March 2011 chemo-lounge
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Kay, Don't worry about the green tea. I didn't have any until the day after and just a cup or two. I think there are so many different thoughts on everything. We can't be paralyzed but have to make wise choices for ourselves and in concert with our medical professionals. I am betting that Maria will have something to contribute soon as I know she has studied diet and foods extensively. I'm wondering if there is something in that Anti-Cancer book? I ordered it from Amazon but it hasn't come yet.
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Hello ladies. I hope you are all doing well today! 4 days out after my 3rd chemo and I am doing well. I get a little tired but no real SE's yet this round. I was glad that night sweats were to a minimum last night allowing me some decent sleep!
Silia: I am sorry you are stressing about work. I am off and don't know how you gals are working through chemo. I applaude you gals working right now! I could physically take it but I just can't deal with the stress of work right now so I am so greatful to be off. I am still worried if DH and I will be employed by the end of the year..DH said things at his job are not looking good. I have just decided I am not going to stress out about it. Somehow things will workout...I got bigger fish to fry right now! I hope you can find a way to balance this emotionally with work and treatment. I know it has to be hard. Also about BLMX...I had no real issues with stamina or being tired from my BLMX. I really think you have to try to keep moving and do what you can. I only took 1 nap...the day I got home from the hospital. Other than that I did sit around a lot but was not completely exhausted. I think eating well, doing the post OP exercises and light walking is the key. Just my opinion. I did not have a recliner. I used a wedge pillow and extra pillows in my bed and did fine. There is a great thread on the surgery message board about what items you should buy/get before surgery. The wedge pillow was a must for me!
Husker: I am still hanging OK! I hope you slept well last night. I know how much a good night's sleep can mean after a few days of steroids! I hope this round was kind to you.....let me know!
Pasmith: I too have gotten a bit of heartburn but it has not been bad. I don't have the muscle twitches though...maybe I will get that next time - LOL!
Divine: Good luck on Wed. YOu are making progress...4 of 6 will be done!!! Awesome girl! Knock it out!
SueBee48: Exercise has been so good for me but I am also not working now so that is the "big thing" I do each day. I do believe it has given me more energy and kept my mind more clear...reduces stress and we all need that right now! Even if you just walk a bit and get moving in the fresh air, I think it makes a difference.
Cathyjoan; I really think I get more energy from exercising. I do feel a bit lazy in the mornings and have to push myself to go some days, but when I get there and get done I feel so good. I promised myself I would exercise 5 days a week all through chemo and I plan to stick to it! I am holding myself accountable. I don't worry about setting goals - I just get on the equipment and do what I can for that day. Some days I do more...some days I do less. I don't care about that as long as I exercise.
Kay: Hope you had fun at the game. I am going to explore the green tea but I read something about not drinking it while on chemo...I am going to wait until I am done with chemo for that and the tumeric just in case it's an issue with chemo. I too wonder what caused the BC. I have been an exerciser for years so obviously that did not reduce my risk. I would like to blame it on wine, birth control pills and not breastfeeding after having a child at 40. Who knows. I just wish I knew what it was so I could just fix it and know it won't come back. If it could only be that easy and simple.....
Supersally: Sorry about the concert. You have to do what you feel comfortable with right now. I am glad your DD is understanding of all of this. That must help a lot. I am glad you got to see all of your VB friends. I bet you actually felt "normal" being out with a group of people that you enjoy seeing. It does wonders for the mind. So glad you are looking good and feeling strong. I have been staying away from the wine. It's hard though...we were with friends last night and they all drink the whole evening. It just feels odd to not drink anymore. I feel kind of left out....strange, I know.
Lorena: I had BLMX with tissue expander placement on 1/27. My PS did not want me driving for at least 3 weeks. I started driving around 2 1/2 weeks - just short trips to the mall so I could walk. My pain was not as bad as I anticipated. I was on pain meds for about 5 days after surgery and that's it. My drains came out in a week which was nice. I needed help a lot the first few days to get dressed, bathed and for meals but as time went on I did fine on my own. My PS did not let me lift anything over 5lbs for 1 month. My DH left me home alone about 2 weeks after surgery and I could do most of what I needed by myself. I started walking (35 min a day) about 2 1/2 weeks post OP at the mall and started back at the gym with cardio equipment (not using arms) 1 month after surgery. I think the post OP exercises and stretches are SO IMPORTANT! I was very tight under arms and in chest and the exercises/stretches were uncomfortable but I did them faithfully twice a day, everyday not matter how uncomfortable they were. My PS would have let me go back to work 3-4 weeks post OP but I knew I was starting chemo so I stayed off work. Many people I know with desk type jobs were back to work within a week or two after BLMX with TE's. PM any other questions you have if you want. It was way easier than I ever imagined...honestly.
