TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
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Welcome Tinaguz,
I hope this thread offers you info., comfort, humour and knowledge.
Pbrain, that sounds painful, pulling out your hair!! Yes, I know the folliciles would not be embedded strongly in your scalp, due to chemo sessions, but I read your description and just thought that it was painful, physically, but maybe much more upsetting, emotionally. Just my opinion. I was more cowardly and buzzed it off, once it started coming out in clumps, which devastated me. I am pleased to report that all my head is now covered with about an inch of dark hair (my natural colour is medium auburn), and it is curly on top, straight on the sides. I finished chemo on Nov., 9, 2012, and four weeks of radiation on Jan., 25, 2013. I view my hair growth as spring arriving early---in my body!!
Well, you all know how TERRIFIED I was to pop my first Tamoxifen pill on Feb., 14. I did it, and I know it's only two days later, but I have only had a very mild headache. No terrible hot flashes, which I feared most. I have slept solidly. Yes, the joint pain, weight gain, hot flashes, et al may arrive at my door, but I am cautiously optimistic that it may not be so hideous after all.
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gratitudeforlife I know some people on tamox that have no SE! I hope you're one of them.
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pbrain - I have been on a statin for a few years and was aware of the grapefruit issue - my dosage was upped from 20mg to 40mg because my cholesterol went up (probably because I was not as compliant as I should have been about taking it) a couple of years ago. I really didn't do well with taking it through chemo because I just could not deal with yet another pill. My cholesterol did not go up! I am thinking it was because my diet was so much better after chemo. Long story short, I asked my primary care doc if I could start trying to wean off, so he reduced me to 10mg for 8 weeks and if my number is low enough after that he will take me off and I can then eat GRAPEFRUIT! Yay!
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Welcome Mommy of3 and so sorry that your here, but we're all here for support. This is a great place for questions and concerns. Good luck..
A friend of mine told me she listens to 1812 overture during chemo to blast out the cancer. I'm thinking of trying something like that.
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Pbrain, interesting info on the grapefruit. Thanks for the details.
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shasha - I am picturing your friend with the 1812 overture - the only problem is that with 3 drugs (TC & H) that would be a LOT of the 1812 overture, lol! Be prepared for a very long day - so maybe some quiet and relaxing tunes would be good too!
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Hello again -
lago - I am sorry I went in and edited my profile. When I signed up for this site last night it was the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake my husband by turning on lights and rummaging through a drawer to find my books and the names of the chemo drugs etc. Once again I apologize for not doing this correctly, I will learn soon I hope.0 -
Tina no apologies needed. Wow you had several cocktails. Bet you were dancing in the streets when all that was over.
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Ok well here goes, a question already. Yesterday was 10 weeks from my last chemo (taxotere) and I was wondering what most people's hair is like at that point ? I have started some light growth on the back and sides but the top is REALLY slow
and I am worried I may have a culdesac on the top of my head forever.. Sorry for the spelling. A large part of what I have is grey now, which I am ok with but I hope there is more to come.
I am scheduled for another surgery on March 26th but will have no new chemo or meds added as this is just to remove my other breast.
I don't know if this is where I am allowed to as I these things or not ?
Thanks in advance for any advice
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lago - YES I am very very happy to be done the last of the chemo. At the risk of wining the first 3 treatments were not too bad but the last 3 of ( taxotere ) were not fun for me. My oncologist told me they were going to hit me hard as they gave me high doses of all but I was not prepared for the second set of three.
I also had neulasta with 5 out of 6 of the treatments as my white blood cell count tanked after my first infusion. So maybe that contributed to some of the pain I had. Or maybe I'm a wimp, I didn't think I was but ..... I don't know as much as I thought I did about myself maybe.0 -
Tina you can post anything here as long as you don't break the rules (no political stuff, spam or say nasty things about people).
I found the top of my head came in after the sides. So for a while many of us had that Friar Tuck look. Herceptin can also slow hair growth. My hair came in very grey and black. I have dark brown hair (and grey) not black! My hair came in pretty fast because I always had fast growing hair and a lot of it but it was slower on Herceptin.
