August 2010...anyone starting chemo besides me?!
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THIS WAS TAKEN FROM THE CANCER.ORG WEBSITE, AND I WILL PROVIDE THE LINK AT THE END, AS FOLLOWS:
Day-to-day coping
Experts have been studying memory for a long time. There are many resources to help you sharpen your mental abilities and manage the problems that may come with chemo brain. Some things that you can do are:
- Use a detailed daily planner. Keeping everything in one place makes it easier to find the reminders you may need. Serious planner users keep track of their appointments and schedules, "to do" lists, important dates, phone numbers and addresses, meeting notes, and even movies they'd like to see or books they'd like to read.
- Exercise your brain. Take a class, do word puzzles, or learn a new language.
- Get enough rest and sleep.
- Exercise your body. Regular physical activity is not only good for your body, but also improves your mood, makes you feel more alert, and decreases tiredness (fatigue).
- Eat your veggies. Studies have shown that eating more vegetables can help you maintain brain power.
- Set up and follow routines. Pick a certain place for commonly lost objects and put them there each time. Try to keep the same daily schedule.
- Don't try to multi-task. Focus on one thing at a time.
- Track your memory problems. Keep a diary of when you notice problems and the events that are going on at the time. (You might track this in your planner.) Medicines taken, time of day, and the situation you are in may help you figure out what affects your memory. Keeping track of when the problems are most noticeable can also help you prepare by not planning important conversations or appointments during those times.
- Try not to focus so much on how much these symptoms are bothering you. Accepting the problem will help you deal with it. As many patients have noted, being able to laugh about things you can't control can help you cope. And remember, you probably notice your problems much more than others do. Sometimes we all have to laugh about forgetting to take the grocery list with us to the store.
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All things to keep in mind....PUN INTENDED!!!!!!
Your FEARLESS Leader!
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Here goes my Bio: I grew up in a stable childhood where dad was the bread winner and mom took care of the kids, house, etc. I married my highschool/college sweetheart and we just had our 35th anniversary in August. We both graduated from the University of South Dakota with me as a social worker and he in fine art. We moved to Iowa where he is a professinal artist and art educator (website: donhetzelfineart.com ) I worked as a social worker for a few years but the past several years I have managed a Senior Housing Complex and am working part time at it now so I can take care of myself.
I have had several medical problems over the years. 2 pre-mature babies with lots of hospitalizations (they are both grown and healthy now). A urologist ruptured my bladder while diagnosing interstitial cystitis, which followed with severe colitis from all the anitbiotics,which followed witih pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis riquiring a month in the hospital. Sometime after that I developed fibromyalgia ( probably from all the body trauma) and now breast cancer. Drs. tell me I am really lucky to have survied the extent of my blood clots. Yea, real lucky! That is the joke at our house how lucky I am. I do contribte most of my medical problems to Drs. incompetence and mis-diagnosis.I have had to deal with some bitterness toward Drs. over all this, but have come to the point now that I can't change it and I must forget about it and move forward for my own peace and healing. God has carried me thru this all and I trust in His healing care. However, I question everything a Dr. tells me and research everything as well as getting copies of all my tests and reports. I have found that they don't always tell you what is in the reports. So please, be your own advocate and look out after yourself whether they like it or not!. My husband has been a blessing and taken such good care of me and the kids.
We are a golfing family and before the bc, I golfed several days a week.. Our daughter plays on a college golf team. We had a family trip purchased to a PGA tournament in Ohio this August which we had to cancel and a cruise scheduled in December which we also have to cancel. We have to jump thru several hoops to get our money back despite having cancelation insurance.
We had a loving Maltese dog which we had to put to sleep a few years ago. He was familly and it was so sad. I haven't been able to replace him.
I appreciate this thread and all news and helpful info Know that my prayers are will you all.Coleen
Lizzy, If my regimen goes as planned I will have the following chemo dates: Sept, 13,Sept.27,Oct.11th,Oct25, & Nov. 8th
l
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Ginger: that sports car, especially a Viper, is just as much a grandchild as the others!!!!! He made a very fine choice!!!
