Ladies in their 30s
Comments
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I am 30 and start my dose dense AC April 8th. So far I found the waiting the hardest too. Emotionally, I am much better now that the final pathology is in from surgery even though it was worse than I had expected. Glad to be getting the AC over with before summer hits
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Hope, I sailed through chemo. No issues with AC (except for hair loss) and then moved to weekly Taxol. I iced my hands and feet (stuck them in a cooler bag with frozen peas) and took L-Glutamine - no neuropathy issues. My doc didn't give me Neulasta or Neupogen shots though, so the weekly Taxol tanked my blood cell counts and I felt way more fatigued than I ever did on AC (and I was doing AC while pregnant!). Ended up with a neutropenic fever by Taxol #8 but even then I didn't feel bad, just really tired. After that incident my doc put me on Neulasta and I was good. I was told there was a correlation between how you feel with chemo and if you had morning sickness while pregnant....I never had morning sickness between both pregnancies so maybe that is true.
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Coop - sorry you have to be here. Don't feel guilty about your cancer just concentrate on moving forward. I don't know your diagnosis but depending if you need chemo or not you might want to look into preserving your fertility if you want to have more kids.
h0pe - Taxol was way easier for me. I was able to eat again and thus gained weight. I did have the bone pain for 3 days straight each time but it was still better than the AC for me. I got and still have a bit of neuropathy, but I'm OK with it. My nails aren't pretty but they are still holding on. I am 5 weeks PFC and started going to the gym again.
Myra - Looks like you have been through a lot with chemo. Hugs! Take any meds you need, this is no time to skimp. I resulted to oxycodone while on Taxol.
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cougar what do you name that little miracle of yours? That must have been the scariest time getting AC in the middle of pregnancy, wow!
Clarrn everyone ones BC and body react differently, my BC sista back home did better than I on AC. This board is great cuz usually you can search the symptoms which may have an easy fix if you stay ahead of the game:)
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Coop - not anywhere any of us want to be, but you have found an amazing site. lean on everyone here.
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I have 2 babies and had my tubes tied. No more for me lol. Today I've had a bit of fear come in. I think it's because I still haven't seen a doc. I will be making phone calls tomorrow. Because it's in my lymph nodes I'm thinking they would want me to do chemo first. Just need a plan that's all.
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I was just diagnosed Monday March 17th with IDC. I'm 31 and I have a husband and 3 boys ages 7, 5, and 22 months. My husband and I were just talking about getting pregnant with baby #4 this summer and then I was diagnosed. Too much to handle, I just keep thinking about my sweet little boys.
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Thanks for all your replies. Cannot wait to be done with all this chemo BS. I want hair again!
Cougar - were you hospitalized for the neutropenic fever?
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tb2005- you could be my twin. I have one less kid but same age and same feeling.
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coop and tb2005 this is such a shitty hand to be dealt so lean on everyone for support whenever you need it. The message boards are a good place to pretty much do everything from complain to research....plus its easy because we get it, lots of hugs and prayers for you both to fly through this! I brought close friends who had experience with BC with me to many important apts that my husband could not attend, they all took notes for me;)
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inks - I felt fine all through radiation. I went to Hawaii a couple of days after it was done and had tons of energy. It's very individual. I also never had skin breakdown. It's been six weeks now and you can't even tell the area was treated. After chemo, radiation was no biggie. You've likely been through the worst of it.
Coopdizzle- Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It's super scary to get this diagnosis. Come to us with any questions you have and we will try to give you some support. This site and the discussion boards have been a life saver for me through this whole thing.
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About the Tamoxifen around surgery - I think the reason many docs ask you to stop is because of the increased risk of blood clots. Tamoxifen increases that risk as does surgery. So, they don't want that risk multiplied.
Inks - the last week of rads I was actually feeling pretty well. But the fatigue hit big time about three weeks later for me (about a week after I started Tamoxifen, actually). Have help on stand-by if you can - and take it a day at a time. Do what you feel like doing, but don't hesitate to stop when your body is telling you to!
I thought I was in the clear, and thankfully the worst of my fatigue hit during Thanksgiving week when we were at my parent's house - so my boys didn't really notice - they were too busy playing with grandparents!
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Thanks McKatherine and Gilded for responding about radiation fatigue. My PS wants to see me right after radiation to assess the skin damage. The RO is having me take curcumin in hopes of reducing the severity of the burns and will try to get insurance company to approve IMRT instead of 3D conformal.
Gilded - are you getting close to switching out the TEs?