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Good Morning ladies , has been a very busy weekend, had my DD 9th birthday party yesterday, it went really well, lots of fun, girls were great but after 3 hours was pooped lol. Its still snowing here, has been all weekend very depressing.
I was told no green tea too not until chemo is done. I dont think I am taking very good care of myself , I am reading all your posts and everything you guys cut out and I other than when I am sick the week after chemo I really havient changed much. I think this is the week, maybe I was just being stubborn that this damn BC wasnt going to change my life, but it has and thats just the way it is. When I have a drink on the weekends I definelty have more than 1 lol I think I better stop that, and better start exercising more. I was trying to do the exercisie bike but havnet really committed to it. Ok girls turn around week for me, help keep me on track PLEASE I am such a wimp when it comes to staying committed lol
Hope you all have a great sunday Hugs
Kymn
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PennyCookson-If I am reading right, you had a MX and are doing chemo, then rads, and you are having your other breast removed, correct? I am in the same situation, choosing to have my left breast removed (worry my whole life as you said) but cannot get anyone to give me a time frame on when it can happen. Could I get surgery between rads and chemo during the 3-4 week break? Or do I have to wait until after rads and how long after rads? I just hate the feeling of not knowing and having no plan for anything beyond rads. Also, being selfish I really want to get everything done before 12/31 so I don't have to meet my huge deductible again!
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Today I feel back to my normal self - full of energy. Felt that for a while yesterday then crashed, then felt great again and crashed again. TCH #3 is Wednesday so I get a few good days. Again can't wait for Wednesday to roll around as I want to get this over with. I have only 4 treatments scheduled so far and they will do a mammo after #4 and if all looks good I will have my surgery following #4 and depending on what they find during surgery either I will move on to rads or have more chemo followed by rads. I see that several of the March ladies are also on neoadjuvant so let's keep in touch. MDG - Thanks to you and others who have already had surgery for the offer to guide us through. I have felt that going through the chemo was the most dreaded aspect of treatment but now that the surgery is looming I am allowing myself to start thinking of that.
Penny - Re: Wine. It is a big part of life here in No. CA wine country. Last night I had dinner at a friend's house and I tried a couple of sips of this really great, hard to get wine (have to be on wait list for years) and it tasted terrible which is probably a good thing at this point!
Bikenyc - Re: Hair - I will have treatment #3 this coming Wednesday and I still have patches of hair. Grays came out first and I have patches of dark hair left which actually is a detriment to how my wig looks as I have a lace front with a part and the dark hair needs a little work to hide. Also still am looking at some peach fuzz on my face.
PasmithX2 - Twitches - I get occasional slight twitches in my legs/feet and think this is be what restless leg syndrome must feel like. Mine occurs mostly at night. Have also had brief eye twitches.
Cathyjoan - Flush - If you read my earlier posts I have developed dark red skin on face around Day 10 after each of my 2 treatments but mine is accompanied by white pustules - horrible and it keeps me from going out for almost a week after it starts. Second time it was much worse than first and the oncon and dermotologist don't know what is causing it. I thought it was the Taxotere but they don't think so. The oncon is cutting back on my steriods for next treatment to see if that helps - makes me a little nervous as I don't want to experience nausea. Will keep you posted on TX#3.
I also avoid crowds - not worth the risk. I do go out to restaurants (prefer outdoor seating) and occasional shopping but that is about it.
Best to all.
