Cytoxan Taxotere Chemo Ladies- February/March 2013
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You look great, Annie!! Wow!
Carol
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I have read mixed things about weight gain / weight loss on chemo. What is your experience with TC? I start on 7/23 or 24 and would really prefer to avoid weight gain - insult to injury!
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I gained a few pounds but it was from the steroids and water retention. I lost those pounds after I had finished my chemo rounds. I ate 5-6 small meals everyday and tried to eat healthy. I also kept a food diary so I could keep track of what foods I ate and when. There were times that I didn't feel like eating but I still ate anyway. If you have favorite foods and you want them to stay your favorite, don't eat them while on chemo. I know some eat certain foods as a form of comfort. I tried to eat for nutritional purposes since one's body needs healthy foods to help keep the blood counts in the good range and to stay well throughout chemo.
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Annie--- Looking good!!!! Hopefully your body will get back into sync and the hair will grow at its normal growth pattern!!! Just so happy that you are done with active treatment.
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Annie you look awesome. I am 5 weeks PFC and am seeing alot of growth this past week. I can't wait to go "topless" outside. It's so hot wearing a hat all the time. My eyebrows on the other hand are very bare although my eyelashes are hanging on.
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Thanks Ladies!
Franky, by the time I finished chemo and had mostly recovered from my 4th and final treatment, I weighed about 5 lbs less than I did pre-chemo. When I felt like eating, I ate what I wanted and when I didn't feel like eating, I made sure I stayed hydrated and ate just a little bit of whatever I could stomach.
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Annie-again-Yep,you're an Annie,for sure,with that gorgeous head of hair. And a big congrats on finishing the leg of the journey with rads. I've noticed a week post radiation that the boob is a little more tender. Just a sensation,skin's okay. And I'm soooo glad to hear about no SE's with Armidex. I guess I'm taking my first dose this evening. I did take my raisins with gin though. I won't forget those!!
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You know my name is Gail, but my mom's name was Ann and my middle name is Ann. My dad always called my mom Annie. Her parents didn't give her a middle name, so as an adult, she chose the middle name Elaine for herself. Ann Elaine (AnnieLane) - My user name is in memory of my mom who died of Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) three years ago. I miss her every day. Her diagnosis was truly grim from the beginning, but she handled it with such grace, faith and courage. She had no options like surgery, chemo, radiation or medication to improve her odds or extend her life. She is my hero and my role model and remembering her has helped me keep this whole BC experience in perspective.
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Oh Gail (AnnieLane) I am very sorry to hear about your mother. My husband is the exec director of the ALS chapter here in San Diego so we know first hand how that diagnosis plays out. It does take a rare strength and courage to face it.
I haven't posted in a long time but am happy to report that I finished my chemo, fourth round, yesterday. All in all, not as hard as I feared. Fatigue and stomach upset along with some heartburn. I was able to squeeze in my annual trip to New England before the fourth round to see family and friends and that was so good for the soul!
Wishing you all happy and healthy days!0 -
Congratulations Donnabelle!
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Yes, congratulations Donnabelle!! So glad you are done and hope the aftermath of your last treatment won't be too tough.
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Thanks Melrose and Annie for the weight gain/loss comments. Just received the creepy schedule from the cancer center for my 1st infusion on 7/23. 2 hrs for Taxotere, 1.5 hours for Cytoxan. Gotta start to get to the end so here's to taking the step towards the end!
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franky- Wishing you the best on your chemo. If you have any questions between now and then, please post them or if you want you can private message me. I'm 11 months since I had my final chemo last August 2012 and know that the chemo rounds are doable. Hang in there!!!!
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Ladies I have to share something that, once again, helped my perspective on our chemo regimen. I have a much younger friend who has a rare form of colon cancer. She's had surgery and told me, "Unfortunately, this form of cancer isn't very responsive to chemo." She has an eight year old daughter.
Chemo is no fun at all, but I'm glad I had that weapon in my arsenal.
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Congratulations Donnabelle! Your hair and energy will soon return- hooray!
Franky- good attitude! As Melrose says- if you have questions, ask away.
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Hi all!
I am happy to say that my last infusion was June 26th! Yay! My head is covered with peach fuzz, but I had black hair going in and I can't tell what color the fuzz actually is..seems like It may come back all gray! oh well.
I caught a nasty summer cold over the last week and it has moved to my lungs..yuck..nasty cough, no fever, but feel crummy..hopefully it will pass.I am sure my immune system is still trying to recover? Working hard to recover from this cold because my exchange surgery is scheduled for August 15th YIPPEE! Anxious to get back to my life.....
Gentle hugs to all going in..going thru and getting done!
I love you all!
XO
Runnermom56
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Runnermom19 - Hooray!!! So glad you are finished with chemo! Don't let that nasty cold get too bad without seeking medical attention though. I'm sure your immune system is still pretty suppressed.
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CONGRATULATIONS runnermom!
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Hi Ladies,
T/C knocked me into menopause after my 2nd treatment.. I was done the end of April last week my ovaries felt like they were going to explode! No period but I'm still having cramping. Went to my OBGYN and he said everything feels fine..... Anyone else experience this?
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Hi Ladies,
T/C knocked me into menopause after my 2nd treatment.. I was done the end of April. Last week my ovaries felt like they were going to explode! No period but I'm still having cramping. Went to my OBGYN and he said everything feels fine..... Anyone else experience this?
