Starting Chemo in Nov. 2011...anyone else?
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My onco had mentioned taking another drug until she found out I didn't take it the first time with my DCIS. I guess it is the first drug to take for maintenance control or whatever the word is I am looking for!
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GrandmaV so glad you are safe!
Having chemo brain reminds me of the SNL sketches from the 80s with Tom Hanks playing Mr. Short Term Memory Man...anyone remember those? he'd order his food from a server, and when it was brought he'd ask "who ordered THIS?" Then he'd take a bite and complain to the server that someone had already eaten part of his food...
I feel like that sometimes!
Claire
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Claire ~ Hilarious SNL memories! Who'da thunk we'd all end up like characters in SNL skits. Kinda makes me wanna put on my land-shark outfit and knock on the neighbor's door =]
So ~ I shaved my legs for the first time since November this morning. I'd forgotten how tedious it is, but I'm so glad to be reaching new milestones of "normalcy" every week. Next stop... EYELASHES!!
SAN
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Tipnas-
Thank you for your comments. I always appreciate your insight and can't wait to feel normal again. I am 30 pounds heavier since dx and can't stand the extra weight. Hoping to be in a better place soon. Thanks for your encouragement. I hope you have better success on tamoxifen when you start taking it.
Susan
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GrandmaV So lucky to have missed that Wichita tornado. That was a particularly fierce storm. I had lots of family in it's path from OK to KS and MO. All are fine. It could have been so much worse for so many more. Good thing KS is sparcely populated.
Hope everyone is doing well on this thread. I've not been back often. With chemo over and healing from rads underway, I've been checking the SEs for arimidex mostly. I still have a very tender breast from the 7 boosts and nearly 4 weeks out now. Didn't expect that to take so much time to heal.
I have slowly been loosing the little weight I gained during chemo. My RO and MO were very insistant that I not gain weight, and I'm at a healthy BMI. But being post-meno and strongly ER+ it's clear any extra weight is not good.
I'm a dreadful dieter, so the only way I can lose is to increase my exercise (or at least do it regularly) and eat as healthy as possible w/o being too strict. Until cancer, I'd been slowly losing 1/2 pound/mo for three years. Not fast, but a seemingly permanent loss. Let's see what AIs do to this though. I won't be happy if I gain despite the good habits I've established.
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I have eyebrows, eyelashes and my hair is growing back! I don't want to shave my legs again but I haven't felt any hair so I may be okay.
I have lost 5 pounds so far. I gained 30 so I am going slowly. I get out of breath if I walk too much and that is the only exercise I am doing right now. I am walking outside in our yard and woods so it is a good workout. I am enjoying the sunshine and being on the road to better NOT bitter. I think was in a bitter stage for such a long time.
It also seems like I have been in a fog or is that just chemo brain? Some days are just clearer than others.
SNL--love the earlier shows. I tell everyone to go ahead and tell me that joke, I won't remember the punchline anyway!
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Hi gals-- was away for the weekend. Wow the posts--we are an active group!!
it was utterly COLD this weekend and I went camping with friends and my horse-- wow...But by Sunday it warmed up about 40 degrees-- yes overnight change!!! So we hoped on our horses and rode for 7 full hours-- I was tired but so was everyone else (who didn't have cancer!). got up monday morning and rode another 2 hours. Home last night-- quite tired.
I see most everyone is starting new regimens and some of us are on or getting on Tamoxifen (I start in 2 weeks). I am sad to hear the depression it is causing some people. Do you think exercise would help a bit with it? If so, let's support each other!
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Hi everyone-
Q, I am on day 6 of 10 mg of tamoxifen...easing into it slowly. I will probably up it to the rx of 20 mg. in a week or so. So far no problems at all, although I would caution whoever is taking tamoxifen to google drug interactions and beware of taking OTC meds with benedryl in them. Apparently benedryl can dramatically lessen the effectiveness of tamoxifen (I found this out on the hormonal therapy board). Also, grapefruit and grapefruit juice is a no-no on tamox, too--found that out on bc.org as well.
There is an enzyme in grapefruit that interacts with the way the drug is metabolized and will reduce effectiveness dramatically as well.