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Kay-from-philly - The complementary doc told me to keep on taking my D supplements (mine too is really low) it's prescription strength 50,000 once a week. She's got me on some pretty crazy shite (shark liver oil, turkey tail mushrooms, lactoferrin) to help fight cancer, but the 2 things she told me to take to help with the chemo SEs are theanine and then when I start the Taxol....L-Glutamine. The Glutamine she said to take RELIGIOUSLY 3 times a day to help prevent neuropathy. I've also seen other people here post articles about it, so that might be something you want to look into if you're doing Taxol. I just want to come through this thing without doing any more damage to myself than necessary.
All the nutrition stuff is so confusing during chemo. I'm just trying to keep myself healthy at this point. I'm super anemic, and all my onc keeps telling me is to "eat a steak!". Really dude, that's all you've got? I'm ready for a transfusion already....bring on the good stuff and top me off!
pasmithx2 - I don't get twitches in my muscles, but on day 4/5 my lips start feeling like they're vibrating! it's very distracting. I got really awful heartburn the last round also. It was also kinda weirdly hard to swallow (which I wonder if was related to the heartburn). Nothing seemed to make it better...I ate like a roll of tums in an hour. At least I'm getting my calcium!
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Bikenyc, I am on Cytoxan/Taxol and the Taxol has given me neuropathy. I started on the glutamine powder about 2 weeks ago at 10 grams (the can says five, but be sure to follow whatever you were told) 3 times a day. I still have tingling/numbness though. Maybe if you are starting right when the Taxol begins you will have good results. I hate to think what mine would be like if I didn't take it. They also added Neurontin, which is actually an anti-seizure drug that is a common therapy for restless leg syndrome. So it is hard for me to tell at this point what is actually helping since I am still symptomatic. They classify me as a "grade 1" at chemo, which means I guess that it is mostly under control with meds/supplement. If it gets to a grade 3 (affecting daily living, like unable to button, write, type, stumble, etc) then they will reduce or stop the Taxol. I keep a daily diary of temp, what time I take pills, how many, constipation/diahrrea issues, weight, and any SE's I have throughout the day. You might want to consider something similar. It was very easy to go back and say what days I had tingling (Taxol-related) or aching/sore muscles (Neulasta shot related). It's hard to remember all that stuff over two week's time! You can start to see a pattern of peak days both good and bad. You could add things like nausea, headache, heartburn, etc. I have developed such a chemo brain, that I would not make it through the day without the notebook. There are times I can't remember if I took a drug or not and have to go back and look. I was so afraid I'd take too much of something or skip something, so I am really trying to stay on top of that. I'd be interested in what others are doing for neuropathy. I am somewhat limited because of the clinical trial I am on, so there are just a few things they will let me try. But I have suggested things before (like taking only half of the shot this week) and they agreed. Couldn't eliminate it, but was able to reduce it. Now hoping my bloodwork shows that was a good idea when they check again Friday!0
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colodisneylov... I had neoadj chemo and then my surgeon wanted me to wait at least 5 weeks till surgery for me to get healthy. I think if you figure out who you want for a surgeon and go in for a consult they will guide you as to what your options are. My surgeon spec in oncology surgery of all types and he has been more helpful in this journey than even the oncology dept where I got chemo. So now we are talking abouts rads and I am sure ther is a wait time for that too...dont wanna spoil the new diep flap.
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I was told to avoid curcumin (turmeric) because it could work against the chemo but wasn't told that about green tea. It is hard to figure it all out because so many competing opinions.
On my non-chemo weeks, I have reached for a small glass of wine on occasion but the truth is it doesn't taste right so it's more about having the glass in my hand and blending in - lol. Right now I have a martini glass in my hand because my dp made us fruit smoothies and put them in the glass so it would feel like an evening treat -- great fun despite the fact that nothing tastes right after Friday's chemo. I'm 3 treatments and 9 weeks into my AC portion of chemo and still have a small amount of fuzz on my scalp. Think I'll buzz it to try for a shiny, clean scalp (not that I'm showing it much -- I'm cold a lot so keep a turban on or toss a wig on when heading out of doors.
Even though I don't run through everyone name by name (am SO impressed by those of you who do faithfully!!), I want to thank everyone for their input and advice and support and sharing. It means the world to me. Hugs all around.
