Starting chemo August 2014
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nurse shark, I absolutely love that picture of baby Levi. His expression this like whatever! It made my morning!
Well, another first for Bippy, I was able to actually get some sleep in the recliner. I slept solid for about four hours which was great. Woke up with less pain so that's good. Took my morning breakfast of hydrocodone anyway.
Lady be I know what you're talking about with the bittersweet. I was kind of in a weird way afraid to let go of the awful poison! But you'll find soon that feeling will go away.....it may be easier for me than most because I am still treating for a long time with the antibodies. Once you start feeling better though, you'll be so happy. I think a lot of us are going to the same feeling of being afraid to let go of it.
Eileen Amy Cassie shirley, everybody thanks again for your support. I learned so much here, and the best tip I got was about the pain meds. I wasn't anticipating being in this much pain and at first was going to reject the pain meds from the nurse! So my advice to everyone else is going to be take the pain meds. Also I am not pushing myself to do absolutely anything. I do not want any setbacks.
It is an absolute wonder to be home. My kitty cats really missed me and are laying on me right now, the old one that usually could care less about me. It's kindasweet and I missed them too.
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LadyB - Interesting question! I think Justamy nailed it. We are so focused on just getting thru chemo day by day, it's hard to see beyond. Being finished 3 weeks now I can honestly say, so glad to not have to do chemo anymore. I do worry of course about cancer ever returning, but hey nothing is guaranteed in life. Have to focus on my new journey now with rads and then hormones for next five years. I will go for annual mamo/ultrasound and probably worry each time, since I still have my breasts.
I know I'm not being that comforting. I hope everyone finds their own path on dealing with post cancer. We are survivors and that means appreciate and enjoy the time we have been given even more. That is why this group is so important, because we can share and help each other thru all these phases of our journey.
Cancer stinks! We are kicking cancers butt! We are survivors!!!!!!
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Windgirl, praying for your surgery and recovery. Nurseshark, Levi is adorable. All still having chemo and looking toward surgery, hope you are able to enjoy Christmas. As for me I have 5 taxol left then will find out if I need more surgery first or just radiation. We are still waiting for the birth of my great granddaughter. Hoping it is before Christmas so she doesn't need to be induced. My little 18 yr old granddaughter is overdue and just wants her baby to be born. I gave developed a minor infection in one of my cuticles that doesn't seem to be going away. Hoping I don't lose a nail. Love, Jean
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nurseshark, baby Levi is sooooo cute. A month already? Time flies fast!!!
Gatomal hang in there, waiting for your babies to come ...:-)
Bippy, hang in there. thank you for the pain advice. Before chemo I was a pain though girl. During chemo I treat myself better. Pop in the pills before I suffer. Lol. I imagine the c section recoveries I had, probably this bmx close to it. Still giving me goose bumps...
Ladyb hope you get some rest ...I have a good supply of diapers, may be handy after the surgery.:-)
Amy, enjoy the Christmas, let them do the things for you...:-)
Everything is getting better now. The fatigue still stays. I still have eyelashes, eyebrow thinning out, barely have some to guide my eyeliner. Dry eyes still hang around, GI issues almost gone. I could enjoy my food so life is good.:-)
Stay strong ladies. Hugs to you all,
Shirley
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windgirl, good luck with surgery today! We will be thinking about you!!!
StrongEnough, I hope the heartburn subsides. That's been an issue for me too, but prilosec has helped, thankfully. Glad you got your bone scan in for this year! I wanted to get my scans done this year too, even though I know with surgery and rads I'll be meeting my out of pocket next year too.
I'll be curious to see what route they have me go on for hormonal stuff. I'm still spotting, so I imagine it'll be tamox unless we discuss ovarian suppression. At some point I might have to have fibroids removed, so if i do then I might as well take out the remaining ovary that I still have. Lost one from another fibroid back when I was pregnant. I'm rather concerned about tamox's SEs with regards to the uterine lining and fibroids.Shirley, thanks for mentioning that camisoles might be covered by insurance. I need to look into that.
