Chemo in Sept 08
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Hi Girls,
I am just planning a small champagne party by the pool a week thursday, 19th Feb, as that is my "End of Treatment" day after almost a year!
I am just inviting a few close friends who have supported me throught my long journey. You would all be inivited too, if you were close enough.
Take Care, Singapore Chris
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Juli,
The rash is near the back of my knees, and a little on my back. No real rhyme or reason I can come up with, though maybe that skin is less dry?
My hair is about 1/2 long, so no flowing locks. Still it is nice to have. It grew back after AC while I was having surgery. I was sure it would fall out with the taxol, but so far, it hasn't (6 weeks in). FIngers are still crossed.
AC for me was horrible. I was ready to give up. Surgery went easily, I had all my drain tubes out within a week. So far, Taxol/Herceptin has been easy. Everyone seems to have something that majorly trips them up. Was AC that for me? Or will rads be the treatment that makes everything hard for me?? I suppose reconstruction could also be an issue.
Genia - so glad things are going better for you. I was definitely worried and came here often to check how you were doing.
Did anyone else have expanders? If so, how often and how much did you have them filled?
Colleen
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Juli,
You wore a wig for the first time and I went commando last night! My scarf was bugging me so I tookit off! Too funny! I still wear it to work, but at home, I am bare headed. My sons run their hands over my peach fuzz and tell me how soft it is!
D
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Juli, you look cute whatever you put on your head! :-)
Denise, you are MAKING ME HUNGRY!!!
I am off to my dialy zapping. If my skin gets much itchier it will fall off. And it it driving me crazy not to scratch it! BUt I don't, I can't imagine that would be good!!! After today, 11 more to go.
SpringieWhere is Winke poo?
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Spring,
Do you put anything on your skin after treatments? Not sure if you are allowed to. How many more to go?
D
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Denise,
11 more to go, and yes, I put lotion or aloe vera on. I have several different lotions and have been trying them all. Not sure there is a difference! I think it is just the zapping of the radiation!!!
I was hoping I would not have such skin issues, but chemo was relatively easy to me (as compared to Genia and Jane! who get the awards!) so I guess the jig is up! It won't be that much longer.
For me, this clavicle area and the back behind it are the worst. The bob itself is not as bad. Maybe it is just the cummulative impact of all three areas driving me batz!!!
Spring.
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Chris....I wanna come to your party!!! Sounds like so much fun....just drink enough for me....lol
Thanks Colleen. I sure thought my days on this earth were over. I don't remember a lot from that day at all......but I DO remembering bargaining with God. Telling him he had brought me through 6 horrible chemo treatments......surely he wasn't gonna take me now!!! It must have worked....cause I'm still here. He's been threre for me through this all and I couldn't have made it without him.
Denise...your head sounds like mine. Just peach fuzz.....my REAL hair isn't growing yet. This is the remains of my old hair that didn't fall out.
Beverly.....I hope your poor skin heals soon. I can't even imagine that feeling other than a tanning bed burn.....and I'm sure it's worse than that. Do they say it will keep getting worse???
I go Weds to get my mammogram, ultrasound and heart echogram. Seems the fun never stops.......I think I'm gonna go to Singapore and see Chris......I truly need to get away from all of this for a while. As we ALL do.............
Love you girls......and Wink.....you better answer roll call......we get worried ya know!!!
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Juli -
You look cute in your wig, just like every hat you put on. Tomorrow I have to be at the "Murphy Cancer Center" at 8:15 AM. I'll have to leave my house at 7 AM. They told me to plan on being there 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I hope it's closer to 2 1/2 because at 11 I have to be at the oral surgeon down the road to have my abcessed tooth pulled. I know I shouldn't have cut it so short, but that was the best I can do. I'm pretty prepared - I've got the CDs with my MRI, mammo, bone scan and Ultrasound and I have all the reports that go with them. I already faxed the reports to the Murphy Center as well. I filled out all of their paperwork ahead of time and made a copy of all of my medications and history, so hopefully it will go quickly and smoothly. Hopefully, when I leave, we'll have a plan.
I also have my tooth x-ray from the dentist to bring with me.
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Jane - I hope that all goes well tomorrow - you certainly do have a full plate - yikes about the tooth - I know that you'll feel better when it's gone (gives me the willies...I hate going to the dentist).
Juli - I had Taxotere and Cytoxan; Taxotere is second generation to Taxol (derived from the Pacific Yew) and I believe that they both are synthetic now. I would have a tingling sensation across the bridge of my nose at the end of the tx - the nurses told me it was a SE of the Taxotere and to take a benedryl when I got home. I happened to have some of the benedryl strips that dissolve on your tongue in my chemo bad - so I'd slap one of those puppies on my tongue and in no time the tingling would go away.
