FEC-D regime
Comments
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mudwmn congrats on being done your treatments. It's a wonderful feeling. I too had hair growth but very slowly at first. Now it's starting to come in. Grey buts at least it's hair. This forum is very informative Good luck with your radiation.
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mudwmn: Welcome on this thread and congrats on being done with chemo!!!
I had the fuzz growing ever since on Docetaxel, but it was mostly in the back and the sides. At some point I was asking my MO if the D part chemo really worked for me as I was growing hair. She assured me that that what usually happens.
I was so happy to have any hair that it didn't matter to me if it was just the fuzz or the actual hair. I found that the early growth stages the hair was indeed very fine, but I remember trimming the ends of the fuzz a bit and then the hair felt thicker.
I think it took at least 8 weeks for my hair to start growing faster.
I went 'topless' in public for the first time the first day of summer after about 12.5 weeks PFC and I felt liberated!
Regarding the axillary dissection, my RO said that at least in my case the radiation treatment is equivalent to having the dissection operation, so I would get a second opinion on that one to reduce your risk of lymphodema.
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hi mudwmn, glad that chemo is behind you now!
it's most likely the steroids that increased one's appetite. this cycle, thanks to overall better tolerance on an adjusted dosage (was too sick to do anything but sleep 2 out of the 3 weeks last cycle), i feel like eating.. the whole day... not that i'm really hungry.. and snack on fruit as much as i can.. need replenish my nut supplies too.. zumba classes is on my list, once treatment is over!
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amazonwarrior - I know what you mean about the radiation being sufficient rather than having to go back for an axillary dissection, which was my original plan however, there was some inflamation in the lymph nodes that showed up on the last scan plus with the tnbc and grade 3, the oncologists are extra cautious.
Thanks to the others for the encouraging posts. It sure is fun to have hair again - no matter what...
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hi all. Sorry that I've been away. I've been feeling like shit since the weekend. Do much pain! I had c on Saturday and took meds given to me by my onc which helped. I didn't want to take percocets. I tried Tylenol. Nothing. Sunday evg I took 1 Percocet then at 3:30 in the morning I took 2 more. Yesterday I felt very week, nausous, shaky. Called my nurse. She said that pain is part of this and that I must take the percs. She told me that they will put me in an IV unless I eat and drink fluids other then water
I did eat a double Wendy's hamburger on Sunday. Mmmmm. Lol. I'm just eating what I crave right now. Last night had sherbet
I hate taking percocets. It makes me feel foggy, light headed, nausous and spacy. Went to bed last night at 10:30 with a bit of pain. Thought I could handle it. Woke up at 1:30am crying. Hubby got me applesauce and I took 2 more percs. Woke up at 6:30. Had Rice Krispies with some milk. Had aome more apple sauce. Nearly threw up but didn't. Bit of d. Drank g2, apple juice and water
I've lost 4 pounds since Saturday. Called nurse to let her know where I'm at. Still have no fever
Felt better lying down. It's 9:40am and I just woke up again. Going to try to eat eggs and toast with a banana. Eating just doesn't appeal up me. My tongue is on fire but I have no sores
What I hate is taking the percs. When I have pain I don't feel foggy, nausous or dizzy. Just hurt. When I take percs I have these other SEs
I can't imagine having to have two more rounds of taxotere. I just don't feel strong enough. A friend of mine had these pains for a week before they subsided
Hard to believe that this will pass as I'm also hearing of so many women feeling crap with tamoxifen and I'll need to take that too. How will I have a good quality of life with this crap?
I have to be able to exercise, play my guitar, sing.....
On top of everything else I got an email from my company hr rep asking if she could give my personal email to my GM and director of HR. That really stressed me out. This is the same GM that hit me up on linkedin a few months ago as I'm getting treatment. I deal with my insurance company who deals with my employer. Even as a manager I was told that I could not deal directly with any employee who was off on disability
Every time I hear my GMs name I cringe. He couldn't care less if I live or die. I know that our a/r results have tanked in the months since I've been off. I'm going to tell them that I will continue to work through my insurance company and that they can do the same
It's all I need right now
Sorry to be so down all. You're really helping me with your virtual hugs. It's so hard to sit at home alone all day with my hubby at work knowing that he's worried about me and I'm too weak to give him a strong face
Hopefully this will pass soon. I can't take much more!
