August 2015 Chemo Group
Comments
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Think before you pink. We've discussed all this, but nice to see NYT covering it.
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Musosgirl-I hope you manage to stay healthy and your little guy is feeling better. Those darn neutrophil counts....hope yours are staying high.
Ruksa-I love that....kinda describes me.....stubborn is my middle name. It is actually in my genes.
Jenpam-happy B'day! A gift that you get to be another year older! One that I used to complain about, but will now treasure every year that I get to be here.
Kate- I can relate to you wanting to have another Mx. I am glad I had both done at once. It was one stop shopping for me. Get rid of them, you tried to kill me once and I wasn't going to let you try to kill me twice.
My infusion center didn't have a bell either. It was weird just getting up out of the chair and walking out. Being done was a weird feeling. I like the idea of ringing a wine bottle instead. I may have to try that tonight. Not sure if the wine will still taste like turpentine but I am willing to give it a try. We are having a small dinner party with friends tonight to celebrate the end of my chemo. I think most of the poison should be out of my system by now.
Margaritas on a beach walking along the ocean....that is my kinda holiday.
Have a great day ladies!0 -
Speaking of Smokers... I actually work with them. I am a Smoking Cessation Counselor -- not face-to-face, over the phone, since we serve the whole state... Luckily I haven't been on the phone much this summer (been busy with translation works). But it's very strange... recently I had someone said "my Dr said my leukemia was not from my smoking" & he uses his "cancer card" for every excuse not to make changes in his life in the past three years. that was his answer to every suggestion -- "but I have cancer!" I guess that's stubborn in his own way...
<roll eyes>On a more related & a cheerful note -- what are you gals doing for Halloween? We will have dress-up contest at work today... I am going to be a ... NURSE! I have a short-sleeves blouse that looks like the scrub, to which I pinned bunch of saline syringes with acrylic colors inside (I had 6wks worth of them!). Surgical Cap, mask, a "RN" ID... that's it!
I might even use my wig (a Dr friend gave it to me, but there's too much "hair" compare to what I "had", so I never used it.)I plan to send a pic to the nurses at Chemo Suite & also the infusion center (where I have my weekly Picc line dressing change), along with thank you cards I made.
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Since we are being honest, I am so jealous of you who have finished. I have been really flattened this week by the first round of my second chemo cocktail, and 5 more to go over a very long time. I feel ten times worse on this (FEC) than I did on carbo/taxol. I don't know how I am going to do it. I will look on in envy and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel that probably isn't a train, while you lucky ladies enjoy your wine. I'm in for the beach when this is al over, spring should bring us all good things I hope.
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Thank you for checking in on the September thread. I so appreciated the information on Perjeta. It sounds like it is a very effective drug.
I loved reading this thread and how you ladies are doing. I can tell you are powering through the best you can facing the challenges that come up and down. It helped me to read about margaritas and life finishing up Chemo. I wish you all well wishes for your surgeries and future treatments.
I myself have mixed feelings about the whole Bell thing. I think it is going to be the one day that I wear a pink shirt and ring it for all its worth. I don't plan on doing the whole "race for the cure" and all of that. I really just want to get a pedicure and ride my bike with my kids and eat an icecream in summer heat. All the good stuff. Sometimes I just can't wait to have a moment in my life where nothing around me makes me think of BC.
You gals have an amazing thread thank you for letting me read.
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Notdoneyet, hang in there. This is horrible. You will finish. You can complain as much as you like here :-).
Superius, dressing up as a nurse for Halloween would be a hoot! Amazed at your energy. I will be hiding indoors for sure.
Hi exercise_guru, give my best to the Sept 15 cohort.
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Thanks for the birthday wishes, Ruska!
At my infusion center, there's no bell to ring, and I've never seen anyone celebrate the end of chemo. I still have 2 chemo treatments to go, and even after that, I have radiation for six weeks and Herceptin until October 2016, so it doesn't seem as if I'll be at an end IYKWIM.
