February 2012 Chemo
Comments
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gritgirl sounds good, mind you if it is ur neck of the woods DH will have to drive me as I do not drive dc. Acne? really? gee is there anything we won't suffer from? my MO said I might not loose leg hair & gain weight!! there has got to be a silver lining somewhere in all of this.
I sure hope I do sleep well for some reason I had a horrible night last night, well I guess I should get to bed have my first prodecure in the am.
blessings to all
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Mthrdee
I apoligize and corrected my posting originall addressed to lumpynme. The posts starting running together and in my steroid high, well you know.
gritgirl
I'm glad you were able to get your acne RX. Bad timing on the haircut though ;(
firstcall
I'll be right there with you, starting tomorrow too. I have to admit I've been guilty about addressing the board as "Ladies". Will be mindful in the future
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mlb- thank you for your support.
Just received a call from my surgeon. He'll place my port in the morning, just ahead of my chemo. Once things start happening, they move along.
this sure is nerve racking....
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firstcall
Do you have a heads up on the meds they are adminstering tomorrow?
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What is the steriod pill is for?
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most likely t-c but final decision will be tomorrow. I spent most of my energies just working the to do or not to do question
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2Katie
I believe it to help offset an allergic reaction to the chemo meds and to help with Nausea.
firstcal
Mine is Taxotere/Procytox/Herceptin. I have searched here but I haven't come across anyone else on the same combo though. Although there was a reference that it's the same as Cycotox. Even on the Canadian thread no one has heard of it. I meant to ask for clarification from the MO last week but forgot. I'll ask tomorrow. He tells me its generally well tolerated. Although I'm sure he makes that remark to most of his patients LOL!
I can appreciate where your energy is going. I've at had the benefit of making decision almost 2 weeks ago along with the port
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Laura5 I didn't know that, bloody hell just spent £200 on the wig. So what do I do? If I wear a wool hat that's the same. Maybe I can wear the wig if I go somewhere special like a meal out and cope with a hat other times.
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Firstcall, Mlb, we'll all be in the chemo chair together. The silver lining is we get to live. The side effects are a small price for that in my mind.
Jap62, I am in falls church every Saturday. Maybe early afternoon tea?
Susan0 -
Firstcall, good luck will be thinking of you .
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Ali68, I'm no expert, but I had read that about wigs on the Penguin Cold Cap website message board. Our instructions are to try not to get the head warm. We are to wash our hair with cool water etc. while using the caps and for a few months after. Maybe you could rinse your hair with cool water after wearing the wig.
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First call, good luck with the port and first chem
o. Things are coming at you fast,hang in there. You will probably feel some pain from the port insertion, But t will help in future sessions.
MLB, good luck to you, you will get through it too. And I love the avatar, a picture is ok too! Everyone got a kick about the cocktail!
Jap62, may your first one go easy too. And to all who have treatments today, easy SEs.
Gritgirl, glad you got the acne help. I am57 and still get breakouts, the people who give facials all say I have young skin! At least part of me is young LOL.0 -
Thanks for the well wishes everyone. Just having a quick coffee and need to throw everything into back. Taking the crib board, DH is going to teach me how to play. Rather than pay for parking, there's a mall that's about a 10 minute walk, gotta start that walking right away. Aiming for 30 minutes right away.
Moonflwr912
I've never been one to get facials but I think I'll start. We have a large East Indian population here where Iive and a girl I was talking to said to go to one of their shops, quite cheap vs some of the salons around down. Must check it out. I'll post a pick later, the one I have on my computer now is a little outdated, was blondish in it, went back to a darker colour a few months ago, but that's ok.
Good luck to all having a treatment today!
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FirstCall and MLB - thinking of you both today and wishing you both an easy start to the journey.
To all the rest continuing on this fun road - easy SE wished to you all.
Slept pretty well last night except that I woke up at 1am with hiccups again. Came downstiars and googled hiccups as a side effect and guess what it is a side effect from the steroids. Damn, leave it to me to get an unusual SE. Oh well, I kept researching and it said that Reglan (my anti-nasaue med) is beneficial for the hiccups so I took one and back to sleep I went. Not bad.
this morning I have a little heartburn again, but I can control that with pepcid and other then a slightly dry mouth I feel ok. Tired however so I think I will head back to bed for another hour or so.
Found a drink umbrella avatar for myself too - its cute and you know what MLB, some of the images I saw do really make the damn umbrellas look like boobs. Anyway, it is the perfect item to have in a my chemo bag as it reminds me of all of you and makes me smile when I look at it. Not to mention it was such a big hit with the girls at the chemo station.
Best of days wished to all.
(((Hugs)))
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On chemo days I wear my love stuff. I wear my dearly departed mother's cross and a pendant saying survivor, a heart ring an ex gave me (we're still friends), earrings another friend gave me, and a bit of the perfume my AA sponsor gave me. It helps me remember I am loved and cared for throughout this whole process. Oh, and I eat really, really good food the day. Other days I just eat really good food. :-)
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I start my chemo Feb. 22nd. It's been 2 1/2 months since this nightmare started and I'm ready to get to started but also terrified of what is to come. I am receiving the TAC treatment, 6 rounds of it followed by 6 weeks radiation. It seems like this will be going on forever and I wonder how I'm going to make it through this.
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great outlook Gritgirl!
good luck FirstCall and MLB!
For anyone on AC...for me it seems standard that the night of the infusion I'll get tired a little early and then wake up around 2 and not be able to fall asleep (the steroids), and the following day my face gets really flushed. I know we all worry about fever, so I wanted to put that out there that you should take your temp to be sure, but this can be a side effect.
