CMF Question
Comments
-
Candie: I don't think that radiation to the breast causes hair loss on the scalp. The effect of radiation is very site-specific, as you would want it to be. So if you are radiated near your underarm, you might expect to lose some hair there but not on your head.
I was already bald going through CMF and may hair actually started to sprout toward the end of treatment. And it grew in well while I underwent radiation. Compared to photos other hair growth, I would say mine grew in very fast.
0 -
MaryNY is right - breast radiation does not cause hair loss to the scalp. Just the chemotherapy does that lovely thing to us. MargaretB - please tell your friend there are other ant-nausea medications as well. Kytril is a great one, but if she's saving them (and are they limiting the number because of insurance, or can she just ask for more?) for work days, there are other meds to take as well. Compazine works, and many others. Please encourage your friend to make sure her doctor knows she's still suffering from nausea. Sometimes it takes a combination of different drugs on different days to get a handle on it. The most important thing is to stay ahead of it. If you wait until you feel sick, it takes a day of meds to catch up. Best of luck. You may find some other useful tips at http://www.baldisbetterwithearrings.com
0 -
Everyone is so positive. You are all awesome!!! Thanks.
0 -
Just checking in to say hello and give support to those currently going through CMF. Hugs to all of you.
I am almost 5 months out from my last infusion and 2 and a half months post radiation. My energy is back and my spirits are high. And I swear I've gained an extra 10 minutes every day not cleaning up my hair!
Denise
0 -
Thanks, Denise, that is encouraging! I have just started -- so far, so good.
0 -
Yes, if you do radiation right after chemo than it can continue the hair fall out. If you solely do rads than it will not happen.
Denise...glad to hear this!
0 -
Upstate68, Just love hearing from those who have been through what I am currently going through. So funny about gaining an extra 10 minutes a day by not having to clean up hair! Can't wait to be where you are!
0 -
Two weeks after 6x my WBC was 1.7 .. Lowest it has ever been .. Nupogen shot Wed. and Thurs. .. Count up to 2.7 today .. Hope it continues to go up so I don't have to postpone 7x next week ..almost done, can't wait
0 -
Hang in there smva. It's not going to long and you'll be a chemo grad! YEA! You're almost there. I'll keep my fingers crossed for good counts!
Hi Candie! It's always good to see a post from you. I'm so glad that things are going well for you. I have my blood work this week and see the onc next week. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I've never gotten over that pre-check-up anxiety!
Hugs to all of you in treatment! Enjoy your Sunday.
0 -
Ritajean, I'll be sending some extra prayers up for you. I think that pre-check up anxiety never leaves us. But look at you--over 5 years out!!! Yay!
Sending hugs to everyone and special hugs to all of the gals who are in treatment now.
Mandy
0 -
SMVA- I hope your counts go up so you can finish. I am only on round one. I get my 2nd infusion on Wednesday.
0 -
Thanks, Mandy! I'll certainly take those prayers! Glad all is going well for you!
Sending good vibes to you, Dianarose, for an uneventful 2nd infusion with no side effects. Let us know how it goes!
0 -
Hi Ritajean, I am always so happy to see you also. I still get those check-up anxieties, too.
DianaRose and Jeannie, always praying for you!
hugs to all
0 -
Ritahean, just prayed for you!
I have had 2 infusions. So far so good, just a little nausea, constipation and tiredness, all manageable so far. I have 22 more infusions, though, so it's a bit overwhelming.0 -
Candie, thanks so much for the prayers! We need them.
0 -
Thanks for the prayers, gals. I have my blood work done tomorrow and then next Thursday I meet with the oncologist. I'm really having mixed emotions. It has been 5 years that I've been on the Arimidex. I'm wondering if he will take me off the drug. One part of me wants to be done with it because it has bothered my joints but another part of me is leery because I feel it's been my security blanket.
Jeannie.......it does sound rather ominous when you say 22 more infusions. I think you will find that they go faster than you now anticipate. I always loved to mark them off on my calendar. It was such a sense of satisfaction! Just go one at a time and know that you are doing just what you need to do to be a winner. If you get discouraged, pop in and we'll cheer you on!
smva....How are you doing? Do you know if your counts are up enough to continue this week with your treatments?
Hugs to all of you in treatment. Hugs to all of you who are finished and have continued on with your "new normal." You're all great!
0 -
@ritajean .. Had 7x treatment .. WBC count up to 5.7 .. 1x to go .. Will get tested on 15th and 19th to see if they stay up, otherwise another Neupogen shot .. Feeling good otherwise .. Then 5 yrs. of Arimidex ..
Hope everyone else is doing well. Thinking of all of you.0 -
ritajean.....sending up prayers for all your tests!! God's got this and it's so awesome that you're 5 years out! I understand the anxiety that comes with all the appointments and I doubt it will ever get any easier but just know that we're all here praying for you.....keep us updated. ((HUGS))
0 -
Yea smva........another one down and only one more to go! You're about at the finish line!
Thanks for the prayers Cabmom. Actually I am 6 years from diagnosis but I've been on the Arimidex now for 5 years and I'm concerned about what he'll do with me and those little white pills. I had my bloodwork today. Next Thursday I see the onc and get some results. Keep those prayers coming this week, please!
It's been pretty quiet on this thread so I'm hoping that everyone in treatment is dealing well! Hugs to all of you!
Rita
0 -
Hi, thanks for the prayers Candi.
I have a question that maybe someone can answer. On CMF, if I were going to lose some of my hair, at what point would it start to fall out. I have had 2 infusions and on Tuesday I will be done with round one of the pills. Then a 13 day break and we start all over again.
I just want to be prepared.
