CMF Question
Comments
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Hi everyone and welcome Fortis! Have been MIA for awhile. My 3rd tx and neulasta shot just about did me in! The shot caused severe bone pain the second day and then a week later, I had the worst back pain from end to end! My hair is so very thin now, but can still wear hats. Think I'm about ready for my wig sometimes though. Am using nioxin products. Had my 4th tx yesterday (halfway there!) and feel pretty good today. Have been playing lots of golf when I can and joined our league. The weather is beautiful today and should pretty much continue now. Hope y'all are enjoying the spring. Really appreciated everyone wondering where I was! Beanius, I know how frustrating it is to not be doing everything you did before, but be good to yourself. Is your cabin to be post and beam? It sounds wonderful. Last Saturday, I did the 5K Susan B Komen Race for the Cure with my daughter and granddaughter. It was so cold and rainy we about froze to death! But it was still a great day. Will be sure to check in more often! Love and prayers to all.
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Fortis....(((HUGS))) to you. So sorry that you're having such a difficult time but I agree with Rita, maybe the CMF infusion only is a better option. Positive thoughts coming your way.
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golfergrandma, great to hear from you. Sorry to hear that the bone pain has been so bad. I didn't have to have the Neulasta shots but I've heard that they can cause that. Hopefully your counts will stay up and you won't have to have anymore. Sending you lots of positive thoughts and prayers.....
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golfergrandma- Glad to hear you are doing okay. I am hoping your counts will hold up and you won't need the Neulasta shot next time. Sometimes the counts get better, even later in treatment. They don't necessarily keep going down.
fortis- I agree with the other ladies. Perhaps ask about getting the CMF infusion with everything in it. You might weather things better. As I understand, the results are about the same with either technique. I know I was glad to deal with it once every 3 weeks and then be completely free from meds for 3 weeks till the next treatment.
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Hi Golfergrandma- thanks for the welcome. I am so sorry that you are having bone pain. I had to do the neupogen shots my first round and I thought my hips and back were going to explode. Yech! Sure hope you don't have to keep going down that road.
Thanks, Cabmom and RIta for your thoughts and hugs. I am going to speak with my onc tomorrow about going back to the infusion. Better 5 days of hell every 3 weeks than 15+ every 4 weeks. We shall see....
Thought for the night: Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. -Gandhi
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golfergrandma - Yay! so glad to see you back and doing okay. So sorry that 3rd tx and neulasta hit you so hard, it's amazing though, we do bounce back. So glad you are half way there, that is fantastic and I'm impressed you did the Susan G Komen walk. That must have been neat, in spite of the weather.
Fortis - that is maybe a great compromise if the IV tx will work as well as the IV+pills then it may be an easier way to go. Good luck with your oncology appointment and let us know what you decide. Love your "thought for the night." My husband has a saying that you can do anything you set your mind to. He solves some really difficult things with that mind set, that indomitable will!
Wishing you all a great Friday!
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Fortis - I agree with everyone that you should go for the IV route. Two good weeks out of 3 definitely makes the tx more bearable. Had good news yesterday -- am having the BRCA test and it's being covered by my secondary insurance. Did not meet the requirements under Medicare and the cost is $3,300. Hope the results are negative since I have two daughters. Later....
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golfergrandma,
Did you take Claritin, the day you got the Neulasta shot, and for 3 days after? not Claritin D, just Claritin. But, it worked for me. I didn't have any bone pain after the Neulasta shot. Although, I did have terrible low back/bone pain after the Neupogen shots, which I had to give myself after my 1st tx.
Harley
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I forgot to take the Claritin! Had read this before on the forum, but just forgot. Will certainly take it next time. Didn't need the shot last week, but will probably need one next time. Thanks for the info. Is Neupogen the same as neulasta?
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golferdrandma,
Neupogen is the OTHER shot they will give you if you don't get Neulasta. With Neupogen, they gave me the ONE shot in office, but I had to give the rest to myself, for the next three days... and with Neupogen, they waited til a week or 10 days after my tx, to test my blood, and the white blood count had tanked.. so... they gave me a script for these huge horsepills... antibiotics I had to take for FIVE days, and then the Neupogen shots. The low back/bone pain was HORRIBLE! I STILL think that they did this because it was cheaper for them than ONE NEULASTA shot...
anyway, after the 1st tx, I demanded they give me Neulasta. It just works better.