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Silia, I can so relate to the wine. Not opposed to trying some on occasion, but the two times I have it has tasted like vinegar. So sad. I went out Thursday for a girls night out with the women I worked with in my former job (we've met monthly for 10 years!) and this was the first time they'd seen my wig. I could not drink because I was having chemo the next day but I ordered a virgin bloody mary (to fit in) and the spices in the drink were just right. Didn't taste funny and I felt a part of the group, who would not have thought any less of me anyway.
I don't use tumeric but have heard that. I have an email into my nurse navigator to see what she says about the green tea. Will let you know, but again...so many opinions, much of what we do is what makes sense for us and what our medical team tells us.
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The game was GREAT! I had such a good time. I went with my daughter, niece and sister. They won in the 8th inning. Just what I needed before I go to chemo tomorrow. Uggh! # 3 of AC. I will ask about the green tea tomorrow and let you know what they say.
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good luck tomorrow Kay, will be thinking of you.
good night all
Hugs Kymn
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SuperSally, it must have been hard to miss the concert with such great groups and spending the time with your DH and DD, but you used good judgment. We must look out for ourselves first. I'm thinking I will go on the riding trip with my friends and hang out with the old folks who no longer ride. I miss my riding buddies. Have fun at the horse show, hope your horse does well.
I have been drinking green tea every morning for years. I like it better than coffee. Obviously, it didn't keep me from getting breast cancer, but I enjoy it. I guess I better lay off til I'm through treatment.
This third TAC/Neulasta has really hit me hard and I'm having a hard time recovering. I hurt so bad at night, I can't get comfortable and sleep well. It is taking me longer to get over the SE this time. I have managed to walk every morning, but haven't done much else. I'm wondering why this round has been harder...maybe it's just psychological, getting through the half way point and all.
I'm not having an MX, but will have to have a re-excision because my lumpectomy had one very small bad margin. I think my BS plans to wait over a month post chemo for surgery. After surgery, then on to radiation. I'm not sure how soon after surgery they'll start the rads.
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I know a lot of you are asking how long after chemo they will do surgery. I know for me I had the BLMX in Jan and finish chemo May 4th. My plastic surgeon won't do surgery until at least 6 weeks post chemo. He will be checking blood levels too to make sure all is back to normal.
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Can I ask a favor ladies? There is a member on the boards that runs a website to donate used BC items to patients that don't have insurance or can't afford items they need like wigs, scarves, mastectomy bras, prosthesis, cami's, etc..... When you are done with any of your items will you consider donating them to those women going through BC that are in need? Here is the link:
http://www.pinkstock.webuda.com/1_4_To-get-help-or-to-give-help.html
I am sending my mastectomy cami's and prosthesis out this week! I don't need them and didn't know what to do with them anyway. Thanks for reading....
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Thanks for that link Maria. I have a couple of hats and scarves that people gave me that just weren't "me". I am glad to be able to give them to someone who hopefully will like and enjoy them.
Back form AC #3. The tiredness is really hitting me. I don't know where the steroid rush is, I just feel really tired after the treatment. The nurse told me it is probably the Zofran in the pre-treatment that does this.
I did ask about Green Tea. She said it was fine. And then she said if you'd been drinking it before. And then she said 1 to 3 cups were okay. And then she said not to drink it. And I think I'm confused. I think her philosophy is to continue the same things you were doing before and not make changes during chemo. It's not that these things are going to hurt anything, but they don't know what it will do. I actually saw some studies on the internet that said Green Tea was helpful with Adriomyicin (sp.?) which is what I'm on, but I'm going to be on the safe side and quit it until after chemo. She also nixed the nutritionist's suggestion of taking vitamin D3 and fish oil. She's only the NP though. In two weeks, I see the onc. I will bring it up again, but until then, I'll be a good girl and follow instructions.
Anyone else getting chemo today? If there is, good luck to you and all this week. Have a wonderful day everyone.
Trying to think of a good song for today, but having a hard time. I'll go with Centerfield by John Fogerty in honor of the baseball game yesterday.
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So glad you all validated my decision to not go to concert. Both DH and DD texted me videos throughout. They had a wonderful time. I instead cleaned out my closet! A necessary evil and wayyyyy past overdo. Now I have room to do some retail therapy
I'm feeling pretty well, I just get tired so easily. I feel fine and then boom, I have to go lay down. Yesterday I had a two hour nap after finishing with the closet. I have always been a napper, I felt better when I woke up.
