Australian Sisters
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Hi everyone so happy to have seen this topic, Australian Sisters
My name is Ronda and I am starting chemo next week which I am worried about as I had planned for surgery first but chemo here I come. I have purchased some cute headwear with my daughters help & after the shock of sitting in the chair next week wears off I hope I can be a prepared as I can be. Any suggestions or must have's?Thanks in advance
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Hi Ronda (Aussie275)! Welcome to the Aussie girls thread! What chemo has been prescribed for you? Some are harder than others but none are nice. 😕 Did you have a port put in? Chemo kills your veins and sometimes they have difficulty finding them so multiple sticks can be the order of the day. Should you not have one but want one, they can be put in and accessed a few hours apart if needs be.
Throughout chemo make sure you drink loads of water, before, during and after as this helps to flush your system. While you are recieving chemo suck on ice chips or eat ice blocks as this helps to lessen loss of taste as well as help with lessening the possibility of mouth ulcers. Rest.......listen to your body and don't try to be super woman. ......if your body says sleep then sleep. If friends or family ask what they can do for you ask them to cook a meal or put a load of washing on or even put the vac through the house. Think practical.
There are probably others things but it's getting late and my brain has decided it's time to go on strike........lol. Please feel free to ask anything even if you think it might be a silly question.......in reality there are no silly questions so ask away.
Where are you in Aus? I'm in SA, country town called Burra. If there's something you want to ask but don't want it on the public forum , please feel free to PM me. I check these threads many times through the day.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Hi Rhonda ..Welcome ..I'm from Brisbane ..I didn't have chemo so can't help with any advice on that , but I see Chrissy has arrived , so you're in great hands 😃
Chrissy ..you have insomnia tonight too ???
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I was going to pop in to say hello, but kept getting side-tracked!
Hello Lucy and Chrissy - and everyone else
Everything's good with me. I've been able to get more exercise in lately, so I must be feeling good lol. Struggling a little bit with my triglycerides in my cholesterol, the rest of the cholesterol readings are good, but the tri reading isn't. So still trying to bring down the fat in my diet ( I keep falling off the wagon lol) but I'm getting there. My GP is wonderful, and really good at keeping me up and running. He's also really easy to talk to, so we are doing all we can to keep me as healthy as possible. I go back to the Onc next month, and have to have an ultrasound done under my arms before I go to him, so he's keeping an eye on everything too.
Work has been good, but my contract with this particular piece of work runs out in three weeks, so my recruitment agency is looking out for another contracting job for me. This one was only supposed to be for six months, but it has been extended, but we have almost finished the project, so no more extensions on the horizon unfortunately.
The weather here in Canberra has been really cold. The coldest winter for a couple of decades. But you expect cold weather when you live in Canberra I suppose!
I hope everyone else is going as well as they can be.
Trish
xoxo
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Hi Lucy, no not insomnia just my usual.......lol. I'm a night owl and always have been.
Hey ya Trish! Great to hear that you are doing well and your doc is keeping a close eye on you. Unfortunately rising liver lipids seem to be a common thing after treatment and while using the AI's........and I understand fully the falling off the wagon! The trick is to make sure you get back on it but don't feeling guilty about falling off.
A bit of a bummer that you need to look for more work again! Anyway, sure hope your agency can find one for you toute suite!
The weather here has been pretty cold also, the last few days have had a top temp of just 8 and 9 but again, it is winter and those are the temps we get......lol.
Love n hugs all. Chrissy
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Hi Chrissy, Lucy & everyone thank you for welcoming me. I live in NSW north of Sydney. I am having AC every three weeks for 4 cycles then Taxol (I think) once a week for twelve weeks. Do the cancer centres have any ice blocks or lollies etc or do I bring my own everything?
T
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Ronda the centres have just plain ice chips but if you want anything else you need to take your own so you can keep the tender mouth membranes nice and cold throughout the infusion.
I have been thinking on what else might be good info for you. Even though they will give you some meds before your chemo to help with side effects, sometimes, because we are all different, they may be not enough to keep you reasonably comfortable. Should this be the case make sure you take note so you can report to your doc and or the chemo nurse. Chemo treatment is not nice but it doesn't mean you have to be totally miserable. Some people seem to breeze through treatment while others have a really tough time.
Another thought, try to get someone to drop you off and pick you up particularly as your treatments go on as driving may not be the best thing.Chemo side effects can be cumulative and your concentration will lapse which could put you and others in danger.
Hope this all helps and not overwhelms you.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Hi Chrissy
Definitely not overwhelming but super helpful so thank you. Can I take favoured ice blocks - is that a silly question
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Hi Ronda, I'm sorry - I missed your post completely
Welcome to our group - although sorry you find yourself with us.
I did AC and T last year. I found that AC was pretty tough (for me) I didn't have enough anti nausea meds, I needed a lot more than they gave me. Once we sorted that out it was a bit better. At least I wasn't throwing up every two or three hours for days at a time. I also had to have Neulasta shots after each AC treatments as my white blood cells tanked each time. This meant that treatment was brought forward from every three weeks to every two weeks.