Denise - I went over to a friend's house for dinner last night and went commando! I'm here at work this evening commando for the first time. I have the same feeling now that I did when I first starting wearing my wig - conspicuous!
Chris - your champagne party sounds wonderful - wish we could all be there to help you celebrate. I know that you'll have a great time.
Genia - here and accounted for. I'm so very happy to hear that you are feeling better - you really had me worried GF!!!! I agree - we should all take a little trip to Singapore - after all, we need to help show support of our sister
. Sounds like you will be having a radiological extravaganza on Wednesday - I'll be thinking about ya Sweetie Pie.Hey Beverly - thanks for missing me! I spent most of the weekend buzzing around in an organizational frenzy....early spring cleaning??? I guess all the the sunshine got me going. It was a beautiful weekend for us North Carolinians. Kudos for the 3+ mile walk - you go Ms Springie!
Colleen - my hair is about 0.5 in also and....I've already colored it and.....it needs to be colored again! I guess that I should just wait till I get a little more growth before I do anything else. Anytime I have an itch or rash, my husband tells me to take a soak in Epsom salts - and I have to admit that it usually helps. Magnesium sulfate is the active ingredient and it not only softens your skin - but it's a muscle relaxer too - 2 cups in a tub full of warm water does the trick - might help your rash.
Mina - how was your weekend - see any movies? I watched The Secret Life of Bees, it was wonderful! I read the book several years ago and the movie adaptation was excellent. It's out on video now and I highly recommend it; two thumbs up!
I still want to know where Lei (Tanzie) is??????
Luv Y'all
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Jane & Beverly - Thanks, but every time I looked in the mirror, I didn't recognize that lady looking back at me! LOL Guess I've gotten used to the peach fuzz look.
I'm up for a party in Singapore! woohoo! Let's all go!
Chris - did you have the itchies as bad as Beverly? If not, what was your secret?
Genia - Thanks for bargaining... we would miss you too much!
Hugs to all!
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I bubblewrapped all of you who are on Facebook! 0
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Hi girls, I had a margarita on Friday and a glass of wine tonight. sooooo glad to be done with chemo. Surgery coming....right mastectomy with expander. Any hints on things I need or can do to make this a little easier. I am terrrified.
Genia - Soooo glad you are feeling better. God is good!!!
My hair is just barely growing. Can't wait for the eyelashes and eyebrows to come back
Trude
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Trude,
I also had a right mastectomy with an expander. It was my first surgery ever, so boy was I scared. I had to be at surgery early 5:30AM, so I didn't want anyone just waiting around in the waiting room, so I just went by myself. I think that was best, as I wasn't stressed about anyone.
The hospital had the surgery routine down. Each doctor stopped by before surgery. The last person to stop by was my anesthi...(I can't spell this AM). Anyway, you have to know that my son loves "relax medicine". So I got wheeled down the hall, and I remember the anesthia... saying he would give me some medicine to make me woozy. They would then do the ekg, etc, and then he would give me medicine to make me drift off to sleep. In pops the nurse and she says, here is the medicine to make you feel woozy. I remember thinking, this must be the part my son likes. I wonder how it feels. Then, I remember waking up looking out the window at Baltimore! It really did happen fast to me.Everyone told me it would be like that, but I still stressed.
I did feel nauseaous when I woke up, but all I did was mention it and I had nausea medicine given to me. I also had pain when I woke up, but again, I just mentioned it, and they were right on it. The hardest part for me in the hours after surgery was being dependent upon other people to help me. I'm very independent, so it was hard. I was only in the hospital overnight. When I went home, I had my pain prescription filled, but didn't really use it after the first night home. I hated how much it made me sleep. Tylenol wasn't enough though, and at my first appt to my surgeon they said I could take Advil. You may want to ask before you leave the hospital if it is ok to take advil. My surgeon said I could actually take both, since they work differently. Prior to surgery you can't take advil, so it surprised me when they said I could take it after surgery.
Another funny thing about surgery, when you wake up, you will have these little boots on your feet that inflate/deflate. Not bothersome, but I just wasn't expecting them. For your drain tubes, I recommend one of those fanny packs if you have one. Otherwise, I used my badge holder from work to hold them around my neck when I took a shower.
Oh, and this is probably unique to me, but the first few bites of jello I ate made me feel really nauseaous. After a few minutes the feeling went away and my stomach was fine from there on in.
All in all, surgery was much easier than I thought it would be. When is your surgery date?
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Juli,
I was just browsing the active topics and found one with the title "taxotere and permanent hair loss" You may want to look at it. I have to believe that the people that have permanent hair loss with taxotere are small, but if you are doing better now with the taxol, maybe you want to try finishing??