Trying to focus on nfl tickets going on sale for my jets tomorrow so that I can buy 2 tix for jets vs broncos. That same evening the rangers open their season against the toronto maple leafs my hubby's team. Hoping to get to both games!
All I can say about this last round of taxotere and herceptin is that the pain is debilitating!!
Wishing all of you a great day!
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FB. Hang in there it's tough to be alone but if your DH was there you would prob be sleeping anyhow. Sending positive thoughts your way. Take up reading if you can. Hugs
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Hi footballnut, *hugs* and hope you'll be better everyday. It does.. my first chemo was bad.. though i think i convinced myself that since i wasn't dying, it was bearable and pleasant.. while realistically i was disoriented, would nearly tumble over while walking, drop stuff, cut myself etc.. and slept almost all the time. Your experience sounds awful, and sorry to hear about the work stuff and your GM that makes you cringe.
Do drink more water, even plain water, if you can, drink a glass every half hour.. i know it sounds ridiculous.. but that helped me a lot, and while i didn't go as regular as i did for the first few days, i never had constipation. PLus, every morning, i start the day off with juices: celery, carrot, parsley (and apple if i want it a bit sweet or bitter gourd/balsam pear for even stronger cleansing effect). The green juices also gives a mild laxative effect and helps one go.. Also, if you have access to buy fresh pineapple and papaya, have it daily, maybe an hour before your meals, as the digestive enzymes found naturally in these fruit helps in processing whatever food you might take. I take it almost everyday (besides days in which supply ran out, and since i'm on self-imposed quarantine, rely on my sister to buy supplies whenever she's free).
I lost more than 5 pounds during that first chemo round, though for this second round, with an adjusted dosage, and also i think the body is better prepared, plus pumped with steroids, i'm hungry all the time.. or just feel like eating.. and now i'm worried i might get fatter!!!
it's now more than 10days since the chemo, and i haven't lost a pound.. and am trying not to think of food while writing.. i had TWO dinners today.. rice+stirfry boy choy, then less than two hours later, tomato soup and bread!!!! and over an hour ago, a whole dragonfruit!! arghghghgh.. and i'm still thinking of food.. it really is different..because i could barely eat the last round of chemo!!!!It really might be a lot better for you too when it comes to the second round.. cos this being my second round, i can stay awake the whole day, from morning till night, without naps.. very contrary to the first round, where i slept heaps and a smalll bowl of soup or a piece of fruit is the most i can force myself to eat at one go..
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FBN: It's good to hear from you again!
The pain in a beech, but the intensity goes down daily. My worst was day 4-7 with the day 4 as the most intense. I didn't care about the SE from painkillers as long as they were doing the job.
Have you considered taking L- glutamine?
As this also lessens the chemo SE and neuropathy.
Sorry to hear about your GM. Sounds like he is a big pain in the %^^*%. You should not be worried about such things right now.
Focusing your attention on something possitive like sports is a good thing.
I called my RO today because I am having
quite a bit of internal soreness, swelling and inflammation along my trachea and lungs. It feels like something heavy is pressing on it.
I am 6 weeks PFR and still having a lot of SE like fatigue, weakness, lightheadedness and shoulder muscle pain. The rads skin looks and feels a lot better, but as I mentioned it's the internal soreness that bothers me now more.
Here is my weekly hair growth and radiated skin update ar 6 weeks PFR and 14 weeks PCF. My hubby's latest comment about my hair was that I need to start combing it! Lol
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Amazon, i love your hair colour!
and are the swelling and inflammation of trachea and lungs because of the radiotherapy? i am a bit concern of that.. one oncologist was very honest with me, and said regardless, some lung tissues would be permanently zapped and scarred.. what dosage was your radiotherapy? and also how many sessions was yours? here it differs.. some hospitals follow a more intense 3 week schedule, others 4 weeks..
by the way, is the scar where they cut the sentinel lymph node? it just occured to me that i see only one cut.. there's two on me.. one for the sentinel node and the other for the tumour..
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yens: The hair colour is just more henna.
I went to see an RO today. They took an x ray of my lungs. There was nothing in the x ray though and the dr thought it to be a rare inflammation of the trachea as a result of radiation plus my post rads viral bronchial infection.