My skin is so dry! Is anyone else having this problem? I live in TX even, where it is warm and humid already. I could just leave my hands in a vat of lotion. My lips, hands, and feet are the things that seem extra dry. I have tried every lotion under the sun and nothing seems to cut it. Any suggestions?
Kymn - I think the main thing about making healthy lifestyle changes is it gives us a sense of control and empowerment. How much it actually contributes to our health, we may never know. You have to do what is right for you, though. I am trying to make changes that are SUSTAINABLE with my family and my life style, that is the hardest thing to do. When you get positive feedback in the form of feeling better, or losing weight, or whatever it will help it to be a lasting change.
I hope everyone else is doing well, must get back to work. I think others have mentioned it, but work is really overrated right now. Our health insurance is through my work, so until that changes, I'm here. I like my job and some of the tasks I do, and mostly the people I work with. It does give me a sense of purpose and fulfillment, and I take great pride in the money that I earn. However, one of the partners asked me to do something last week and I just was beyond it. I have too much knowledge and expertise to be doing what he wanted me to, and I thought to myself, I am not going to chemo to spend another ten+ years doing THIS until I retire. Work needs to be a back burner issue for me, too. As Maria said, right now I have bigger fish to fry...
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Happy Monday...one more week into our chemo fun ladies. I know we have all been excited about spring, but it is officially gone here...guess what KYmn?!??!?! It snowed here today! My spring flowers are surrounded by snow! They still look pretty though. I was completely lazy over the weekend...no workouts and limited activity. I am feeling that today. I think because I am so lazy on the weekends Monday is hard. Today my legs feel like lead. I still did my 60 min on the elliptical but I was dreading it and have been feeling tired since. I feel like I ran 10 miles! Oh well.....I was giong to get out and run errands but because of the lovely snow, I decided to stay in today. Maybe tomorrow will be nicer. I have been watching FoodTV all day. All I want to do is eat........I need to get out more! I am working on a healthy cooking blog so I guess it's research. I just wanted to wish everyone in the chair this week good luck. Just remember you are one more treatment down! Be well!
Supersally: dry skin...yes! My poor hands..I had to take off all my rings because the water was getting trapped near them from washing hands and they were cracking near my rings! Feet are cracking too! I am using Kiss The Face hand cream on hands and that seems to help a ton. I am using Burt's Bees foot cream on feet but the problem is it is kind of like vaseline - really goopy and oily. The only problem I have is if I put it on myself then when I am done I have to get out of bed to go wash hands. I leave oily footprints all over the bathroom floor as well as almost slip and fall down! I have to get DH to put it on my feet for me and then he can easily go wash his hands with no oily feet issues. I am sure he loves doing that..I am sure he would prefer putting lotion on my TE's (AKA "coconuts") better than my nasty cracked feet! Glad you cleaned your closet out. I am now feeling very lazy.....thanks! (LOL!) Right now I don't fit in most of the clothes in my closet since I lost weight. I should get rid of them all so I can't gain again......
Kay: One more down girl...nice job. I hope you get a little burst of energy. I am feeling more tired today. My legs feel like a ran a marathon...kind of burny in the thighs. As far as a song for the day....I am thinking the reggae version of "I Can See Clearly Now The Rain Is Gone"....I heard it on my Ipod while at the gym this morning and kept thinking I am going to be singing that song like crazy when chemo is done!
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Hi Ladies,
So sorry you are feeling so drained this go around Kay It really hit me hard and fast 2nd treatment and I am already dreading number 3 and that isnt until the 28th. I have found for the dry skin that using calgon body oil in the shower really helps then I moisturize after towling off too. I live in a very dry climate and this has been a life saver for me.
As for Lazy I hear ya, by the time I get home from work cook dinner go through homework with the kids, clean up after the last think I want to do is hope on the exersise bike for half and hour but I have been trying, guess I will just try and listen to my body and not beat myself up to badly but its hard.
Hope you are all doing ok today, at least its a 4 day work week yipeeee.
