Cytoxan Taxotere Chemo Ladies- February/March 2013
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One usually starts rads about 3-4 weeks after the final round of chemo. One usually has an onco appointment to make sure all is well and then you will also have an appointment with the radiology oncologist. Then one will go into the radiology department to have simulation and also to get marked/tattooed. FYI: You may want to get some Miaderm radiation cream to help your skin. You can purchase it online at Amazon or your RO may supply it. Here is the link to the Miaderm Website so you can read up on that cream: http://miaderm.com/ and here is a link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Miaderm-Cancer-Radiation-Treatment-Protects/dp/B004TB9SFE. I've had several gals with rads recommend this cream to others.
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Hi biker girl and jeriG
Yes a little ahead of you i am on to day 13 post #3
#3 was pretty much the same MO
Fine till 48hrs ( arvo of day 3) after chemo then usual blah aches and pain for days 4 and 5. Perked up day 6 and then achy day 7 again ( neulasta ??). Haven't looked back since
)))
WE Can SOOO DOOO THIS !!!
I don't need rads due to Mx,
Good luck for number 3
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JeriGrace-You must be like me. Week before chemo is spent getting ready to be out of commision for a bit. I get shopping done..get the house cleaned (makes me feel better when I'm sick to have cleaned)..and get all the things I craved the last chemo time. ...my big thing was orange juice..the only thing that tasted SO GOOD..then last night before chemo..I wash every bit of the cover on my bed..as I am going to be in it a lot...and love clean soft sheets! Its like getting ready for a trip!
LW0919-I've been wondering about the whole hair growing in process. Do you style or trim yours? I want mine to grow back shoulder length like it was, but not sure how to do that without looking like shaggy dog for awhile. I really would like to get out of this wig as soon as possible.
To all of you ladies having chemo with me this week.. I wish you light- to no - side effects!..and here's to 1 more down!
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Jerigrace-
Have not been told. I have heard that onc docs like to wait until your counts are good. Do you know when you start yours already?
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Nocompromises-
I was wondering, did not have neulasta after #2. Have been doing a little more-little yardwork (I mean, a little), carrying/lifting 9 month old grandson. A little achy past couple of days, so I am wondering if it's that our muscles are a little depleted with the chemo. What do you think?
Anyone else have that experience? Sometimes get a "sharp/needle" discomfort.
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No dairy/leche for first 3 days according to my doctor.
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Melrose, thanks for answering all my questions, even the ones I didn't know I had! (My auto spell check just changed your name to Metrosexual!)
ckmoss, my sheets are in the dryer as I am writing this. : ) I agree about getting ready for the trip. I often enjoy that part more than the trip. And in the case of chemo, getting ready for it is way better than actually doing it!
biker girl, my arms and legs feel like they have lead weights in them. Can't imagine working in the yard even if I had one! I'm assuming I will get some appointment dates for my RO when I go I for my last TC. I met with him once, before they decided to do chemo first. I thought we might be on about the same schedule since we're just one day apart on tx dates. But I have complicated things by missing a step, falling on concrete, and tearing the rotator cuff in my shoulder. I meet with yet another doctor this week to find out if I need surgery. I know that right now I can't put my arm over my head for rads so it will be interesting to see what my options are.
Usually only sleep a few hours the night before tx. Maybe tonight will be different . . .0 -
Ck-not a lot of styling options yet. Right now I have it spiked up on top and the sides that are starting to grow over my ears are tucked behind my ears. I know when it gets a little longer on top I'll have to figure something else out. I'm still wearing a wig to work during the week. My beautician says I have enough for extensions so there's an option for you to think about. I am seriously contemplating it.
Good luck to you all going for treatments this week. Hang in there, they can be rough but you will get through it.0 -
First round (of 4) on Cytoxan + Taxotere & feeling really crappy, but not sure if it's specifically the chemo or the Neulasta. Had chemo last Thurs. morning, shot the next day. Felt mostly normal Thur - Fri - Sat, just tired. Then Sun & today, extreme fatigue & aches everywhere, bones & joints, that Tylenol doesn't do much for (heating pad helps a little). Today my knees are esp. bad, getting up & walking around the house is a chore. Also had migrains (I've gotten them all my life) - this might be from the Neulasta as I just retread that it stimulates histimines, & those can be a migraine trigger. But I don't know if the rest is just chemo or what. I guess it won't hurt to try Claritin next time, but still...