He gave me a puffer called Ventolin to dilate my airways and basically said to 'wait it out'. I can only hope that this strategy works.
My rads were: 25 sessions (5 weeks x 5 days per werk) at 2 Gy per, so all together I had about 50 Gy with four different fields. This is apparently an international standard. They used bolus every day half way through the treatment to give the skin the full dose due to my lympho-vascular invasion.
I only have one post mastectomy scar with no reconstruction that runs from about 3 cm from the lower part of my sternum to the axilla measuring 16 cm in lenght. The pic doesn't show it all as I don't want to scare anybody.
How are you doing with your treatment?
All: How are you ladies feeling?
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LOL Amazon! I really thought the colouring was natural! I snipped whatever remaining hair that i could today.. makes me look better for sure..
i had to wear a hat indoors when a friend visited last weekend, because my head was so "scary".. she didn't say anything.. but i could tell it in her face when i took off my wig (too hot!!) LOL! on a more serious note, is bronchial infection a side effect? and what is a bolus? here, i've been told besides the daily whole breast radiation, there'd also be some intense radiation on where the lump was.. yet to ask much, as i had no issue with radiotherapy.. just freaked out about having to do chemo earlier.. now i feel so normal! second cycle is literally a breeze (besides the first few days). Though at times i do worry.. if it's so easy.. is it not effective??!? then again, it probably is effective since it affected me a lot last cycle. my blood pressure and pulse also have normalised this week.. it was a bit off earlier..
hope everyone else is doing okay!
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yens: I would consider the bronchial infection a SE of rads because my immunity was damaged by it.
Bolus is a rubber mat of various thickness to imitate human tissue. They used it on me because I had a mastectomy hence lack of tissue plus my RO said that it helps treat the skin more that has the highest rate of recurrences.
I understand what you meant when you said that your friend was disturbed by your lack of hair. It happened to me once when I took off my scarf in front of a colleague who came to visit me she literally gasped holding her hand over her mouth. She looked shocked by my baldness.
The intense rads treatment where the tumour was is called boosts. So they usually do the general area first then add the boosts to the scar.
I would count my lucky stars if I had a bit easier time now with chemo. Sometimes things can accumulate making it harder towards the end of the treatment.
I am happy for you that you can feel normal under the circumstances.
How's everyone else feeling?
Football: How is the bone pain now?
Any better?
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Hi All!
I love my MO!!!!! Here is my update;
Today at
8:15 I was at the hospital for my appointment with my MO and his Nurse -
Angel #2. I was in such pain this morning having woken up at 2:30 in
the morning for yet more diarreah which has just about ripped me open
and left me with a burning stomach and more pain elsewhere.In
walks the Dr. I start to cry and he hugs me. I open my diary and tell
him the hell that I have been going through - trying not to cry.... I
felt like a little girl talking to my dad. I told him everything. The
aches, the pains, the constipation, the diarreah, the minimal eating and
drinking, the percocets. Upon review, the pains really kicked in last
Friday night. I told him that I had lost 5 pounds since Saturday and
that last night my temperature spiked to 100.4 for approx 2 hours last
night. He listened to everything - did a physical exam; asked a few
questions. My hubby said that the Nurse had tears in her eyes.He
explained that my body was reacting negatively to taxotere. He
explained that he would have me feeling like myself again very soon. I
even asked him if I was going to die. He said absolutely not. I was
sent upstairs to the chemo area with an order for an IV. When I got to
reception, I lost it and just started crying. I was in so much pain. A
Nurse held me for atleast 10 minutes, then rocked me and hummed to me.
Then I cried even more because it made me feel like a little girl with
my mom.Once they calmed me down, they took me to a stretcher,
gave me warm blankets and I was put on a 3 hour IV of fluids, a bit of
morphine and zantac. They also took some blood. I slept a bit, ate a
bit and was told that I would also get Home Care for the next 3 days so
my port was left active. My hubby wanted to stay with me but I sent him
to work. My girlfriend picked me up and we went out to eat. TO
EAT!!!!! I felt approx 80% by that time - I had half a veggie omlette
with some potatoes and white toast with strawberry jam, apple juice,
water with lemon and a green t. That was at 2:00 and I haven't run to
the bathroom yet!!!!!!!! I was told that I should take a percocet every
6 hours and that I should be at 100% before the end of the weekend.A
week from this Tuesday, I will meet with my Onc to discuss how my last 2
chemos will be managed. At this point, he anticipates that I will be
given taxotere weekly with the herceptin still being every 3 weeks.