Calamtykel: your boomerang might be non-existent this time as you did not push yourself and took it easy on chemo day. I really think, bearing in mind I am no MD (I know...I had to point that out!!!!), taking it easy on the day of and after tx is going to be helpful in controlling SE's.
Wherria: I hope you are ok. Have not heard in a few days and I am wondering how you are.
Thisishowilive: what is going on?! Have not heard from you in over a week or two. I hope your first tx was uneventful. Keep watching Fallon and smiling! Stop in once in a while and let us know how you are
Your FEARLESS Leader!
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57COLEEN:
That was LOL funny about you being the lucky one! That was a title earned in a dubious manner at best! Thanks for the laugh-
Your FEARLESS Leader!
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GINGER: I too are of the experienced age 64. I like to think a young 64. When my Onco told me I was still young I told him he had been in Laguna Woods (Leisure World) too long. I haven't contributed here for awhile but have been following all of you.My first TC was last Wed. and the day of and 2 days after were unremarkable then Sat. Sun. and Mon. came. Fog(in my head) extreem tiredness and general suckiness all around. Today is a hell of alot better but I'm trying to be careful and not to get carried away. I go to Onco tomorrow for blood check and will talk to him about sleep help with the roids, not fun.After the roids wore off my port looked a little more swollen and red but no big deal, because of my non-existent veins the port is my miracle device. I too am an only child and my only regret about that now is that I have no siblings to share memories with. My parents were the youngest of their families and did not have me until my Mom was 40 so no close relatives to hang with. Maybe I'll just make stuff up, who'll know.
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Hi y'all!
Chemo round 2 over with SE's didn't really seem quite as bad as the first round. Maybe because I haven't had time to be sick! My daughter has been in/out of ER with pregnancy complications. Sat after my Nuelasta shot I was there with her until 11pm. I think they finally have her on a good med (fingers crossed)
I've been trying to clean house all day it takes a lot longer feeling like crap. We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 birds...one of the dogs is a Border Collie pup and she is making messes out of everything she can find to tear up. My husband and 2 of my kids that still live at home don't seem to even notice. It drives me crazy....I told them God forbid I get run over by a truck they would all suffocate from the crap piling up around them....lol...Guess they just want me to feel needed
)....its working....one thing I have learned over the years with having a lot of kids is the messes will wait.I am going to the "Look Good, Feel Better Class" on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it. It will be nice to do something for "me"...Not to sound selfish
)I hope everyone is doing well.
Take care,
Mary
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MMahle: I love border collies! They are so cute! I had a house a few hundred feet off the beach in Connecticut. I would say 90% of the neighborhood was year-round residents but we did have a few seasonal families. My neighbor was seasonal and I looked so forward to her coming up with her border collie! I loved that dog. He would go in the ocean with us and unbeknownst to me, at least the first few times he did it, he could stand against my home, look in my living room window and we caught him watching the Yankee games (with me, through the window!) on more than one occasion!!!!!!! It was so funny. I let him to watch and he seemed to really watch the games! They are smart, fun, great family dogs.
Another funny animal story from that house: naturally, waterfront living means you have a crawl space. I was working in Manhattan so I was getting home pretty late (wink wink!) so my cat would come bounding down the stairs to see me every night, naturally. Shortly after she came down I would smell skunk...every night. I figured there was a skunk outside but rather a momma skunk had decided to have her babies in my crawl space!!!!! Skunks could smell her, of course, so, every night for about 2 months, here comes the cat, the skunk would get scared, pound it's paws and spray and so it went! I did not call animal control to get her out of there as they will leave on their own once their babies are grown enough.
What a summer that was!0 -
Hi all,
I just found out that there's a new comedy starting this fall called "The Big C", it's about a woman facing cancer and how she copes. The trailer made me laugh out loud. I'm not a big tv watcher but I'll DEFINITELY be looking for this one.