Taxol was so much easier for me - nowhere near as much nausea. Although I spent half my life on the loo with the big D. I sucked on iceblocks (that I took with me) they helped with the horrible taste change.
Everyone is different - you may sail through treatments and wonder what all the fuss was about
I certainly hope that's the case for you! Be prepared for things to not go to plan, and you won't be so disappointed if they go awry! Please come on here for any questions, or if you want to rave or rant or laugh or cry - we are here to support you.
Trish
xoxo
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Oh - and Ronda
You can take any flavour iceblocks you want lol. I would buy the lemonaide iceblocks as well we those tube things that area all different flavours and take those with me too. I only sucked on them while I was actually getting the infusion - not during the saline flushes or the premeds.
Have you had a port put in? It's defenitely worth it - even if you have "good" veins lol.
Trish
xoxo
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Hi Ronda. No silly questions here! Trish has already answered you re the iceblocks..........any flavor you like! Oh yeah, I forgot about the big 'D' so a really good warning Trish. Best to be prepared with that one.
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Hi all
Hi Aussie275 from Aussie12 (Carol).
Trish I had a blood test the other week and have high Triglycerides as well. The Doctor told me to have fish oil and lose a few kilos. I have my CT scan on the 19th and then see the Oncologist the week after for my Bowel Cancer.
I've had enough of my work at the moment, customer's are getting very rude and impatient. Luckily it's not all of them.
We have had up to 25 here and rain.
Very sad to here about Connie Johnson passing away today. She had cancer 3 times, the first when she was only 12.
Hope that everyone has a great weekend.
Carol
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Hi everyone & no worries Trish for missing my post
& thank you for your advice. It is a weird but I am looking forward to getting started - crazy I know. I am nervous about doing chemo first but I am just hoping for a good response but it is hard knowing it is still there. It is so nice getting on here with you ladies 0 -
Ronda we all felt the same way before treatment started.........anxious to get going and hoping it will kick cancers' butt! We hear you and totally understand your train of thought.
It's always a comfort to know we are not alone on this journey.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Thanks only three sleeps to go :
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Ronda, doing chemo first will give you a really good idea if the tumour is responding to chemo. Do you start tomorrow? Where abouts in Australia are you?
Ronda - good luck, we are all in your pocket for your chemo!
Carol - I think the Femara is making my triglycerides go up, there is some research into it, that seems to indicate it could be a side effect. I'm still doing everything I can to bring them down though
Connie Johnson's passing wasn't unexpected, I'd been following the Love Your Sister page for a while and her brother hinted that it was very near. The fact that the Governor General came to her early because they didn't think she'd be alive to accept her OAM was pretty telling. I must admit, I cried a lot for her. But she's left an amazing legacy - over $5million towards breast cancer research, and her brother vowing to make it ten million. I was just so annoyed at all the hearts appearing on Facebook - with nothing to explain what it was about - Connie would have hated that, and I bet her family are seething.
Trish
xoxo
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Hi Trish
I agree I posted a breast check awareness post on my fb for Connie.
I start chemo tomorrow I am on the central coast in nsw. I spoke with oncologist today & we will do the AC & then see how my tumour is responding & them maybe surgery then chemo again for the taxol round.
But yes one more sleep
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Connie ..RIP ..beautiful amazing lady ..
Rhonda ..thinking if you !!
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Thank you Lucy under twelve hours until I start the attack
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Goodluck today Ronda!!
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Hello everyone
Well one down three more AC to go. I feel ok just tired so we will see but thank you all for your positive thoughts I felt calm & confident today that this is going to smash the beastie
Be gone beastie 💪
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Good to hear you are feeling okay. Do remember to drink lots of water to get your system flushing.
Hoping you have few side effects.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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I've been thinking of you today Ronda, glad the first one is down for you. Make sure you take all the anti nausea meds they give you, whether you think you need them or not, it's easier to stop the nausea before you start throwing up than once it's started! I felt pretty good on day 2 and 3 - the steroids give you a lot of energy (you probably won't sleep tonight!) but day 5 for me was pretty terrible, until I got a lot more anti nausea meds. Hopefully you don't have any problems at all.
Trish
xoxo
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Hi Trish & everyone
Just starting to feel a little off so took one of the nausea tablets & I am resting so hopefully that will work - the meds I got are one tablet up to three times a day so I just took one now. Maybe I should take the other one & have something to eat
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Thank you for your help & sup
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As Trish said, Ronda. Make sure you take all the meds as directed even if you don't think you need them.........it's always better to stop the worst of the side effects before they start. Resting is the perfect thing to be doing.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Rhonda ..glad the first treatment is over , and hoping you are feeling O.K..Thinking of you .
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Hi Ronda
Just dropping in to say hi, and we are thinking of you. Hopefully you'll have a good day today
Trish
xoxo
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Hi Ronda, hoping you are doing okay.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Hi Chrissy, Trish & Lucy,
Day three and doing ok still a little nauseous but not as bad & had a short sleep now I think I might go sleep again. So doing ok just trying to out maybe going back to work sometime next week?
Thank you it was lovely getting on here & seeing your messages
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