I'm optimistic about feeling somewhat normal by May/June & I'm looking forward to summer adventures!
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Bluefrog - I'm so glad one of your doctors told you the good news ahead of schedule. The fact that the chemo shrunk them so much gives so many people on this site so much hope!
Musogirl - I had neuropathy and had to end 1 cycle early, too. I was reading about how so many people are wondering, "What next?" after their last chemo, and I didn't have that. I went from struggling with SE to DONE. I went out of the MO's office and into the radiation oncologist office down the hallway in the same day. I had no time to dwell the "What next?", so I guess that was a good thing for me. Since you were struggling with feeling angry and mean inside, I'm glad you bypassed that last 'what now' stage and could spend some fun time with your friend. By the time I got to the end of your post, I could see how your attitude /depression had changed and you were ready to live life again (and want to vacation!). Don't look back!
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KateB and Carolyn, thank you for setting me straight about my whining about whining. LOL. You're right that we are all on this road together and NONE of us need to feel bad about ANYTHING we are feeling in light of that.
I took my M-I-L shopping today to give hubby a break. She loves to complain, it's like her favorite pastime, and I was getting an earful. I said, "You need to start focusing on the positive things in your life" and asked her to name off all of her friends, which she was happy to do. Then I said something like "There, now don't you feel a little better now that you've spent some time thinking about the good things in your life?" She said "Just wait until you get to be my age" and I lost it. "I'm certainly hopeful that I will get to be your age, and I'll tell you what, having had cancer, you can bet I'm going to do my best to appreciate every minute of it." (Unlike my mom and dad, my M-I-L knows about the cancer and has been a real encourager for me, which is actually so out of character for her that I have appreciated it even more, especially because I can't tell my own parents.) She changed her tune almost immediately and told me a positive story! It was her birthday yesterday, and all the senior-bus drivers who take her places had gotten together and bought her a birthday card and a little lava cake. Which was sweet. Until that point she was telling me that she didn't have any friends, she was all alone, etc. LOL.
Hubby asked me not to go with the kid & his friends' families trick or treating, to avoid the crowd and the weather (it was pretty nasty, raining and windy, until just a bit ago). Probably a smart idea not to be out in a crowd with a reduced WBC and compromised immunity. There is a party, though, later, and I'm going to go to that, at least for as long as I feel up to it. I have to have a little fun on this long slog.
There is no bell at my clinic. I wouldn't ring it if there were one. The other people there are in much more challenging cases than I am, so I am already the lucky one in their minds because mine was caught so early and I'm already treating it aggressively. I don't want to rub it in, in any way. Plus I won't really be done, like others here I'll be doing a year of Herceptin, every three weeks, starting the week after my chemo ends. And that's comforting because I know I'll continue to see the friends I've made there, who are dear to me now.
I heard Gloria Steinem on the radio a few minutes ago talking about having had a lumpectomy 23 years ago. She's 81 now. So that's a hopeful thing to hear! My M-I-L is in her 90s and still extremely vital, she is very active, has a little memory loss but otherwise she does all the things she wants to do and can do, like sewing every day, growing flowers, etc. So I have a good role model, other than the complaining, ha ha, and I like the idea of living every single day to the fullest from now until I get to be whatever age I get to be. I feel blessed, in a weird way, to have launched into menopause and my 50s with a diagnosis and treatment that is making me take my time more seriously.
Speaking of which: after I'm done with chemo, I'm going to Disneyland. And then maybe Disneyworld! (Love the idea of a Florida beach vacation, complete with margaritas by the pool and a boat trip with Birdysmom!)
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P.S. Cheese toasty for my before-party snack. Yum! Thank you so much for that idea, ladies!
