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CMF Question

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Comments

  • Galigirl31
    Galigirl31 Member Posts: 103
    edited May 2007
    Hi all,
    Glad to see things seem to be going fairly smoothly.
    I have my second treatment Tues. I'm ready...I guess.
    I took compazine for the 3 days following treatment.
    I am having such an awful period this month(bad cramps), but i guess it is its way of saying good-bye...lol.
    Enjoy the weekend and feel good!
    -Melanie
  • dash
    dash Member Posts: 173
    edited May 2007
    Hey CMFers,
    I ran over those Cytoxan bottles today...maybe silly but I felt so darn good afterwards! I put it on You Tube if anyone wants to see...Ginny, Candie and everyone else who took/takes oral cytoxan, I ran over them for you, too...lol! Part of the long pause in the video is me reving up the truck while I said a little prayer for you all. Then we made it into a bit of a party with cake, presents(totally unexpected! )food and lots of laughs--a GREAT day!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6Chi_W5yMs

    Thank you to everyone who helped me through these past 6 months. {{{{HUGS}}}} To you gals going through it now...Time does pass-- and you will feel so proud of yourself for perservering!
  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184
    edited May 2007

    Way to go...congratulations..glad you ran over all those bottles...I should have thought of it!!!

  • 3ofus
    3ofus Member Posts: 201
    edited May 2007
    Holly, loved your video. How liberating! You made it through, something to be proud of! Thank you for your prayer for us.

    Continued Blessings,
    Ginny
  • Galigirl31
    Galigirl31 Member Posts: 103
    edited May 2007
    Holly, That was great! I cried through it!
    Congratulations! You did it!
    -Melanie
  • b445
    b445 Member Posts: 980
    edited May 2007
    Congrats Holly!

    Hope everyone is doing well, I'm thinking of you!

    Hugs & Prayers
  • iamonly39
    iamonly39 Member Posts: 10
    edited May 2007
    That was great Holly!
    I am so happy for you
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited May 2007
    Congrats Holly! You made it. The video was GREAT! It reminds us all that one day we will make it to the end, too!

    Thanks Holly for being such an important member of this thread! You are indeed an inspiration for us.

    Rita
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited May 2007
    Good morning CMF ladies!

    LR..you asked about meds. I, too, only took compazine and since I'm definitely a wimp, I took it on schedule for a few days right after each treatment, whether I needed it or not. Friday is #3 for you, isn't it? You will do just fine. I will be thinking about you.

    Melanie, good luck tomorrow. I'm sure you will do just fine, too.

    Ginny...are you still doing O.K after #5? I have also been wondering if you got along O.K. after the neulasta shot. Any pain at all?

    Well, I've started week 3 of the rads. It will be interesting to see if the week ends as well as it began!

    Holly, be sure to come back often and cheer us all on. We will be looking for you!

    Hope today finds all of you doing well. The sun is out and I have yard work to do this afternoon so I'd better get the inside things done this morning. Hang in there, gals. We're all making progress (as well as cyberspace friends!).

    Rita
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 1
    edited May 2007

    Post deleted by Melissa & Tami

  • b445
    b445 Member Posts: 980
    edited May 2007
    Hope everyone is doing well today!
    Since I had my treatments every week I took the compazine every day!
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited May 2007
    CY..I can't imagine taking treatments every week. You had to be one tough gal! Wow! Mine were every 3 weeks and that was almost too close together for me. You are indeed an inspiration!

    Rita
  • candie1971
    candie1971 Member Posts: 2,467
    edited May 2007
    Congrats Holly!!!I love your video!!! Now on to rads--when do u start that?

    To everyone else still on CMF--keep on pluggin'. You will get done,too. It will become a thing of the past as it has for me!!

    Hugs and prayers,
    Candie

    --------------------------------
    Life is a Long Song
  • Galigirl31
    Galigirl31 Member Posts: 103
    edited May 2007
    2 treatments down. 6 more to go. I can do this with all of your help.
    Thank you all and keep smiling!
  • b445
    b445 Member Posts: 980
    edited May 2007

    Way to Go Galigirl31! it'll be done before you know it!

  • 3ofus
    3ofus Member Posts: 201
    edited May 2007
    Hope everone is doing well.

    Rita, I wrote a long post a few days ago, lost it, and was too pooped to redo it. Anyway, my last chemo was the best one yet. Minimal side effects. The neulasta shot went well too. Some bone pain later the next few days, a little muscular too. Totally manageable. I have felt the same after a tough work out. Does your blood count climb fairly quickly after this?

    Had my radiation mapping and tatoos today. Luckily I have lots of freckles, so its hard to really notice them. Will start rads June 25. Looking forward to the month off everything and being finished chemo soon.

