CMF Question
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I took this in Sedona...neat place
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and these..
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Lisa,
Your pictures have us convinced to stop in this area when we head west at the end of May. This is simply gorgeous country and of course your pictures are lovely. Thanks for sharing!
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And now.....here's Evan, our newest grandson, born on March 27th.
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And here's the proud grandma and Dave with the Alex, Grant, and Evan.
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Oh, Rita..that is wonderful...
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Rita: wonderful photos of your gorgeous family. I can't think of a better Easter than the one you had.
Lisa: your landscapes are fantastic.
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Can't wait to see these photos on a full screen, they look great even tiny on my blackberry !!!
Thanks for sharing Rita and Lisa0 -
Great pictures! Rita, what a beautiful family you have. You must be so pround.
Susieque--a $5,000 shot? Good thing I've maxed out my deductible and out of pocket limit for the year so everything chemo related should be free to me. I did read on the boards somewhere to take claritin so I went out and bought some right before my appt. It says anti-drowsy formula but it sure made me sleepy. Congrats on getting through #3. I'm on a 6 session regimin and am thrilled and relieved to be 1/2 done.
Take care everyone.
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Hey everyone...back from sunny Saint Martin! What a great trip. It was nice to get away after being done with chemo. I really needed it. We all had a terrific time!
Rita- Your grandchildren are beautiful! I'm sure you had a great time with them.
Colleen - Happy to hear your mom is hanging in there and that your cyst was just a cyst.
Sam - Still haven't caught up to me, huh? Such addicting games! Good luck with the shot tomorrow. My counts never dropped so I was fortunate to not have to get a $5,000 shot...wow!
I came back to start radiation.They got me all set up yesterday and I got my first zapping today. It was a lot quicker than I thought. I was in by 9 and out by 9:12 and at the gym by 9:20. Have to take off at least 10 lbs after vacation.
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Hi Scarp..many years ago , my son went to The American School of Medicine on St. Martins...he spent his first two years there..and endured a few hurricanes...but he liked it..
Glad you could get a little relaxation in a wonderful spot..
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Rita - Congrats!!! Such a beautiful baby and family. There is nothing like hold a new baby in your arms to make everything better. I know you know that I come from a large family. My mom has 30 grandkids mine being #'s 29 & 30 and she has 18 great-grand with one on the way due in Sept. No matter how many are in this crazy family it is always great to have a new born. She always acted like it was her 1st. Regarding my trip in July. My brother and SIL for Christmas wanted to do something for me and my family so they are giving us a week in there summer place in Bethany Beach Delaware. I am so looking forward to it. They are a few blocks from the beach and have a pool etc. Can't wait!!!!
Lisa - your pictures are just beautiful. Keep posting them, they are so enjoyable.
Scarp - I am glad you had such a great time on vacation. It was definitely well deserved!!!!
I also saw my mom on Monday. She had a rough 10 days or so, but seemed to be better on Monday. She is definitely considering not doing the 6th tx. Which I think is fine. My family is having a girls night out party for me on the 25th and she may come home with me and stay for a while. At least that is what we discussed on Monday, but she seems to change her mind a lot. I am looking forward to the party it consists of most of my sisters, SIL's, nieces we will get together for dinner and drinks. Well I am glad to see everyone is doing well and I hope everyone will enjoy the weekend. It is suppose to be spring like in NY! YEA!!!!!
Colleen
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So great to hear everyone is hanging in there and doing OK...sending big hugs to all.
Rita: GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hi everyone. Is this the place to be if you are on CMF? Carol and Susan, am I in the right place? (By the way, so great to meet you gals last night. That was a lot of fun! Hope you made the ferry!!)
I am a newbie to this thread. I start CMF tomorrow. I actually started TC (taxotere/cytoxan) at the end of February, but have had several allergic reactions so we are switching to CMF. I need to do 3 cycles (12 weeks) and will probably go with "two weeks on, two weeks off". Is anyone else doing anything like that?
So...I got a couple of questions. I have these on my list to talk to my onco tomorrow...but I know you gals are probably the experts, so here goes....