Hugs Kymn
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Hey ladies. I as well have been havin unusual twitching come and go in eyes, arms and legs. Noticed it bad laying awake at 2am. No need to tell the onc, I have now, when they don;t even care if I sleep. I hate to drive 3 hours fri. dont mean Ill stay there just wanna see if they care Im not resting and have so anxiety. My heart races 2 out of 3 weeks of chemo bad t girls. Listen thanks for the website to donate Ill get on it. I have a 150 dollar wig my Mama bought me and I only wore it once. Its just so hot I usually wear a scarf or hat. Its real pretty light brown with blonde highlights a Raqueal welch one. Would love to donate to someone who cant afford to buy one now. My Mama has dry skin problems and uses this cream in jar called cerve the dermotol, told us ablut see it everywhere about 15 dollars. its worth a try. Ineed to get some also. So admire you ladies working . Ive been disabled for 5 years now but you are so tough for being able to. thumbs up to you. I as well hate going outsometimes like everyones feeling sorry for me. Im with ya. I have stubbles comin to but reading sites guess my eyelashes and eyebrows go next. lol. keep shining girls. will let ya know how my taxol and herceptin drink goes.0
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pasmithx2-You are the first person on this website that I have found that mentioned twitches. I have had them under my eye which is annoying but not noticeable. But the twitches in my legs are crazy. I never notice anything during the day, but sometimes at night just when I am about to fall asleep, my legs will twitch and not just a little, but one big jerk. I thought I was starting some kind of muscular disease.
It didn't occur to me it might be chemo related!
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Sorry you're having such a hard time lorenar. That sucks. I hope the next one goes better.
I like the idea of the neoadjuvant chemo people staying with the thread. (I am one of them.)
I have a 4 day week this week too Kymn! Well, actually 3 since I didn't go in today. Love those short weeks.
Now, at 11:15 at night, the steroid rush sets in. For goodness sake. I refuse to start cleaning or organinzing. I'm staying put in bed whether I sleep or not. Gotta get up at 6:30 for work. I am NOT going to work all night too.
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Kay, I am also on the steroid buzz. I have my buckwheat bag heated from the microwave, I have a vaporizer running to help with dryness and maybe create a little white noise, I have my iPod at the ready so I don't have to get out of bed....how many days are you on steroids, post-chemo? I have 3 days of twice a day (this is day 2) and three days of once a day. I asked if that could be cut back, but haven't been called back yet, so am guessing NO. Damn. Seems like sleep would be more important than some of the other so-called benefits. Rambling on seems to be one of the SE's for me as well. I also have a short week, no school Friday or Monday-yay!
Here's to a good night's rest for all. NO CLEANING or ORGANIZING!
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I had the steroids pretreatment today by IV. No idea how much, probably a lot. I take 4 mgs in the morning and 4 more at night two day one and day 2 after chemo. I asked if I could reduce it today since I haven't had any problems with nausea. She originally said no, but then said to just take half a pill on the two evenings post chemo to see if that will be easier to sleep on. I'll let you know if it makes any difference or not. I am less afraid to do something that might risk nausea than something that might actually interfere with the chemo working on the cancer, so I am very agreeable to reducing the steroids and see if it has any effect or not. Will let you know. I am rambling too. But in my case, I don't think I can blame that on the chemo. Hope you can get some sleep.
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fluffqueen01 - I guess I'm focusing on every little weird thing and trying to put it into the context of chemo. I have had eye twitches before but they are rare. I might not had paid a lot of attention to it except I then noticed the twitches in a distinct muscle in my leg.
I poked around on some of the TCH forums and it is mentioned. Herceptin?
I'm not sufficiently bothered to do much about it. I may mention it to the onc next visit, but I doubt it's something he'll be interested in.0 -
Regarding dry skin, I have been following the advice of the ladies on other forums and using pure organic coconut oil with great success. It is solid in the jar and melts on skin contact. No nasty chemicals or parabins.
Steroids bothered me so much, my oncologist agreed to cut the dose in half after my first treatment. I still take them the same amount of days, just half dose. I feel much better and don't crash as hard coming off of them.
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supersally: I have had terribly dry skin. The worst is on my cheeks, and I am using pure jojoba oil, particularly the few days after chemo. My cuticles are the other place it's really bad, but I haven't found anything particularly helpful, just frequent lotion application.