Here's the trailer on Youtube-
(this link may or may not show- if not go to youtube and search "the Big C", the show stars Laura Linney.
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Ooops. Doesn't show for some reason. Still worth ambling over to Youtube for....
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It is really fun to read everyone's stories about themselves. We are a very diverse and interesting group!
So here's my report on my first few days of AC (don't I wish that was Atlantic City not Adriamycin and Cytoxan!). I think I posted on Friday after getting the treatment. Felt ok, had a headache but was trying to drink lots and eat small meals. Saturday I started to feel a bit icky and didn't eat as much. Saturday night my stomach really started to feel off and Sunday I was nauseated all day. Didn't eat much and ended up not sleeping much either. Yesterday my stomach started to feel better but I now have zero appetite and I'm having a hard time getting myself to eat. Slept poorly again last night. My boss is super awesome and flexible so I stayed home yesterday and this morning, this afternoon I managed to make it to the grocery store and back home ok so I decided to come into work for a couple of hours. I do think getting out of the house has helped my mood.
So here are my big side effect issues - 1. Nausea, even though I had Emend and Zofran. The Zofran bottle said to take every 8 hours as needed but the nurse told me every 12. So Friday and Saturday I just took it every 12 hours but on Sunday switched to every 8 hours because I was feeling so crappy. Perhaps next time the better plan will just be to do every 8 hours those first few days. 2. Loss of appetite, I just have no interest in eating but I know my stomach will feel better if I get some food in. I've been drinking Carnation Instant Breakfast drinks and I got stuff at the store today to make smoothies, hopefully that will help me get some more calories into my body! 3. Super dry mouth, which is just making it harder to eat anything that is not already moist. I'm drinking water like mad but my mouth is constantly dry and I'm starting to get that metallic taste now too. 4. Trouble sleeping, I've been having trouble sleeping for over a month now so my onc prescribed Ambien but I only got about 5 hours of sleep last night with the Ambien (I get really tired and cranky when I don't get 8 hours).
My onc's office is only giving me steroids on the day of treatment so I can't understand why it would still be impacting my sleep. I called them today to ask about the sleeping and they claimed that the steroid is causing my sleep problems. It doesn't make sense to me but I'm hoping for a better night of sleep tonight! I also talked about my stomach feeling off and she said that the AC can cause a sour/acid stomach and recommended taking 20mg of Pepcid (or generic store brand) every morning for the duration of treatment. I'm also having hot flashes and the last 2 nights I have gotten so hot while trying to sleep that I've gotten an ice pack out of the freezer and laid in bed with it! That is even after having a fan pointing right on me!
OK thanks I really just needed to vent all of that out. I've been feeling pretty crummy, physically and emotionally these past few days. My husband has been great and is continuously trying to force me to eat and my cat is offering the healing powers of sitting in my lap and purring. I'm already dreading treatment #2 so I'm glad to hear that a couple of people are feeling like it went better than #1.
After having been at work for a little while I do think my mood is perking up. Liz, I think I just read that you have been contemplating going back to work and maybe others are too. I think ultimately it depends on how stressful and flexible your job is. I am very lucky to have an understanding boss and a low-stress job so I was able to stay home yesterday and come in for only a couple of hours today. I think being at home for so many days straight was making my mood worse and coming in this afternoon to catch up on emails and chat with my co-workers has helped me. Of course, going in to work at a stressful job may just end up adding more stress that you don't need. Just something to think about.
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Iowa...
Each round of chemo is different and each day is different...My first one was very different, in regards to SE....I had my second round of TCH ON AUGUST 23RD...My symptoms this time was uuuggghhh...Lisasinglem seem to have almost the same experience I am having...Enjoy the minimum side effects while they last...
I HOPE THEY ARE MINIMUM THROUGHOUT YOUR TREATMENT....
