Cytoxan Taxotere Chemo Ladies- February/March 2013
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Kbeee, I just read your news! That is awesome! Yes, play your lotto!
What were the numbers on your Oncotype and what is your ki67?
I am psyched with your news, yay!0 -
so called my Onc they think I might have an infection in my throat. Now I'm on steroids, amoxicillin , and fever watch. The mouth wash they subscribed won't be in until Monday. I slept well last night and got up and walked 1.5 miles today. I feel like I'm not going to let the SE win. I have a dog detection trial Sunday and need to be well so I can ride in a car for 7 hours. I figure if my temp stays at 98.6 I should be fine. Am I being stubborn? I figured I can rest in the car and at the hotel.0 -
I never got a Ki 67 score. My oncotype was 16, in the low category. I planned to do 6 if it was moderate or high. I asked him since this is close to moderate, if he felt 6 would be better, but he said absolutely not; that the risk would outweigh the benefit. One of the things chemo puts us at increased risk for (though very, very very outside chance) is leukemia. I have a very dear friend who is my age that just died of leukemia last week. This was not due to prior chemo; just leukemia diagnosed late. Nevertheless, she was weighing very, very heavily on my mind. I also ran an ecg at work (which I do from time to time just for my own info) and it came up with changes that were not there prior. nothing acute, but changes nonetheless....and they were not good changes. I will repeat it in the near future and bring it up to MO if it continues. both of those things just reaffirmed the decision to treat it appropriately, but not overtreat it. I did the happy dance all the way across the sidewalk to my car, and have not stopped smiling. Tht smile may go away once side effects kick in, but I'll enjoy the good feeling while it lasts!
Fdm, if your fever stays down and you feel better, live your life. You can always check with your MO for advice about travel. My MO was very clear on day 1 that I was to live my life and do everything I could every day during treatment. I did, and it really helped me,not only physically, but mentally too. I hope your infection clears up and you feel better soon. After my first treatment, my throat was terribly raw. it took me until midway through the second one to realize heartburn was contributing to mine. i had never had heartburn, so i had no idea. It has not gone away, but has decreased comsiderebly (which is easy to say now before this round's side effects set in...it's kind of like being pregnant, you forget the worst really quickly until they creep up next time around!!!)0 -
Kbeee, I am so happy the MO and you agree, with tests on hand, that 4 is enough. If I may add my two cents, I agree too!
I hope you keep doing your happy dance until the end of the chemo treatment. We get so crazy trying to find the right answer for this, the right number of treatments, what ifs, and nobody know, it is safe enough to have the best guess. You should be done with SEs and all before Xmas!0 -
KBeee, I'll be interested in hearing how your fourth TC treatment progresses and if the side effects are stronger than the third. I liked what you said about how the side effects might be worse for the fourth but it doesn't seem so bad since you know it's your last one. That makes sense psychologically, just wondering if it's true for you. I'll have my fourth and final on Dec. 6th.0 -
even with Claritin , Motrin and Advil, the bone pain is wow. Does walking make it better? Wishful thinking, I am so wiped right now.....,0 -
SC, Sry you are having pain....did you have a neulasta shot also? I'm not there yet, so I can't tell you if walking will help. Maybe someone else here can. The neulasta makes the bone marrow expand and thus, the pain. If nothing else, maybe Dr can give you something else for pain relief. Don't suffer!
I hope you feel better soon:)0 -
bondsy, my last TC is on 12/4, we are so close to the final leg of this!0 -
SC-
uh-oh, I thought the Claritin helped? So sorry you are in pain...this sucks!
I am asking for the neulasta next time as my wbc went to 2...and I felt like I was dying...I guess you have to think that it is helping you...no pain no gain? Not funny I know...just trying to put a positive perspective/spin...
Wishing you get better asap!0 -
SchoolCounselor- Call your onco to let him/her know that you need something for the bone marrow pain from the Neulasta shot. I know it's the weekend, but there is always an on call onco. If you opt to wait to Monday to call, just make sure you do. You just don't want to suffer through the Thanksgiving holidays. I don't know if a heating pad or a warm shower/ a warm tub soak will help make you feel better.
