February 2012 Chemo
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Moonflowr, hang in there. sounds like a rough one but at least you were sitting down when you passed out.
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I had a slight headache but as long as I'm not nauseated or anything right now but tired, I'm not complaining.
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galena and sissy - hope you are both feeling well tonight, with mild or no SEs.
myleftboob...oh that is so sad...how sad to watch. Sorry about your cat too.
JenH - I am so sorry about your dog, and your cat's illness...my pets are precious to me and it's bad enough going through this cancer stuff without all that.
Hugs to you and your little girl too. That's just too much.faithhopenluv - that is rotten about your dog, too. and you need your rest right now.
moonflw- OMG BE CAREFUL OF WHAT PILLS YOU TAKE!!! Seriously I hope you feel better soon, that sounds awful!!!
Herceptin #3 today, no big deal. Head shaved Saturday, wore strawberry blonde wig yesterday but didn't care for how it looked. Wore a brunette one today to work, felt good in it and got a lot of compliments. Never thought I'd like being brunette...my hair is normally a light brown and I highlight it.
Hope everyone is feeling well or better tonight.
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OMG Moonflower!!! You poor thing. It's not funny but ....anyway thank God you were only in the house!!! Just when you had everything under control too!
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Moonflower - I so get the med confusion. I have little yellow post-its everywhere reminding me what pills to take. I laughed and told my father the other day that I may have to borrow his pill box, you know the one with the days of the week on it.
Firstcall - So glad you are feeling better, and I agree with you - we need to figure out a way to make sure everyone is accounting for and feeling ok. Maybe we could add something into our profile that would list our dates for tx so we can see if anyone is supposed to have one so we can send hugs and wishes of easy SEs.
Gritgirl - you my friend are a leader and these are your troops. You organized us and because you did that we have each other to get thru this with. Consider it an extended family and you are the matriach LOL.
Ok I am afraid to say it in case I jinx myself but I am having a run of good days. Little tired and the nose is still stuffed but otherwise I really can't complain. Added to this the weather here in NY is beautiful and I have been able to take a walk everyday. Of course TX is next week but I refuse to even think about it until after the weekend. Picked out my wig today and will pick it up on Thursday. I am not going to say anything to anyone and see if anyone notices.
Question - what was the time frame in days from TX to when the hair issue was a done deal?? Just wanted to make sure that I have until thursday to wait for the wig. Thursday will be day 14? What do you think?
Okay off to a very late supper and then I will check back later. Glad everyone seems to be feeling okay this week, wouldn;t it be nice if we could all have easy SEs this week?
(((Hugs))) to all
Deirdre
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gritgirl - I love the hats...thanks for the tip. Now the problem will be picking out just one color.
they are so cute and they look like they will be nice and cool for the spring and summer.
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Aww, I'm so sorry to hear about the pet illnesses and loss.
They are such good company. (((hugs)))My first evening was okay-ish. I had mild nausea and a headache right after treatment, then after a couple of hours I started aching all over, my muscles and joints were so tired! Had a chicken salad for dinner, which tasted a little funny but not too bad.
I didn't have a great sleep last night. I woke up at about 11.30pm with strong nausea and body aches. Didn't vomit, but lay awake for a few hours.
Today I'm feeling mildly nauseous and mildly achy all over. I'm not digging the weird taste/smell in my mouth, and food tastes a little weird, but I can't really complain. Just glad I don't have to be anywhere for a few days.
I've had nearly 2L of water so far (3:13pm now), and will keep up the fluids. This may be TMI, but my pee is back to yellow now, after 24 hours of red.
Sissydi- I had a headache yesterday after treatment. My nurse said that the Ondansetron that I took an hour before chemo can cause headaches, and also the chemo can make you have a sinus headache. My headache was mostly gone when I got up today.
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lol @ gritgirl
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mthrdee - I think your hair will hold until Thursday. Mine started on the 14 th day or so to fall out but it took about a week to lose it all.
sorry for everyone who is having pet loses or illnesses - our animals are just like members of our family
gritgirl those hats are cute - I got some pretied scarves from this place: http://www.myheadcoverings.com/head-coverings/pc/Pre-tied-Bandanas-c5.htm I got a few with some bling on them and have gotten a number of compliments. I love just being able to pop them on my head and go.
I went to a Look Good Feel Good program at a local hospital. There were only two other people besides me there. The two women running it were very nice. They let you pick a wig and you get a nice bag of makeup items. The wigs still bother me comfort wise so unless I have a very special occasion I will probably stick with my scarves.
Drinking my water tonight, treatment #3 tomorrow. My oldest daughter is coming to sit with me. I am really not looking foward to feeling yucky again but only one more after this one so there is an end in sight at least.
Gayle
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Thanks everyone for your concern. Just to let you know, I have a medicine box with all meds for each day for a week. Except for the couple of meds that are PRN, such as the ambien and now the diarrhea one. So I won't mix up anything else. I take over 11meds at breakfast and 9 at night. Withthe other one as necessary. I will be much more careful, although I am debating taking ambient again for the night in case I cannot sleep. Except that I feel tired now, maybe I can sleep without it. Still feel dumb and mad that I lost a day. Gee. Good night to all. Much love.
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Oh, I feel so bad for all of you having bad se's! You are entitled to complain, cry or both! This stinks!
I can't imagine having to lose a pet at this time. I think I'd fall apart. I tear up at comercials,the news and just about anything emotional. Some days it takes all my strength just to look at my family without crying, but then they'd freak out and make me crazy!
To those of you starting..please try to drink a lot of water, more than you think. It helps to hydrate you and to flush the toxins out of your body. When I get headaches, I know I need to drink more, it helps. Also, ice chips are very soothing for the sore mouth. Put some cubes in a plastic bag and pound them with a hammer(it feels good to hit something too!).
