Starting Chemo June 2014
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Canuck and Island----You have hair!!!!!!!!! I am so jealous, I concentrate and I concentrate and so far nothing! oh well pretty soon....
Hiking- If I don't get my act together pretty soon, someone will repossess my shoes! I do the invoicing for our company and I just realized in the middle of the night that it has been literally months since I have billed some customers and of course some of them will never be collected! I remember the teen years, they are a CHALLENGE, but you will both get through it and thrive. But your hair may never come back worrying about your kids!!
Radical-I really want to go to Jamaica one day!
Have a fabulous weekend girls!
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Agent, I loved your beach story. So many people with cancer, it's unbelievable.
Canuck, I had weird pains through Taxol, mostly in my chest and neck. It went away a couple of weeks after I was done. You and island have hair! Here's mine 6,5 weeks PFC, it's starting to fill in. I'm thinking Christmas I'll be topless, wearing a wig for work has gotten old.
1/2 way done with radiation, not too bad. My skin is holding up and acupuncture is helping the fatigue.
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Bow! 6.5 weeks PFC! Looks like your hair is really coming in! I am so looking forward to going topless...as soon as I cant see any scalp through my hair I will...0 -
Well it's a good thing I am so clueless about what happens next! I had my ct scan today to get ready for radiation, they marked all over my torso with a sharpie and then covered it with clear tape to preserve it for 2 months! When I got home and looked for myself in the mirror I resemble a pre K art project! I am frightened that this is the precision that is supposed to guide the radiation that will be directed at me everyday for 6 weeks, YIKES! And homegirls took pictures, dear lord don't let the cloud be involved in their storage!
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I just lost ALL my medical, yes I am on medical. Never once did I take advantage of the system. When I found out I had cancer they put me on emergency medical. Well as of today I found out I got cut off. I have an appt. on Wed for port flush and blood work. Next Wed I am suppose to have surgery to have my port removed. They did not continue my Brac1 test. And I still need my te removed and my recon, And most of all my meds. I will need a refill on my tamaxofin in 3 days. I take ambien. I am so upset. I was told to go to the welfare office and clear it up. I was born in Mexico with a mexican birth cert, but my father was american. They say they have no proof of my social security card, I don't have a copy It was lost. So now I have to go through all this red tape to figure something out. I just can't believe they would cut someone off just like that. I just needed to vent. I am so scared.0 -
Laurais50 - the financial advisor of your hospital has access to LOTS of private funding for treatment - from procedures to medication. Apply for it if you haven't already. That will help.
I think it would be fun if we all were able to gather at the beach to celebrate our milestones! Bow1965 - loved the head shot! Everyone told me when I started that my hair would probably come back in a different color (I was more salt than pepper). Right now, it's all white peach fuzz. I'm wondering if I'm going to look like Cruella DeVille when it grows back in. I'm going to shave my head one last time in a few weeks for a friend's b-day party. Costumes are encouraged....I'm going as Ms Clean (too easy, I know!)
I'm at my nadir from my last dose and I can't wait for this to pass. My hands and feet are really blistering - painful!! My face is breaking out too but not as bad as it did before. My nails hurt too - part of the neuropathy, I'm sure. I too have been seeing a shrink to help deal with my chemo and my home life (teenage daughter) and it has helped me a lot. I get a lot of anxiety at this point post-TCH dose thinking about trying to ramp my business back up, making decisions about my finances, etc and my shrink said "You're trying to make tough decisions about things when you're sick - you're going to have to just hold off and wait until you're well before you tackle those things. Write them down on a "worry list" and forget about them while you're healing. When you're healed (out of chemo, out of radiation), then pull them out and start mapping a strategy. It's not going to work if you try to tackle it now." It's tough advise for me - I feel like I can't see through the chemo fog and I fear what I can't see ahead of me. I'm having to take things one day at a time and am trying to be careful not to get swept up into the emotional drama of my future.
Beach sounds good....doesn't it!!
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Laura-- at my hospital the first day I was introduced to a patient advocate who is a person that helps with finding funding and help in situations like yours. Call your doctor or hospital today and ask if they have a patient advocate someone can help you Don't give up or give in keep asking until you find help
Hiking --- the beach is always a good idea! I'm not sure I could make a list that long and just put it away I make a list and try to tackle it in chunks ,one item a day or a week whatever to give myself a feeling that I am making some progress toward getting my business and life back on track.