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That's a great idea! Call! Don't spend the weekend in pain!0 -
Thanks ladies. Believe it or not , I am now at the mall with my family. They seemed so sad watching me in pain. So I took a Xanax and here I am. Sitting while my girls are shopping at Clair's!! The things we so for normalcy. It also hurts less when I move. Sigh.......0 -
SC, I am getting my Neulasta shot this evening, so I will probably be joining you in pain tomorrow. It is my first one, so i am a bit nervous, but hoping it keeps me out of the hospital this time. I hope you can get some relief. Glad you got out to the mall. Distractions do help ... a little bit.0 -
Warm bath helps the Neulasta pain -- so does moving around, if you can summon the energy, and Motrin, if you MO allows it. I haven't tried it, but some suggest heating pad. I also have those Thermaheat instant pads, but my pain has been bad enough to justify using them. MO has me on alternating Tylenol and Motrin for the day yesterday when I got the Neulasta! and so far no fevers this time. Just feeling wiped out... Normal for my Day 3....0 -
This sucks!! I know it would be hard but... I'm still taking Motrin and Tylenol and have wrapped myself in an electric blanket. The movement in the mall did help. I have a picc line so I can't get in the tub, boy I wish I could right now.
This too shall pass ladies....0 -
schoolcouncelor- I found walking for at least 30 minutes helped with the bone pain. My nurse told me to take Claritin for 5-6 days.0 -
KBee. Your TC was pretty similar to mine - you may not even have bone pain with neulasta. I had only a very mild sensation. Nothing much at all and I took nothing for it !!
As to 4th TC. I flew from AUS to UK 2 weeks post 4th TC and did a full on Disney holiday ..... minimal fatigue
Psychologically u are on a high ( well I was).0 -
Kbeee, how are you feeling?0 -
sc-
Good for you to get out with kids when you feel so bad. Did you take the Claritin and still bad? I was hoping that works as I 'm begging for neulasta next time so I won't get soooo sick and low counts.
Everyone sure responds differently.
I am finally feeling some energy today..Yesterday a little and then showered and was exhausted. But later got some more and folded clothes and did some things around the house. This couch has become my 'command center' I have bibles, books, ads, phone, computer and it just stays there for me day to day...funny if it weren't so hard to adjust to the 'resting'.
I am having mental challenges, yesterday woke up at 0400 with horrid dreams of reoccurrence, cancer all over liver, etc. Then I just couldn't shake the negative bad thoughts and I got up. Have had these of and on since diagnosis, through surgeries and this whole few months. Does this happen to everyone? Is it just the worries and what ifs? How do you all deal with it? I am trying to pray and positive thinking and making sure happy / comedy/ before bed...it just overcomes me at times this feeling of doom and awful thoughts...maybe post traumatic diagnosis from the cancer appointment itself? Or the I have cancer feeling? How do you get over that/make it go away??!!0 -
Audra, I have some dark dreams too -- seems to happen most as I am coming off the steroids and Ativan...about day 4-5. The detail in the dreams is vivid and when I wake I feel it is still happening. Last night I was up a lot using the bathroom and dreamt all the toilets in the house overflowed. So real that my first thought on waking was that I don't feel up to cleaning up the mess! Lol! Even though a couple hours have passed I am left with an emotional response to the dream. Weird. I just keep reminding myself it is all temporary.0 -
My dark dream last night, after all the discussion of periods, was that I got one! I was so dismayed, especially since I no longer have the supplies in the house that I panicked! Thought that might give you a laugh. Ptsd actually makes a lot of sense. I liken this experience to being trench soldiers in WWI. We get physically maimed by surgery, have to bravely make charges out of safety at the enemy knowing full well we WILL be injured, then recuperate only to know we must make another advance. Any of you who have read "All Quiet On the Western Front" should recognize this experience as our own. And, of course, lurking in the background is the very real fear that we will not survive this war. The book is hardly an upper, but it explores all the dark and negative thoughts and emotions that lurk below the surface in us all.
A rather disconcerting fact is that cytoxan is related to mustard gas. The analogy is complete. Current ptsd treatment theory postulates that sufferers bodies become stuck in the fight or flight response. How could we not, when every bit of sense in our body says "don't do that to me again!" If you have access, therapy for ptsd is short term and very effective. Something to consider instead of suffering with it.0 -
Audra, I had those too at the beginning of the chemo. I made the mistake of reading other threads and found some negative stuff. Medicine has evolved and I know so many people now that are survivors that I decided to stick to the positive comments and information I find. Try to read about survivors and if you talk to your friends or family tell them to tell you stories about people they know who has survived cancer. You will find that everybody know somebody. It woks for me.0 -
Hi headeast, sorry to hear you're having such anxiety. I think I'm not the norm on this but my outlook is that if it comes back I will just fight it off again. It simply won't win. Cancer is not the worst thing that has happened in my life so that really changes my perspective, and it seems like a very winnable fight. Hope you feel better soon!0 -
NC, I am hoping to bounce back as quickly as you! i wish I had a trip planned, but we are laying low for the holidays, which is ok too.
Headeast, I am feeling typical day 4, but feeling it today (day3) I felt great Friday, Saturday, and this morning. Now it feels like I have the flu. My glands are swollen, my throat is very sore, and I am running a low grade temp. I have not gotten more than 4 hours of sleep in each of the last 3 nights thanks to the steroids, so I am looking forward to a good night sleep. My spine feels a bit sore, probably from Neulasta, but not sore enough that I have had to take anything for it. I hope it stays that way.
