Starting Chemo September 2015; join us!
Comments
-
my head feels like leg hair stubble a couple weeks after summer ends
0 -
Southern, love the hair!!
Mine is buzzed down to nubs. Basically my head is stubble.
I'm day 5 post 3rd chemo. Yesterday was really, really, really terrible. Learned some valuable constipation lessons.
Today slightly better, just totally exhausted andI find it so hard to eat. Everything tastes terrible. I've eaten carbs all day today. I can't think of anything I want to eat. The only things I can even taste are sweet, but I'm trying not to eat all sweet foods.
My cousin told me she lived on milkshakes when she was on chemo, now I get why.
0 -
Annie...Metoo!!
0 -
aw edwsmom I feel ya on the no taste. I lost mine at round 4. With lovely taxol I am thirsty and can now drink water again but I am just not hungry because nothing has any taste. I drool at food network like its porn. I made fresh marinara sauce with meat today and I couldn't even taste it. I would think I could lose the 3 pounds I put on since the last 2 chemos but no thanks to the bloat steroids. I feel like a big ole pudgy face with thinning brows. I need some cheese with my whine.
0 -
Annie
I wrote down your prescription for the big C. Hope it works for me.
Thanks
Rosieo
0 -
Artista: I take about four swishes from a standard size cup...and then gargle at the end (and spit out). The point is to get the baking soda all around your mouth...not sure the exact method matters that much.
Hugs!
Octogirl0 -
and yeah, the only tastes remaining is sweet. Last round pickles and vinegars tasted good. No more. I could definitely live on milkshakes! I eat other stuff...it just doesn't taste good.
I do like the texture of mashed potatoes and gravy, however.....
Southern: jealous of the hair. Was freaking out this am wondering if mine would come back ever. I have whips at the bottom below the ear, but nothing on top. Smooth and bald... :-(
Hugs to all!
Octogirl
0 -
Just threw up my campbells chicken and rice soup and 1/2 a toast I ate. Fierce one. Head strangley feels better after this. No more food tonight. Just water. ugh
0 -
They gave me a choice between 12 weekly Taxol vs stronger every other week for 4 sessions. Which are you guys doing? (This is after I finish AC, which should be 11/16/15
0 -
Southern Charm - you are looking more and more like me in the hair department. I was told today that I have interview for my regular consulting job and I freaked out. My hair is coming out if I put my hand in it so I bit the bullet and used my "cranial prosthesis" prescription for a wig. It is not what I am happy with but it will get me by.
I can't keep food down still and the smell of fried foods and some other foods send me to the porcelain throne. I stopped to get some mashed potatoes and gravy. Mistake- mouth sores don't like pepper and what goes down with pain- comes back up like razors. I may need another infusion and I am going to ask for sedation before the next AC. My office mate likes very smelly egg and cheese sandwiches in the AM. So I spend my morning break with my face in the bowl. It is his office- I am just a temp.
Artists- glad you joined the party. You get your AC every three weeks? I am doing dose dense and I am still recovering from last Tuesday. I needed to meet with my therapist but my anxiety dealing with chemo and BC just are not calming down. Hang in there. It will get better. Throwing up strangely makes me feel a little better - but the flip side is the big C. Watch out. Try to push fluids, if you can.
My hair is painful so it won't be long before my hair takes a quick ride out. My mouth and tongue feel like I ate a blow torch. Nothing seems good. Pooping feels good after not going after almost a week.
Hang in there. I still want to put my photo on but can't figure out how to make it happen. I won't get to frighten you!
0 -
Hi Grey, I am so very glad to see you here and hear that you're doing your best to survive chemo. My scalp got really really sore just before my hair started dropping and during that. What helped was getting the buzz to about 1/4 inch length (from just below chin length) --- so the hairs didn't "pull" on the sore follicules from gravity. Worth a try? A pox on your smelly office mate! Eeeeew
0 -
Try and explain this...
Jim can you make me some tea? Jim says yes. Thanks its in the top left cabinet on the top shelf to the right. Small green box that says wegmans irish breakfast. Jim says wegmans? I say yes. I'm thinking jeez that was easy.
He brings me something but it tastes like it was strained through a sock. I'm like oh well he tried right? I go in the kitchen and he's made wegmans tea but from a huge blue box that was buried on the bottom shelf of a bottom cabinet you practically have to crawl to get into. I put it there because it's crap but I couldn't throw out a whole box right?
Why are men so dumb? Maybe it's just mine?