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Hello friends. Hope everyone is having a good day. I haven't been posting for a few days. Just not feeling up for much lately, physically or emotionally. But I have caught up on my reading from the group, and am as grateful as ever for each and every one of you -- and doesn't it just go without saying (except that I'm saying it) that LIZZYMACK RULES!
Day 8 of Tx #2. Still dealing with se's, some are the same as last time, some are different, some better, some worse.
Have loved reading about folks (thanks Sweeney), and will contribute something about myself soon, just at a moment when I have a little more energy than I have presently. For now...
Sweeney: Yes on the headaches and memory loss! Headaches have been much worse with 2nd Tx, memory loss about the same, but definitely a thing.
On that note, if anybody doubts that chemo brain is a real thing, try this experience...
A normal day, you got up made the coffee, went through your morning routine of showering, dressing, taking care of the pets, reading the paper, checking your email -- whatever you do. Not in any rush to get to anything. Nothing particularly stressful about the day. Okay, maybe not feeling all that well because you're being treated for cancer, but otherwise, you're you, and you're going about your day not realizing that anything is different or out of whack.
You've been up an hour or two. Your morning coffee or juice kicks in and you have to pee. Walk into the bathroom, unzip, unbutton, look down, and lo and behold, you're wearing not one, not two, but three pair of underwear!
Now, I've been through many inordinately stressful times in my life. I've been distracted by a wide variety of circumstances. I've dealt with many illnesses, including mental illnesses. I've been on multiple medications in my adult life that have affected memory as well as cognitive functioning. I had my adolescent/young adult experiences of experimentation and humor (as Lizzymack called them). AND I've been through menopause. So please, nobody try to persuade me that unknowingly outfitting myself with three pair of panties at the same time, and not even realizing that anything was off, is ANYTHING other than chemo brain! If you tell me it's NOT, that it's just me and my emotionally-stretched-too-thin current existence, you might just break my heart.
That's my story for today. Hope it gives everyone a much-needed laugh.
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Where has Rachel been?! Probably out sporting her China wigs! In any case, JSW, I am so ambivalent about the work thing and Rachel and I seem to work in the same type of not-so-flexibile atmospheres so I really just don't know. This is what brought her to mind, however. Thanks for the advice, though. I would like to get back but, at the same time, stress is a big issue. All things to consider.
EVERYONE....Your FEARLESS Leader actually has a (potential) chemo start date: I will be joining all my CHEMOSABIS in CHEMOLAND on September 9th!!! I don't, however, have my regimen yet but that is forthcoming before week's end. Sadly, and congruent with pending Stockholm Syndrome (!), I am looking forrward to getting this started already! If it is every 3 weeks, I will finish December 23rd!!!!! This also means, however, I will probably be pretty wiped out for Christmas and New Years but whatever! At least it will be over!
Good times, good stuff!
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Wherria-
Chemobrain is as real as the oxygen we breath!! Maybe you thought you were going on a flight and instead of packing, as getting luggage on the plane has become nothing short of cumbersome and in some cases costly, you were going to wear all of your clothes you would be using on vacation!!!! It is a theory....I am just saying!!
You rule as well, sister! Hang in there...by January this will all be a memory...or not!!! JOKING!
Liz
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Wherria - that is just to funny. Most definitely Chemo Brain, and dont let anyone else tell you otherwise. I guess 3 pairs under your pants are better than 3 pairs over your pants :P
Put a call into the doc today. I have still been nausous and they are possibly looking at giving me a shot instead of the emend next time. I have also been dizzy, which could also contribute to the nausousness. They want me to moniter my blood pressure. Luckily I have nurses at work that will help me. I told the nurse that it is like when you get outta bed too quick, and your equilibrium is off. She said that it sounded like my bp was taking a dip whenever I moved too fast. Or she thought I was dehydrated, but I have been getting up 2-3 x per night to potty, and I dont usually do that, so I am not sure if that is the case.
