Starting Chemo September 2015; join us!
Comments
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I'm a month post chemo and my eyebrows are still going. I
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here2win: I do have dense breasts and did have ultrasounds with my mammograms. The irony is this last time the mammogram picked up the tumor but the ultrasound did not.
Shelly52: I'm 6 weeks post chemo and my eyebrows and eyelashes have thinned a lot but they're still hanging in there
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i have dense breasts but found cancer on my first mammogram
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I have dense breasts and found my cancer via a 3D mammogram. The tech mentioned the new machine and then said, "but you are scheduled for a regular mammogram." I asked more questions and then insisted on the 3D (even if my insurance wouldn't cover it). It did. My obgyn said if I had not, it would not have been seen etc., etc, etc. Angel was watching over me that day. Had an immediate ultrasound and biopsy. One tumor showed up. Later MRI showed multi focal. I ended up with 5 separate, small tumors all bunched together. Sheesh! My treatment is being based on the worst one. -largest and grade 3. Others were smaller and lower grade.
I did not know I had higher risk due to dense tissue.
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I have dense breasts as well but no family history of it so no mammos required until 40. But here I am.
My PS expanded me as much as possible due to the issue that radiation can shrink the area and create scar tissue. I will have my final implants 6-9 months after rads. Can't wait, they have softened a bit but are still a pain.
Currently I'm battling the body itches, prob due to neuropathy, and lymphatic cording on the non cancer side. My left side which had cording has since gotten a hell of alot better and you can barely feel it anymore. I asked an oncologist, who was standing in for mine, about the itches and she said it was dry skin giving me the itches.... pppfffttt. ok will try lotion but i don't think that is it doc. I have my choice of drugs to help it. Ativan or Atarax. I'll mention the itches to the nurse and see what they say this Friday at the infusion.
So I feel annoyed today
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Dense breasts here, too. I've had 4-5 mammograms, and only had ultrasounds if there was something suspicious (which was almost every time). My tumor was not previously suspicious, and the doctors all think it was there for a long time. ILC is hard to see or feel.
I think that part of the reason that my BS thought it would be best for me to delay TEs (aside from the faster recovery time) is that I've always been small and plan to stay that way for reconstruction. In theory, a lot less stretching and expanding. I also wasn't a good candidate for skin sparing because the tumor was basically my whole breast (it's a low bar, as I'm an 32 A/B). There was no skin or chest wall involvement, but the BS took everything and the margins, while clean, weren't huge. I haven't talked to a PS yet, but they're starting from scratch after rads.
El Tigre, I still have some cording on the surgery side, but it doesn't impact my range of motion. As soon as I finished PT, lymphadema hit. The compression bandgaging limited my ability to stretch that arm. Now that I have a compression sleeve/glove, I need to get serious about that again. It feels a bit tight.Only about six weeks until rads, and I need to get stretched out!
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Sorry Scotland, every papercut on my bad side i get freaked out. I often wonder what will happen after my PT is over. She showed me alot of moves and massage to help me after my time with her is done.
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Very dense and size D/DD breasts. I hated them. Sagged and were heavy. Only got u/s if something was suspicious which was 1 time years ago and then back in May when I went in with severe pain in my left one. The ONLY good thing about this shit is I'll have a C cup which goes perfect with me (and I used to have it when I was thinner) and no more sag. These TEs are awesome. Makes me look very perky. Can't wait to get the permanent implants in at the end of the road, which is next summer if all goes as planned.
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Had my sims and CT today. It was so lovely having my chest exposed for eons in front of a young man...until I realized that I don't have boobs and TE's don't count..so nevermind. And after tomorrows last chemo infusion, I'm good to go and get to start rads in January
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Wow Yahoo so glad to hear how everyone is doing. Now I need to go back and read three pages.
am I the only one who records my doctors visits and phones calls. I use boldbeast recorder for my phone. Its the only way I can go back and know what they said and make sure I got may questions answered .
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In the beginning when I was green I used to go in with a notebook and take notes. Now between being several months in and this board, I don't take it anymore. I just write down the questions I have in my planner that's with me.