Audra, I hope your dreams ease. That has to be scary. I have my books and such all on a small side table next to my recliner. It is my command center, and I told the kids that the recliner belongs to me from surgery 1 to surgery 2. it has worked well to have everything I need in one cozy spot.
Wrenn, I will be thinking of you tomorrow. I hope all goes well. the first day or 2 are usually ok for me, and i hope they are for you too. I hope you get neulasta or neupogen with your infection history. If they have not discussed it, be sure to ask about it. TC knocked my counts down to nothing. You can do this Wrenn; glad you can continue the next phase of this "journey".
I was at my daughters' swim meet this morning, and walked 3 miles this afternoon, which is an accomplishment because it is 25 degrees out, and I hate winter. It did feel good though. Tomorrow I go to get an injection at MO office for a vaccine trial, so if I feel worse, I can probably see someone for it since I will be there anyway.
I hope everyone's week begins with minimal and manageable side effects.0 -
If you can do one thing for yourself, try as best you can to stay positive and keep pushing forward. It is not easy to make that decision to look at where you are at right now but in the long run, there are huge rewards for not visiting those very dark and negative places. Yes, it is so very easy to fall into that fear hole and so difficult to pull oneself out of there. I am not saying that PTSD doesn't happen to patients; but for me, it didn't happen. Believe it or not, after being up at the infusion center every 3 weeks for a year, I can truly say that I consider the infusion center is my second home. That is because I know I was there for other reasons than just getting an infusion. I found a place of acceptance, comfort, support and understanding. You see I know that I will continue to make visits to that infusion center to see my onco and cannot be afraid or have negative feelings/reactions to being there. I do very much get how each of you feels here and if it is some consolation to you, you will find your own path through chemoland and find your own of dealing with issues as they come up. Sending each of you a little peace and calm and lots of positve prayers, thoughts and energy.
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not sure if anyone would want to hear from me bc I guess I am the dream come true??? I am one that has lived in fear of cancer most of my life having lost my mother at a very young age to bc. With that being said, that probably also saved my life as I was very aware of cancer and caught my cancer very early the first time AND the second time.
All I can say is that did EVERYTHING I could......as we all are. We seek medical advice and treatment and follow doctors orders. Then after you "finish" treatment you continue to do the right thing.......which I did and again my cancer was caught super early.
While I am super crazy pissssssssed off I am going through this again $&@! - I also know I am stronger than I ever knew (and I think we all realize how strong we are.....even when we think we aren't) - and dang it, I need to plan a cruise for the summer.......after I get my new boobs for my birthday!0 -
You got it , Wrenn.... don't ever think that I didn't have teary and emotional times or times that I didn't physically feel good. What one does learn is that one has a lot of inner strength to get through those negative times. For me, I know that I don't want to and can't stay down for very long. I will continue to do what I have been doing since the day I was diagnosed..... try to stay positive and keep moving forward and do my best to take care of myself and stay aware.
HUGS to all of you this week and hoping for minimal side effects as you make your way through chemoland.
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Wrenn -- good luck tomorrow. I know that you are ready, you are strong, and we are in your pockets with you all the way!! ((Hugs))0 -
Wrenn-
Good luck tomorrow, it will be less anxiety causing than you think and the Ativan pre infusion really helped me, I was singing to myself and my husband had to tell me quiet down as I was singing louder than I thought! And I was scared to death when we went in!
Thank you EVERYONE!!! For the ideas and comments on those bad dreams. I am a Christian and true believer and it's hard for me to have these 'dark' thoughts and ideas as I know I will be O.K. - just such convincing horrid dreams...it is good to know everyone has those too.
Kbee- I have a 'command center' too = funny!!! Our couch has recliners and I have all of my books and all right by it too! Hoping you get a bit better daily and your flu like pain is gone soon! This is YOUR LAST!!! That HAS to be a GREAT feeling!
I was in great shape before the mastectomy and all and now I am just able to shower and walk around a little and then back to the couch...hoping to gain some energy...but my white count was very low and just happy to feel not flu like deathly ill now. Amazing what little endurance/energy I have. Trying to deal with that is hard too...But I am getting some patience hopefully...
Bless you all ! I just LOVE having this group and we are STRONG! And getting stronger!0 -
Wrenn, so glad you're finally getting to chemo! You're a few weeks behind me in diagnosis and surgery, and only two behind me for chemo. Yay! It sounds weird to be happy to start chemo, but only those of us who were denied it from complications understand the relief to finally start. Wishing you an uneventful course of treatment.0