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Laur...They must've had proof of your ss card at some point for you to have had medical....at least I would think! What could've changed?
The ladies are right though. Yes, go to the welfare office, but also go to your hospital. There is outside funding for just about everything. Even the BRCA testing can be done for free through a program started by Christina Applegate (Kelly from Married with Children) she was long before Angelina Jolie on the BRCA front!
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Laura
I can't imagine what you must be going through. How terrible. I don't know what to suggest. I am in Canada so don't have any experience with no health care. But just wanted to chime in an give you a hug. Xo
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ok gals.... a little off-color here...
I finished chemo Sept. 30 and I am growing a little hair on my head and I have some clear stubble on my legs. I have some hair growing in my pubic region that I can feel but can't really see and I can't find any hair under my arms.
The thing is, through the summer, I found I loved not having pubic hair or hair under my arms. Shavings my legs is easy but the underarms and bikini area have always yielded red bumps etc. When I shave to get in a bathing suit etc no matter what. I'm thinking I'm going to do laser hair removal in both these areas.
There are groupons out there and I want to pick one up but....I'm not exactly sure when I will have enough hair regrowth and groupons do expire. Anyone have any input on this? Anyone have pubic hair? Lol
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Ha Radical, you made me smile! I was not sure about losing hair down there, and I agree that I also find it easier now too. I don't have it back yet, 9 weeks post last Taxol. I did start AC 2 weeks ago, so I won't for a while now. I love not having underarm hair since mine is numb post axillary dissection. I wouldn't be able to shave without cutting myself up anyway. I bet if you called the facility that you want to use, explained the groupon expiry and dilemma with regrowth, they may let you make an exception given your circumstances. It's worth a try calling before you buy it. Good luck!
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Linzer,
Good point. Can't hurt to call!
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Hi Radical! Nice to be growing hair, huh? I seem to be growing it too although still on weekly Taxol. The ingrown hairs that I am getting as it comes back are the worst! I have something called the silk n sensepil which is a home laser...it works well for me but I don't know if it does as good a job as the professional salons. I had it way before the cancer and have eliminated most of my leg hair. I just have to buy the replacement cartridges which aren't cheap but for me, it's still cheaper than a salon...I just haven't used it as often as I could have to get rid of everything...
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Canuck....that's a thought. I have a Tria Laser. I think I successfully thinned some of my hair, but I never really felt like I made that much progress...maybe I just didn't use it often enough?
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Hello June ladies...it's quiet around here! Hope all is well with everyone, especially you Laura & hope by now you have your medical care all worked out.
I am 30/33 through radiation, and other than fatigue, hot flashes and slight skin issues its been okay. My hair is filling in and growing, all of it lol. Friday I will button up one last item from my scans last spring & have a fine needle biopsy on my thyroid. They found some nodules but the ENT said come back after my breast cancer treatment to figure it out. He wasn't too worried, so I am trying to follow his lead. If it's cancer...shit, it would be a crusher, but also a bit funny. I mean, how much more can girl take?!?! After I'm given the all clear I'll lose the port, yeehaw.
Hope for healing & good thoughts to all of you!
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hi Bow
I'm still on chemo. I've had 4 cycles of AC and am now on weekly taxol. I've had 7 of 12! 5 more weeks to go!
Then I get a 3 week break followed by 6 weeks of rads. Can't wait to be done but also a little scared.
My hair is growing on taxol which is nice!
Hope everyone else is ok
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It's too quiet! Radiation everyday! My doctor is kooky! Good I think, but very strange, I don't see her often. It is wonderful now that my chemo is over your brain slowly gets clearer a little bit every day. Radiation seems to be making me tired by the end of the day kind of loopy by bed time.
I hope everyone is doing well, I just read a post by someone who has just started chemo and so sick and scared. It's hard to believe we were all there in the same place not too long ago!
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I hear you Agent99 - I try to go in to my center with my wigged head held high, smiling, saying hello to folks I've gotten to know over the last 6 months. It's mostly a bullshit act because I'm tired of this (although I adore the people), but I see the terrified people with their new patient packets and I feel the need to show some sort of positivity. It's such an awful place to be, scared and nervous. Ugh. There is light and hope!