Justamy, have a great time out of town! Enjoy your family and let them do for you this year. I'm sure they don't mind.
Catie57, it's good to hear that rads aren't taking too long. That's what I figured, and it's good to know I'll be able to work them into my work schedule.
Bippy, glad you have DH's help and are keeping up with the pain meds. I don't have a recliner at home and am now starting to wonder about sleeping. I guess I'll figure something out!
NurseShark, Levi is adorable! I can't believe he's a month old already.
What a cutie pie! Good luck with your next tx.Gatomal, I imagine you are really feeling the double-whammy of chemo and pregnancy. Hang in there!
Angie, I'm sorry to hear the SEs are worse right now for you. Seems so unfair for so many to get hit so hard with them. Especially when the cancer itself was painless for so many of us. I am 100% glad to be done with chemo, but that could be because I still have surgery, rads, Herceptin and tamox or something to address the ER+/PR+ status of things. So chemo was the worst of it in some ways, and I have more still to come. I just want to feel healthy again and take back some control of my life. I am trusting that the chemo has targeted every last bad cell. I'm glad to hear your blood counts are good. You are strong! I'm not having both breasts removed, so I too know that every mamm is going to be anxiety-producing from here on out. I think it's going to be the new normal, one that we didn't ask for, but one that we can handle. {{hugs}}
Eileen, great to hear that your taste buds are starting to return to normal.
Jean, I hope your great granddaughter makes her appearance very soon. I'm sure your granddaughter is feeling very antsy and ready!
I'm 4 days PFC and feeling remarkably good. It's almost as if my body adapted to the chemo these past two rounds. What a sick thought that is! In any event, my thumbnails and first two nails on each hand are sore and bruised looking, I have about half my eyebrows and eyelashes, my stomach's a bit jumpy and I think some big C is setting in (uh oh), but I walked to the end of the block and back yesterday without extreme muscle aches and even did some stocking stuffer shopping. I ate pretty normally, too. And, I think I have some very fine peach fuzz trying to grow in! No big bone pain yet from Neulasta, and no migraines yet!!! I can handle the rest.
Love to you all, hoping for good days with minimal SEs.
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Just had to post again...I can't believe that I am actually done with chemo! Happy, happy, happy...
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Cassie! That big step in treatment is over! Congrats. Enjoy the feeling of SEs reducing and starting to feel like you again a bit. I have been enjoying my break more and more, and can't wait until it's over (chemo and then all of it)!
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Cassiecat, Congratulations on finishing chemo! I'm so glad you are feeling better already. It is SO nice to start getting more energy back after being so wiped out from chemo.
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Cassie, post it again gurl, you are done!!!!!
Okay now I'm going to whine. Good god is this lymph node thing painful. Meanwhile the good news for everyone else if you're getting a Bmx without lymph node involvement, no problem. I don't even know there's anything wrong with my left side except my breast is gone and apparently there's a drain in! However on the right side is a whole Other awful story.…have to keep taking pain meds and at times it barely touches it. Feels like a hot poker, more than one at times. How am I supposed to crack wise and tell funny stories with the shit going on? It's really cramping my style.
Luckily my stud husband is here to help me Or else I would just walk off a building somewhere. He's amazing. Stripping drains and changing dressings like a professional. He feeds me food, meds and makes me drink water too. Whenever I thank him for all the thousands of things he is doing for me, we have a standard answer he gives which is, well I don't have anything better to do! Which is completely untrue because in my opinion anything is better than this. We joke around alot but i really hope no one here has to do the lymph thing.....i'm not trying to scare anybody but just relating what is actually happening and it is not fun! The other thing is I can't even wipe my own butt. But no problem he's going to do it for me! We're getting to know each other quite well…so I've been struggling with a bit of self-pity today. Sorry to ramble but the pain meds have scrambled my brain too.