0 -
grey try baking soda and water to rinse your mouth for the sores or your mp can prescribe magic mouthwash. For nausea have you tried flat ginger ale at room temp and either crackers or a sweet graham cracker? And I found iced tea with ginseng like arizona tea helped with the nausea. Eat small bites if you can. And if you need fluids get them. Feel better.
Ps when you are feeling that wave of nausea breathe thru your mouth and get out in the fresh air or open a window. Cold air is best I swear it worked for me.
0 -
HazelFrance - I finished round 4 (last) AC yesterday and start 12 weeks of Taxol Nov 17. The obvious drag is going in weekly for three months. But I was told and have read that it's easier on the body. And even with the gentler (?) approach, nurses advise the first two pushes will be v e r y s l o w as they watch for reaction to the drug and the solvent it's delivered in. And there are still pre-Taxol anti-nausea and benedryl pushes. So apparently longer and slower treatment is still no walk in the park. (Plus continued hair loss, etc, etc.)
Southern - I ate and ate and ate yesterday (thanks, infused steroids!) and gained three pounds overnight. (I have just as quickly lost 3 - 4 during chemo when eating normally.) On the hair front, I am down to very sparse stubble and jealous of your "do." If I had it, I would have dressed like the old guy in "UP" and yelled "You kids get off my lawn!" Halloween night.
Grey - Thanks for the update. What chemo does to our senses of smell and taste is so bizarre. Ate ice cream the other night and got zero sensation of sweetness. Good for you for asking and getting help you need to make it through the process. I love me some good drugs.
Artista and grammy4 - Congrats on making it through each of your rounds. One more down! I haven't read all the way back in the thread and am hoping here2win had a good infusion day. Hang in there through the inevitable SEs.
Annie - I made fun of / was irritated by my husband's utter lack of directional sense for years. Recently learned some people have a genetic lack of left/right / north/south. Brad is an intelligent man and it's the only explanation for me saying "turn left" only to have him go right. Now I point.
0 -
hazel I am dose dense. I had 1 taxol last week which is the equivalent of 3 infusions. So far it's ok. I can stop after the next infusion if the neuropathy gets bad. Or if I want to Mo said I can do DD every 3 weeks or switch to weekly. With the every 3 weeks I will still have to get neulesta but not weekly. I may swap to weekly if next weeks infusion bothers me too much. I just don't know if I can bring myself to go every week. My mo said that weekly is less pain but eventually taxol all adds up whether it's DD or weekly. So neuropathy all around. But no nausea. Still not hungry and no taste but I feel less tired and stronger on taxol this week.
0 -
Women are definitely the smarter sex Annie. Not to brag girls but I crapped my pants at work yesterday and I am talking full evacuation. I had eaten a heap of grapes and prunes before bed. I ffortunately have a gym bag full of spares and we have showers at work. Off to look for my dignity Im sure I used to have it.
0 -
Grey- Yay! So glad to see you are back on board. Don't let anyone beat you down, not cancer or people! Thanks for your suggestions. Since you are alone like me, I look to see more how you are handling it in addition to your great tips. So thank you my friend.
shopgal- Thanks for the nausea tips. I was told too at infusion that Yogi ginger tea is great for nausea. After my neulesta shot today if I feel well enough I'll go to the store and look for it.
Lisa- Your avatar makes me smile. You have the happy look on along with your nice posts. And yes, the 3 of us made it yesterday! Now to see what kind of side effects are in store for me. Nausea, big time check!
Happy hump day everyone. xo
0 -
HazelFrance - One more note on Taxol choices (prompted by shopgal2's valuable experience): I'm told there are no Neulasta shots needed with my longer, lower-dose 12-week plan. So if you had bad Neulasta SEs, as some do, this could be a motivating factor for longer schedule.
All - I have been beating myself up for worrying about Round 4 so much only to experience by far the least SEs of the four infusions (so far anyway). But today I read this!
"A new study in the journal Emotion of how people manage stress while waiting for high-stakes results is a validation of sorts for those who embrace their anxiety. During the waiting period, researchers found, those who tried coping techniques failed miserably at suppressing distress. And when the news arrived, the worriers were more elated than their relaxed peers, if it was good; if bad, the worriers were better prepared."
Full article here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/while-wai...
0 -
Cinque if I lived close I would have taken you out for Bellinis after work! On a similar note I bronchitis deep coughed at the grocery store and peed my pants. I left the cart where it stood and just walked out dragging my dignity behind me.