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I've been off the boards for a bit, mostly because I took a few days off to go to the Monterey area for my fifteen wedding anniversary (with hubby of course)...but wanted to pop in to thank you Mom2aBoy for mentioning the purple hats! I found one in a hat store in Carmel, soft and knitted and purple, and not at all expensive (which is surprising given that the store is in Carmel..) so I am a proud new owner of a lovely purple hat! And thank you for thinking of me and for inspiring me to look for one. :-)
Octogirl
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Octogirl, you're so welcome! Let's make Purple the anti-Pink Everything color! It's the color of owning this and not letting it be commercialized into some kind of feel-good commodity that someone can buy into. Happy Hallowe'en, time to go cut up veggies and then get into my Purple Fairy costume.
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absofrigginlutely!
Octogirl
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Man I am not doing well after round 4. I had the worst UTI of my life yesterday, been having stomach issues for the first time this round... and if someone could take this hot fire poker out of my arse, I would appreciate it (hemorrhoids) Its just all the annoying side effects, which is good I suppose but all the minor ones ganging up on me are making me miserable. I got antibiotics for the uti, the stomach has settled but the roids..... MAN.... they are internal too hurting, burning... 2 more rounds, I have not asked myself however am I going to do this since round 1 or 2... a day like this has me asking again. I am afraid all this crap won't go away and I will suffer forever. I know its not true but I am having a whine fest tonight. Going to try a bath to get some kind of relief from this.
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And ... I give you ... the Purple Fairy!
Yes, I was a fairy without wings. Couldn't find or make them in time. I still won the costume contest anyway! (Well, the "cute" division. Someone else won the "scary" division. Pretty sure I could have won that one too, if I'd just taken off my wig and makeup, LOL.)
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Oh, Gooseberry, I hope your bath helped. I keep those witch hazel pads around and use them alllllll the time. Good luck.
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This thread is such a hoot. Hello, purple fairy!!
Agree we can all moan all we like here. Because there's some things only WE (or others who've been through this) can understand.
Gooseberry, YOUCH, haemorrhoids and UTI sound like a real bad combo, but I have to say your description had me laughing (probably because I've been in a similar place myself - nosebleeds + cold sores + 'roids also a depressing combo). Hope you feel better soon.
My moan: 9 days after my final chemo, I've got an extravasation reaction. It's from a painful IV line they used on my right wrist. I felt at the time it was leaking a bit. Now the tissues are rotting - I have a purple bruise and the overlying skin is a bit rough. Hopefully it will settle down but apparently Taxol can cause nasty delayed reactions.
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Oh my! MsBrompton! Did you go in to have that looked at? Will it heal on its own? With the vesicants I have had the nurses have always been pretty careful because apparently they are shown training videos of what happens when it goes badly (they were talking with a port), and often that involves a plastic surgeon (so that tell me), I sure hope yours is just minor!
I feel like I am turning a corner today. I don't feel good but I feel less bad than I have all week so that's something. I have never been this inactive in all of my life and I am sure that is not helping. I try to walk around but really don't feel like it (and up the stairs gets my heart pounding so I have to sit down). Thinking of checking the used sporting goods store for an exercise bike I could slowly pedal while watching TV just to get my muscles moving, especially since I am going to have to be doing this basically all winter.
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Thanks, notdoneyet, I'm taking photographs of it every day and will send them to my onco tomorrow. I think it's at the mild end of the spectrum and was caused by bashing my hand when making the bed. But you're right, these 'vesicants' (new word for me) are potentially very nasty.
I know what you mean when you say you don't feel good but you feel "less bad". When I was in chemo there were some days when I could not do ANY exercise but most days I could do some. I kept a spreadsheet so even if I only walked half a mile, it went down as something. Hope you continue to feel a bit better!
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So, here it is, Halloween at work. those are the saline syringes for picc line, in which I put craft paints (no pink!). those are candies in the pharmacy bag.
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Ugh, how quickly I forget. Or suppress. Hitting the hard days. And my youngest has pneumonia. DH spent 3 hours with him at UrgentCare this evening. He is on anti-biotics now, but the doc says he is contagious for the next two days--my worst two days. DH is already tired, poor guy.