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batcatlady, your chemo SEs sound very similar to mine. The first 2 rounds I was good for days 1, 2, and most of 3. Days 4 and 5 are the worst for me - those are my "feel like I've been hit by a truck" days. The Neulasta pain in the bones and joints lasts for a few days for me and Tylenol doesn't touch it. I've had to take Percoset or Vicodan on those days. Some people aren't bothered by the shot at all. Guess I'm just one of the lucky ones! I try to tell myself that at least I know it's working. If I were you i would give the Claritin a try. I don't have migraines, but I do have a headache starting Day 3 or 4 that lasts about 5 days.
Don't want to overwhelm you but just to reassure you that your SEs are the similar to what many of us feel. My best advice is to keep hydrated - drink a ton. Dehydration is your enemy! Also, call your doctor if you have a fever. Mine has me call with anything over 100 degrees. Any kind of infection is your other enemy!
In a few days you'll be feeling close to normal and you can be proud of yourself for making it through the first one!0 -
Biker girl
Well I guess since we have been doing a lot less than normal so our muscles may well be getting a little lazy. Can't say I can relate to arms and legs like lead weights. But there definately seems to be a cumulative effect to the fatigue
I think maybe our oxygen exchange in lungs is not as good as it was which leads to muscle tiredness quicker I guess. I know I get short of breath pretty quickly when carrying grocery bags etc and I don't like that sensation one bit !!!
Sounds like we are all pretty consistent on days 4-5 being the crappy days Just the severity which alters..
Good luck batlady. You' ll be right. 0 -
I popped on this thread to see if some of you who have finished know when we can stop worrying about our nails. I just finished my last TC. Woo-hoo! My nails have been increasingly sore since round 2 but no apparent damage except the white moon at the base is bigger. I have been keeping them super short and babying them. How long do I continue to do that?
Biker girl I definitely have problems with muscle weakness. Walking up stairs or squatting during gardening completely tired out my legs.
Batctlady I did one week without neulasta and Also had muscle aches and headaches. So a lot of that is probably the chemo.0 -
Yay 2hobs WAY TO GO
Congrats on finishing. Woo hoo !!0 -
Thanks NC. I will tell you I didn't realize what a mental burden that chemo was. I feel like a bird out of a cage! So something to look forward to for my fellow TCers.
I go for rad appt tomorrow so maybe my good mood won't last long.0 -
JeriGrace-- LOL--- Don't you love smart computers......
TwoHobbies- You may want to keep babying those nails for a little while longer. I iced and didn't have much nail damage other than some discoloration. I also have noticed that my nails chip a little more easier than they used to.
FYI: If you are feeling tired and fatigued---- Chemo does affect your red blood cells. The fatigue and shortness of breath may be due to the decrease in the red blood cell count which means you may becoming anemic. Fortunately, there are several things you can do. You can alter your diet and increase your intake of foods that have a lot of iron ( ie lean red meats, spinach, iron enriched cereals like Total, Quaker Oats Oatmeal Square, Cream of Wheat). You may want to talk to your onco about your iron levels to see if you need to take any kind of iron supplements. Another thing to do is to keep moving and walking. The exercise will help your body make more red blood cells.
Wishing everyone the best here!!!!
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Melrose
My Hb levels have remained in accepted parameters throughout my first 3 treatnents although it started at the upper limit and now is towards the lower end of the scale but no clinical anemia- just definately a very occasional shortness of breath when breathing deeply- weird sensation hopefully will go away at end of chemo0 -
Nocompromises--- Fortunately that shortness of breath should get better after you finish chemo. Just know that the 3 weeks after you finish your final round of chemo, you probably will feel the chemo side effects. BTW: How many more rounds left for you--- just 1?
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JerIGrace - Thanks, at least I'm not alone ;-) Today is definitely better but boy do I get tired easily - chased the cat for a minute & it wiped me out!
Been making sure to get a lot of protein, does seem to make me feel more solid, less loopy. Funny, a gourmet foodie friend gifted me with some fancy chicken liver pate specifically bec. it's high in iron. Too bad I don't feel up to a glass of wine to pair with it.
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Hi Ladies - I've been sticking with the July 2013 thread, but it looks to me like this thread is probably more relevant since everyone is doing TC! I'm doing #3 of 6 in two days and I'm mentally preparing now. My SEs seem to follow the same schedule JeriGrace described and I have terrible muscle fatigue some days - like I've been working out hard and have lactic acid build up.
Is everyone doing this every 3 weeks or has anyone done it faster? My chemo + radiation is supposed to take me into the new year and I sooooo want to be done by Christmas so I can go back home to Canada (I'm in California) to be with my family. I want to talk to my MO about doing the chemo in less than 21 days. I'm sure she'll say no, but maybe if others are doing it, it's a possibility? Otherwise, I'm going to try to push for the shorter more intense radiation treatment (4 versus 6 1/2 weeks) with the RO and see if she'll go for that for my travel schedule.