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Also let me note on that post on Wen causing hair loss. First off, it doesn't. There is nothing unusual in Wen to do such a thing. The photo Southern posted is of someone who has hair loss already. I have studied different kinds of hair loss over the past 10 years since I have androgenetic alopecia, which is female pattern diffuse thinning. So many people don't get it checked and just cry their shampoo is doing it. I thought so too and switched a zillion times. I actually do better with Wen as there's more good stuff in there and no nasty sulfates and harsh chemicals- which even these don't cause such hair loss. So I caution you to do some research on hair loss causes before throwing out a product. Wen is pricey but it saves my hair. Not trying to sell Wen but such articles piss me off on anything really because unless you put some acid or something really harsh on your hair, you will not have a loss that that pic shows. They tried this a few year back and it was shown it's a no. Now it's back again. Just buy salon grade products from authorized sites, and for Wen that is Chazdean.com or qvc. The other sites could be knock offs.
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tkemp67, I just had Dose #8 of weekly Taxol on Monday. I'm usually fairly tired in the afternoon after each dose but feel better the following day and usually do too much, which I did yesterday! I slept OK last night, thanks to a dose of Ativan, but have nowhere near the energy I had yesterday. I try not to take Ativan every night so won't have any tonight and expect to be tired tomorrow. Thursdays are usually the worst for me with this drug anyway. But the general fatigue and my runny eyes remain the worst SEs and I'll take them over how bad I felt after each dose of AC any day! Food tastes fine although I'm really not very interested in it and only eat because I'm supposed to.
Right now I'm mostly annoyed because of the compression bandage I'm wearing. It's limiting my activity more than the chemo.
So sorry about all of you who are dealing with insensitive husbands. So many men are just clueless in situations like this. I've been fortunate that my long-term "boyfriend" of 10-plus years is being as helpful as possible and we don't even live together! He drives me to all my appointments and helps me remember what the docs & nurses tell me. He learned how to wrap this damn bandage. Meanwhile, he's dealing with his own family crisis and having to spend extra time with his grandkids. Not bad for a cranky old fart.
Getting a bit chilly again after an extra warm week. I miss my hair!
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Luzeelu, how long are you stuck with the compression bandage? I absolutely hated it. And your man sounds like a keeper! Also tired of the runny eyes.
El Tigre, paper cuts, torn cuticles, it's all scary. Neuropathy in my fingers has made me downright paranoid that I'm going to cut myself and not notice.
Arista, I'm glad that WEN works for you. That doesn't mean that it works for everyone, or that it didn't cause hair loss in some people. It does sound like research is needed to prove/disprove the claim. After these months of chemo, we know that chemicals affect each of us differently. Any product that claims to stimulate hair growth must be some pretty stout stuff, natural or not. I think it unlikely that no one has ever been adversely affected by it, even if it's a small minority of users.
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Scotland, I have to wear the bandage at the very least until December 29, which is my next appointment with the PT. She said 2 or 3 weeks at least when I saw her last Thursday. If the swelling has gone down enough by the 29th, she will measure me for a sleeve then. I'm really hoping that's the case! I had the bandage off for a bit yesterday so I could take a shower and my arm seemed to be a bit more normal, so am really hoping it will be ready for her to measure me. It wasn't severely swollen to begin with, but enough so that my MO promptly scheduled me for the PT appointment.
And yes, I absolutely hate it. Sure does feel good for the hour or two I'm not wearing it. And it really feels good to be able to thoroughly wash my hand!
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Question - What do you ladies eat in the week after chemo?
I continue to struggle with this. Everything tastes so horrible and I'm managing nausea at the same time. It's so frustrating. The combination makes me feel constantly sick.
Tonight I made a box of macaroni and cheese and managed to get some of that down.
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Southern. I'm not saying why did you post it. I'm just saying you can't believe everything you read. That's all. It's ones choice what to do with it. I'm not just talking Wen either, anything. Stick to what works best for you.
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edwsmom, I have the same problem. I actually started crying Monday night (one week after chemo) because everything tasted so bad. Today it's slightly better. I have found that salty foods taste particularly bad. I'm also gaining weight because I keep munching on things to try to cover the constant metallic taste. I wish I knew the answer.
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I have zero interest in food. Today, I had some home made ancient grain and carrot pancakes, coffee, a veggie pasta-like dish, tortilla chips sugar free salsa, and I'm staring at pineapple. Just don't care, even though I've been working in the yard all day.
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I'm getting that way with food, too. It took till this 4th round of AC for me to get there, but while I still have taste, nothing is tasty. The only thing that stands out with the buds are sweets which obviously can't do too much.