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thanks for the tips Bippy! Really looking forward to my possible surgery on the 13th. My c section will be eight days before, and I'll be having at least a lumpectomy with a SNB and ALND. If the PS available, I'll also get a lift that day, or they may put if off for a while. Sorry the nodes are so painful. Do you remember how many levels they dissected or how many they got? May be too early to know that?
Don't worry, you're still cracking wise! Did you get the radioactive stuff injected into you in pre-op? That's where they told me it was going to happen before surgery, but they said they wouldn't inject through the nipple, about 1 cm above it. Oh goody!
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ohh Bippy.....I'm so sorry to hear about your pain. Can't you call the surgeon office and ask for the stronger pain pill? I'm glad you have a wonderful hubby to help .... Hope the pain won't be bad on Christmas time. Thank you so much for posting and updating us..:-)
Cassiecat... Congratulations !!!! I had teary eyes on the way back home after my last chemo. It was overwhelming , felt like I have done the most difficult thing in my life. Ohh you can call the surgeon's office and ask them about the camisole issue..:-)
Gatomal, January will be a very busy month for you. Thinking of you and the babies.
Wind girl , how are you? Hope the surgery went well.
Stay strong ladies. Hugs to you all
Shirley
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- hey gatomal,
good news!!!! In just the past few hours the tide has turned for the better.I realized I had not been taking my pain meds as prescribed it was not taking enough! My husband fixed it for me and it's working great. I do not know how many nodes yet, but I will let you know as soon as I do. Luckily I did not have to have what you're talking about without anesthesia! They did not do an SNB, because we already knew it was in at least one. So I did have an auxiliary dissection of some sort. They may have done it while I was out I'm not sure yet, but I follow up with my surgeon next week and will report back. I have heard about having the other one without anesthesia through the nipple and I have to say that really scared me.I did read here some women had hardly any pain but some had awful pain with it. So it was my own fault for trying to be brave and not taking the max amount of pain pills that I was allowed to. Do not make that mistake! Now I feel no pain at all and I'm doing fine.
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bippy so happy to hear you're feeling better!!!
I'm doing well. I took my daughter and two friends downtown to go Christmas shopping and I'm hanging out at a Starbucks while they shop. They're happy, I'm happy. Feels good to be out and doing festive things! Big C may be lurking so I might just get miralax or something and not even mess with it.
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Bippy glad you are in less pain...I am a whimp w pain so my surgery really scares me. The other thing is that my husband really has a problem wiping my butt...he'll do anything else but that's where he really gets irritated. I had a surgery about 10 years ago and he had to do it and I still hear about it...he's going to have to put his big boy pants on and just deal with it because it had to be done....keep resting my friend and let that honeyman take good care of you. Hugs Amy
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ha! Good for Bippy w her pills, or "dolls" like the movie valley of the dolls. Cassie, hold off on that miralax until you get home, sometimes it's very effective. Just Amy, I've had mine on hemorrhoid care, it's not the best.the magic is gone. But we've been sharing a bathroom for a long time. I tell him it's his son's fault. The sons I'm carrying for him!
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Awww cassie, i can tell you are feelin good! It makes me happy too, and wait, it gets better and better.
Amy, i am stunned speechless by DH. He cannot take any kind of gore, and there was no plan for himto do any of this stuff! He keeps telling me he just wants me alive----he cannot even clean up kitty barf usually. So your DH may surprise you yet. Also, by tomorrrow I will be able to wipe myself, wooohoo! So, just know that it was my mistake in having that pain by not having my meds right, that made me suffer. If i had done it right, I would have been okay. Sorry if I scared anyone! Once DH took it over it all got better. We figured out how not to pull the drains, and that was crucial. I am fine now, and used to my staples even. It is temporary, just remember that. It is awful to see it the first few times, and a shock. A good cry really helped process the trauma. It aint purdy but the cancer carriers are gone!!!!!