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I made it to a dermatologist on Wednesday and her educated guess is my hives and allergic reaction is from advil/Aleve. I am new to taking Aleve so I guess I can believe that. I also found out my father is allergic to Aleve. So only Tylenol for me. I am also on prescribed antihistamines for two weeks until I see derm again. A little concerned if tylenol will help with the bone pain I get from the shot. I have my fourth treatment tomorrow. I am much more nervous for this round because of this past round. Counting on the allergic reaction is truly from the Aleve and not the chemo. I am curious to her what my MO has to say tomorrow about all this.
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I had #5 last week. #4 felt worse. As far as those dog days. Now I'm just wiped out, starting some neuropathy, can't taste much, throat sensitive. But I don't have that awful bone ache.
My 9yo broke my blender cup. I felt a little guilty about the cluttered counter until she told me her FOOT knocked it off! She was climbing the counter to get something from the cabinet. I'm so irritated because I feel like I'm at the stage where, as a mom, I can't seem to have nice things. The cats, the kids...and not being able to keep up with it all. Yes, I've been good about lowering my expectations to get through treatment. But my stinking blender! I use it every day! I'll get hubs to order a replacement cup.0 -
Hi all, I haven't posted in a while but I still read my fav thread from the wonderful women who helped me thru this passage. I am 23 out of 33 rads (start the 8 boosts on Tuesday) and I still have lingering chemo SEs. The muscle pain seems to have gone. My nails are still a wreck but are growing in. My hair, well... It's coming back but not fast enough! Turns out I'm more vain than I thought! My eyebrows deserted me after chemo, sigh, I'm sure they will grow back. I have bouts of queasiness and chemo brain has turned into rad brain, tho not as bad. My energy level has increased as has my stamina. Not 100% but that will come in time, I'm told. I will start the hormone-blocker pills a couple of weeks after my last rad. It really is like climbing thru a tunnel. Congrats to all who are done with this stuff. Welcome and hugs to all who have recently begun. These threads have really been the most comforting, informative, reliable constant during this whole process and if not for the input and insight I find here I would have been dazed, confused and stressed beyond the tolerable. Thank you all!
Peace and minimal SEs to all.
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Love reading everyone's updates here no matter what part of treatment one is in!!! Yes, there will be that day when there is no more active treatments but time to be on a maintenance for life phase. You will each emerge from active treatment with knowing you have accomplished great things during treatment and handled the challenges as best you could. I'm only a few weeks from being one year post final chemo and it is hard to believe that I have come so far. Sending HUGS to each of you and have nothing but good thoughts and prayers for each of you!!!
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Btdemo, it's so good to hear from you. I agree with you that these threads, and this one in particular, have been invalueable.
Melrose, thank you for starting this thread for us and encourging us all along the way. For me chemo has been the hardest part of this journey so far and I've now finished rads and 3&1/2 weeks on Arimidex. Thank you for being here for us.
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Hi AnnieLane, congrats on fininshing rads! And your hair looks fab! Have you had any SEs from the Arimidex?
Melrose, you are the best, thank you. You are almost a year out? That is cause for celebration. Peace and prayers to you.
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I haven't noticed any SE's from Arimidex. At first I thought I was having a few random joint pains from it and then realized they were nothing new. And having been slammed into chemopause anyway, I try to remember that even without Arimidex, menopause wasn't going to be a walk in the park. I'm taking Vitamin D3 and Glucosamine Sulfate with hopes of keeping the joint pain at bay. Also a common theme on the Arimidex threads seems to be that for a lot of gals, excercise helps trememdously at keeping the SEs to a minimum. As I recall, you're pretty active anyway, BT, so that should help you regardless of which med you take. And if you take Tamoxifen, I'm sure Melrose will have some good advice to share.
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Yes thanks so much Melrose for always being there to answer questions. I got kicked loose from the RO, BS and am sure next week the MO will cut down my visits. Feeling a little strange about being done, happy but strange. Btdemo what do you mean by rads brain? I found I was doing much better with the chemo brain phase and then 3 weeks into rads felt foggy again searching for the right words and what I was supposed to be doing next, just wondering if anyone else felt that way.
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I'm pretty sure I'd feel on top of the world if I didn't have this pain in my hands. A couple of joints are already "clicking". I've seen that the Glucosamine Sulfate might help,thanks for the advice. I don't want to take too much Ibuprofen. I've never taken pills all my life. This new regime with hormonal therapy is still a little hard for me to feel comfortable with. I'm wishing all of you CT girls the best on your journey!
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AnnieLane, glad to hear you are tolerating the Arimidex well. I went into menopause at age 40, early I know. So I will be taking the post-menopause Femara. SEs are hot flashes...nothing new for me there. I will have to watch bone strength tho. There was a post a few days ago about Livestrong program at YMCA for cancer survivors. It's free and is a 12 week session. They said they have about 80 percent women in the program. There is one pretty close to me so I think I'll sign up. The next one is Sept thru Nov. Maybe I'll get some strength/stamina back.
Melody46: I mentioned to my RO that I still had some chemo brain going on after a week or two of rads, and he said it also happens with rads. I too am a little aprehensive about finishing clinic treatment. The transitions seem to leave me a little weepy. I guess we're entitled to a little "down" time.
On another note, my family-medical-person (it seems all families have a person who is the go-to person for medical issues. Well my sis-in-law is mine and she has been excellent: supportive, comforting to me and my daughter, came with me to all my Dr appts and chemo sessions and retains information that I seem to forget. Well, her mother is now in the hospital and has been for 3 weeks. They can't seem to figure out was is going on and she is not getting better. So, hopefully I can get done with rads and get some of my old self back and give her some support and TLC. Whew, sometimes life isn't easy for anyone.
peace to all
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