I called my pharma. and he confirmed the above. Too bad my MO didn't warn me about this as I love grapefruit and eat it nearly every morning! Other citrus fruit seems to be okay, though; it's just the enzyme in grapefruit that causes problems.
I am embracing tamoxifen as I believe it will buy me some very valuable time. I welcome hot flashes since to me it's proof it's working. And I'm an exercise fiend anyway, so tamoxifen just comes along for the ride
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I am 2 weeks into Tamoxifen regime -- 20 mg. Was moody (okay bitchy) last week but seems to have settled out. Not seeing anything dramatic but perhaps I'm too early to tell. Onc follow up is 6 weeks into tamox. Hope everyone is well today! The seasonal shift for us November girls seems to be generally positive which I am happy to see!
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Tamoxifen is on the horizon for me. I will finish rads on May 14th (assuming there are no more delays) and I believe I will begin Tamox shortly thereafter. I am so grateful for those of you who have gone before me on this to share everything you are leaning.
Claire ~ I would never have thought to look for drug interactions so THANK YOU for the 411! Also, it is helpful to be prepared for the potential mood alterations (swings?) before even beginning this drug. I do better with more information. I feel like I can survive just about anything, so long as I know what's coming
The reality with cancer is that so much of what I have had to endure, I never saw coming! Oh well, I guess God's just working a little flexibility into my personality.Have a wonderful day everyone!
SAN
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Good afternoon all,
Seems like everyone is doing well. I went away for the weeeknd as well, had my dd, a firend of hers and a friend of mine. I was on Cape Cod and the weather tho a bit cool was beautiful. I always feel better near the ocean. About 5-6 days after the A/C I feel like myself again so the timing for the long weekend was perfect. Good laugh with the teens and my friends when we came home Saturday night and the girls pointed out my foob had migrated and I had a "uniboob" as the teens called it. I really need to make the time ot get to the fitted and have a body part less interested in migrating.
I can't seem to keep up with all the posts but glad folks were not harmed by the tornados, and that we all seem to be moving in a forward direction.
Chemo brain moment last week, I stood in line at a store waiting to pick up something I had ordered 2 weeks prior. Kept thinking, boy they have redsigned the whole set up in the last two weeks, look so much nicer now. Suddenly, oops I am in the wrong store. Luckily the clerk had been busy or I probably would have yelled at her aboutnot having my order. Left quietly and went to the correct store. Good lord, REALLY! And thank goodness my kids weren't with me, I would never hear the end of it.
Gentle evening
Nel
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I was diagnosed jan 2011 and had r partial mx in february, port paced march and then first dose of TAC 31 March2011. Was ok for a few days, then it hit..vomiting, passing out..making no sense at all. scared the hell out of my husband, who had to clean up after me. He finally convinced me to go to the ER as I knew I was sick, but too sick to feel like leaving the house. On the firat attempt at gettingme to the ER, he piled me in the car and I was incontinent of urine stool then vomited all over..back to the house to get cleaned up, then finally the next day i agreed to go to the ER. I knew I was really sick this time. The local ER said I was too unstable for them and packed me up in the ambulance for a ride north to Scripps Green..lights flashing and sirens running. I remember the paramedics getting a 12 lead ecg on me and i demanded to see it.".No ischemic changes..but we had better do something about that heart rate"..finally got to the er where they packed me up to the ICU. I remember a doctor in my face yelling at me about whether I wanted CPR..my response was " Now? not really"..didnot matter, i was named full code. So much for being an oncology and critical care nurse. I always thought this would happen to someone else. Any way, after 6 days of pressor support, I was released to the floor, and I remember counting all my icy cold fingers and toes, and beingso thankful i had them all. It was close! Needless to say, the Onc Dr and I decided on no more chemo, after that episode, and go straight to radiation.
I look back on these events one year later, as my husband recalls them to me, and altough I am no longer working as a nurse, I am very much involved with this dx. Or rather it is with me..I amnot yet rid of it, or the side effects it left me, but I have to laugh at the history I have. i hope someone out there finds it funny as well..or at least helpful.