Hope you are feeling great!!
Harley
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Hope everyone on treatment is doing wonderful...prayers to each!
Just wanted to share some exciting news. As most of you know, I have really struggled with weight gain since this journey began. Between stress, being less active, chemo, etc., I really put to many pounds on and because of Tamoxifen have struggled losing this extra weight. I am so excited, a good friend of mine (which is a nurse), told me about an Energy/Weight loss program that is all natural products. Sent the information on the program to my oncologist and she thought it was fabulous program so I am so excited and hope that this good for me. I've seen some amazing results on people that have been on the program. If anyone is interested....IM me and I'll be happy to share the information with you. I just know I want to be 100% healthy again and hoping that this will enhance that process
. I started the program today and I'm happy to say......so far, so good.......can't wait to share the results with you guys! Keep me in your prayers. 0 -
Happy Easter to each of you and your families....hope everyone has a BLESSED day!!
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Cabmom - This program sounds wondeful! Have been soooo hungry since I began tx so have gained 3 lbs. so far. That doesn't sound like much, but when you as short as I am (5'1") it adds up! Send info on it. Hope everyone's Easter was as blessed as ours!
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Hey golfergrandma...sorry I haven't been on in a little while. I will email you!
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Good morning everyone! This thread has been really quite lately. Hope everyone is doing well.
Golfergrandma, how are treatments going?
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Cabmom - I was thinking the same thing and was hoping golfergrandma and all my CMF friends are doing well! BTW how is your enegy/wt loss system going? I've been curious. I am at the tippy top of my "normal" BMI range, but sure would like to take 5 or 10 lb off.
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beanius- I'm with you about wanting to lose that 10 pounds, maybe more! Well, summer is coming and before you know it we will be outside all the time soaking up our vitamin D and hopefully melting away a few pounds.
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Hi all!
Like Beanius and Designer Mom, I need to lose the weight I gained during chemo. I lost the first 8 pounds easily but the rest of the weight has been sitting there for almost 2 years. It is worrysome for reasons of health. So I finally decided that I could not do this casually and I have put myself on an old fashioned diet. Basically I am eating veggies and protein with some fruit and very low carbs. Since I do not eat meat or artificial anything, it is my own take off on a popular diet. I am hoping that I can stick to this and lose the weight that I need to. The part that is hardest for me is creating dinners for hubby which I can eat and still be on this diet. I will report back in a couple of months and let you know how I do.
For the gals in treatment, I hope you are doing well and send you some big hugs. Feel free to contact any of us. We are always happy to be there for you.
Hugs to all you CMFers.
Mandy
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Hey Beanius....I'm doing great and I've lost 9.8 lbs on the 8 day challenge and 9 overall inches. I am so HAPPY. I have a long way to go but am very happy with the progress....had to modify the program a little because of bc but still doing great on this program.
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Mandy, I wish I could have done it your way...you are so smart. I just couldn't make myself be good all the time and that's what I needed to do. WAY TO GO
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mandy- Good for you! I love the Sonoma Diet cookbook and recipes (I think it is available online too). It is mostly a Mediterrannean aproach and has loads of great vegetarian dishes. They are so good, even non dieting people love them. I made a quinoa, mushroom, zuchini, tomatoe and red bean dish tonight. Deeeelicious! I haven't eaten red meat in years. Now we are off chicken too. I read that 50 percent of chicken is riddled with antibiotic resistant bacteria (doesn't matter if it is organic or not). I have bought chicken 3 times in the past couple months that just reeked when I opened it, even though the date was fine. It's getting hard to find safe things to eat!
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Oh you all have me so inspired!
Designermom - That cookbook sounds great, I love Mediterranean food, will look for that. Also it's so smart to cut back on red meat and I've heard that about chicken too...I've never been fishing but wondered about catching fresh water fish from the local lakes, I have no idea if that would be good or how to cook it! We eat a lot of salads, but we always wonder about pesticides and other things on fresh veggies too. I think you are right, it's getting hard to find safe things to eat.