Melrosemelrose - thanks for the Miaderm link. I didn't know there was something we could do to protect from the radiation burn.
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Hi ladies, looks like I will be joining you shortly. I am thankful for this thread and the wealth of information for you all.
My mammaprint came back as high risk coupled with my age 39 the BS and MO both recommended chemo. Looks like I will need 4 rounds of TC. I am hoping to start soon as I just want to get on with it already.
Thank you for all the helpful information and your support.0 -
Hi Ladies, so my hair is starting to fall out, had some in shower and now if I bend over and shake my hair over the sink I get quite few more in the sink. What did you do, go to hairdresser to have them shaved off or buy a clippers and do it at home?
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Mellie289- This chemo regimen is given every 3 weeks. I am unaware of anyone getting that time period shortened. Week 1 after the chemo, one's blood counts begin to drop; Week 2, one is in nadir which is the lowest point that one's white blood cell counts are during the cycle and Week 3 is the recovery time. With that being said, not all receive the Neulasta shot ( bone marrow boosting shot) after the first round of chemo. Some oncos prefer to wait and see if a patient actually needs that shot and because of insurance reasons. The shot is very expensive so a patient needs to demonstrate a true need for it. As for your rads treatment, there will be a 3-4 week break period after you finish your final chemo and before you start rads. This is break period is needed to allow the body to recover before the next phase of treatment begins. This does not mean that one recovers fully from the chemo since that takes a long time. I can't tell you exactly how long because everyone is different. As for pushing to get the rads done sooner, until you start rads, you won't know how your skin will react to the rads. Again, I know you would like to complete your treatments; however, only until you have begun your chemo and rads, will you and know how your body will react and how you feel emotionally and physically. Please don't think I'm trying to discourage you from pushing through and forward with your treatment plan so you can get back to Canada as soon as you can; just want you to let you know that sometimes our minds are ready to get on down the road but our bodies may not allow us to do that.
Vyonnie- I actually gave myself a short short boy haircut after my hair which was cut in a short bob started to go. I made a bunch of little ponytails and snipped those little ponytails. My husband later used his trusty clippers with a 1 inch blade guard and cleaned up what I had done. I never shaved/buzzed after that and just let the rest of the hair do its thing. I didn't lose all of my hair but was left with a very thin veil of hair. I was glad that I didn't shave/buzz it off since it was very comforting to feel what little hair I had left on my head. Everyone handles this hair situation differently since it is a very personal choice. Some go to a favorite hairdresser to do it and some have it at a wig shop and some have it done at home. Just remember that no matter what, you are still beautiful.
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Thanks, Melrosemelrose. I had to cancel my trip home to see my family in August over this. You can't imagine how sad it made me when I got the radiation schedule. I know I can't tell how I'm going to react until it starts, but I also see that shorter treatment regimens are just as good in terms of recurrence, so I don't feel like I'd be sacrificing in that regard by trying the tougher course. The other issue is the 6.5 weeks of driving to treatment versus 4 weeks.
I found a clinical trial has been conducted for dose dense TC with neulasta (which my MO is giving me), but unfortunately, the results of the study haven't been published.
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01671319
Vyonnie - I had my boyfriend buzz my head with his clippers. He tried to make it fun by first giving me a mohawk. I also have some hair that hasn't fallen out, but it's probably about 1% of my original hair. If it was still long, it would be very wispy. I had a wig ready to go before my hair went. I was going to go with a short cut first to lighten the blow, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I went to a Friday workday with long hair just hoping it would hold out until the end of the day (it was coming out fast by that morning). I'm glad now that I didn't spend money on a haircut! I bought a "fun" wig with that money instead (a short bob that is different from my "real" wig that I wear to work every day).
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TwoHobbies, I am thrilled for you! I bet there were days when you didn't think you'd make and now look at you, free bird. : ) I just had #3 of 4 today and can't wait to join you in 3 weeks. I think some of the firecrackers are now going to turn into rad pumpkins! Should we get that thread started?!
Lgkgde13, sorry you have to join this group but at your age you want to throw everything you can at those nasty cells. There is so much support here. Even taking time to read some earlier posts will help.
Mellie, I haven't heard of people shortening their 21-day cycle but some have been able to do 4 rounds instead of 6. Don't know if that is something your doc would agree with, I'm sure it depends on your specific situation.