Colleen
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Colleen - yikes! permanent hair loss! maybe I just need to convince the dr that 8 out of 12 Taxols were enough, and I need to move on to radiation.
Hate my wig pic, so it's back to fuzzy head. LOL
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Colleen, Taxotere & Permanent hair loss!!!! ahhhhck!!!! Good grief. That would the the icing on the cake!!!
Trude, when I have surgery, the worst time for me is the anxiety leading up to it. I try to focus on how good I will feel when I wake up and it is OVER already! You will be fine. When is it? We will pray for you! Sounds like you are having fun with wine and margaritas! I have not had anything to drink. I am gong to see how long I can go without alchohol. What the hay.
Prettiest, what do you mean you bubblewrapped us??? OH like a super poke???? You stinker!!!
Jules, are you having rads or skipping them? I decided to get naked a lot yesterday and "air out" as Chris mentioned. Last night, the itchies woke me up so I stripped off my PJ top and froze! I thnk the cold air helped the itchies. I am now pooped! I think there is really just differences in each person. I had a friend who did not have much of a reaction, just a bit of redness at the end...
Winkie Poo!!!! You came back!!!! So nice to see you. I am about ready to try some "comando" hair thing. When was your last chemo? Mine was Nov 11 and I think I have around 1/2 inch to 1 inch, maybe just, in a few spots. I love having hair, even short!
Jane, let us know how all the medical and dental things go. Prayers to you!
Genia, lets all go to Singapore! What a great idea! Chris seems to really like it there! What a dream: in reality, I can't go anywhere!!! Tied to the RADs machine!!! Yesterday I started thinking, crap, I think I'd rather have another shot of Taxotere rather than these rads at this point. But then I remembered my hair would fall out, and I changed my mind!!!
Springie, itchy, Springtime...
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Hi guys! Glad we are al here! I have my biopsy scheduled for Feb. 19th. They told me no Motrin for a week. Well, my whole body hurts today d/t working 9 hours yesterday. I am only SUPPOSED to be on 4 hour shifts, but my manager had a heart attack yesterday (she's 51). It really made me think how stressful my job is and maybe I can cut back and not work full-time. In our economy though, I am scard to do that! Anyways, I need Motrin as Tylenol is not cutting it! I had to take my hat off yesterday whenever i went nto an isolation room and I put on the blue caps that they wear in surgery. Got a few funny looks, but Im to the point of who cares?!?
Trude, You will be fine in surgery. Just speak up when you need something and make sure someone is there for afterwards. I had TRAM and could not lay flat for 2 months. Do you have a recliner to sleep in or lots of pilows to prop?
D
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I'm not done with Taxol yet (one more after tomorrow), but my hair has been coming in lightning fast since I was done with FAC...it's about an inch long, completely silver, and I love going out without a bandanna or a hat on! I've just been wearing a headband to cover my ears so they don't get cold.
Anyone heard from tanzie? Ruth? It's scary when someone doesn't post for a long time...
Are we still planning on getting together in Tennessee in the summer?
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I met with the Rad Onc this morning. They told me to plan 3 hours, but I was only there for a little over an hour. She said they allot that much time in case people have questions. My husband told her that she didn't know me, that I could tell her more about the process than she could tell me. She asked me when I last had bloodwork done, because they like to keep on top of counts. So, I pulled out the lab reports from last weekend when I was in the ER with my tooth. My husband said, "See what I mean? How many of your patients carry their lab reports with them?" What can I say? It did come in handy. I go back tomorrow for the CT scan and tattooing. Then they said it will take a week or so for them to come up with the right plan. Then I go back for a trial run and the real thing will prob start the next day. She said I will prob start 2/23 and continue for about 7 weeks.
I had my tooth pulled this morning, too. It only took the oral surgeon about 15 minutes and he was done. Of course, he charged me $369 and does not accept insurance. I guess they know when they have you over a barrell. It's kind of sore tonight, so I took some vicodin. I've found the best pain killer for me recently has been plain old generic aspirin. I don't want to take that for a day or so because I don't want to increase the bleeding in my mouth, but I'll go back to it again. I found out by accident when I ran out of everythng else last weekend and found a bottle of aspirin in the medicine cabinet.
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Jane - Sounds like everything went smoothly, except the price of pulling a tooth. yikes!
Beverly - I need rads when I'm done with chemo... which I hope is real soon.
I know, wishful thinking on my part. I really, REALLY want to be done!Robin - I forget...who is in Tennessee? Also, it took me awhile to figure out how to do that "What's in a Name". I had no clue as to what I was doing, but I guess it worked, eh?
Donna - I will look for those Benedryl strips. Thanks!
Genia - How ya feeling g/f?