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I can't eat much either, I'm 1 week out from chemo. I've been losing weight because I'll have a glass of oj and be done just to feel full. I had some orgain drink last night and that wasn't too bad. Being gluten free I find that all starches except potatoes make me want to throw up. For me this will last about another week. Sometimes I daydream about how food used to taste!
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edwsmom - I was eating mostly bagels because it was all I could tolerate. Between cycles I started drinking more Juven for wound healing and a protein drink. I'm not saying they were good, but I could choke them down 3x a day. I noticed this round I am able to stick with forcing myself to drink at least 2 a day of each, and, more importantly, I don't feel as sick, which I attribute to the protein. It took a while but I found this protein drink that only requires 6ox of water & I can stir it, so it is not thick and heavy and hard to get down like other protein drinks. It's called Raw Protein - disclaimer - I'm not saying it's yummy, just easier to force a whole glass down
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In the beginning, I was eating mostly carbs because it was all I could tolerate. I had some really bad experiences with acidic foods - tomato sauce in particular - that have made those off limits. But now, I'm finding the carb foods are making me feel sick. They taste mealy to me now and with a pungent yeasty flavor that makes me feel sick - I'm talking about bagels, english muffins, pretzels, pasta, etc.
I'm struggling to eat any meat or fruits/veggies. Even my saliva tastes awful. It's like the combo of terrible tasting saliva, foods and a constantly sour stomach make it nearly impossible to eat anything.
This is the first chemo round that I've lost real weight - I'm down 6 lbs in a week. In past cycles I would lose a couple lbs and then gain them back at the end of the cycle when my taste buds bounced back.
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Another question:
Anyone have anything going on with their fingernails and toenails?
My fingernails have a red stripe running across them now (horizontally) and are very tender. I see the same thing starting on my toenails. UGH!
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Edwsmom: coconut oil is supposed to help with fingernails...mine look a little dark and feel brittle..
Octogirl
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My fingernails have been bothering me for many weeks. They're very sore and tender and I have the sensation that I could tear them off my nail bed if I'm not careful. It's just my thumbs, index fingers and middle fingers on both hands. The other two fingers are fine. There's some discoloration but it's faint. The MO said it's residual from the AC but it's been more than 2 months since my 4th dose of that so seems like it should be better by now. All these little issues are so tiresome. I'm feeling particularly worn out today.
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Also, I have been using coconut oil on my nails at night. Can't really say that it's helping, however. My toenails have been OK at least. So far, anyway.
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Thanks to everyone who weighed in on node removal and talking to PS! (Artista, Scotland, Cajun, Cinque, El_Tigre and anyone who I've forgotten! ) My tumor was estimated at 7cm with at least one node involved so no SNB for me
I have been reading journal articles about having neoadjuvant chemo that shrinks/kills off the cancer cells and the possibility of not having to remove the axillary lymph nodes when the tumor started out so large and there was proven node involvement but there isn't enough data. My BS is being conservative and I agree with it I just don't like it.As for the PS, we went to the one recommended by my BS and even though we had a terrible wait I am happy with him. He's taking the TE approach, filling them as much as they can in the OR and then filling them as quickly as they can to start radiation, overfilling the affected side if I choose to do both. He then will have a chance to reduce scar tissue when he does the exchange 6 months later. Again the more conservative approach and I'm good with that. I've crossed the first guy off the list, I heard some information about him from a friend of DH's whose wife had him as a surgeon and I'm not comfortable with him. She would not use him again. You guys have great instincts!! I have one more PS to talk to in 10 days or so. He comes highly recommended from another friend of DH's whose wife had her surgery earlier this year.
I can't believe my DD is done with school today and DS tomorrow! I'm just starting to feel up to doing anything and they will be here! How can I get ready for Christmas???
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For nails, I've had Sally hansen nail strengthener on my fingers and toes since I started chemo. I change it out every 2 - 3 weeks and it seems to have helped. My nails seem the same or even a bit stronger. It's the tips of my fingers that are driving me crazy. My skin seems to shred at the slightest movement and they are tingly so my strength is gone.
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mom2boo - yes the TE expanding is the way i went. My PS expanded me before and during chemo as quickly as possible. There was some discomfort but the valuim ahead of time helped alot.
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