it will make those of you old enough to remember the alka seltzer commercials (I am 47) the chance to realize how strong their branding was. I will check in with you all soon. Seems like a few of us are on the exact same dense dose of A/C for every two weeks for four then a move to taxol. I am heading for round two on June 5. Any insight on difference between round 1 and round 2? I am hoping my neulasta makes the white blood cells strong enough... on the running/ walking/exercise, my friend tells me we have so many units of energy and we MUST choose to use them the way we want. Any exercise we can do (if and when we feel like it) takes a few of those units, but it also repleneshes them AND it allows us sun, fresh air and the chance to be in the world. I'll check in later. I'm going walking.