Starting Chemo June 2014
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hiking, love the visual!
Home, your wife looks great! Glad things are moving along well for her.
Sugar, I looking into the cooling caps the first time around and I thought it was too much work! I am too lazy for something like that. I have heard good and bad things about them. The nurses in the infusion room told me a few patients use them and he kept their hair and others gave up after the first round.
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Hi ladies,
Just checking in. Today is day 5 for me and I'm feeling ok. The tummy aches have gotten better and I'm just tired and a little dizzy. My hair is thinning...grrr...already when I run my hands through it I get 4 or 5 hairs. Heading to walmart for a passport photo before it's too late! I don't want a bald pic on my passport for the next 5-10yrs(it's due for renewal in sept)!!!! Hope you are all having a good day!
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Hey everyone,
I'm just wondering if anyone has had what they can truly call a good day. Tomorrow will be one week since my first infusion and I'm still feeling sick. Mostly lightheaded and weak. I thought I was pretty strong until I started this mess. Yesterday was stomach cramps and diarrhea. Today I just feel yucky. I was having bad acid reflux and I took Zantac for it and I think that is what caused the stomach upset. I usually take Tagamet for stomach issues but its listed as causing drug interactions. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get thur this. I have 3 more treatments of EC and then on to the Taxol.
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Dixie, I'm on a different chemo than you so I'm not sure what is expected. Have you called your MO? Maybe they have something that can help you. Some need extra IV fluids. Sorry you're still feeling so bad.
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Oh Canuck mom that's a good idea about the passport pictures! We will be taking a cruise sometime after chemo ends in November, and our passports expire in January I think.
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Dixie I'm eight days out from first chemo. Although I'm not 100% I'm defiantly a lot better. Still tired and just a little achy but defiantly tolerable. Don't think I'll be 100% until this is all over. Hugs and hope you feel better soon.
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Oh and my acid reflux has stopped
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cceandme, you should join us on the July thread as well. I start July 1.
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I'm 4 days out. Mostly still fatigue and aching, but today food tastes off, too. Like it has no flavor. I've had some gas and abdominal discomfort, but that might be because I'm eating so much fiber out of fear of constipation.
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I'm 13 days out and I feel good! not perfect but compared to the first week I feel good! Hang in there just a few more days and you guys should rally! My heartburn acid reflux felt like I was going to melt from the inside out but it passed, it helped me to stay propped up and not to lay completely flat.
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I hear you agent99...I am having unbearable heartburn tonight... Glad to know we will get a reprieve before next cycle. Hoping for a nightmare-free sleep tonight. Goodnight ladies!
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9 days out... I feel pretty darn good. I get tired easier than I used to. I also have more tummy issues. I always had diarrhea worries, but this is a little worse. I also have a head cold I'm trying to shake.
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Day 3 of cycle 2, pretty much feeling ok like the first cycle on this day. Keep a record of your experiences, they will be similar each cycle. Also tell your Dr any and all SE you are feeling, there is a pill for it! I promise. Nobody should be feeling worse than they need to on this stuff. For heartburn/acid reflux, my MO has me on 2 meds. Diarriah and constipation each come with their own med. I complained about mouth sores and explained how baking soda&salt water helped, but they said they had something better for it which they gave me, I'll see which works better next week when the sores come in. My point is, they want to know what is going on so they can give you something to help. The SE meds have changed since the 4 years I did this, and its more tolerable now.
Feeling energetic today , meeting some friends at the gym for a light work out. They won't let me go 100% these days, need to stick to 50%, oh well, something is better than nothing.
Girl's half birthday today so when I get home I have to clean and start baking…joys of motherhood
Yes, we celebrate the twins half birthday since their b-day is Christmas day and they don't get to have an actual party on it…it's more like birthday / Christmas dinner with b-day cake and double the presents. Have a wonderful day!
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Wanted to pop in and give all of you warm wishes. This is a tough battle. My husband is the one dealing with BC and he is having a tough time that's for sure. Just wanted to add that I believe he had no nausea the last 3 txs of AC (he had nausea with the first tx) because I gave him ginger root capsules starting 3 days before the chemo and continued for 5-6 days after. Maybe it would help some of you. Best thing is no SE's with ginger. Some people have just put ginger or grated ginger root on lots of foods but as nothing tasted good I didn't want to add to that by putting ginger on everything.
Islandmama2-myhusband started with a medport but it needed to be pulled so now we are dealing with the PICC and it is a pain. I found on Amazon specific plastic sleeves for putting on PICC dressings. They aren't cheap but even though they are intended to be used once we found they can be reused if you are careful. We just hang them up after his shower to dry so I think the box of 25 I bought will last a long time. It's a lot easier then wrapping the darn thing and dealing with tape. Hope this helps.
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5 days out and feeling tired, achy, and blue. The port still hurts. It was out in a week ago, how long should that last? My doc didn't use emla cream when they used the port, just some kind of cold spray. I've got a reaction to the adhesive in the bandages they used, making the whole area around the port tender.
I also bounced a rent check and I'm generally feeling like the world is falling apart. This has to get better, right?