Mandy - I too have plateaued at my current weight of 140 lbs. I would like to take off another 10, so I'm starting today. I have used weight watchers in the past and that helped me take off weight and I've never put it back on. I had creeping weight gain before BC dx when my dad was going downhill. I had so many worries and travel and wasn't getting enough exercise. So I'm extremely happy to be within the BMI normal range, but I am at the top for my height, so I think I would look better and feel better a bit lighter still. So I'm setting a 10 pound goal that I can reach within about a month and a half. In the past I've been able to take off 2 lbs a week which is a safe rate. Following weight watchers also keeps a balanced diet with lots of fruits and veggies. It's sort of annoying to keep track of calories every day, but it does work if you do it. I found all these foods that have so little calories to snack on if I got hungry in between meals...like celery, 94% fat free popcorn, pickles, green beans, pepperoncini, carrots, apples, bananas...etc. I find the hardest time of day for me is in the evening before dinner, so I try to have all those low cal or no cal things around when I'm making dinner.
cabmom - that is so great the program is working for you. I would like more info on it, so will send you a PM then I can compare to WW which I've used before.
BTW - My new avatar is me yesterday after running. We had a beautiful warm sunny day. Makes life so worth living through the bad weather when you get a day like that!
Best wishes to all my CMF friends, it's spring!!!! Have a great day!!!
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Hi Beanius: I've known others who have had alot of success with weight watchers. Do you join the program and go to meetings or just work on it on your own using their cookbooks and methods? Any tips will be appreciated.
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Mandy - I used their online program and have just signed up again for 3 months. The tools I used that really helped were the points calculator and a couple of their books that have foods by alphabet and their points values. Also they have great recipe ideas. I had gotten up to 166 lbs, I can't believe it, but it's true. One day I said "no more!" And have changed my lifestyle little by little for the better. I used WW very strickly to take off the first 15 lbs. Then I got the bc dx and stress and chemo took off another 10. So I sure don't want to go back up and still could take off 10 lbs. I would plan out each day what I was going to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks and then just put things in that I like to eat and that are healthy and that added up to the right number of points. I think the first few days are a little harder because you have to get used to doing it. After a while I got tired of doing it so stricktly and also became more used to what I could eat that would keep me from gaining. WW has you weigh in once a week and the online program has you enter your weight once a week, but no one bugs you, you are on your own. Now I weigh myself every day so I can act quickly if I'm up a pound or two. This sounds nutty, but it works for me. Since I've plateaued, I think it's a good time to go back to the daily thing of planning my meals and adding up points. I also jog 40 min every day (almost) and walk for about 10 and then do stretching. I really want to be healthy. I love my life and my husband so much and my family and friends. Okay, enuf for now. Best wishes and lemme know if you start and how it goes.
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Cabmom - Welcome back! You can email me about your program at jfbak@verizon.net. Would love to try it. Am doing well with the tx, except neulasta. Tomorrow is my 5th tx and a neulasta shot on Thurs. Will definitely try the Claritin for some relief from pain. Yesterday I walked 9 holes and felt great. Too bad I won't feel that great tomorrow! Anyway, am tolerating the tx well and crowd in everything I want to do in between. Hope everyone is doing well too. About the weight -- will not worry about it for now.
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YEA Golfer Grandma..............I'm glad that you're out on the golf course. Take advantage of that chemo holiday between the treatments.
Hey Beanius............you look pretty darn good in that picture!
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golfergrandma - so glad you are doing well! Will be thinking of you and hoping all the best tomorrow - YAY you are getting there!!
ritajean - ooops! I must have posted at the same time you did, sorry, just saw your post...thanks for the nice words!
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Good to hear from you Ritajean! Tx went well yesterday and had my shot today. Took Claritin last night and so far feel great. Probably still have the effects from all the goodies in the IV. Bought some plants today and hope to play some golf by Sunday? Maybe.
Beanius - You look REALLY good! When I get back to walking and lifting, I should drop the few lbs. I've gained.
Hay, Cabmom, are you going to email that program? Whenever it suits is fine.
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golfergrandma, so sorry I have not been on in a while....I'll send that to you today.
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Golfergrandma - thanks for the nice words...I got a new pic off of the funnycatpictures web site. I like to go on there cuz the pics make me laugh. I love animals but don't have any, so I just love the funny pictures. Glad you sound so good!!!
Happy Friday everyone!
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