Cytoxan Taxotere Chemo Ladies- February/March 2013
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FDM, I am glad that the PA listened to you. It would not hurt to meet with another oncologist to get another opinion. Steroids before your next infusion may help to decrease an allergic reaction, but before your next infusion, you need a clear plan of exactly what to do in an allergic reaction; understand that an anaphylactic reaction where your tongue and throat swell can progress quickly, so if you get that during the infusion, they should probably shut it down until a doc comes up...if it happens when you are home, you should call 911 or go to the ER...whatever you decide you need to have a clear plan beforehand, so hopefully the PA, your MO, or another MO can give you this plan so that you can be comfortable with what to do should something occur. Hopefully the steroids will kick in and all of the planning will be for naught, but better to be prepared. Good luck; I am sorry you are having to deal with all of this.
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FDM - I'm not sure about the others, but I take an oral steroid 2x the day before and the day after chemo at home. On the day of chemo, they infuse the steroid. Is seems to be a fairly normal protocol if I recall from others' postings.....
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same here with steroids as Virginia. I had a little flushing on my face, but that was it and went away quickly.
good luck with your treatments and decisions FDM. Don't let them brush you off. This is a big deal and your health and well-being are at stake. You DO need to be taken seriously:).
((HUGS))
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Wrenn - yes, very interesting. Thanks for posting.
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Joan, I had chemo on the 9th and hair loss started today. It's fascinating how sudden and painless it is.
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QuirkyGirl: My hair loss started today also! By Xmas should be bald! Feeling good. Ready for the 30th again--#2. I go for six rounds and you? What was your Oncotype score? (Mine was 32.)
Joan
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I am now day 18 following my first TX and look like a baby bald eagle, I guess. Still have enough hair left to wear a beanie and look almost "normal".
Baked Christmas goodies today, did laundry, walked the dog and going to bathe her now. I think I am feeling pretty good!:)
Have a great week-end everyone!
Terri
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Great article, Wrenn -- thanks for the post!
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Great article Wrenn. Happy Sunday everyone. Still nursing the back pain. I would take oxy but I have to be alert for two birthday parties today.
I went out with some girlfriends on Friday and a woman across the table kept staring at me. I everyone noticed. I almost wanted to ask her if she was on a cancer adventure of her own. I think we should all have a secret signal or handshake or something identifying each other.
Glad to hear some are done and doing well hoping for Minimal SE for all still plodding through treatment.
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Terri-
Glad you are feeling good and getting so much done! Makes me feel like a slacker..
School counselor- I like the secret handshake or signal thing...I KNOW if I see a fellow short short haired person or scarf on head I will ATTACK them and encourage them in their fight!
Wrenn-
I thought the article was good and in fact solidifying the progress with lowering reoccurrence of breast cancer with chemotherapy...
Also thought interesting the part that in early days they would do radical mastectomy including muscle and all lymph nodes and had 80% survival rates with no reoccurrence...wow...
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Joan - I'm on four rounds with an Onco of 23. A little tired today and everything still tastes bad but otherwise good. Hair slowly coming out. Glad to have a BGC buddy for the 30th.
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I go on the 30th too
. Though I think I may be one round ahead of you gals? Will be #3 for me.....0 -
has anyone encountered an extremely itchy red rash on the tops of their hands? Mine has been slowly spreading for days and is now on the tops and sides of my fingers. Reached some critical threshold last night when it woke me up it it he'd so bad. This morning my hands are itchy and stiff and it hurts to use them. Unbearable itching/scalded feeling!
Hi Virginia -
and yes, you're one round ahead0 -
Hi ladies,
Yesterday was going okay. DH and I went for a walk but had to pause often due to my back pain. Still have all screwy taste buds and I just realized my arm hairs had fallen out. It must have been the third round. Hair keeps growing on my head and then falling out again.
I had a panic attack for the first time in my life yesterday. I have not been to work since September and got a call from one of the assistant principals. One of my students died. I hung up with him called the mom and tried to comfort her. So incredibly sad. Then I hang up started having a racing heart, raging headache etc I took an Ativan and lay down and was okay.