Interesting on the green tea. I had been increasing my intake, but will definitely think about just having a limited amount. There is a certain amount of sense to keeping your diet the same as pre-chemo, but after reading Anti-Cancer and all these other things, I want to get started NOW.
Ditto on the wine. Tastes like vinegar. It's also really hard on my mouth. I have had periodic mouth sores.
So I was in line the other day at Target, wearing a head scarf, so presumably everyone knows I'm a cancer patient. My kids were screwing around with the candy and impulse buys, and the line was really long. They open a new line, and rather than let me and my 2 young daughters through, two men in line behind me rushed over to get there first. Really? I knew chivalry was dead, but how about a mom with cancer toting around 2 kids? I thought to myself "I hope you can sleep tonight with that kind of selfishness." The sad thing is, I know they slept fine.
Kind of a personal question, but I know someone has an answer. I have been using a deodorant instead of an anti-perspirant, per recommendation in Anti-Cancer. It isn't nearly effective enough, however. Has anyone found a deodorant that really works? Also, I had a single MX with axillary dissection, and I don't sweat on that side anymore! Is that permanent? Totally weird.
Glad to see all of you ladies are soldiering on. Good luck to all in the chairs this week. 4th A/C on Thursday for me. Then, the switch to Taxol and a whole new set of SEs! What an adventure.
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Maxine, For cuticles a lady at a class I went to swear by plain ole' olive oil. She has a little cup by her couch and just rubs it in her cuticles nightly. I found some Sally Hansen cuticle oil at Walgreen's; it has an applicator like nail polish and I've used that. The one I have has soy in it, so that may not work for the ER+ gals, but I believe there are others that don't have soy in it. Olive oil seems like an easy one try and probably available in most our cupboards!
Kay, hope you slept well. I was restless but probably dozing until 1:30. Then was up at 2:30 and 5:30 to go the BR, but able to go back to sleep. 6:15 dozed off and on until alarm at 7:00. So better than the night before as I stayed in bed and had some periods of sleep. My steroid regimin is 20 mg at midnight and 20 mg at 6:00 am prior to chemo; then 4 mg twice a day three days after, then 4 mg once a day for 3 more days. I have asked to have my post-chemo doses cut to half as well but haven't heard back yet. Have not had a single problem with nausea.
Have a good day ladies...it is cloudy and cold here in Nebraska with rain in the forecast for the next two days. Hope it clears up for Easter. Tomorrow is my DH's birthday and he could use a break from all the hoopla of my/our crazy disease. I've had to order everything online and of course nothing will be here by tomorrow (I could blame my SE's, but I've always had a bad case of procrastination), but he will get color printouts of cool stuff that will come for him in the mail soon. Poor guy. We're hoping to go to a really great steakhouse that we like. talk to you all later!
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good morning laides, its Hump day today cause its a short week yipeee
. I am going to the look good feel better class tomorrow, did anyone here go? What did you think?0 -
It is a short week for me too! We are off on Friday, and I think I'm going to give myself Thursday off as well. Why not?
I got a new lotion from L'Occitane for heels that I put on last night, it smells great! My feet feel pretty good, too. Not sure about the hands, they take such a beating with the constant hand washing. Sandal season goes from March to October here in Dallas, so that gets hard on the feet anyway. Maria, I am slathering on any kind of goop I can get my hands on. I have been sleeping in socks and gloves. DH gives me a weird look, but it does help. My feet are starting to feel better, I just started the sock thing a week ago. You can get cheap cotton gloves at places like Ulta, etc. to sleep in, and socks as well if you don't want to use regular ones.
Lorenar - Have you ever heard of something called "Rescue Remedy"? It is something you can get at health food stores, Whole Foods, online, etc. It comes in many forms, gum, spray, lozenges, etc. It uses the essential oils from certain herbs and flowers. It is like an herbal Xanax. I found it to be fairly effective before I got a prescription for the real stuff. Just a thought, check with your doc and see what can be done on that side.
MaxineO - I have that same question about deoderant. I'm concerned about effectiveness seeing as how I live in TX and it gets so hot here. I'm not sure how much my underarms are sweating now after BLMX either. I will have to pay attention to that now.
Jules - I'm going to try the coconut oil, good suggestion.
Husker and Kay - hope you were able to get some rest. Good luck in the chair this week!
Off to do some work
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