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Jag1110 you will make it through, it is a temporary blip in your life to invest in your future. You'll find a ton of support here.0
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I use a combo of lorazepam and 50 mg of benadryl to sleep on steroid nights. Gets me some sleep
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thx faithhopenluv for the reminder about the flushed face! i went thru that too and was sorta worried but it subsided with water and changing out of my flannel!
firstcall and MLB and gritgirl; careful not to squish us in your pockets today! those chemo chairs are really not big enough for us to all sit comfortably with you-but we are with you!!!!
firstcall...i am trying to put my mind in your place and i admire you the decisions that you have had to make;i think you chose wisely to attack....
Jag1110; breathe deeply..one day-hell -one moment at a time! i keep repeating the Serenity Prayer and i break it down by sentence when i get challenged....none of us wants to be here-however, i'm glad that you found us!
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i changed my avatar this morning in honor of MLB and the umbrella!!!!
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Lumpy that is cute! and they do look like boobs! LOL
First call, dear sir, I have you in my prayers, MLB- you too, hang in there.
Mthdee, The umbrella for the chemo cocktail was so well received- we were all laughing, and that helped make my first chemo real nice. Also I had a short jag with hiccups last nite- just a minute or too, maybe sympathy ones? LOL And other than a dry mouth, I feel ok so far today. Just kind of tired, but wired, oh well, this too shall pass.But I will need to take 2 benedryls - one did not help - only slept for about 4 hours total and 3 in a row. woke up at 4 am today aznd could not get back to sleep.
Gritgirl, I have my chemo buddy- a soft flexible little lame you see in my avatar holding my umbrella, my daughter gave it to me, he has a pocket in the back with a lavender sac that can be warmed if you want to smell it. he fits under my neck if i want a nap. Makes me feel loved too. I am happy you have your lovies with you too Smooth SEs for you today!
Jag- Welcome to the boards- I started my first chemo yesterday, after a delay of more than a month. I had my BMX in Dec- so just starting now is late, but what the hey- I can now consider myself on the way to being finished! Yay. You will be ok, and make it through this too. hang in there, and we are here for you.
Getting my Neulasta shot today at 3 and have to drive 40 minutes to get it at the center, *sigh*
All, just want to leave you all with a visual that should make you smile. I sleep in a softee two with the adjustbale puffs in the cups. I use it more as a bumper between me and the cats when I am sleeping so they dont jump up on me and hurt me. Well, because I just have a new port, I ADDED a puff directly over the right- so now I have 3 FOOBS under my Jammies! Looks, Weird! LOL but the cats cant hurt my new port! LOL
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I just uploaded a new avatar. It's my new cut with the word "survivor" carved into the hair on the back. Of course as soon as I got home, the bangs came out. It was nice while it lasted.
In the chair now, my nephew is out getting us lunch. Hope all in the chairs today are doing well. Remember. Side effects means it's killing the cancer. Oh, and my liver numbers dropped yet again. I get to live! I get to live! Yeah!!!!!0 -
Hi Judy,
I see you are a Long Islander as well. I'll be starting chemo on the 27th an am sooo nervous. I did fime with the lumpectomy and mastectomy but the thought of SE's and allergic reactions are really feraking me out. Did you find a good wig salon? I was going to check some out this weekend. Glad to hear you are doing well.
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Hi All
Just back home. Jeez what a long day. My papers said the session would be 4.5 hours but it turned in an 8 hour day. That 4.5 doesn't account for waiting around I discovered. No ill affects but they infused Benadryl and that made me very drowsy for a bit so I just napped. Was chatting with a chap beside me and while he didn't offer what type of cancer he had, nor did I ask, we are on the same regimen and lucky him he only has one more to go. He said day 4 was the down day for him and kind of tired for the rest of the week but then returned to work for the next 2. The nurse said that the next 3 times will be quicker now that we know I had no adverse reactions to anything. I could have totally drivin myself. Poor DH got off of the midnight shift and took me so he's more tired than me! At least he doesn't have to go in now until Monday night. Monday is a stat holiday in Ontario. Family Day!
I feel totally fine other than being a little tired really. The only noticeable thing thus far is that I that went I went pee at home, it smelled like a chemical? Chugging water big time!
gritgirl
Great news on the liver numbers!! Yay!
Jag, dipad
I can honestly say at this point at least is that the anxiousness prior to starting is the absolute worst! I'm glad to have TC #1 under my belt. Any SE's can be counteracted and I now think about this as my insurance policy rather than being poisoned.
Lumpynme, mtherdee and Moonflwer912.
Perhaps the little umbrellas can be our nipple tatoos if and when we do reconstruction!
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MLB, glad you made it, I told you it was hurry up and wait. Also the don't even mix it up til you are in the chair, it costs so much, they want to be sure you are really there.
Gritgirl, I am so happy about your numbers!
JAG and dipad, waiting IS the hardest0 -
gritgirl sounds good we should see if mom2jj can meet too, there is one other dc person, do you remember who it is?
Had my port put in today as well as SNB. I was praying for only 1 to be removed,tops 2 it turned out to be 1!!!yes, The Lord answered that prayer . Not to sore, still have a head ache that I had since I woke up and my throat is a little sore, thats all. 6 days till first TX
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today i cried. have only cried one other time since dx. it was quick but i noticed.
tonite i found an email from my daughter's company-they want to conduct a phone interview next week- really NEED the money but not sure that A) my body will cooperate
they'll work around my tx etc... 0 -
lumpy- I have only cried once since my tx and that too was quick, one never knows when or if it will happens, sometimes I wish I could just have a good cry, maybe I will get a weepy movie to get me started
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Jap62, I have regular cries, usually when I've pushed myself to exhaustion. I cried in my friend's office the other day. It's good for the soul and needed to get through this.
I say do the phone interview. You never know.0