    Hang in there everyone, things get better, treatments come to an end, and every day is such a wonderful gift!

    ((hugs))
    Ginny
  • Galigirl31
    Galigirl31 Member Posts: 103
    edited May 2007
    Ginny I am so glad to hear that your last treatment went so well. Good for you!
    -Melanie
  • catgirl
    catgirl Member Posts: 9
    edited May 2007
    I too took a break from the boards. I have been busy fixing up my guest rooms for a visit from my Mom from FL. she brought my niece and nephew. It was a nice visit. Now I leave tomorrow night to visit with them in Orlando. It will be the first vaca with both my kids (age 18 and 20) in a long time. Should be lots of fun!
    I was supposed to get my infusion on April 27 but my white counts were too low. We waited a wk and they were high enough for me to get my infusion last Fri. I have treatment 2wks on and then 2 wks off. My onc gave me my infusion today 2 days earlier so it wouldn't mess up my trip to FL.
    There are lots of wild fires burning in FL right now and they tell me there is lots of smoke in the air. Does anyone know how or if this will affect me? My sister asked and I said I didn't think so because I don't have any respiratory problems.
    Also, should I wear a mask on the plane? There is always so many sick people on board and with the recycled air I bet I could catch something easily.
    Thanks to everyone on this topic I am so glad I found it! Has been a great help to me.
    Marguerite
  • b445
    b445 Member Posts: 980
    edited May 2007
    Just a suggestion, when you finish typing be sure to highlight, (start at tyhe top or the bottom, push and hold the left side of the mouse and drang it to the other end then let go) and right click and choose copy. after you do this then you can hit continue and if it tells you that you post is no longer valid you can just hit the back button and right click and choose paste and viola you post is there and you don't have to retype it! I find this happens if you take too long to post or someone else is posting at the same time as you.

    At any rate hope all are doing well! I'm praying and thinking about you!
  • dash
    dash Member Posts: 173
    edited May 2007
    Thanks for the good wishes, gals! No rads for me. I had a bilateral mast and my docs say I don't need rads. I am, however, scheduled for surgery in June to finish up my reconstruction. And I am supposed to start tamoxifen but am having problems with the thought of more drugs.

    Candie and CY---Do you remember how long it took to feel your energy return? How about hair regrowth? Thanks for being here for us--!

    Melanie and Ginny--congrats on being able to cross off another treatment!

    Marguerite, I've also read that recycled airplane air is dirty and my onc and the ER doc both mentioned that pneumonia is a real worry for chemo patients. Maybe call your onc and ask his advice(about the smokey air too!) but a mask surely won't hurt. Have a great time in Florida!
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited May 2007
    Hi everybody!

    Congrats Holly on being through with NO RADS! Enjoy the time between now and your reconstruction. YEAH!

    Ginny....glad you had very little trouble with the neulasta shot. Your body will make lots of white blood cells once the chemo is done. The neulasta shot really brought my blood count up. In fact, it was higher after the shot than it was when I started chemo. Amazing!

    So you had the real tatoos. How did they do that?

    Glad so many of you are done with your treatments or finishing up very shortly. I've about got three weeks of rads down with no side effects to speak about. I guess it's doable, too.

    Hang in there ladies.

    Rita
  • 3ofus
    3ofus Member Posts: 201
    edited May 2007
    Thanks Melanie, hope all is well with you!

    Great advice CY re: losing these darn posts! Thanks for your prayers.

    Marguerite, checking with your onc is a good idea. Depending on your white blood cell count, being on an airplane could be a problem. Hope it all works out well for you.

    Holly, how is your hair now? Mine is definitely about 50-60% thinner and I have all these weird short strands sticking up all over the top of my head (about 2" long?) Really need to have my hair streaked (skunk) but am concerned I might lose too much in the process? Any graduated CMFr's know how long it takes to get back to normal?

    Thanks Rita, it would be good to have my counts up higher as I was relatively low even before chemo? That sounds great!

    I had 4 tiny tatoos, which were administered with a fine needle. No biggy after all the other needles we have had. It was a fast, no problem, procedure. Boy are the rad people ever nice! One of them said I could swim in a pool as long as my skin is alright? We have a pool and it would be great to swim June/July when I'm getting this done. Anyone have any experience with this?
    So glad everything is going well for you Rita! I think you would know by the 3rd week if you were going to have any problems. Wonderful

    Take good care everyone,
    Ginny
  • iamonly39
    iamonly39 Member Posts: 10
    edited May 2007
    Hello all
    I have my third treatment tomorrow, which brings me to the half way mark. I am counting down the days until July. I will be celebrating my 40th birthday and the end of chemo all in the same month.
    Question for you : When did you start losing hair and how much did you lose? So far I haven't really noticed anything
  • dash
    dash Member Posts: 173
    edited May 2007
    Hi LR,
    Good luck today--let us know how you do!
    I think hair loss vaires from person to person and how long you are on cmf treatments. My hair is pretty sorry after 12 treatments--very dry, thin, frizzy--strawlike but even so I don't think anyone who doesn't know me would think anything more than, I need to condition my hair or I'm having a bad hair day. There's no bald patches, it has thinned out all over and looks limp because of it.