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Nola - everyone is different, obviously, but I can share that my port only felt a bit odd a few days out with little to no pain. Just like something extra that would tug. Seatbelt aggravated it a bit, slept carefully etc. but no pain. Now that I am two weeks out, it is as if it isn't there at all except an occasionally twinge or something. I also have them use the cold spray and it works great but it may not be for everyone. Perhaps the adhesive reaction is what's bothering your skin making pain? Don't be afraid to ask / tell them you need help! Good luck!
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Nola,
It will get better!!!! You can blame the whole check thing on Chemo brain(if you can't use cancer for spin control I don't know what the world is coming to), heck Im capable of doing that crap even before this whole rotten cancer business! Ha! I was always very disorganized and now I live in fear of trying to get everything done before my second treatment.....no way....at some point Ill lay it all down, do what I have to do and pick it back up when I can. My port bugs the heck out of me too, mainly it feels creepy and I hate touching it Im afraid im going to have an alien experience! If you're too young for that movie, the alien bursts forth from the mans body! You hang tough and remember that I think you are a tough broad! (I like that expression it reminds me of Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke again I am dating myself)
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Nola, I had a lot of pain from my port installation, it was done 3 weeks after bmx, 3 weeks before chemo (which I haven't started yet). It hurt, stung, pinched, etc. Now, 2-1/2 weeks from installation, it's still sore but only pinches when I reach that arm across my chest. The incision is beginning to heal, the glue starting to peel off. I have a little pucker at the end of the incision. But I can truly say I'm never not aware of having a foreign object under my skin. So glad I opted not to have reconstruction.
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Just popping in to say hi. Yesterday was the first day (6 days post infusion) that I actually felt like me. Minus the wicked strong acid reflux. Called MO yesterday morning and got an Rx for Prilosec and it seems better today. I worked both yesterday and today almost a full day, and I think it helped quite a bit. I am about to take a nap though, so that's still a little outside of ordinary for me, but the fatigue is nowhere near what it was this weekend.
Have my blood count day tomorrow. Given how I'm feeling, I'm hoping it's fine. I *really* hope this is the way things are going to go for the next 7 treatments. I can deal with 2-3 really crappy days, as long as I have a week or so of normalcy in between infusions. Hope I just didn't jinx myself.
Hope everyone is having a great day!
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Nola, I am hearing you on the overwhelming part. I just keep thinking "do the next indicated thing" and plugging along (with occasional meltdowns!) It will get better for all of us!
Kimmy, as I recall you are doing AC chemo - the first is a tough one, but my subsequent 2 haven't been that "fluish" and I feel like I got a handle on the medications. The wiped out feeling on days 4-5 or so - I am trying to determine if it's a hangover from the AC or from the 24 hours of horrific bone/all over pain I am experiencing with Neulasta. Experimenting with acupuncture for my first Taxol/Neulasta in 3 weeks, and going to have to wing it for my last AC next week as it's a holiday & the acupuncturist is not around.
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Bow - have you tried the Claritin before and after the Neulasta? I didn't have much bone pain, but I had major trunk pain (neck to waist), but I didn't contribute that to the Neulasta, just all of my organs and body parts adjusting to the meds.
I did notice that I skipped the Claritin yesterday, (my shot was Friday) and I felt pretty achy by the end of the night. Made sure to take one this morning and I've been okay for the most part. Kind of afraid to NOT take it now.
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Kimmy, yes I did do the Claritin, but it didn't touch the pain this time. I think I'm going to try Zyrtec and Aleve (with doctors approval) next round.
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Day 6 - abdominal troubles and a surprise return of my period, halfway through my regular cycle. It's like all the waste cells in my body are rats, fleeing the sinking ship.
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So today is day 7 for me. Yesterday I was pretty good...I had to take anti nausea in the morning...nap in the afternoon but felt pretty good all day. Heartburn last night and trouble sleeping. I didn't need any meds today and feel really good!! Eating normally and able to keep up to my 3 small kids! Hair stopped shedding (hoping I can keep it another week or 2). Going to fast again next cycle...I really believe it helps with SE's. Slight gastro issues...overall feeling happy I can do this!!!
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Nola! RETURN of your period???? Here I was hoping this would be the last time I saw mine for quite a while!
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Nola, I was hoping mine would stay away too but today I wasn't that lucky.
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Day 17 and the hair wouldn't stop shedding so I finally buzzed it. Seeing many bald patches already
But SE not as bad as first time. Constipated yesterday, but that passed quickly. Heart burn and acid reflux, but nexium works on both. Woke up at 4 am and have been running ever since, it's finally catching up to me now.
Return of period...really?
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Hoping I never see my Aunt Flo again! Sorry Nola - that will be my luck too I bet. Had some sprints to the bathroom this afternoon...maybe I'm not 100% just yet, lol. Thank goodness for Immodium haha.
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Had my follow up blood work today. Red blood cells are good. But... white and platelets are super low.
I feel great, so it's shocking to hear those numbers are so low. They put me on an antibiotic, keflex, to ward off any possible infections. Anyone else suffering with low counts? Any advice on how to deal? It's frustrating b/c I feel fine, and am back to normal regarding work, etc.
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Hey Kimmy,
I don't know about my counts yet but I seem to have a cold I can't shake. No fever, but there is plenty of phlegm! I'm willing to bet my counts are low but I don't go back until my next treatment.
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