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I happened to go in for my re-expansion the day of my last rads (they had to drain my non-cancer side TE because it was in the way of the beam!), and my PS was obviously concerned by how horrible my skin looked. She took tons of pictures. But, when I went in two weeks later for another expansion, they were all amazed by how quickly it had healed. Other than "tan lines" - you couldn't even tell I had had rads! Sometimes, our bodies are amazing.
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McKatherine - I meant to ask if you are close to getting your TE switched out for implants? Did you have to use any special lotions? I am kind of scared that so many TE reconstructions fail after radiation. My RO has me taking curcumin during radiation. She and her colleagues ran a small study on curcumin and the burns were not as severe in people who took curcumin. The study was super small, only 30 people.
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Myra - my lil guy is named Cooper.
H0pe - I was hospitalized for my fever. I came in ready to do chemo and they told me I should self admit myself to the ER. I didn't really feel that bad, just really tired. Ended up in the hospital for three days as they pumped me with antibiotics and Neupogen. Even with all that I was in good spirits and wasn't lethargic or anything. My doc felt bad though, as he probably should've noticed my counts tanking week after week and put me on the Neupogen sooner.
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inks - yes - actually it's scheduled for the 24th of this month! At first my PS wanted to wait 4-6 months after rads, but then after seeing my skin a few weeks post rads said 3-4 months would be fine. As it turns out - with planning around spring break it ended up being just a few weeks shy of 6 months anyway. I'm hoping the extra healing / settling time will improve my chances of a successful exchange!
During treatment, I used Shea butter / aloe / calendula at home and Miaderm right after rads each day.
Praying that your skin holds up well!!
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McKatherine - I will be praying for you on your surgery day! And sending you some good mojo that your skin will heal perfectly. I just got some shea butter for my daughters eczema so I will be trying it out as well. I already got the calendula in preparation for rads and have been using it on her eczema and it has been the best thing so far.
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thank you! I had my consult with my PS yesterday and found out that several of the reconstructions options changed because of rads. She makes new incisions in the inter mammary fold instead of going back in through the BMX scars. She also doesn't recommend making nipples. She said the outcomes on radiated skin aren't worth the additional risk of infection - the skin just doesn't hold up well. At first I was a little sad that I would have two sets of scars, but if it increases the chances of a successful exchange - I'm all for it!
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Do your PS overfill the TE before exchange? I have a little less than 400 cc in my TE, but stopped because it was getting so painful to fill. I wonder if they will change them out to a smaller implant, under 400?
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h0pe - I got overfilled only in the rads side because it will shrink.
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Does anyone know of a good support group for husband's? Mine is having a rough time. He's 28 and I feel bad we are going through this. He says he doesn't want to burden me with his fears but can't really find a good place to go like I have?
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My husband could use one too. Should we just start a thread for them and they could go there? Not sure that mine is the posting type. I bought him a book but I couldn't find one for young husbands so it's not that helpful.
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edit: just asked my hubby and he said he might post on a message board. He's 31, and we have an almost 3 year old daughter.
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McKatherine - I would take extra scars and no nippels too over possible infection and unsuccessful reconstruction.
coopdizzle and clarrn - must be common amongst husbands of any age not to be able to handle cancer. My hubby is 50 and is having really hard time. He has hard time with any medical procedures and illness or suffering just makes him super depressed. I asked the social worker about support groups for husbands, but there are none where I am.
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Hey ladies
- newly diagnosed and new to this site. Im 35, married, and our children are 5 &3. So far, all they know is mommy has a boo boo. Im starting chemo (TCH) either tomorrow or Monday (darn insurance dragging their feet with the final auth).
After a week or so of avoiding the internet, im now devouring everything I can read in order to prepare for chemo (this is such a fantastic site! )
Xoxo
Jen :-)
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Sunshine36, hugs to you and your family. My little one will be 3 soon. We found the book, mom and the polka dot boo boo, really helpful, short and cute. It talks about the effects of chemo without associating the scariness that older children worry about with cancer. The day it arrived, she made me read it to her 6 times in a row. She is most worried about my hair and this book had made it more normal for her.
Glad you found this site
I started my AC yesterday. We can do it!0 -
Clarrn - thanks for the book recommendation! I will def have to look for that one! I know A.C. is differ than TCH, but how are you feeling???
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Like crap. Have to go back to see the oncologist tomorrow because of the nausea and headaches and crazy heartburn/reflux. But I've always been a puker so most people will feel MUCH BETTER. This afternoon is already a bit better.
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Welcome sunshine36! I hope you can start your chemo soon.
clarrn - what did they give you for nausea? If you did not get Emend this time see if you could get it next time. I hope you feel better soon.
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