Prior to cancer I handled things like this all the time. In fact at school I run the bereavement group for the high school students. I cry of course, but have never fallen apart like that. Hoping that cancer did not take that awAy. I always wonder what the chemo does to us neurologically, beyond just chemo brain
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Quirky, do you have a port? I have had redness on the back of my hand the past 2 days - in my infusion hand. It's just red - not swollen, sore, itchy - nothing but red. Not sure if it's even worth a call to the MO.....so strange to me that it would show up a full 2 weeks after treatment!!!!!
SC - so sorry you are struggling so much...big hugs!!!! Only one more to go!!!!!!!
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thanks virginia. Does your hand feel warm?
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No- no warmth - and it fades and comes back - fades and comes back.........weird! I think I will call just to ease my own angst lol
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Yes. You should. Better safe. Let's know what they say.
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HI guys-
I had the redness in my Iv hand the 1st infusion with a rash that came about a week later to both hands...The IV site was infected and went up my arm as well but the rash went away eventually. My MO said it was from the chemo...duh...One of my friends that had bc a few years ago used told me to use this lotion on the rash and it helped...vanicream lotion.. Also the first round I got rash on bilat. hips...weird...and this time I had just gotten port put in and covered it with a tegaderm to shower and got a huge stain almost / not bumps rash but almost burnt skin in the area where I put the bandage to cover port...that is still there almost 3 weeks later...I think these just take MORE time to heal or go away than normally would...
Then I didn't get it this last round...
Virginia NJ- I am SOOO happy for you and jealous as well that you are NOT having such a hard time with this! What are you eating/doing to have it go so well??? tips??
School Counselor- I am also freaking out more with little things and have become almost overprotective of our youngest (15) which she does not like, but I do NOT feel I'm up to handling stressors at this point...I think we are under tremendous stress going through this and not feeling well, and not ourselves, that is perfectly normal that your body can't take that HUGE (what used to be normal) event...praying for you!
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Hello Everyone & Hello Newbies,
Team Kim, you are inspirational and strong & keep marching on!
SC, I am positive that chemo does much to our brains. I am sure it changes neurotransmitter levels & have started to read, a bit, about it. & I also notice that I sometimes have difficulty nurturing myself as much as I might my students/families. (on leave since Oct.) Now, we are vulnerable and more afraid. It just seems natural to feel these intense emotional responses.
So my next round of chemo is this Friday and already I notice I am getting increasingly irritable and angry and withdrawn from my family. Instead of reaching out, I tend to go into myself and I guess prepare. I am not sure why.
Yesterday though, I went to an art museum and I swear it was as if I had traveled to another country, out of the land of cancer. I think you are right though. I feel like there is a magnetic pull toward others who have been through cancer. A kind of subtle pull and even smiles of recognition.
Good luck to everyone this week. Amy
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I'm so sorry SC.
. Cancer is a huge stressor. I'm sure it's just temporary.Virginia, no port just a freaky rash. Sorry to hear you're having troubles, too. Glad you are calling.
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Quirky -- I had the itchy rash on the backs of my hands (and in the webs between my fingers) after my 1st and 2nd tx. I had it on both hands, and I didn't have a port, but infusions were in my arm on the non-BC side, and I never had any reaction around the infusion site. Try Cortisone cream or mix cortisone cream with Benedryl gel and apply that. Oral Benedryl also gives some relief from the itch. If you are taking Claritin for Neulasta shots, when you stop taking that! the itchy stuff might get worse -- I found I needed the oral Benedryl then.
By all means call your MO for advice as well -- I learned that any rash on the palms of your hand if it gets around that side, indicates a more serious allergic reaction and may need oral steroids.
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had to call the doctors office back as no return call...very annoying. On call doc doesn't think I need to come in since there is no swelling. Said to soak the hand in warm water every 6 hours and if it's not better in 2 days to call back... I go Thursday for bloodwork anyway.....