Weekly! Ugh!!!!!The Nurses were awesome, my Onc was awesome - I
can't believe how much better I feel in such a short period of time. I
swear to you that I was ready to die. I couldn't take anymore agony!Now
I look back and say why did I wait so long? My answer - I always
thought that tomorrow would be better - that I had to endure a few days
of hell. I would wake up feeling a bit better then get kicked in the
teeth later in the day. Plus I dreaded the possibility of having to
have an active port and to be hooked up to an IV. Well, it happened
anyways!!Thank-you to all for holding my hand, giving me hugs and
for sharing your kind words and sentiments. I might not be completely
out of the woods yet, but am getting there!!!!!Thank-you all!!!!
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football: I am glad you are turning a corner with this!
Staying on a regular dose of painkillers helped me through it. I didn't wait for the pain to return to take another dose. I guess it's easier for the body that way.
It's great and reassuring that your medical staff is so kind and supportive.
Keep us posted how you are doing and in the meantime lots of hugs.
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Oh my gosh Ang, sorry to hear that you are in so much pain!!! Thank goodness for your understanding MO and nurses!!! I have been thinking about you!!! Big hugs!!
I am have been busy with work and took tomorrow off, need a break. I have my first round of taxorete and am a bit afraid of it, kind of got used to the SE from FEC, the unknown is a bit scary. I am well otherwise. My incision has been a bit numb lately and a bit sore.
Amazon, sorry to hear about your troubles too. Your skin looks great. I never thought of measuring the scar.
Big hugs everyone!!
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Footballnut, am glad your MO and nurse are such angels!
And happy that you're getting home care too, and went to eat out with your friend! Weekly infusions are said to have less side effects.. smaller and more managable doses! Thanks Amazon for explaining the bolus.. haha, i now want to request for it.. i feel my chest is flat enough without surgery.. that is one of my concerns.. that the radiation zaps right through my small breasts and burns my lungs and other parts!!! okay, i get too imaginative at times, which doesn't always do me good. Are your airways feeling better now? Did the doctor say it's okay to eat/take heaps of antioxidants to help with healing?
Lolis, good to hear Taxotere is okay with you. the numbness and sore on incision part , is that from taxotere? I do remember feeling occasional pangs of pain in the incision area after the chemo..
Weekend's here, and wishing all a great time!
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Yensmiles - I have my first taxorete treatment next week on thursday. Sorry I forgot to write Taxorete. I have been feeling so good during FEC that am worried it won't be the same with Taxorete.
The numbness it's on the side of my chest right below the arm pit. The surgery area feels still weird to touch. I touch it all the time but it is a different feeling that the nerves transmit.
Amazon so this Bolus cream gets applied to all the patients that have had mastectomy? I will have to remember to ask for it.
Ang, how are you feeling today?
Jen - did you have your second chemo?
How about you other ladies
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Hi All,
Friday's update -
Homecare called shortly after
9. A package of supplies will be delivered to my home prior to 1:30
today hopefully. Then a Nurse will come and hook me up to an IV for 4-6
hours so that I can get more fluids. She will return and un-hook me
tonight. This will continue for Saturday and Sunday at which point my
Port will be de-accessed and I can take a shower again!!!!! :-)Today
I feel about 80%. Still some lingering discomfort but nothing like it
was. I ate dinner last night - chicken and coleslaw! mmmmm
Coleslaw!!! I ate breakfast this morning - I want to eat! My tummy is
still not 100% and is still loose but I am feeling so much more like
myself albeit tired.It is so true - how do you know what is a
"normal" reaction until you have experienced it yourself? I have had
pain and discomfort my whole life in my hips and lower back. I just
kept plowing on. Yesterday, the Nurse explained that I must stay ahead
of the pain. I should take the meds. My problem was that I didn't even
try percocets until Monday morning at 3:30am. Up until that point I
thought that extra strength tylenol would be enough. I just hate the
thought of popping pills and have to get over that. In my worst dreams I
never thought that things would progress to the point that they did.I
never even thought that the burning tummy could be reflux. I have a
mild case of reflux that flares up every so often and pop a prevacid for
a week. Then I'm all good. When I chatted with hte nurse about the Dr
giving me zantac, she explained that the burning was reflux. I always
thing of reflux as acid backing up into the throat and forget that this
includes acid burning in the stomach as well. She suggested that I pop a
prevacid every day and that this well help prevent this from
happening. I never even thought to ask about this or discuss with my
Onc. All things that you learn.What I truly love about my
medical team is the kindness, empathy and support that I am getting.