Anyways, I thank you all for being so wonderful and open with all your daily trials and joys, it helps so much to know that even though we are all not going through exactly the same thing, we are not alone with what we are going through.
Hugs to all.... Kim
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Okay so this is gonna be long- i read from where i last left off a few days ago and hand wrote my responses so i didnt forget anything. Okay first about me day 2 after tx 2 besides diarrhea and nausea nothing worth reporting. Barely any pain from the neulasta shot! hasa a plus tx 1 was unbearable the 1st day and took a few days to taper off!
Zenith- I've lived in AZ (phoenix/buckeye) and really super miss my friends i made here the almost 3 years we lived there! BUT I DO NOT MISS THE WEATHER!!! TY for the cruise link- the prcies seemed reasonable although i doubt i'll have the $ this time around. I wonder if i can take my kiddos, also you can enter to win a trip for 2! I'll look into the kid friendlyness when i remember next!
Lizzy- capes sound like a great idea! As long as when its my turn i can wrap my around my head like a turban! My weekend was great! Your boyfriend sounds smart- focus on getting better work can WAIT!
Rachel- Funny I did scrapbooking from when i first got married until i had my first child (5 years later) i just got so caught up in the whole mommyhood phase i forgot to scrap book. i have hte pictures though!!! Lots of catch up to do!
ckptry- its OKAY to focus on yourself for a bit. My son missed 4 speech thearpy appointments while i was undergoing all the testing and everything, he is getting back into the swing of things now- its iportant that us the mothers are well enough to care for our kids- if not us WHO??? but my sons problems are prob mole hills compared to your children's mountains...
English teacher- I grew up in WA (olympia) apparently WA does have some higher occurances of B/C- i'll have to do independant research on the statemnets i've read- maybe an environmental factor of some sort. Interesting because my step dad has breast cancer too! He till live in WA he is undergoing radiation right now. No blood relation go figure! WTO on running a marathon!!!!!
calamatykel- Keep the cape you totally deserve it!!! Love to hear your boy got to enjoy church services in heis comfortable clothes. Made me smile! Sorry to hear aout your friend- i can admit it sucks being a young mom going through cancer! But super happy to hear she is at stage 0! At first my port felt weird, like my skin was streching, but a few days it felt so normal. Only when my 2 yr old bumps it or the seat belt rubs on it do i notice it there... But be warned there are some rude ppl out there that stare at it- make me wanna yell something witty, but i dont LOL Oh yeah and my downtown haur is nearly gone too lol, dont know why i just didnt shave it when i did my head- not like i was gonna get an ingorwn or something lol nothing is GROWING! Yay for the rescure group hopefully the cats eye hads no lasting effects.
lisainglem- I do get fatiuged the first week after tx, but up until last week i had an iud in place so i cant help much with any menstral related questions
libraylil- LOVE to yard sale/ thrift shop to a fault! I will get such great deal on kids clothes (10 cents apiece) that i will buy things for next, next, next year LOL- moving from a 5 bedroom house to a 2 bed apartment has made me scale that WAY down though. My 5 yr old (who wears size 4) now only has clothes up to size 7 (the rest i sadly sold or donated) I have a hard time passing up a good deal!
Sohardbnme- First i love your name, i know we all feel that way at time! ALos sorry to hear about yourbad day- thanks for suggestiong a trip or a crusie! I would LOVE to get away when all this cancer is said and done! The bath chair sounds like a fabulous idea!
Iowasue- so happy to hear your SE aren't effecting you! May that be the norm through all your tx! WTG!
ckpty- Went comando last week and i love it! Epecially cuz of this 105+ degree heat! My head feels like i have air conditioner!
onemonga- sure feel free to make stuff up! Maybe you could be a CIA agent.,, any hobbies???
MMahle- Praying for your daughter and soon to be grandbaby! Its scary being in the hospital and pregnant. Yeah my husband swears he has cleaned, but i dont see it at all (maybe just cleaned an area where he can lay down to watch tv! lol) my kids also are OBLIVIOUS to the mess!