Audra- I so wish I had some magic secret to share...... I feel crummy for about a week, but then have 2 weeks of feeling pretty good (except for a higher level of fatigue). I do drink tons and tons of water. I have not really changed my diet at all.......
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SC, I am so sorry to hear about your student. Right now, your physical ability to cope is compromised because of these poisons, and hormonally, your body is in upheaval. Not only will you recover, but I imagine in a couple months, you will be able to relate to kids and families in crisis in a way few others can.
Quirky and Virginia, I hope those rashes heal quickly. Itching is the worst!
Wrenn, Great article!
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SchoolC, I understand completely how you felt. We ran out of energy, every little thing is huge to us now. And the news you received took away all the energy you had left. We also feel dead is close to us, way too close during chemo and its SE.
Today I am on day 19 of my last chemo, and for the past days I have felt I have more energy, not all yet, but I know you will understand how I feel and you will have your energy back like I am, to shine with what you do at work. I am telling you, I am glad I was not working during chemo. I know I wouldn't be able to handle it.
Changing the topic a little, Today I had my last visit with my PS to add more saline into my TE. He will call me to schedule my surgery around the end of January and beginning of February. One step more to the finishing line! He didn't want to stretch my skin anymore. He said he can do more during surgery, but didn't want to risk my skin and open it. I am at 340cc only. He and OS removed a lot of skin because one of my cancers was too close to skin. My guess is he will bring skin from another part of the body. He will tell me later.
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TY KBeee - I am hoping it clears up. For me it's just redness - no pain, swelling, or itchiness....
Headeast - my PS stopped me at 480cc as my skin was getting too thin. I haven't even talked to him yet about the size of the final implant.....I don't ask enough questions for sure. Do you know what kind of implant you will go for (and forgive me if I have already asked you this...my chemo brain is raging...). I am going to go for the cohesive gel (gummy bear) I think...... I haven't made my appt for the exchange yet....it has to be at least 8 weeks from my final chemo...that should put me around the middle to end of March.
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Virginia, I will go with the one my MS suggested which is the high profile. He told me he will put more than 340cc but not too much more. I do a lot of sports, mainly outdoors and don't want for them to get on the way, and he agrees. They will be larger than before anyways, I was an A. I guess I now will be a small C or large B. I am leaving it up to him. I have seen his work and he is a very known PS so I am in good hands. I am so looking forward to finalizing with all this!
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Headeast, i went to PS today too. He said last time was my final fill and then he filled me again today so he'd have plenty of space! I am feeling like I could explode. I was an A before, but now am like a large C. I would like to end up a large B or small C. My PS does not stick around long for questions, but I know from everyone that has used him, he does good work...and he was great in the first round. I also have a friend who is a surgical nurse for him, and am hoping she will be working that day!!! My surgery is January 23. My MO told me to stop taking tamoxifen 4 days before surgery and stay off 4 days after. PS said I need to stop Tamoxifen 2 weeks before and 4 days agter! That is a big discrepancy. I do not want trouble with clots or healing, so I will go with 2 weeks, but it would be nice if these docs were on the same page!!!!!
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kbeee, do they work at the same hospital? Mine do, and they reach one another frequestly, lime when i started chemo. My MO called my PS to make sure the fillings were a day before each chemo...
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I'm the opposite lol - was a DD before my weight loss (50 lbs) and went down to a D. Not sure what I will be with implants, but certainly significantly smaller which will take a bit getting used to, but it sure is nice to not have to wear a bra!!!!
. Anyhow, I had big old saggy boobs before so I am ok with being smaller.......at least I keep telling myself I will be.KBeee, my surgeon sounds like yours. He always answers all of my questions, but he definitely doesn't stick around for me to think of any questions lol. He did make me laugh with my last fill when I was asking about silicone gel implants and he led off his response with "well I have over a 1000 patients who have silicone...." and all I could think was, "well, seriously dude, you've had plenty of practice so I guess I'll be fine...." Lolllll. I think that's maybe why I don't ask too many questions...figure he will just make me look as good as possible......
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