Vyonnie, everybody handles it a little differently. My hairdresser has a close friend going through treatment so she was very sympathetic and she offered to help when I needed it. I went in to see her on day 15 after my first tx and she used the #2 setting. (I asked for her last appointment of the day so there wouldn't be too many people in the salon. I was pretty self-conscious about it and worried that I might break down but it was fine.) Then my short little hair continued to fall out for about 2 more weeks. Quite a mess in the sink and tub! I lived with the shorties sticking up for awhile and then this weekend I had my son-in-law come over with his clippers and take it all the way down. Maybe others will share if they did something different that worked for them. Good luck - it really is one of the most emotional parts of this journey for many of us.0 -
Thank you JeriGrace! I have learned so much for all of you already. I hate dealing with these stats about risks of reoccurrence and just want to do anything I can now. I think everyone is a bit shocked in my family b/c they heard clear nodes and thought yeah we are done with it...so when result came back as high risk it came as a bit of shock that i would need chemo to them. They didn't understand how reoccurrence works with clean nodes...they are very sneaky. I just want to get rid of any of those rogue cells and willing to do take chemo to do it. My DH doesn't want me to do it b/c he is terrified of the SE...I keep reassuring him that it will be tough but I can do it!
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Hi all!
6 days after chemo, and 5 after Neulasta shot, I am experiencing terrible pain in my lower back, really severe. I had very bad bone pains a couple of days ago in my legs, but I seems to have migrated to lower back.
I took a Vicodin (as prescribed by onc) but it still hurts, I am surprised, since usually it helps me for severe pain.
Is lower back excruciating pain normal that long after tx?
Thanks!
Colette hurting0 -
Yes Jerigrace we should start a rads thread. Onto the next hell. So I have felt like a free bird but tonight I feel like crap after trying to walk a whole half hour today. Extreme fatigue. I have forgotten to be patient with the recovery period.
Vy I did buy clippers and had my husband clip it. I was sick of seeing it fall everywhere but i did not want to do it in public0 -
Jerigrace-
Hope you get good zzz's tonight! Good luck tomorrow!
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Hi Ladies!
Wow, I go away for a few days and come back and the group has grown! LOL Welcome to the newest members! Nice to see Mellie, JeriGrace, bikergirl, Twohobbies from the July Chemotherapy thread here.
I am feeling much better this morning. I had been so tired and unable to do much. I am learning to not push myself to do too much or it makes the tiredness worse.
Melrose is correct about diet changes and taking in more iron. I did this. Eating more iron rich cereals and spinach and it really has helped my legs not hurt when walking! Thank you Melrose for the great advice!
I have one treatment to go and I am sooo looking forward to getting it over with. I am sure I will be like Twohobbies (Congratulations by the way on finishing your chemo Lady!) I know that I will still have SEs from the last treatment but knowing I will start healing is such a comfort!
I have looked for "What happens after" threads and didn't find much. Guess the ladies quit posting after treatments were over. It would really ease my mind if I knew what was going to happen next. I mean I know I will be getting my implants in a couple of months when my body is able to handle surgery. But what about AFTER. Seems since May when I was diagnosed it has been doctor after doctor, surgery, waiting for chemo to start, getting through chemo and now have no clue what happens after the last treatment. Feeling a little scared I guess.
Hugzz to all!!
Carmen
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JeriGrace - I see that some people get 4 treatments and some get 6. Wish I knew why I'm on the longer one, but I'm guessing it has something to do with my tumor size, lymph node involvement, tumor grade and my age. I had a 4 mm metastatic carcinoma in my lymph node, so I'm good with the longer course to zap those suckers! I would love to stop after 4 if I knew the outcomes were no different. One more question for my MO tomorrow (on the list after "Am I supposed to call to get my blood work results? I'm not getting my calls returned to tell me my WBC count between treatments.)
Colette - I've had lower back pain from about days 5 - 9. I normally have some lower back issues, but I have definitely been having problems from either the chemo or neulasta. I'm not sure because some of it is muscular and I've been needing to take a muscle relaxant at times. I had very painful back spasms my first cycle and was glad to have some old expired Flexeril on hand. Anything I've had minor issues with in the past hurts now. I injured a knee in soccer during my 20s and it also hurts during that time frame. I have a cracky ankle that hurts during that time frame. I think it's more the chemo than the neulasta since it's not really bone pain in my case (although I'm having that too). The dilaudid my MO prescribed helps to take the edge off at least.
Carmen - it's probably the case that people move on from here after getting through treatment, when they don't need the support so much any more. Have you looked in another forum (if I'm using the right word) like the Moving Beyond Cancer one? Maybe they've just moved to another area of these boards instead of staying here after Chemo (even thought it is before, during and AFTER).
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