Not once did anyone point fingers or make me feel like I had brought
this on myself. Even when I said that I was stupid to ignore this like I
had, they jumped in and disputed my way of thinking. We all know that
there are some very poor bed side manners out there so I am thankful.I
have complete trust and faith in all of them - especially my Oncologist
who leads the charge. His hug meant the world to me. I will discuss
the go-forward plan a week Tuesday. A nurse explained to me that
unfortunately, others have gone through what I did and explained why it
is so important to raise concerns early. I did contact my MO's nurse
Monday and she suggested an IV based on my feedback. I turned it down
thinking again that "tomorrow would be better".Plus I didn't
want to be a bother to anyone. I didn't want my hubby to have to take
time off of work. As it stands, he ended up coming home from work
Monday to be with me and took me to the Dr yesterday. I worried him
sick with my pain and crying so really did nothing good for anyone.Hindsight is always 20/20.
So, now I just feel tired. Still have some pain in my tummy but now I'm on the side of healing.
Two
more treatments!!! Can't wait for the football season to start because
then my chemo is behind me and I can focus on better things!Love you all!!!!
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football: Great to hear that you feel 80% back to normal and eating regular food!
It's good that you have a plan now: IV's, regular painkillers and perhaps more manageable weekly chemo.
Focusing on something positive like a football season can be essential in our way we cope in difficult situations.
Lolis: Perhaps I didn't make it clear to begin with, but bolus is a rubber mat that simulates human tissue. They used it on me because after a mastectomy I had very little tissue on my chest and the full dose of radiation is delivered to the skin rather than the deeper tissue. That can be good and bad. Good that the RT is targeted to the skin which is a high recurrence area, but bad that your skin really takes a hit. I suffered from a serious radiation skin burn as a result.
Yens: Thanks for asking about how I feel.
I still have a LOT of internal soreness along the trachea, lung, surrounding tissue. The RO said to 'wait it out', so I guess only time will be my healer.
I am looking though into doing an IV high dose vit C therapy to help with the recovery.
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Ang, great to hear that you are almost back to feeling like yourself!!
Oh Amazon, thanks for the clarification, I must have misunderstood :-). Did you ask your doctor for the IV? Hope you feel better soon!
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Footballnut, glad to see your update and hear of the wonderful team supporting you!
i take those tummy (gastric) pills for the first three days too.. mine's called Rantinidine, and another drug with similar action is also infused in prior to the chemo..even with that, still some mild discomfort .I hate pills too... and have been tempted quite a few times to not take it.. and i love reading your writing.. that's a sign you're well enough to write! *hugs*Amazon, hope the vit C infusions will work to sooth the soreness around lung and trachea.. i didn't realise you were experiencing pain, you always sound so upbeat and the rock for us here, making sure we're okay! Thank you! I've read that vit c infusions are even being tried to cure cancer itself. when are you expected to start the vit c treatment? hopefully one day, treatments will get easier. There's some food that's good for the lungs in chinese food theories, and pears (the snow/nashi white fleshed kind, not the packam kind) and snow fungus are lung tonics. Also collagen and protein in snow fungus helps healing overall. I'm Chinese, so it's a typical ingredient for me here, and haha, i'm wondering now if what i've shared might seem really foreign to you.
Lolis, hope you'd be well-rested and having a fabulous weekend and ready for the coming Taxotere!
REactions are so unpredictable for each individual. I hope yours will be an easy one. 0 -
lolis, yens: I found a naturopathic clinic that administers the IV vitamine C and other vit cocktails. I asked the Naturopathic Doctor if he had any experience treating bc patients. He said yes, and told me that he did a residency with a ND who specializes in treating cancer.
He asked me to get certain blood tests done through my GP:
-Glucose 6 Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD): an enzyme that needs to be present to allow proper utilization of Vitamin C
-GFR and creatinine (tests function of the kidney’s)
-ESR or CRP (general inflammatory markers)
I already had my blood work done yesterday prescibed by my GP.