    I have my own hair question today....Does anyone know when it's safe to color it? My onc never mentioned not to color it and so mid way through, I applied coloring and it made my hair lighten and get brassy. The onc nurses noticed it when I came in the next time and THEN told me you should never color your hair while on chemo becaue it can cause a chemical reaction and create this orangey brassy result. Errg! Too late! But I hope I can safely correct it soon!

    {{{Hugs}}}
  • kats
    kats Member Posts: 162
    edited May 2007
    bayyore02 I did the same CMF regimen as you. I colored my hair when the new hair growth was about 1 inch long. I probably would/could & have felt okay about coloring it sooner if I wasn't going to use permanent hair color but I didn't want to change color or brands.

    I was very nervous when I had the coloring on my hair I thought for sure when I rinsed it out I'd be rinsing out what remaining hair I had left LOL
    My hair did okay and with the grey finally covered up color I felt better too.
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited May 2007
    Holly,

    I've been coloring my hair all along and am getting it done again a week from Monday while I'm doing rads. Mine got a little brassy also but my beautician got me some packets of Malibu 2000 Crystal Gel. The brassiness is caused by a reaction to the iron that is in all water. I add some water to this powder to form a gel and put it on my hair before I get it colored. I sit under the hair dryer for a little bit to get the gel to work. It takes out the brassiness and also seems to condition my hair.
    My hair was no thinner after I used it than it was before, and like you, I've had an over-all thinning affect that only my beautician and I realy notice.

    Kats...did you do CMF, too, or did you have AC?

    Rita

    Rita
  • kats
    kats Member Posts: 162
    edited May 2007
    Rita,
    Yep, I did CMF. My regimen/schedule was the day 1/day8--12 infusions/6 months.
    This was my regimen/schedule:
    Quote:

    The first day of your treatment you will start your cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) tablets, which you take for two weeks. On the same day you will also be given infusions of methotrexate and 5FU (as described). One week later you will be given methotrexate and 5FU again. When you finish your cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) tablets (a week after your last infusion) you will have a rest period with no chemotherapy for two weeks.
    This schedule has a total of 12 infusions which will be given over a period of 6 months.




    I lost a bunch of hair on CMF, 50-60%. The longer and more Cytoxan you have the more hair you lose, that's why those who do the CMF regimens with infusions once every 3 weeks for 3 or 4 treatments tend to lose less hair then those who do the longer regimen with more infusions. It seems like every Oncologist has his/her particular CMF regimen they recommend.

    For the last 3 months/6 infusions of my treatment my Oncologist increased my Cytoxan dosage and that's when my hair really started falling out BIG TIME.

    I had 2 bald patches, one right at my hair line in the front and the other at the crown of my head. By the end of my tx the part in my hair was about an inch wide so my hair loss was pretty noticable, I didn't have thick hair to begin with so that in itself didn't help.

    When my hair started to grow back you could see the hair sprouts sticking up all over my head, especially noticable in the bald spots and part line.

    Mary
  • b445
    b445 Member Posts: 980
    edited May 2007
    I was offically 1 year out for my last MF infusion on May 8th and will be from the cytoxin pills on May 15th! My hair is really getting think again and finally starting to be less unrully! We all will react differently but a good conditioner works wonders!

    As far as swiming in a pool during rads be sure to rinse off immeadiately after to get the chloine off you and put on lotion. don't want the skin to get dry!

    To all the Moms out there have a Wonderful Mother's Day!
  • Galigirl31
    Galigirl31 Member Posts: 103
    edited May 2007
    I hope that everybody was able to enjoy Mother's Day.
    -Melanie
  • 3ofus
    3ofus Member Posts: 201
    edited May 2007
    Good tip Cy re: rads and pools.

    Congrats LR, on being half way through! How is everything? I will just be turning 45 a few weeks after my last chemo. Makes you appreciate everyday, doesn't it? As I move to the end of the chemo part, I just am grateful for everything.

    Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day. I think we all should celebrate this, even those of us not able to have children. We have a mother's heart just the same

    ((hugs)) Ginny

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