Starting Chemo May 2008

Roxi-

I'm a bit behind again in reading, but wanted to get this off to you.  If the destination hasn't been changed, I'm all for Volcano National Park on the Big Island!!!  I've actually been there, and have hiked WAY out to see the lava, and it was amazing!!!  I'd love to do it again!

I have to go pick my son up from soccer camp, and will try to catch up later.  I had the stomach flu over the weekend, so I didn't do much of anything! 

Sharon

KristyAnn,

I'm north of DFW in a small town called Haslet. INSIDE the metroplex, unfortunately.  Tyler is not very far, maybe 150 miles. (That's close for Texas)...

Sable, I am sorry you were/are feeling whiney. Hope it gets better, but whining is definitely allowed.  This is NOT fun, what we are doing.

Linda, I love the peaches too. They are small but very delicious...as a matter of fact I think I'll go get two right now to eat. Mmmm.. 

SharonF, sorry about the stomach flu, hope it getes better...although not doing much of anything does dound good!! 

Rock, sorry about your big toenail and edemalicious fingers. (Whoops, made up an adjective..sorry).

Love,

Sue 

Angels,

I think the crusty piece is because we have fewer or no eyelashes and they act as a filter. I have the crusty yukky eyes too in the morning, and a little itchiness, but then it goes away....hope it doesn't get worse and try a cool washcloth in the morning maybe over your eyes to get you going? I will too and we can report back to one another.

I'm baaaaaack...lol

Okay, last night at about 1 am, I was lying in bed, praying up a storm and trying not to groan, when all of a sudden, I get this itchy feeling....yup yeasty itchy feeling.  I get up, (TMI ALERT) put on a  pair of solid black panties, and go back to sleep.  When I wake up, presto chango, a very very very very very slight white discharge...YES!!!!!! I have the bugger now.  Got my diflucon this morning, after calling the onco, and crossing my fingers this does it.  They think that it might have started as a yeast, turned into sores, then back to yeast.  Becaus the mouthwash didn;t help that much, they think more yeast.  Either way, it is still sore, but I managed to get to the store and buy my pound cake, whipped cream and more strawberries...lol..plus wait 1 1/2 hours for Wally world to fill the prescription.  WHY?  Because my insurance will only pay for the name brand, not generic and they were the only ones in town with the magic pill.  

Yes, I did stock up on diaper wipes, tucks and some vagisol cream to dull the pain. 

My onc says that she will now add diflucon to my list to take day 5 to see if that will stop it from re-occuring next tx.

So, no tx this week, they are too afraid what I will turn into...lol..my mini vacation from chemo...whoo hoooo. Actually today is the first day I feel more like me, so I will really enjoy the 1 week break, especially since next week is the last A/C before Taxol.  She did warn me that she has all her patients take either Vicodin or Darvocet for the first 3 days because of the bone aches.  I am not sure how I feel about that, I hate pain meds and the wonkiness they bring on plus the added benefit of more constipation.

Rock: hope your feeties are better....

Stop all the talk about peaches, they wanted $2/lb t the store, so tomorrow when my girls are babysitting at  churc, I will sneak away to the local orchards and stock up!!!

The only thing I have been watching is the Food Network and Alton Brown made an incredible apple pie using a tart pan and I want to try it with the frozen berry mix I get at Costco.  Just ned to find a tart pan now!

Kristy: Abby was so excited, they ended up playing 3 games yesterday in 104 temps.  They won the first 2, lost the last, so that's the season for them.  But they did get higher in the tournament then any other team ever from our town....Daddy was so proud, she talked him into rewarding her with her own BB gun. Can you tell we live in the sticks????

Take care everyone and thanks for all your prayers and thoughts, they worked! 

So, that's all she wrote!!!!!

randie

Boy, it took me forever to get caught up!  But what a riot it was!  You all are AMAZING women, and I know I don't post much, but I'm glad to be a part of this group.  I laugh and cry at the same time reading all of this. 

LOVE all the lyrics that you're all creating, especially "America." I printed that one out and am taking it with me to chemo tomorrow!

Rock and Randie-I'm so sorry that you've been going through so much pain. Each time you both post, I'm hoping to read that you're better. Soon...