A few years ago I was watching Parenthood on Netflix and I quit when the cancer storyline hit. It just didn't set well... I just spent the last few weeks finishing all the episodes available. Tonight I saw the episodes where she is waiting on test results 6- months out, and her friend dies, and she is just struggling with fear and survivors guilt. Those scenes are more realistic than her actual cancer-patient scenes--and really got to me.
Thinking about the years ahead of me with this lingering in the background, casting shadows, is so overwhelming. Maybe more than facing the next year in treatment. Then again, I have to get through the next few days...0 -
Musogirl, hang in there. I have just rounded a corner this week on the really hard days and am starting to feel slightly less bad than I did all week, but I still feel like crap so I really feel for you. Sorry about sick kiddo too, ugh, it's never a good time but especially now for all of you. You will come out of this in a few days and feel better (right, I know, just to do it again, I am right there with you on that too).
I confess that I have watched some hard TV too, almost out of necessity to get it over with, yet I wish I hadn't still. I watched the entire series "The Big C" which is NOT NOT NOT a comedy, btw. Nurse Jackie, the whole series. I also watched Time of Death on Showtime and that was a mistake. I have always loved real life medical stuff, until lately. I am trying to stick to lighter topics, Robot Chicken seems better for me. Watching those shows is damaging right now, almost self destructive.
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I had a fever went to the ER..... they gave me antibiotics. It has been 5 days and I still have a fever. Has anyone else had this?
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Mama bear how high is your fever? If it's 100.5 or over you should go back to er. Call your chemo nurse for advice, fevers are no joke, especially in your nadir period
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Sorry to hear you are not feeling well, Musosgirl & mama-bear. {{hugs}}
Mamm-bear, did you talk to the doctor? what is the instruction on your discharge paper? I had a fever 5 days after last chemo (103 when they checked me in). Did blood test, culture even & nothing. The discharge paper very specifically said ok to take Tylenol, what happen if the fever doesn't go away (104 or up), when to go back in etc... Maybe you should give them a call...
I am still waiting for the Echo that the MO ordered -- next available spot is mid-Dec. (6 weeks away! yikes!) Meanwhile, sometimes I have this fluttering in the chest, wondering if i should ask the nurses if that's something to concern about...
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I called today, but trying to get a call back is like pulling teeth. It is a strange fever..... it comes and goes. Last night I was up to 100.4. I have been taking Tylenol as the paper work says but I am done with my a antibiotic now and I am kind of freaked out that I still have a fever.
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Hang in there Mama bear, hopefully the doc calls back soon.
Everyone- Confusious say: looking at cute pics good for morale. These tiny birds are baby tits. Seriously, am not the trying to be crude. This is science. Teeny. Totally adorable. Baby. Tits.
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mama-bear, I would suggest keep calling the hotline or go to ER. My guide says you have to see a doc or nurse if you still have a fever. It also has a really useful 'traffic light' system and one of the 'red' symptoms is feeling really awful. so I guess if you feel OK and have a fever that's not so bad but if you feel horrible with your fever you should act pronto.
nice baby tits!
hugs to everyone who is feeling bad (I am day 10 post chemo and just starting to taste things again...)
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Birdysmom, that picture of the baby tits made my day.
I'm just checking in. . . I have a super-busy spell coming up at work that I'm trying to prepare for (along with #5, which I'm hoping doesn't kick my butt too much), but I'm still reading!
Love and light to all.
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Hey all! I am about a week out from chemo and finally starting to feel human! I had the big FEC Monday and the 5FU boost on Thursday and I basically was floored with side effects, it was a really bad week. Today my GI tract is still irritated but otherwise I am feeling ALIVE!
Has anyone had pains in the gallbladder/liver area? I am pretty sensitive to chemo and my liver enzymes have been elevated but stable (and my MO is happy with them, because they stay stable) but the last week I have had the occasional twinge of pain in that area (upper right abdomen, below ribs). I have had a lot of GI issues this week so it could even be just that but still I worry that my liver is being punished so much.
Hoping you all have a fabulous Tuesday! I do not have any pictures as amazing as the baby tits, those are as cute as they come.
Here's a bit of inspiration for the day:
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