Yesterday was a tired, neulasta pain day and I was thinking of those of you with young children. My youngest is 15 and I can't imagine trying to keep up with small kids! I have admiration for those of you who are going through this and taking care of kids too!!
By the way, at my 2nd chemo the nurse said that she heard some people are soaking their nails in apple cider vinegar to help with the nail SE"S. Has anyone heard of this?
Judy
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So when is everyone's latest chemo? Mine is April 20th. I can't wait. Quarter of the way through.
And what are folks carrying in their chemo care packages? I carry:
-Tylenol
-Compazine
-Candie ginger
-Band aids
-Lidocaine cream to numb port
-Lorazepam
-Tums
-A small energy bar (I am Estrogen/Progesterone negative so still have soy)
-A scarf or hat in case the wig gets tiring
What are other folks carrying?
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gritgirl
We have the same last chemo date of April 20th!!! Some of the items I included:
- My Blackberry, can't go anywhere without it
- Newspaper and a Crossword puzzle book
Going myself for #2 and won't have DH to fetch things for me so I will include
- A sandwich/fruit
- Big Travel Mug for a Tea
- Bottled water
-Earbuds so I can use the TV's that are there
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I meant to mention for those that were following my business/sister drama LOL!
Picked up 3 clients yesterday!!! God was listening!!
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Sweet! And hopefully they'll be easier to work with than your sister would have been, myleftboob
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MLB, I am so glad for you! Close door, open window! Yay! Did I use enough exclamation marks!!!!!?!!!!!
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May 10th - otherwise known as 72 days and counting. I work w data and have a saved command that I run from time to time to give me the current countdown. I try not to do it too often, it takes the fun out of it.
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I had a horrible night, thought I was gonna get some sleep but instead I was up 3 times with horrible cramps and lower back pain. Don't know if it's the constipation but I've been working on that, still continues this morning. I took some tylenol and hoping it goes away.
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Sorry Jag1110 - I know how you feel, last night was the first really good nights sleep I've had in awhile. Tiki had a great huge pee on a pee pad and then we went back to sleep. One night a couple days after my 2nd TX I had cramps and it actually ended up being a odd period. Not sure if that is still applicable for you, but thats also a possibility.0
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MLB thats great!!
Jag I am so sorry you had a bad night. I hope it gets better soon!!
Today I went out and just stood in the sunshine! Amazing power feeling that sun. Hey, I am in the midwest and we dont always see it in the winter so I am very happy for it!!
Hope everyone has a few little things today that help make you smile.
Last date for me is May 17th... I think I like your April 20th dates better....;)
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Don't forget hand sanitizer
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Not til July 12th for me *sigh* and then Herceptain for a year *double sigh*
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Today is my second day after 1st TE. So far only heart burn. I get my neulasta shot today. I saw alot of posts about claritan. The nurse said to to try tylenol first every 4 hours for two days. If that doesn't work start the claritan on the next round. Thank goodness for this site or no one would have mentioned claritan to me. I have a question- last night I woke up in the middle of the night from a bad sweat. My pj's and sheets were soaked. Could it be from the steroids?
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dip, yes it is most likely from the steroids. Clariton is only 1 pill for about a week vs 16 tylenol, no thanks. I used the clariton and had no pain, I plan on continueing with it.
Ok here is something I find a bit odd; tx last thursday, sat & sun very fatigued, last night go to bed wake up at 1:15 and I have been up since, when I want to be awake I sleep, I am awake when I want to sleep, what in the world will I experience next?
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Back from TX#3, last one is March 20th. I feel a little loopy but other than that fine. White Count was great so no Neulasta again.
Had a nice lunch at IHop with my daughter and sister - had our free pancakes and contributed to the Childrens Miracle Network. Drinking my water and going to take my daughter for a special hip hop dance class with a Choreographer who has done videos with Jay Z and Shakira - should be fun - then I will come home and collapse lol
Gayle
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Gayle, my daughters actually had a class with Alvin Ailey . Fun to watch. I read about the pancake as I was eating breakfast Dilap, those steroids do a number on me too. Jen, I am with you on the sun, if it is shining I can put up with low temps, but grey sky is but ugly. Much love and small SEs
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Dipad - I'm with Jap on the claritan,it's working for me and it was an oncology nurse who had bc that told me about it. The steroids gave me hot flashes bad but they have backed off since I'm done with my first round. Thanks to Jen and Faithhopenluv for earlier, I am feeling better. I'm 52 and still get periods but already had that this month but that is how the cramping and back pain was, guess its just another sucky se.
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I hope I'm not too late to join the Feb. group! I have been reading every post every day and have laughed and cried along with each of you. I have learned so much from this community, it has been invaluable!
I had my 2nd AC treatment last Friday, and have had minimal SE's. I will have 4 DD AC followed by 12 Taxol. I am glad to be halfway through the AC, but now I am dealing with the hair loss! I had it buzzed at the wig store, then had my final wig fitting. I left the store thinking that everything was ok, but with each passing minute I became more and more insecure in the wig. I am working through this, so tomorrow I have to figure out what to do with my head when I go to work. I work in a bank so I need to have a professional image. I am just full of dread for tomorrow!
Regarding the Claritan - none of the oncology nurses here have heard of taking it. I have been taking it and have not had any bone pain from the neulasta.
Wishing you all a night of peaceful sleep!
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Hi Teacup
Its still February so you're fine. I am 11 days out from my first TCH TX so just waiting on the hair to go anytime now. I have yet to pick up my wig, although have picked it out. Its lovely, but its not mine so I feel you trepidation. I too need it for client meetings but I think a home it will be scarves and hats for me.
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