Tomorrow is #4 for me, and it's my LAST one!  I'm graduating! For some weird reason, I'm more nervous about this one than any of the others. I hope nothing major happens.

Roxi-Don't forget to bring plenty of water, we're going to get mighty thirsty out there hiking the lava!

Sleep tight, everyone. Maybe I can get to sleep before the steroids kick in????

Sharon

Today seems to be a bit brighter day. My heartburn has let up somewhat finally, but now I am developing the "2 days before tx" jitters.

Cris have a fabulous time at WD! I want to take our son before he gets "too old" to appreciate it.

Story of the week.....

Well I have been waiting for the past 30 days for the wig store to release my wigs. My insurance company will pay up to $300 for wigs and I had 2 picked out. My hubby called on thursday to see if they had gotten payment yet for the wigs. It was a no of course. But the lady said we could come in and give them a credit card number and they would let me have one of them. Not a big deal, I was ok with that. BUT...... after many phone calls back and forth with my husband. It turns out that the total, after the provider discount, was only $117. So hubs went down to talk to the people that dealt with it (his work is self insured) and they said I shouldn't have to wait for these wigs so they gave hubs cash so we could just go pick them up. Hubs called the store back and the lady said she wouldn't take the cash and that we would have to pay the entire amount, including the provider discount, then when/if she got a check from the insurance it would be marked paid. ($234) She doesn't give discounts if you pay cash for them..... huh??? So hubs argued with her about it and it turns out that if we paid the full amount ($234) she would get that plus the $117 from the insurance!?!?!?!? Then to top things off she told hubs that the foob we had gotten and the 2 bras the lady that waited on me subtracted the tax instead of adding it to the bill and she said we owed for that as well!?!?!? Well the foob and bras are completely paid for by the insurance as well. I told hubs just to cancel the wigs altogether and I would go without. And by the time that we submitted another claim for a different store I would have hair growing back in already.
After many hours of frustration for hubs and his company, they are going to turn this lady in and have her insurance contract ripped up. It's bad enough to go thru what I am going thru without the added harassment of somebody trying to get more money out of you.

I remember when I had my chemo class prior to tx that they had mentioned that Taxol used to be made from the Pacific Yew Tree.  I simply asked...Then can I just bypass all this and go hug a Yew Tree?  Guess thats a No?

~Adrienne

I think if you just climb up onto those cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and sit under a yew tree, that should be enough.  You'll have to breathe deeply, of course, because the "essence of yew" isn't very concentrated.  And it will take awhile to get the same level of efficacy you would have if they infused the stuff i.v.; but think how much more pleasant the treatments will be?  (That's assuming, of course, that the Pacific yew trees aren't in the burn zone of the California wildfires.)

Rock, don't feel bad that Taxol isn't made from a plant.  It is, sort of:  it's made from the cells of a yew tree that were collected and established in cell culture a long time ago.  If you believe in renewable resources, sustainable agriculture, and all that stuff, then the way they make Taxol now is a very good thing for us, for the yew trees, and for the planet.  (Wow.  Where did all that come from?  I used to be a Republican.)

This is old news by now, but in regard to the onco re-checks:  I had a standing appt with my onco right before each chemo treatment.  I would go to the lab an hour before my onco appt to get my blood drawn, to check wbc, hemoglobin, etc.  Then I would meet with my onco and we would go over the results, my SE's from last time, etc.  After that, I would go to the infusion center (which was in the same hallway) for my chemo tx.  Things were going so well that my onco decided I didn't need to meet with her before my last tx.  I did see her nurse, who told me my lab results were great and they tweaked my pre-meds just a bit.  I will see my onco next in August, for my 3-month post-chemo follow-up.

Hugs to everyone, especially those of you with sore feet, sore bottoms, sore bones, sore mouths, sore fingernails, sore scalp, whatever.  How come nobody told us how much chemo would hurt?

I need to go pack for our trip.  My dh and I are headed out west to visit his family, after we stop by my cancer center tomorrow for my DEXA bone density scan (have to be careful to distinguish that from a BONE scan). 

otter 

Hmm thought..... is a yew tree a type of evergreen? Makes me wonder..... I am allergic to real christmas trees... think I should bring that up before my taxol?