I am eating now and able to get up, walk, and go to bathroom alone. Also, can type fine and lift light objects. No reaching far or holding heavy items. A full ceramic cup is too much! Using plastic for now. Get tired real easily.
Oh, prunes, miralax and loads of water for the big c is working. Had a small bm this am, a miracle. I have washed with wet wipes but will shower tomorrow....what a treat.
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Catching up...Bippy, glad surgery went well and that you are figuring out meds. This journey shows true love...what a husband you have!
Beautiful Leo!
Congrats on last chemo, Cassie!
I am glad to be done, but with a smaller tumor still in me I worry that the time without chemo before surgery will allow the tumor to grow again. Will always live with this. My surgery is Jan. 7, lumpectomy and then radiation, and herceptin. Genetic tests came back negative for BRCA. Very glad for that!
My momma had emergency double bypass surgery this AM. Flew down south to be here when she awakens. So thankful that I will have more time to talk with her! Did not expect this to be my next hospital visit! I am grateful❤️
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Bippy so glad you figured your pain med. out....and how nit to pull the drains.....that is a big one.
I have a question for you girls doing pre surgical chemo: where do I find the criteria for this? We have a friend that has been told she will need a mastectomy, and will probably need need chemo prior. Since I'm a recurrence, I don't know where to look for this information. She does not have all of her biopsy results back yet.
I know that lots have had excellent shrinkage of tumors from pre chemo but wanted to look it up.
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Hi Beatmon,
My docs said the large size and type (triple positive) dictated this course of treatment. The aggressive nature of the cancer warranted chemo right away too, they said. Mostly the size, as I recall. Tumor was over 7 cm, now 2.8 after THP for 6 treatments.
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Hi beatmom,
Not sure, but i know that perjeta was just recently approved for her+ early stage cancers, presurgery, along with chemo. Also, i am getting it post surgery with herceptin. My onco is on top of all this, not me....sorry, not sure of the guidelines. Ask specialk, she is an amazing woman, very knowledgeable. Search for her user name and you can find her here. She can direct you to sources like that. Perjeta is awesome, it shrunk my stuff like magic. I hope they offer it if she qualifies. Thanks jenifere, for your well wishes, all is goin great for me now! Pain management makes all the difference.
I just cannot believe how much better i feel now!
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beatmon, I think for me it was the combo of being HER2+ and the size of my tumors, plus one node involvement, that led to neoadjuvant chemo rather than surgery first. Two friends of mine who have had breast cancer have both had surgery only (which is seems unfathomable, but that just shows how different each case can be).
I did wait until this evening to try the miralax, and I hope it helps (without causing its own problems!). I was in so much pain on day 7 last time - right in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner - that I don't want to even risk it this time if I can help it. That was an awful night.
Took DD and her friends out for a quick bit to eat and then to ballet, and had a nice bath here at home after that. DH is picking up DD from class pretty soon, and it's nice to be home relaxing now. I bought some glittery nail polish - realized that I haven't been feeling very pretty or girly lately, and this helps.
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They chose to do chemo first for me because they wanted further testing (including genetic) in before they did surgery. The studies have shown in stage 2a the prognosis is the same whichever way you do it and they wanted to get something started.
I took the polish off my nails and it didn't look good...one nail is def going to fall off and several others are iffy...I covered them in black again so I don't have to look.. Yuk
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JeniferE - Hope your Mom is doing well. Glad you can be with her at this time.
My DH and I attended a dinner party last night. I actually put my contacts on, longer hair wig and heals. Even though I dress up for work, still haven't felt that pretty in a while. My friends made me feel special, thank goodness for good friends. I miss my hair! I am ready to get it back now.
Bipsy - Glad you got the meds straightened out.
Cassie - Really happy you are out and about, enjoying holidays with your DD.
Hope all of you are doing well and gearing up for the holiday. Just around the corner!
Had 2 rads treatments, only 31 left to go.