* So my BS said to me "will you be getting the shot or the pill?" Pill? is there a pill with CMF? Is that an option? Or maybe I just misunderstood him. He is just the surgeon after all and was asking out of curiosity.
* Drink water all the time - what's the story on this? I had to drink a lot of water on TC, so are we talking A LOT of water or just like on other chemo regimes?
* Suppression of hormones, menopause-inducing....? OK, this is another one where I thought my period would stop/slow down on TC. Will CMF go the extra mile and stamp it out? Just wondering...
Anyway, glad to know you are all here and I am looking forward to getting to know you all!
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Hi Ginagina
This is the right place. Sorry that you have to be welcomed here, but you will find the CMF thread to be a very positive place. The women on this thread are really supportive and helpful. If you started TC, you will find CMF very doable. I assume whatever amount of water you drank on T/C would be enough for CMF. And there is a Cytoxin pill and some oncs use that every day with IV methotrexate and 5FU. Two weeks on, two weeks off sounds as if you may be doing the pill but your onc is the one to ask about that or I think that there may be others on this thread who used the pill. I had all of mine IV....not a big deal. I have one more to go and will have had 8 txs.
Take care and don't worry. Compared to C/T this is no big deal.
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Welcome Ginagina.....
Like Mandy says, I think you will find the CMF very doable. As for the water intake, I think it would be comparable to what you were doing with the TC. Also, mouth sores are a common side effect of CMF so you might want to purchase some Biotine toothpaste and mouthwash and use it for the duration of the treatments. It also helps to suck on something cold while you are getting the treatment. If they don't offer you any ice chips, ask for some. Constipation is also a pretty common side affect so it might be good to take some Senakot (can be purchased OTC at Walgreens, etc.) It got to the point where I began taking them the morning of my treatment and continued until I didn't need them anymore. It only took me once to learn that trick!!!! LOL
I am so sorry that you have to make this journey, but you have come to a good thread. The ladies here are very helpful, positive, and caring. I am very jealous that you've gotten to meet Carol and I haven't!!!! LOL She will be a strong support system for you, too!
Come back often and tell us more about yourself!
Rita
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Welcome Gina! Carol and I DID make the ferry - barely! It was great to meet you and the other Seattle gals.
I take the cytoxan as a pill - daily. Because of this my oncologist has me take a prilosec every morning an hour before I eat to avoid heartburn. I don't have heartburn, but it is suposed to be a common side effect - I think with the oral cytoxan.
As far as staying hydrated, it will probably be the same as T/C - drink lots of water.
Chemopause or menopause - I think we talked about this last night - so far, I have had normal cycles - my oncologist is hoping I don't this month and will "shut my ovaries down" herself if need be - either lupron or surgically. However, she does expect me to go into menopause in the next two months.
Like the other women have said, this is a very doable chemo. Besides the allergic reaction, you did fine on T/C so this should be easy.
Let us know how it goes!
Susan
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Hey Gina .... glad to see you didn't waste anytime finding the CMF gals.
So I did the 2 weeks on/2 weeks off. I took my cytoxan orally for 15 days, and on day 1 and day 8 of those days, I would go in for my infusion of the "MF" ... use that abbreviation any way you'd like !!!!!!
Hopefully you will be as fortunate as Susan with se's being far and few between.
I did start off as the constipation queen ... and appeared to not be a real quick study, as it took me a couple of months to finally get myself "regulated". I ended up having luck with Miralax. I drank probably 80 plus ounces of water a day, did Biotene and took a Zofran (nausea med) prior to downing my oral cytoxan, and never had a bit of nausea.
I'll post the pic I had taken last night ... looking forward to seeing you all again soon.
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Okay .... here we go again with trying to post a pic ... this will be hit or miss on the size !!!
Left to right ...... Gina, Susan, Tracy, Christina, Carol and Robin
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Great photo of the Seattle gals. Thanks for posting it Carol!
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Wow! What a great-looking group of gals! Now I'm really jealous, Gina. I didn't know that the Susan you mentioned was OUR aprilgirl/Susan. I'm so glad that you three have this group and can get together for a night out!