We all have so many paths on this journey and we should say hello as we pass each other along the way, share a tale, a tear, a laugh and keep on going, because we cannot let this disease turn us around.
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sandyland..I am in Lake elsinore..and still fighting the good fight.
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Hi, I'm new to this and this is my first post. I was diagnosed on Feb. 8, 2012. Stage 2A. I had a double mast on March 30, 2012 and started reconstruction at that time. I went from a GG to about a C right now. This morning was the first morning that when I got up I didn't just ache from the expanders. So it does get better. This is the first time since I was 10 years old that I can go bra-less!!! I don't think I'll go much bigger. I did find that sleeping on my back worked the best and as soon as you can sleep on your side use a pillow to prop up your arm and that will help too.
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Finally finished chemo and am having a setback. Seems I felt a lump in my pelvis...it is pretty big and so far every one said not to worry...it has nothing to do with my breast cancer but I am scared to death. The GYN said it needs to come out....saw the oncologist who sent me to the surgeon who said after antibiotics if it doesn't shrink by next Monday...they have me scheduled for surgery on Wednesday. Since i am having a TRAM in three weeks they want it gone. Yet something else along this journey. They think it is follicular......I think it is hard and isn't going to shrink. Would rather prepare for surgery...in and out...but really?
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I finally finished my T/FAC! Woohoo! Now surgery in 4 weeks and rads 4 weeks after that.
Happyhappyjoyjoy
Phyllis
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Thanks Claire. I knew that about Tamoxifen but sure am happy to see it posted and be reminded. Not much of a grapefruit eater but love oranges--especailly the CaraCara which I am investigating to see if that has the enzyme since they are kind of a cross between oranges and grapefruit. Do you know?
A few days before I went into my onc, I changed my message to the universe. I wanted just to be on the same page as my medical team and that we would continue to work together as the team we have been. I left the appt realizing that is exactly what happened. We stopped the chemo a bit early and we decided on Tamoxifen, titrating up to the full dose. I asked what the most likely side effects have been that she has seen and the two were hot flashes (of course) and "mood disturbances" --ha-- I asked what that really meant-- depression. I am not worried about that since I KNOW that both eating correctly and especially, exercise counters that. Living in arizona I get to go outside most of the year.
I like to play and I do -- often. I feel stronger each day and it feels safe to go back to the gym. I am starting yoga plus-- my horses sure do keep me busy (as well as work that I love). And since i really want to live fully-- I am giving it all the effort I have. Q
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Nel, Thanks for sharing your chemo brain story with us. I haven't done that, yet,but it's probably just a matter of time. Your trip sounds wonderful.
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rewayland, I'm so sorry you had that reaction to chemo. I hope they found something that you could take. Did you start tamoxifen or and AI?
Karenincolorado, I'm glad you're healing from your surgery. Will you be starting chemo soon?
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Bonseye, I hate it when people tell me not to worry. It makes me worry even more. I hope the antibiotics shrink it and makes it go away. I'm not sure what follicular means. Does that mean it's related to your menstrual cycle? I sure hope it goes away and you don't have to deal with this.
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Phyllis, Congratulations chemo grad!0
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Quaatsi, It's good to hear you're feeling stronger each day. I haven't been around horses much, but it sounds like it would be wonderful. I hope you don't have any side effects from tamox.0
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Rewayland ~ Hey neighbor! I found your story so intersting because I have not found very many people who have done my same chemo (TAC). Almost everyone I encounter who has completed chemo with those 3 drugs (Taxol, Adriamycin & Cytoxin) has taken them seperately ~ AC for 3 months followed by Taxol. I remember a friend and fellow survivor who went through all of this 2 years ago telling me that I must have misunderstood my MO when I said I was doing TAC all together. She said, "Sandy, they could never give you all 3 drugs at the same time, it would kill you!" I guess they weren't offering that option back when she was treated, but they certainly do now because I did it. It was brutally hard. I wonder if you might not have had the same reaction if they hadn't dispensed all 3 drugs at once. Either way, I'm glad you survived your ordeal and joined our group to share it. There are a number of us in the SoCal area. I have met with linnyhopp (Linda), who lives in Escondido, and Tipnas is in San Diego. If we plan a get together, would you like to join us?