Hugs
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I think that we decided on Tennessee because it's sorta "centrally located"for most of us...I forget, but one of us here has a daughter in TN?
My rads appt is set for 3-11...ugh
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Its Me.....My dd is in Nashville. She is working on finding a time with some good stuff happening. Give me a few date ideas.....Jenn (dd) knows all the right people and right places
She is working on it.
Thanks for all the help with surgery....I am so scared...never had surgery. What to wear? Comfy sports outfit.....tank top with zip up jacket and streach pants ????
Trude
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Hi ladies.....here and accounted for....lol
I'm feeling a lot better now. I got today for a mammogram, ultrasound, and a echo of my heart!!! I also picked up my radiology reports and disk for the surgeon. When I looked at the report of the MRI......it says there is an large area of cancer in the right breast and one lymph node with no clear margins present. AND it also states there is questionable findings in the left breast. This is news to me.....they never said anything about the left breast to me at all.
I'm trying not to worry....as I know the surgeon will read that also. He will do what's best for me. So today is a fun filled day of smashing and dashing on my poor boobies again. But I'm gettin closer to my surgery and some kind of closure with all this crap.
Love you girls.....and Jane.....glad that old yucky tooth is gone.
Trude you will do fine hun......
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Genia, you were leaning towards bi-lateral anyway, maybe the decision will be made easy for you. But you're right, the Drs will fill you in! I am so glad you are feeling better!
Trude, bring comfy clothes and all your bathroom stuff. Do you stay over just one night? I took my own jammies, but I was there a couple of nights. OH, tops with buttons that DON'T need to go over your head!!!!! Important!!!!!
Jane, well, you are just humming along!!! Girl with all her records! Wow! You go girl!
Julie, when are you done with Taxol? What is the date? Are you counting down?
Rads: For me, after today 9 more to go. I am starting the 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 countdown!!!!!!!!
Chris, I have been fanning my skin and sleeping naked on the top. The air does seem to help! I am also bringing in 2 tubes of steroid cream for skin today, and ask if I can use them for the Rad-Itchies....
Juli, I see you took your wig off! I am trying to spike up my "hair" but I think there is not enough yet to spike! I will try again this weekend. One of these days it will spike!!! Baby!!!
Love you ladies!!!
Springy, Itchy, Springtime!!!
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Beverly - I hate that pic of me with the wig. Anyway, I am supposed to have 4 more tx. I will probably get Taxotere on Friday. Yay for you, the countdown!
Good Luck to all with appts today.
off to work...
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4 more weeks then, Juli!!!!! March is your month baby!
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I went to all of my surgeries in jammies. Fresh ones, mind you, but if I can't wear warpaint or jewelry, they get to see me in my jammies.
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I'm back from my fun filled day of testing.....lol
Heart looks good.....that made me happy.....cause I can continue with the Herceptin. I need that drug......
Can't stay long.......really bad wind storm here and I may lose my power!
Be back later if I can.....
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I went for my tattoo session today. The guy wouldn't do roses...just little black dots. I got to lay there with my hands over my head for a long time while he pushed this pillow that felt like it was filled with rice around my body. Somehow it dries into a form that will be used for all of my radiation treatments. He marked me up with markers and wires and ran me through the machine. When he was done, he took all of the marker off and just left the 3 tattoos. He said the doctor will get in touch with me in about a week to let me know what plan she came up with and when I go in for my test run.
Tooth doesn't really hurt today, just feels weird where there is an empty space.
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Trude - I agree with Beverly (and my surgeon told me this too); don't wear any tops that have to be pulled over your head - look for button and zip front blouses. I was also told not to raise my arms above my head for about 6-8 weeks. My surg told me that the skin needs to reattach to the tissue below (I had a bi-lateral mast) so you don't want to disrupt it. I also had a camisole that was specifically made for mast post-op; it was soft, stretchy (I could step into it) and it had pockets to hold the drains. I got it at the American Cancer Society shop for free. Ask your onc's office if there is one near you - or call the cancer society and find out if a shop is located near you. If you can't find one - I'd be happy to send you mine.
Itchy Beverly - my last chem was Nov 13th. My hair is about the same length as you describe and my brows and lashes are coming in like crazy! I hope that the radiology center can help you find something to soothe your poor itchy skin (something with a topical anesthetic in it - like solarcaine).
Nashville would be great for me - I'm game!
Robin - I'll have to check my FB - don't know what "bubble wrapped" is. I've been working evenings and FB is surf controlled here - thank goodness this website isn't!
Juli - I got fed up with my wig and have not had it on since last Saturday!
Genia - thanks for the update - try not to worry too much - I had bi-lat and for me it was the best decision.
Shoot - it's starting to get busy - I'll write more later.
XXOO
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