0 -
Cinque, on our March chemo forum we called the poop thing "never trust a fart." It's still embarrassing when it happens to you, but it has happened to a lot of us.
0 -
I'm guessing that the constipation weakens all those muscles and the cough pee thing is a result
0 -
grey - proud of you for hanging in there. Hope you get relief from se's. Stay the course. You are braver and stronger than you think.:)
0 -
Good morning to all; I hope today is better than yesterday!
Hi SC: my back seems to be all better. Hubby thinks maybe I just twisted something and it is unrelated to chemo. He could be right. Sigh, I hate when that happens :-) (my hubby also falls into the 'says all he needs is clear directions and then proceeds to ignore them' category of male of the species (Like so many of them I guess...)
This is my 'good' week, with Round 4 (Last Round, yay!) on Monday. I've been taking advantage of relative energy by working and by cooking, although honestly nothing tastes good. I made a meatloaf for dinner and hubby devoured it, but I thought it tasted like a whole bunch of nothing...
Sorry about the mashed potatoes, Grey, I probably planted that idea and for me, they work. :-( Hang in there!!!
Sending ((((((((hugs)))))) to all you strong women!
Octogirl
0 -
Hey everyone. It's been awhile since I've posted, but I've still been reading and keeping up with everyone. We have been through it haven't we? I've been okay, just in a bit of a funk. I live in one of the towns in South Carolina that was hard hit with floods. Our house was spared, but just a few blocks in both directions from us, so many families lost everything. The hardest part for me of course was my issue with the relentless big "D". LOL. Our yard was so saturated with water that our septic tank said nope, no flushing today. So I called my mom who lives about 20 minutes on the other side of town and she said all was good there. So off I went, but guess what? Every route I tried was too flooded for my car. So I had to wait for my husband to get home from work and take me in his truck. Luckily his company shut early for the weather. And yes, diarrhea is still my one SE. Day 3-14 I am stuck at home. My MO has me on both Imodium and lomotil. Fissures and hemorrhoids are my two enemies. I had Chemo #3 yesterday so I'm half way done with the hard stuff, but lucky me has #4 Thanksgiving week. January 5th will be the last infusion of the hard drugs. Not sure how long I have to get Herceptin.
Please know that you ladies with your strength and humor have helped me tremendously through my dark days. Thank you for sharing both the good and bad. This would be a very lonely road without you all. Hugs to all!
0 -
SouthernCharm--Thanks for asking about those of us who hadn't posted in a while. I've been kind of down in the dumps, but I'm better now. I am so sorry for the loss of your mother-n-law. You and your family are in my prayers.
0 -
OMG BACON!!!!
Omnomnomnomnom.....
My tastebuds turned off three days ago, no idea why, and I don't get the full flavor, but.....
BACON!!!!!!!!!
0 -
Damn now I want Bacon!
0 -
I bought bacon and have it in the freezer for when the craving hits!
0 -
My heart is broken...a friend of a friend whom I've been meaning to meet just passed away. We were diagnosed during the same time. Her BC came back stage IV. Only in her 30's. Her mom would trade places in an instant. This is such a terrible disease...now I'm here at work crying my eyes out. Hugs to all of you. We're all hanging tough!
0 -
Hazel, I'm also signed up for dose dense Taxol. Like Shopgal, my MO says that we can alter the schedule if neuropathy rears its ugly head. Her deciding factors for me were that I seem to be weathering AC well, am relatively young (47) and healthy, and she thought that finishing sooner would appeal to me. When I whined that the pre-Taxol steroids would keep me up all night, she told me to plan not to sleep the night before treatment. She would not allow Taxol without the steroids the night before. Rapture. The woman getting chemo next to me yesterday said that Taxol had been much better for her. She had a lot more energy.
Octogirl: I had back spasms after round 1. A couple of days, and they were gone. They seemed to hit me while I was on the toilet, which was especially delightful.
Grey: A lot of us rinse with baking soda and water every time we go in the bathroom. Big mouthful, swish for a bit, gargle and spit. If I stay on top of it, I get very little mouth irritation. I often forget to take a thermos to work, and then I get in trouble. There is so. Much. To. Remember.
Southern, I'm pretty sure that losing control of EVERYTHING is a SE of chemo.
Annie: my husband often, but not always, comes back with what I've asked for. Our 15 year old is reliable. I can send the 12 year old with ADD to fetch me a cup tea, and she'll come back with an elaborate tea service on a silver tray or a live chicken. Never a dull moment
0