Bonseye ~ It is so scary when you feel a lump now. I had one in my arm that I practically lost sleep over before it mysteriously disappeared. I'm glad your docs are confident it is unrelated, but I'm bummed for you that it has to be addressed at all. I just said on another board that it stinks that anything bad happens to any of us right now...as if we need any additional stress in our lives. Keep us posted.
Blessings,
SAN
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Bonseye --I'm sorry you have something else to worry about. I use that word "Really!?" a lot lately.
I am nervous about my expander fill tomorrow but I only have 2 more before my surgery. The left side hurts when it gets filled but I will be taking a pain pill and packing an ice pack.
I had a crying episode this afternoon. My friend has stage IV BC and I have gone with her to 2 appointments It makes me so sad to see her go through thisespecially since her one daughter does not know how to help her through this. I have flashbacks of both of my parents when I was taking care of them.
I don't like cancer...
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Grandma V-follicular they tell me might have to do with the hair growing back....?? so far it is the same size.....praying....If I have to get it out...then so be it. It might be better to know it is a "nothing" then not.
Bethu77-I know what you mean about Really?! My husband and I just can't take too much more. I have been very teary and exhausted. I took my son to the grocery store as I can't maneuver the cart and could bearly walk once I was done. Thank goodness for my son's help. He is only 13 and quite a young man. Always thI ere for me.....my daughter is away at college so I am blessed to have him home. My daughter will be home just before my surgery so she can take care of my son. My husband will stay with me in the hospital so all is covered. I will rest when I know this lump is nothing...and I make it through my TRAM....as for tomorrow I have a fill scheduled and a last chat before my big surgery.......taking meds for the spasms and my friend is taking me. Won't miss the boob fills!
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Good evening ladies. Thank everyone for their posts, every little bit you can hear or learn about helps. I finish with my last chemo on May 1. I am so looking forward to being finished! Then I will be on the almighty 5 year pill(not looking forward to that). But, it is one step closer to completing this journey I've been thrown on. I have been reading through the posts when I could get a chance or felt halfway human. It has definitely been a great help to read I am not alone even though I have awesome support from my family. It is still not the same, you need the kindred spirit. Just wanted to say Thanks!
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Had Taxol 8/12, can't believe I only have 4 left, then on to surgery 5/25, then radiation
Welcome to the new folks, congrats to those who r done
Bonseye, sorry to hear about all that you're going through, praying for quick recovery and solution0 -
Hi Nov. 2011 ladies~
I hope someone sees this soon because I am in need of your expertise! I had my first AC today and I have a wicked headache! Worse than the worst hangover I ever had (in my younger days). I've been on top of the meds since returning home (about 4pm, CST) and taken Ibuprofen, Zofran, Buspar (anti-anxiety), and LOTS of water as well as some Vitamin water. I can't seem to shake the headache & I can't necessarily switch to Tylenol until the Ibuprofen wears off.
Any suggestions for when I CAN switch to Tylenol or something else that might work better? I don't feel it's life-threatening so don't want to call the onc office at this hour (10:30pm). You ladies probably know better anyway!
Thanks!!
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Hi C-squared, I don't know anything about AC, but when I was going through chemo I developed a fever and a headache and my oncologist told me I could alternate Tylenol and Advil every 2 hrs along with my antibiotic until my fever subsided. I think I only had to do it once but I felt okay. I would never be hesitant to call the onc if you're concerned, as there is always someone on call. My onc used to say, if you're worried please call so I don't have to get cross with you the next day for not calling! I hope you feel better soon. Take care0
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C-squared, Zofran can cause headaches like you describe. I have migraines and never took the zofran because some of the ladies warned me of this side effect. We have taken ibuprofen and tylenol 2 hours apart when one or the other does not work, usually to bring a high fever down. They work in different ways, but I'm not sure about your other meds how that would effect the interaction. If you go to: http://www.drugs.com/ and click on interactions checker, then click I agree to the terms of the site, you can put in all of your meds to see if any warnings come up. I hope this helps.
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