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I went to an Eric Curch concert this weekend. I paid for the VIP experience which included a little party with food and drink and a 2 song acoustic performance by Eric Church. It was awesome.
The unexpected part was becoming the cancer poster child. I met 3 sets of parents who came up to me and asked me if I was in treatment. Each time, when I told them I just finished, I got a hug. All three sets of parents from three different states had recently or were currently watching a daughter go through treatment. I got to see pictures etc.
I did what you all would do...I smiled and put on a good show...but what I really want to know is why kids have to go through this shit!
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Hey all, nice to to hear from you guys..I'm still on chemo. 5 more to go (same as Islandmama)....feels like we are almost the only 2 left...I miss everyone's posts. It is nice though to know most of us are coming close to the end of treatment. Maybe we should start a new thread...survivors 2014!
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I finished my big doses the beginning of Oct. and am now on Herceptin every 3 weeks until next June. I went in yesterday for coloring/tattooing for radiation (they wouldn't let me play with the pens). Over the weekend, though, I attended a Halloween birthday party. I gave my bald head a clean shave, got in all white, and went as Mrs Clean. I painted my missing eyebrows white with craft paint and that, coupled with my blue eyes and one earring, I certainly looked the part! The party was a success and while I was there, two older unknown gentlemen came up to me (at separate times) and said their wife was going through what I was and how proud they were that 1.) I came to the party and 2.) I showed off my head. I thought about telling them I didn't know what they were talking about - that my bald head was stress-induced alopecia brought on by having a teenage daughter at home. They were very sweet in their thoughts and sentiments, though.
After the party, I went, in costume, to the grocery store. Kids in the isles openly stared (my eyebrows were very bright), the kids parents tried to look at me but quickly averted their eyes not wanting to stare. As I waited in the check out line, the cashier - a younger girl - kept smiling at me while she processed the customer before me. When it was my turn, she smiled a big smile and exclaimed "I just love your eyebrows!" I replied "It's not often you see Mrs Clean shopping for her groceries!" and she gave me a puzzled look. I said "this is a costume...I just came from a party." And she burst out laughing at herself. She didn't realize I was in costume!! Now....who wears white after Labor Day!!! I mean ALL WHITE!
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hiking,
That's too much! That girl checking you out probably figured you were one more strange looking person to add to the list of people she has seen on her line....then you tell her it's a costume!
Sounds like a fun time all around!
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Hi all, here's a hair update at 9 1/2 weeks...wasn't that a movie LOL. Finished radiation on Thursday, had my thyroid biopsy on Friday and am ready to get this cancer crap behind me....sounds like everyone else is wrapping up too! Yay for us.
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I love the way survivor 2014 sounds! We will start one when everyone is finished with this old chemo business! I do miss all the conversation, I think it's because we are transitioning into a new strength in dealing with Treatments and away from the shell shocked fear we had in the beginning when we were diagnosed. I know I was terrified and even though I still am at times, I also feel like Wonder Woman, I think I can get through anything now.
Bow- my hair is growing too, I am jealous yours is dark! Mine is going to be calico , dark around my ears, white on top and a light browns mattered around.
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bow! Look at all that hair! I am 4 weeks out from my last chemo and I have a sparse coating of dark but whisky 1 half inch hairs. It's just enough to be able to really feel when I rub my head and also just enough to look sickly and ensure no one mistakes me for the crazy chick who shaved her head for the he'll of it!
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I am envious that everyone is done chemo!
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We will be there soon Tammy! 4 more...
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OK ladies....I am really starting to lose my vision...I see blurred spots at everything I look at but it's mostly noticeable on computer screens. Anyone else experience this on taxol? I'm starting to freak out that I'm going blind and hoping it's temporary!!!
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Bow, I had hair like that up until last week. I had a break from August 27 when I ended taxol, had lumpectomy, until October 8th when I started AC. after my second AC...now I'm back to square one... it's falling out again
anyone else still on AC? Only me? I'll be done November 19th (2 more!!!!) and then rads for me in December. I'm managing to work through AC but seriously hate how awful I feel. I also never thought I'd miss the big D. Constipation is no laughing matter. Miralax is my new friend.
Hope you are all well. One day at a time
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Canuk, my vision was blurry on taxol some weeks and not others. Changes have happened with AC too, but all sporadic. I'm sure it is temporary, but worth mentioning to your eye doc or your MO just to be sure.
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