Actually its the store that is trying to suck more money out of us. My husband's company is self insured and they were there handing hubs cash to pick up the wigs (their idea). Its that lady at the store that wasn't going to have it that way. They are going to turn her in and have her insurance contract terminated. Hubby is the one who had the paitence to deal with it.

I'm back from Volcano National Park. The "chemical" lava flowed beautifully!  My only problem was that my port had enough of a clot initially that it wouldn't allow blood to be drawn, but meds, saline, chemo and heparin infused with no problem.  We used an arm vein for labs. Of course, when it was all over, blood drew just fine from the port. Those toxic chemo chemicals will bust any clot, I guess!    I'm just so happy to be DONE!  You know how you feel in the beginning, like will this EVER end?  Sooner or later, it does.  In 3 weeks, I will start 33 treatments of radiation.  I'll bet they're not half as much fun over on the radiation board!  I don't post much here, but I LOVE reading all of your posts.

Roxi - Don't you go tomorrow? Or was it yesterday? Sorry, I forgot!  Enjoy the view of the lava, and be sure to take a lot of water!!!

Sable - Sorry about the insurance mess. One more thing that we DON'T need. My insurance doesn't cover wigs either.

Otter - I LOVE the idea of sitting under Yew trees overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  I'd settle for going anywhere about now!  Have fun on your trip!

Back to the topic of FOOD...I made a really YUMMY peach/blueberry cobbler tonight, while I still had enough energy!

Have a GREAT night, everyone!

Sharon

it might be on Laughter board. And AlaskaDeb is the culinary genius!

There are rocky road cheesecake brownies on the road to hell?  Why am i not surprised?

Why, Sue, of course there are!

Lee, if you can't find Deb C's (AlaskaDeb's) post with the recipe, never fear--I copied and pasted it into a Word file, and it's sitting right now in my "recipes" folder on my computer desktop.  Unfortunately, it is not sitting in my recipe box in the kitchen, where it's a lot more likely to be used.  Oh.  On second thought, maybe that's a good thing.

Debbiem425, I think you should request special dispensation or something.  Where I used to work, when the AC went out and the temperature got up to the "intolerable" range (and in Alabama, that doesn't take much), they let us go home and didn't charge us a day of vacation or sick leave.  It was considered their fault, since the building was supposed to have AC.  (Got to be clear on this--we're talking about "air conditioning", not the other AC.)   I'm not sure how the Human Resources people dealt with that.  Perhaps they never knew about it, and it was just something my boss let us do.

Sharon, this trip I'll be on isn't as far west as the Pacific yew trees--not unless they grow in Oklahoma, which I doubt.  My dh and I are visiting his family in the Tulsa area for a few days.  It will be the first time I've seen any of them since my dx in January, so I'm a little nervous.  They are really great people, though--funny and supportive, and very comfortable to be around.  We'll have a great time, even without the yew trees and the mist coming off the ocean.

otter 

YEW are all the best. I worked all day then picked Adam up (actually, dh did) then we went out for dinner then the movies (WALL E)... will take all that yew stuff into account tomorrow when I am awake. Thank God for Otter...our fact checker, myth buster. I think my onc told me it was made from Pacific Yew. We'll talk again tomorrow. Hang in there women....I have lots or ringing in my ears.....aiiii aiiii aiiii .... Good night.

thanks for your help with the eyes ladies, i picked up some tears and they seemed to have helped. I went up to see my onc nurse when i was at the hospital for my ultrasound and being the worry wort that she is had me do a blood test just to make sure my counts were up so it i had an infection or something in the eye i could fight it. My counts were up and she said to just go ahead with the tears and if it gets worse to go to the doc.

Took my first two decadron and I go back in to today for my pre-chemo blood work for tx #4 ...#1 of taxotere tomorrow.   Anyone else going in tomorrow or am i flying solo?   I  missed the volcano park flight so thought I've always wanted to go to Ireland, the rolling green hills, sheep in the distance and the ocean just seem so peaceful to me!  So if anyone else is on tomorrow i will save you a seat in a quaint Irish pub overlooking the fields of heather.

Hope every one can see the light at the end of the tunnel cause mine is just coming into view!

Have a great day...