Sweeny- hopefuly its a chanel i get!
DebJ- YES monday they didnt use hte cold spray and i had to do the "breath deeply" methody, although they did give me tylenol...it wasnt really painful just a unique weird feeling...
gingerbrew- i hope one of my children bless me with a sprtscar grandbaby
Age is nothing but a number- i have more stories but i thought i'd share my g rated ones LOLcoleen- congrats on anniversary # 35!!!! With the "good" luck we've been having who in the heck needs bad luck!!!
wherria- yes i had a much needed laugh! 3 pairs!!!! i still cant figure how ya got your pants to go up and button over 3 pairs!!!!
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Wherria - I LOL'ed when I read your post. You should keep that story for your book about your experience!
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jsw--is your doctor willing to try another cocktail for anti-nausea? For me it seemed to be the compazine combined with ativan. That seems to have helped and my chemo was yesterday. So far I've only taken the comp today. I may take an ativan before bed.
Right now my main complaint is the menstrual cramps - they seem to have come with the nulasta shot - what is THAT all about? And my bleeding's gotten really heavy. I hope it slows down tomorrow!! THis really stinks!I realized that today was like one big skin hot flash until I looked at the thermometer - a balmy 96 degrees! Yikes! I went for a long-ish walk tonight just to oxygenate my lungs...but didn't push it. I may pop a couple of tylenol before bed. I probably won't sleep tonight with all this bleeding. ACK! At least I had a good sleeping night last night!
Hope everyone's side effects are minimal - praying that way! My arm's still a little sore where the adriamyacin leaked, but the nurse looked at it today and said it's not swollen so it will probably just heal. This goes to show you how POWERFUL this stuff is - that it can actually BURN skin when it gets into it!
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calamtykel glad your SE were better. I go Thursday for my 2nd chemo. I asked the dr. if the se's were worse each time and he said not necessarily. 14 days after the 1st chemo my hair started coming out in handfuls. Had the Mr. cut it GI Jane short and I wore my wig to school Monday. Everyone was so nice and some of the students thought I'd had my hair straightened. It really needs to be buzzed as the little nubs are falling out. Glad your nausea is under control...I'll dwell on that tomorrow and hope things go at least as well for me. Beth0
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texasrose36
You are AMAZING making a list so you could say something to each of us, even more so while having those two lovely little ones to watch. Hope things are going well, yay on getting #2 over with. Ask for more nausea meds if you are still queasy. I'm on day 10 and still have to take zofran and compazine at times or I just have no desire to eat.
Carolyn
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Hi y'all! For those that are getting the bad nausea I wanted to share something with you. I have been getting Aloxi in my IV with each infusion. Its a long lasting Anti-nausea drug and I haven't really had too much nausea. I got nauseated on day 14 last time and my Oncologist said it was probably from stress or something else unrelated to chemo. For the most part, I just feel kind of hungry, nauseated where if I eat something small it goes away. It might be worth asking about though.
Take care,
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Ckptry- Ha i wish i could have won a good mom award but i put on a DVD and hoped that they'd stay out of my hair- oops i guess i mean head lol while i did it, no such luck i had to reveree a hair pulling match. I have tried the scrolling up, scroll down respond, scroll up then scroll back down but i always seem to miss someone!
MMahle- What surprisingly helped keep my last bit of nausea away was refried beans, if it works again tomorrow i will have to get another bean masher (well potato masher) i love slow cooked beans and love to make my own refired (although these were left over from lunch at carls jr today lol COLD at that!)
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Hi Guys, I get the Aloxi too with my infusion. Then on the day after chemo I put on a Sancuso patch which I wear for seven days. I had no nausea with the first treatment and only a little with the second. Maybe those of you guys struggling could ask your doctors about this.
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WHERRIA - today I put a pencil in the refrigerator. Now I might have done this before BC and Chemo but now I can blame it on chemo brain. Great story about the extra clothing!