My app with the ND is scheduled for next Friday July 18. I am hoping to have the results back by then.
Yens: I have to find out more about the snow fungus. Where do you get it?
I am currently taking a lot of medicinal mushrooms: chaga (tea), turkey tail (pills), shiitake (MGN-3 - pills), lions mane and reishi (pills), maitake, oyster myshooms in fresh form, basically so many that I might soon be sprouting little mushrooms out of my ears!
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yens: Thanks for calling me the rock, but even a 'rock' can stumble from time to time and that's how I have been feeling lately with this post rads pain and inflammation issue.
Well, here is my dark moment:
I am scared that this pain is to stay that I somehow suffered a permanent damage.
I also fear that things still may get worse because I have seen it happen with the skin and now the internal tissue.
I am scared that this could somehow disable me in the future from feeling like myself and enjoying my daily life.
I am scared because I don't see it happening with others.
I am frightened of the unknown effects of radiation on me.
Yes, I am frickin scared and feel like shouting:
'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?
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wow Amazon, that is so nice to have a naturopath doctor!
i would love to know how the vit c infusion goes.. no idea what the G6PD is and somehow still excited for you! and hmm, isn't it standard practice to do blood test for kidney and liver functions while doing the chemo too? or is it because some months have passed since the last chemo and now you need to do a test for that again? my CRP has been high before (Several years, several different tests) and now it makes me think, if that's what caused the cancer too.. because i eat junk and probably parts of my body showed inflammation! some articles on the internet say that cancer is an inflammatory disease.. so i do wonder.. though now, not much of a point in wondering, and more action into eating healthy and exercisingmore!
Amazon, that's a lot of mushrooms! haha! sprouting mushrooms.. would save on grocery bills!
i'm eating it regularly too.. just maitake/shiitake (usually dehydrated whole mushrooms which i rehydrate and occasionally fresh ones). If there's one mushroom i really dislike.. it's oyster mushroom.. so haha, i'm avoiding that! Just had braised mushrooms with clove+star anise with rice yesterday. Trying now to eat only ingredients that have some kind of health benefits. Dinner today is thai styled pineapple+salmon fried quinao+rice. Am glad that this round, i'm healthy enough to cook most of the time.Took the picture below off the internet.. that's how snow fungus looks like, it's dehydrated, and you'd need to rehydrate it before use. The size varies, with bigger ones about palm size, and it is NOT an indication of quality. It should be easily available from Chinese grocers/Asian supermarkets. Here in Malaysia, it's found in every supermarket chain too because of the population base. It's good to ask whether it's sulphur free too.. i avoid it when i can. If it's not entirely sulphur free, the option would be to, after soaking, rinse it a few times. You can tell if there's a lot of sulphur in it by the smell when it's still dry. A very thoughtful friend bought some for me to nurture my body post-surgery, and i didn't think of rinsing it (since i usually buy sulphur free ones), and ended up throwing the whole pot when it tasted funny. It really doesn't have much of a taste.. it can be slimy.. some are slimier than others, and a good shop (who sells them by weight) will be able to tell you which are "crunchier" and which ones are "slimy". I'm guessing here, but i think the slimy ones have more collagen and usually used in sweet preparations. The picture below is how it can be prepared, after soaking and rinsing the snow fungus, put it in a pot together with dried red dates, dried longan and gingko nuts (do remove the bitter green pit). I use a slow cooker for about 4-5 hours, simply because it's easier. As the dates and longan are sweet, you won't have to add sugar, unless you have a sweet tooth. Hope it'd help sooth those lungs!
and amazon, i think you've described our dark moments for us too (at least for me, it is).. I wanna tell you everything will be okay, but it doesn't seem very realistic as you've been through more before me, and i'm still halfway through chemo and haven't seen it all yet!!! Though somehow, i do think that even with the low moments, with all that you're doing now, you'd be just fine!
i have those scared moments.. less of it now, probably because there's nothing new for the next couple of cycles to come.. besides probably some accumulative effects, which i hope would be minimal or nil with the supplements i'm taking (Goshajinkigan + dandelion+milk thistle + zinc). probably stress levels will spike shortly before i get radiotherapy.. What else are you taking? and what else might everyone else be taking to minimise side effects/speed up healing?0 -
Amazon, we all have our dark moments but as long as we bounce back we should be fine!! I wish I can tell you that it would be fine but as Yensmiles said we don't have any experience with radiation. All I can say is keep the faith and keep doing whatever you can to minimize the effects of the rads!!!