I know another gal on Taxotere where it seemed to take forever yet she did get her hair back. She wasn't even doing Herceptin. 10 weeks isn't that long but I know it seems like forever when you see others that do have more hair than you. I went topless on week 13 but it was still pretty short and lots of hair had not come back yet… remember I have really thick hair. Also I think my hair started to come back before chemo ended so I had a head start.
You can see my hair is much thicker on the sides than on top as it grew in.
The dates are in the lower left. My last chemo was 1.18.2011. Here's my hair transition linky.
Also I was taking 5mg of Biotin and still do. Check with your onc to see if that's OK.
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Welcome, tinaguz, and congratulations on being finished with chemo!
Have you visited the hair, hair (can't remember the exact title) thread? I have it in my favorites and will post the link after finishing this post.
Shasha, the 1812 Overture idea still has me smiling - and I read it five minutes ago!
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lago - Thanks for sharing the pictures ! You have beautiful hair and I hope mine also comes back good. My husband and daughters tell me I need more patience and they are correct. However it's not always easy no matter how hard we try.
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LeeA
Thanks !!!! I have not seen the thread on hair but will look for it thanks.0 -
Here's a link to the hair thread, tinaguz -
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/69/topic/707348?page=611#idx_18301
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I apologize in advance, but I need to vent! I truly try to focus on the positive, but I have to get this out of my system.
My husband DH not a very vocal or demonstrative person. I'm pretty used to that after all these years. He's even stepped up his game and did laundry on his day off this week, has indulged me by driving me around, doing errands and lunch. It's been really relaxing and enjoyable to spend some time, just the two of us, while DD is at school. But he ignored Valentine's Day! We never do anything huge for birthdays or VD,. But he didn't even mention it! Even I managed to get something for both of them. I even made sure I mentioned it a couple of times so he didn't forget. Nothing. I know I need to find a way to let him know its not ok to do nothing, but I'm just so baffled. I'm thinking of asking his siblings to speak to him to add some credence to my opinion of what husbands are supposed to do for their wives.
Also, I am really tired, and tired of nothing tasting good. Doesn't help my mood.
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macho-mouse my MO wanted me to stay away from high doses of Vit C and E, and most anti-oxidants and immune system boosters during chemo, as he said they could be counter productive to the Chemo process, but he had no problem with it once I was done with chemo. He worked in cancer research for several years before clincal work.
Just my 2 cents!
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powermom - mine did too, no mention, card or anything. I gave him a card first thing in the morning so he had all day to sort something and still didn't! And this is the man that has been so great through the last year.
By the end of the night I was sooo angry... So I just said to him: I need to let you know that I'm feeling really angry that you didn't do anything today. I feel unloved and very sad and hurt.This is going to take me a while to get over and in the meantime I am definitely not going to be in a good mood.
He was so apologetic... Bad day at work. Too busy to even have lunch etc etc. I don't know what his issue really was but he has spent the next few days being so nice.
I'm still hurt though and just as I said, it will take a while to get over, but I am pleased he knows what the problem is.
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Tina, welcome! Glad you made it through chemo!!
Gratitude...so glad the first two days were good. Hope they all stay that way. I didn't really have SE on Tamox once my periods came back. Just a sore elbow (but I was still on Herceptin, so it could have been that).
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Valentine's Day.
I dunno. We didn't do anything (we did go to a winery the previous weekend tho). I think it's a much bigger deal for women than men.
But I'm also one of those people who doesn't get all ga-ga over anniversaries and such. We celebrated our 25th last year, with a big whopping dinner at home! (Which we have every night.) To me, the day to day living is the real celebration...not the exact day on the calendar our culture says we should be appreciated....but the other 364 days of the year he is there, through good and bad.
Having said all that...Powermom, have you considered that chemo may enhance the offense? Would this be something that normally made you so angry? Angry to this degree?