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LIZZYMACK1 - glad you have FINALLY been given a tentative start date!
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Hi all--Been away for a couple of days. Had a pretty stressful day (self-inflicted) with my bone scan and Ultrasound. I swear I feel like I am reading too much into their faces (radiologist) and what they say. I have had a pain in my left side for a couple of weeks so of course, feel like the worst is to come (after 2 cancer diagnosis this year....can you blame me?) so I was freaked out all day yesterday and hubbie had to put up with it along with random friends and family that I called. I left some crazed, messed up message for my Oncologist Nurse to let me know ASAP on results as I was SURE they found something. So I heard today, Nurse said she tried me all night last night (of course I was on the phone going through each detail with whoever would listen). She said "Doctor said results look OK" and will speak more to me before my next chemo. Of course, still not 100% satisfied but that will do for now to SLIGHTLY put my mind at ease. I met someone yesterday with Stage 4 stomach cancer and if only I could get her strength and ability to live each day for the fullest---not there yet (clearly as my crazed state yesterday proved) but hope to be. Have next chemo on Sept 3rd and again on Sept 24th (Hubbie is away that weekend with my oldest son at hockey tournie so have my sister watching over me). Hope everyone is doing well.
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This will be short because I've been catching up on reading everyone's posts and my laptop battery is about to die. Just wanted to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. My first chemo was fine, no reactions to the drugs, the port was a lifesaver, I used the Emla cream and didn't even feel the stick. It's only been about 8 hours since treatment, so I'm not having any SEs. I do have a headache, but I think that could be from not having slept well the last few days. My one complaint is that I did NOT get any Ativan, Xanax or any of the good drugs, just my chemo drugs, Emend and a steriod. I was actually surprisingly calm today.
I say we all get "This is your brain on Chemo" tshirts to wear on the cruise we are all going on next Spring when we are all recovered! ta ta for tonight
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Wherria, I am sitting here laughing like crazy! Three pairs, I can se it now. You had something ewlse on your mind and just got stuck on that track.
Thank you for your story, it is so good to laugh.
GInger
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I have a question for everyone. How long was it between the time you found a lump/symptom and you saw your doc for the first time?
For me I found the lump on Friday evening and the Doc saw me Monday morning as soon as they got my call, did an ultrasound, sent me to the hosp for mammograms and then back to her office for a core biopsy. By Thursday I knew I had IDC cancer. My doctor is a breast surgeon and wonderful.
I think it may be interesting to compare. I would have gone insane wating longer to see the doctor, the weekend alone was really hard.
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hi, i had a mastecomy on june 7, which got infected, i still to this day have a nurse come every second day( everyday til last week) to pack it. the infection is gone but it still is not healed. then on july 21 i had a lymph node dissection.
i had my first chemo on august 25,( i go every 2nd week for 26 weeks) i was so sick for 4 days, i could not even put water in my mouth. it was so hard on my children, i cant believe i have to do this 11 more times. i had long hair, cut it short for step 1, i was told if not after 1st treatment, it will fall out by 2nd. i dont want my kids to see if falling out in bunches so i am going to take it all off soon.
i am having a very hard time with all this, though people say i am doing good, my sick benefits from the government ( you are only allowed 15 weeks) run out in less than 2 weeks and i still have radiation after my 6 months of chemo, canada pension disability and ontario disability can take up to 4 and 6 months to be approved, which i was told that most cancer patients dont pass because they dont consider cancer being long term and severe, because in their whatever eyes, they see it that once you get through chemo, etc. you get better so you dont qualify,
I am a single mom and have mortgage payments, etc.i have already maxed my card and line of credit. i guess they expect you to sell your house and walk the streets with your kids while you go through all this.
i have a big enough fight on my hands , i just dont know how i am going to get through all this,i have been so exhausted,
and all i keep thinking is next week i go again for chemo and having to go through all that sickness again, i am scared of flu season coming also.
sorry for venting, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone and i wish you strength.
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