0 -
Dianarose...mine started to thin after my second infusion, but I did not do the pills so that may be different. I continued to shed through the treatments and for a few months after the treatments stopped. I never lost enough to be noticeable but it sure seemed like it was a lot when it started to thin. I think only my hair dresser and I knew. We styled my hair a little differently and that seemed to help disguise it. In fact, most people kept telling me how good I looked for going through chemo. The hair issue was a big concern for me and I worried needlessly about it. There are a few who are not quite so lucky but the majority of us didn't lose enough to don a wig or wear a scarf.
0 -
I didn't do the pills either, and didn't really notice my hair falling out until after my third infusion, I think. It wasn't noticeable to anybody but me and my husband (granted, I started with pretty thick hair). But it didn't stop falling out until this week -- two months after chemo ended! My MO just said chemo side effects don't necessarily end when chemo ends.0
-
Etherize.........You are so right. Chemo is cummulative and the side effects do not stop magically as soon as the last treatment is finished. It takes quite a while for the chemo to make its way out of our bodies.
I don't know if I mentioned it previously or not, but I have a black cat that could stand in as a double for yours. We got her from the shelter when she was 6 months old.....just one week before they were going to euthanize her because unfortunately our shelter only keeps them for 6 months and her time was up. She had been brought in at about 3 weeks of age....completely shaved and in a brown paper bag. They nursed her back to health but nobody wanted her when she was a little kitten because she looked so horrible as the fur grew back in. I am so glad that we took her. She's gorgeous now. Our second cat is a small tiger cat, also from the same shelter. She was tiny when we got her and she's been with us one year now. They are such great companions.
I hope everyone in treatment is doing well!
0 -
Just want some thoughts on this. I am doing the chemo due to 17 positive nodes and which put me at stage IIIc, but my next delema is the whole hormone treatment afterwards. I will also be having my ovaries out at the time of my exchange. My er and pr are positive, but here's my delema, my onco score was a 6 with recurrance at an 8. I don't know if doing the hormone therapy is as necessary as the MO is suggesting. Any thoughts or anyone in the same situation? I did the BMX and ovaries will be gone. I know that you get estrogen from other sourses, but are risks and the side effects of hormals worth it with such a low score?
0 -
Diana, my MO said the antihormonals are my best shot at a cure. I go to a cancer research facility, so I know she is up on the studies. As you know my Oncotype recurrence rate is also at 8%. Here I am, doing all of these treatments, because of cancerous nodes.
0 -
Dianarose:
If I were you I would do everything possible to prevent a recurrence including taking Tamoxifen or an AI. Originally the Oncotype DX test was used for women who had Stage I/II without node involvement. Only recently have they started to use it when there are positive nodes. The test isn't usually done for women with more than three positive nodes and even then many insurance companies won't cover the cost of the test -- I know mine didn't as I had two positive nodes. At the time I had my test, the validation studies for node-positive tumors had only been done on post-menopausal with three or less positive nodes. Since you don't fall into this category, I'm not sure how valid your recurrence score can be. Since then there was a study done which included node-positive, post-menopausal women with breast cancer but only 63 (21%) of those in the study had four or more positive nodes. See TransATAC abstract and Expanded Use of the Oncotype DX Assay for Node-Positive Patients. The study presumes that the patients were treated with either tamoxifen or anastrazole (Arimidex) alone or in combination (e.g, two years tamoxifen followed by three years anastrazole). That study looks at the nine-year risk of distant recurrence. There was also SWOG 8814. You might want to post on one of the Oncyotpye threads to get someone who can give you better advice on using the test as a predictor.
When you say your Oncotpye score was a six with a recurrence score of eight, what do you mean? Five year recurrence, ten year recurrence? Distant recurrence or local recurrence? Where did you get that number?
I know you mentioned elsewhere that the surgeon didn't get clean margins during surgery. This would also make me want to do as much as possible to ensure that the cancer doesn't come back.
0 -
ritajean, I am so glad you were there for your little shaved kitty! I wanted to adopt black cats this time because so often they're the last to be adopted, due to superstition -- or they're abused for the same reason. My guys were kind of homely as kittens but now I think they're beautiful. :-)
Diana, I was also told that with ER+/PR+ tumors, it's the antihormonals that are the most effective of all the treatments at keeping the cancer from returning. Of course, with such a low Oncotype, you have a low chance of recurrence to begin with, so it is sort of a toss-up. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably want to skip the antihormonals, too.
0 -
But, Diana, with all your positive nodes, give antihormonals a shot. We'll be doing it together! Up to you, though.
0 -
Diana, Mary makes a good point that the Oncotype makes assumption you are treated with antihormonals when it determines recurrence rate. Decisions can be so hard.
0 -
I have been on Arimidex for just about 5 years. My Arimidex 5 year date is Aug. 10th and my onc is taking me off the drug on that date. I have had some side effects from the drug....mainly joint pain and more recently high cholesterol, both of which are manageable. When I started the drug, I asked myself, "How will I feel if I refuse the drug and this beast reappears in a few years?" I knew I would always wonder if the Arimidex could have kept it at bay for me, so I opted to take the drug. I still don't know if it was the Arimidex or something else that's kept me cancer free for the past 5 years, but I do know my oncologist believes highly in this drug. I'm looking forward to getting off the drug, in hopes that some of the aches and pains will disappear and that it will be easier for me to maintain my weight, but I'm also a little afraid. It's like my security blanket is being taken away! I chose to hit this with everything they could give me. It is indeed a personal decision and everyone thinks differently. If you are unsure, Diana, talk to a few other oncologists and see what they recommend in your particular situation. That might put your mind more at ease and help you with this decision. Hugs to you as you struggle with what is best for you.
0