It's a lovely day in the Mid-west.......a really great gift after this wicked winter. I played nine holes of golf yesterday and am trying for 18 this afternoon so I'd better get my work around the house completed so I can golf without that "guilty feeling."
How are you doing, Jill? I haven't seen you on or around since we last chatted on Facebook. I hope all is well. Where are you at now in your treatment plan?
Catch you all later.
Rita
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How fun! Good thing there was no alcoholic beverages being consumed there ladies!!?! (J/k, I love a glass or two of wine myself.)
Well the fog seems to be lifting from my treatment on Monday. I felt like cr*p for a few days afterward, which is pretty par for the course for me. But the nausea seems to be gone, and I didn't have any SEs from the Neulasta that I could tell. With this gorgeous spring weather, I hope to get a walk in, which should help my energy. Oh, and I seem to have a cold--but it's not terrible, just a sore throat & some congestion.
Welcome Gina! Since I'm getting CMF by infusion, I'm not sure how relevant my tips would be, but definitely be proactive on the constipation issue and drink a lot of water, as the cytoxan can irritate your bladder/kidneys and needs to be flushed out.
Happy Friday everyone!
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Welcome Gina!
I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather...sorry to be so MIA, I didn't sign on for such a protracted recovery period. I am pretty sure I am overdoing it, as it's one step forward, and then two back. Will know tomorrow when I see OB/GYN.
Oh Rita, how heavenly, those grandchildren are....I can't wait to be grandma, but I guess a few more years....
Carol, great to see the photo and you guys! You look wonderful, all of you! Thank you so much for posting it, it's great to see Susan's face in person!
As to the tamoxifen putting you into menopause. This never happened to me. I had regular periods all thru it, darnit. CMF did not do it either, hence the lupron and then the surgery. I am unusual in all this tho, so don't worry. I think most of us get chemopause, except me.
If you end up on Lupron, I did not notice any SEs at all, except for the first shot, when i got kind of dizzy, anxiety attack, for about 1 minute. All went away and nothing further. So if you need that, or any other info if they ask you about surgically putting you into menopause, I can help there. It was a very easy surgery, the recovery takes about a month or six weeks, (less if you don't drive to Philly and back like I did, twice)
.So great to see everyone here and doing well. My love to all
Annie
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Samiam.....glad that you're beginning to feel better again. You will learn your norm after treatments and it shouldn't vary too much. I'm so glad that you didn't have any problems withe the neulasta shot. I got along fine with them, too.
Annie...so glad to see a post from you. Have you been having some recovery problems that you haven't shared with us?
Carol, was it warm enough there to get in a round of golf this weekend? I played on Friday and had a 95. That's really awesome for me because I can never seem to get it all together. I know it won't last but it sure builds the confidence some. I do think I'm stronger this year, too which is helping with my drives and fairway shots. It's way too wet to get out there today.
How are you gals in treatment doing? You're getting to the end of it all! Post often and keep in touch!
Rita
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Rita, whoo-hooo on a great round of golf! I did get the chance to enjoy some awesome weather yesterday with 18 holes. I'm with you, much stronger this year than last, and hitting the ball pretty good.
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Hey All - My mom was rushed to the hospital this morning. She is in congestive heart failure. The Dr. said it is not curable but hopefully manageable. She is being admitted and they are trying to get her stable. I am now not sure if she will be able to be moved up to me this weekend. I feel bad my dh cleaned out the entire room while I was at the Met game yesterday and started painting so it would look nice and fresh for her. He is So Good!!! Well I will keep you updated. Please keep her in your prayers.
Colleen
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Colleen - Wishing your mom all the best! boy have you been down a tough road!
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Colleen, wishing your mom all the best. Both of you are in my heart.
Mandy
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Oh hugs, Colleen! My prayers are with both you and your mother. Congestive heart failure is indeed manageable. My Mom lived with it for four years and managed pretty well. Her death was not due to the heart failure. I will pray that your Mom gets along as well as she did with this condition.
Rita
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