There was always a week, I called it my dark week, after infusion, where I just couldn't trust my emotions. The smallest things set me off...and all I thought about was dying. For example, ... What do you mean you didn't sweep the kitchen floor? Isn't that your chore? Oh, you know what, let your DYING MOTHER do it. After all, it's exactly how I want to spend THE END OF MY LIFE...cleaning up after grown children who eat crackers standing up in the kitchen without a plate or napkin!
And I do believe there was a...
No I don't want to pick out new floors with you! How could you ask me such a thing?! I do all the work and your new wife gets all the benefit?
Um, yeah. I was a litttttlllllleeeee psycho.
Thankfully 95% of the time, I just held that craziness close to the vest.....
Not to say you aren't right to feel offended. I don't know the relationship you have with your man. Only you know that.
I can say in all honesty tho, for me, chemo always seemed to make things more intense emotionally.
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For Valentine's Day we exchanged cards, and had an appt with the breast surgeon.
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Jenn and Tonlee,p thanks for your responses. I don't care that we don't celebrate big, not really our style (or budget). Just something to know it matters. Jenn, I think I will swipe your sentence, " I feel unloved and very sad and hurt." Those words perfectly express how I feel.
Interesting that both of our husbands did the same -- think they can somehow attribute it to Down syndrome, vicariously?
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bren - your post made me laugh!
DH and I exchanged cards (which looked exactly alike, but on mine the girl was holding an umbrella) and he gave me a box of Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters candy. Some women might be offended by that but he knows I really like it so I was pretty excited. I am not a believer in "Hallmark Holidays" where that one day out of the year is supposed to demonstrate your love. That should be every day - and it sounds like DHs that missed the mark just had a bad day that happened to fall on Valentine's Day. I feel bad for those whose feelings were hurt though. I may be shouted down for this but I am a non-participant in Mother's Day too - I want my kids to show me some love on a random day of their choosing.
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We were away camping for VD's but I did get him a card. He's not a big card guy but wished me a happy VD and that's all that matters. We quit going to dinner because it is usually so crowded. He had purchased me a very nice gift for my birthday though (in November) so I shouldn't expect anything for awhile. We don't get all mushy about these things! We spent the day driving home from the Withlacoochee State Forest and cleaning up from our trip! Sorry that some of you felt hurt but I'm guessing if you are used to it and it doesn't happen then you would feel bad.
Happy Saturday everyone!
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Oh my friend from up North is now in Florida for a few months and she just finished her last chemo a few weeks ago. She felt bad that I am triple positive and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'm happier being triple positive than triple negative because she thinks negative is better. She'll be doing her rads here and her onco won't see her again for a year which I find odd. I'm wondering if maybe she isn't really triple negative but her chemo treatments sure do indicate she is. She looks great though!
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Hi tinaguz,
A HUGE congratulations on finishing chemo. I had six rounds, too, 3 with FEC, 3 with Taxotere and Herceptin given simultaneously. Like you, I found the last three rounds very hard on my body. The great news is that that particular part of the treatment is now history for you.
Re: Questions about your hair, I finished chemo on Nov., 9, 2012, so I am now into Week 14. My hair was thick, medium auburn in colour and wavy, and it has grown back at an equal rate all over my head, albeit slowly---or is that simply because we all want our hair to return so desperately??? Anyway, it is a dark, dark brown colour, straight on the sides, corkscrew-curly on the top, with a sprinkling of grey throughout it. I think I will post a photo within the next month. Lago, it's so nice of you to post your photos. I did not take too many as I just was not feeling so fine with "the look"
. Tina, I notice you are receiving Herceptin and began Tamoxifen on Jan., 1, 2013. Tamoxifen may cause hair loss or thinning of the hair in some individuals, and as Lago stated, Herceptin can also cause your hair to grow more slowly. I have been taking a silica supplement on Dec., 4, 2012, along with a zinc supplement, as both are good for hair/nail growth and the maintenance of good skin. Hope this info., calms you!!