How many of these IVs will you have? Did you ask you GP for a requisition to see a naturopath? I am very interested in this approach (obviously after my rads treatments is over).
Thank you Yensmiles for your post!!
I am not taking anything right now. Not a big supplement person. I was taking Vit. C and Omega 3 oil but I stopped taking them since I started chemo. I need to check the foodforbreastcancer website as I keep eating peaches and nectarines and don't know if they are good. I have even stopped eating apples (which I was having at least one per day before the dx).
Ang - how are you feeling
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Amazon - what does the "eloi eloi..." phrase mean?
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Hey Lolis, i think peaches (and similar stone fruit in that family) are fabulous for breast cancer.. read it somewhere. why can't you eat apples? i've stopped vit c too, though occasionally still pop the omega 3 pills.. what harm is there in taking fish oils? it's anti-inflammatory and should be good right?
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lolis/ yens: I found my naturopathic doctor trough researching the topic in the area. First I contacted the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors at
Then I called a few ND offices to see if they do the IV vit C infusions. One of them directed me to a local clinic, so I looked it up on their web site and email the ND that does that.
He told me that to better assess me, he would require some blood work and that if I want I can get it done trough my GP and I wouldn't have to pay for it.
So I went to my GP and told him that that's what I would like to do.
He was in agreement and ordered the blood work, which I did the same day of my appointment.
I am scheduled to see my ND this Friday, so I will know more by the about how many treatments and their frequency.
As far as the supplementation during chemo and rads, I was on one daily multivitamin and L- Glutamine, vit B1, B6, B2, B12. Then I added 6g/day Curcumin C3 with Bioperine during rads.
I avoided vit C and E during chemo and rads specifically because they are antioxidants.
I was told by my MO, RO and a pharmacist that any antioxidants in food form is OK, so peaches or apples would definitely be fine.
Yens: Thanks so much about the info re snow fungus. I'll look for it next time I go to the health food store.
Lolis: 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? Is a sentence that Jesus cried out in agony while being crucified and it means:
'My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?'
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hi all
It's Monday and I'm feeling more like myself albeit a few minor things. I'm losing my eyelashes and eyebrows are thinning out and my eyes feel "sticky". Tummy is much better and my tongue isn't burning so much anymore. The back of my neck still feels clammy off and on and I get the odd chills. Sometimes at night I'm on FIRE but not sweating
And I'm HUNGRY!
We had a BBQ on the weekend and I ate 2 Nathdns hotdogs with buns - they gotta be Nathan's!! - some pasta salad, chips and a piece of chocolate cake. I even drank 1 1/2 bottles of Pepsi. Felt great!!!
My friend gave me a book called "eat to beat cancer". I told her today that according to this book I'm already dead. Lol
I just can't buy into all of this stuff. Go vegan, live on rabbit food etc. I believe in moderation. If I can't eat my junk every now and then I'm not living!
A friend of mine took me on his motorcycle during our BBQ. It was awesome! It felt so great - until we got pulled over for speeding. Lol
Today I was on the treadmill for 40 minutes and did arm weights for 1/2 hour
A week wed in my 2nd to last round of chemo. I'm scared sh*tless! I'll see what my onc has to say regarding proposed changes to my treatment. I think that I'll be getting taxotere weekly for the remaining 6 weeks. A nurse told me that most women tolerate this much better.
For now I'm going to enjoy my week! 😊
Amazon let me know if I can do snything to help you. I'm not far away!!
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Yensmiles - I stopped the omega 3 for the same reason as the vit C. I don't want the chemo to be less effective because of the added anti-inflamatory qualities of omega 3. I still eat fish so trying to get some of the good fats that way. Good to know that peaches and nectarines are fine. I am adding the fresh blueberries to my oatmeal breakfast.
Amazon thanks for the info and the translation.
Ang - looking good on that bike!!! I am going for my first taxorete treatment this thursday. Feeling a bit antsy as I don't know what to expect.
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