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Goodest morning my peeps!
Slept very well in chair, got up to pee an hour ago and pain is much improved. Took the meds anyhoo, like I am supposed to!
DH gave me a shower, it was a hilarious joint effort. The house is trashed with medical supplies, clothing, and flowers. got lots to do today in house! My drains are lookin good, learning tricks so as not to pull them. The one tip is to be sure there is padding under the drain tube right out of the skin! Otherwise it pulls and stings like all hell. They make a prenotched gauze pad for ivs, get some of those. The incision site is very angry, so it helps to keep it padded! You will know it too, but is is an easy fix.
Amy, that really sucks about your nails. My nails are all ridgie and weird but nothing like that.
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Good morning dear fellow warriors. Bippy, glad you are feeling better. I may be facing more surgery after chemo to take out more lymph nodes. I will be done with chemo mid January. We are seeing the surgeon on Tuesday to try to get some answers. I am on the BRAT diet since developing D yesterday. A nuisance but not horrible. Hope you are all having a good day. Love, Jean
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cassiecat : so happy you are all done chemo in time for holidays!! What a gift!!!Enjoy !!!
Ladyb: I told my doc about steroid side effects making hard to sleep and got ativan prescribed ... it was so late after treatment yesterday and I just wanted to get home to baby that I didn't pick it up.. sleep wasn't awful but considering getting it just in case.... do you feel loopy next day after taking ? I hate taking drugs.. funny being I nurse I push the stuff on my patients all the time but won't take it myself... this experience has given me a lot of perspective on how I will take care of patients when I finally go back to work:)
Day one post taxol #2 se not too bad lots of facial flushing hand and foot numbness tolerable. Muscle aches no bone/joint pain yet but I think that started day 2 last round.. uped Motrin to 800 mg from 400mg per mo maybe that's helping too. Also taking glutamine and b complex daily...
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Ativan helps me sleep sometimes and hasn't left me groggy yet. I'm hoping to switch to melatonin but need to make sure it's ok to take now. Anyone know?
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Nurseshark= I take .5mg of Ativan at night if I feel I am unable to sleep. Once in a blue moon I take 1 mg. I have nver felt loopy in the am. No after effects at all. I rarely take any medications. Are you taken claritin for bone pain? Works like a charm after Neulasta. I take for 5 days.
Cassiecat= I took melatonin years ago and hated the way it made me feel the next day.
Bippy=Glad you are doing so well. I knew you would. Nice hubby!!!!
Catie57. I am going out News Eve to a dinner party. I am hoping to have shoes that fit. My feet especially my left is still very swollen. Also,my taste buds are still pretty bad. Feeling special. I LOVE THAT.
Hope everyone has a nice weekend. We are coming up to the end of our LONG JOURNEY of chemo. This was by far the worst thing I have ever done in my life. However,not as bad as my marriage that lasted 16 years UGH!!! That side effect was pain only.0 -
I've had good experiences with melatonin in the past but want to make sure it's ok for someone with a triple positive BC diagnosis.
I started a couch to 5K program today! Don't get too excited - I was walking super slowly on the treadmill for the walking portions, and the jogging was just slightly faster walking.
But I need to do something that feels concrete and structured, so this is my plan. Surgery will interrupt things, of course, but I need to get up and get going at least three times a week for at least 30 minutes, for the rest of my life!!! Eileen, I hope your feet and taste buds cooperate sooner than later! You've had it too rough for too long.
Jean, I hope the D subsides for you today and that you have a good weekend.
Catie57, sounds like you had a nice evening out! That is awesome.
Amy, I'm bummed your nails are so bad off. Mine are sore, but so far they're not lifting.
Bippy, always good to hear from you.
I love your tips and the way you share.0 -
Dropped my car off this morning. DH and I walked back from town about 2 miles. I mile all up hill, my legs are fine during, just tired afterwards. Trying to get back in shape slowly.
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