Lago and TonLee, thanks for your positive comments re: my (so far) decent reaction (by that I mean almost no negative SEs) to Tamoxifen, two days in
.For the several ladies on this thread whose husbands messed up on Valentine's Day, FWIW my DH left for his annual week-long ski holiday with his brother on Valentine's Day, but we knew he would be going away so we celebrated on the weekend. I am with TonLee on this one from the perspective that as hard as the treatment has been on all of us, physically, emotionally, mentally, spritually---it is also a very stressful time for our spouses and children, parents, friends, etc. Maybe they just messed up for that day due to job-related issues, worrying about their wives, parents, finances, etc. Life is stressful, esp., for a spouse whose spouse is undergoing treatment; however, what is critically important and makes life meaningful is the quality of the other 364 days of the year with your spouse. I, too, was more emotional/weepy/intense after receiving chemo. Having said all that, it is my most sincere hope that any of you gals who were hurt/disappointed have been able to communicate that info., which is important to do so , to your hubbies in a civil manner. Don't retain negative emotions. I think doing so is toxic for your body, spirit and mind. . . and haven't we all had our fill of toxins invading our bods
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OMG, Tonlee!! I am having THAT WEEK!! I had my last chemo on Monday and I was so psyched to be done and then wham, I got hit by my second cold in as many weeks. And suddenly my emotions have been all over the map. My husband and I got in an argument that started so innocently but I blew up. Like I could literally feel this inexplicable rage coming out that in hindsight I would like to attribute to steroids. Can I? Please? No, but seriously, I think it was the steroids because the rage surprised me...it was like a wave.
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Tina, you weren’t whining, though you can whine if you want to. That’s a pretty tough chemo regimen – I’m sure htat was not picnic.
And Pbrain, yo uweren’t making it all about you, you were telling us an amusing story!
Hair wise, I did the cold caps but there are areas where I can see totally new hair growing in. It’s straight, fine, and only a little over an inch long, and I finished in early nov. The hair I kept is long and curly. That hair is coming in really gray. And actually kind of straight. My hairdresser doesn’t know about my diagnosis – I’m going to get my hair cut for the first time since … oh goodness knows how long … next Sat. I’ll have to bring him up to speed. The hair that needs to be cut is the hair that made it through thanks to the cold caps and is extremely scraggly.
Powermom, it’s reasonable for you to feel hurt, and in any case that’s how you feel – why not just tell him? He sounds like he has been good to you and it’s not good for our health to hang onto stuff if we don’t have to.
Gratitude, glad that tamox isn’t too bad – I’m a few weeks now and honestly I hardly notice anything. I think my sleep has been a little more disrupted in the night, but that might also be my heater turning on and off…
Forever, it could partially be the steroids. Also, if it were me, and I were finally done with f-ing chemo, then I got a cold, then I got another GD cold, I’d be pretty angry too. Telling myself that it’s irrational doesn’t make ME stop being mad sometimes. Maybe you were looking for an excuse to vent, and you couldn’t exactly be angry at the cold, or your body, so ….
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powermom Does your DH usually not do anything for V-day? If yes then no surprise. If no then it could be that he is just so overwhelmed with what is happening to his wife that V-day isn't so important. Since he seems to have stepped up his game it sounds like he truly does care and is there for the important things. My recommendation is to discuss with him when you are not angry. Just ask "Hey what happened to my V-day card/chocolates?" Then explain like Jenn how you felt hurt. Hug from him should follow.
BTW if water tastes yucky try putting squeezing lemon, lime or orange in it (just not grapefruit
)Tonlee "No I don't want to pick out new floors with you! How could you ask me such a thing?! I do all the work and your new wife gets all the benefit? Um, yeah. I was a litttttlllllleeeee psycho." Too funny.
DH and I exchanged cards for V-day. I was making Tandoori chicken for dinner but then he called and said he was bringing home Smoke bbq instead. Tandoori chicken got to marinate another night. We had it last night. He did send me flowers on the 13th. This is actually unusual. I usually get them on the 7th for my birthday. My birthday celebration was very low key this year. We went out for lunch last weekend. Maybe that's why I got flowers for V-day.
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Last Herceptin done on Friday afternoon and am doing the usual "flu like" symptoms now. So glad to be done with this and looking forward to the day, in three weeks time, when I'm NOT heading back to the chemo suite :-)
Jenn0
