Starting Chemo September 2015; join us!
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Annie - when I was in Iraq, I had waaaaaay too much greasy pizza. When I sat on the porta-potty, I was simultaneously peeing, crapping/farting... and also vomiting into the urinal. My boyfriend at the time was the unfortunate soul to step into the facility after me; somehow we still ended up getting married about a year later. Ah the scent of love!
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Jim said as a Marine he would advise ibuprofen and a bottle of water. Aparently it's the cure for everything.
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I'm on AC, and have totally lost taste buds for several days after each infusion. Smelling coffee and not tasting it is so depressing I can't drink it. My scalp was tingly before and during the shed, then stopped. I can't wait to see what surprises Round 3 holds!
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I'm on day 9 after infusion #3 AC and its the same. No taste except bad and bitter and I'm fed up. The tingly scalp has stopped although I still have the bristles hanging on. Will round # 4 next Thursday be any different? Better? Worse? ugh
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For the record, my cold head isn't chemo: it's a simple lack of hair. I had a crazy amount of hair.
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I am so sick to my stomach I can't stand it. I feel like I have been on a very upset boat. I can't keep anything down. I am so tired. Need sleep but can't stop throwing up. Any insights on what to do?
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I have had a random symptom resolve during chemo. The incredible, to the bone cold that I felt all the time is fading out, praise God. I don't know if it's the chemo or the 10 lbs or just a blessing but I am so glad I don't have to wear sweaters in my house in south Florida anymore!
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grey, that shouldn't happen. Call your MO. Are you wearing the anti nausea patch and taking the Zofran round the clock? You may need a new rx and if you can't keep fluids down at all, head to the ER.
eta - not sure where you live, but if it's daytime, you could head to drs office first. They told me always go there first if possible, they can hang IV fluids and put anti nausea meds in there too.
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Grey, what nausea meds did you get? Call you MO office and let them know...several of us have found that marijuana works as well or better as anything else...
(((((((hugs))))))
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just a thought on nausea. When I go out on a boat, i get so seasick I chum the water the entire time. Same thing with diving, can't do it. Best thing in the world for me for that kind of nausea was greasy McDonalds French fries, which I would never eat otherwise. Something about the combo of grease sugar and salt was amazing.
Grey, small bites in your tummy all the time. An empty stomach is an unhappy stomach, so if you can get anything down, please try. Just a bite, chicken broth with a cracker or two.
I second the marijuana. Also, there is a Sancuso patch that one woman on the March forum used that worked. But it may be difficult to get insurance approval
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I have compazine and Zofran but it doesn't seem to be helping. I don't want to talk to my MO's resident. She hates me. I just threw up all over myself. Going to change my PJs and wash up. I'll keep trying saltines and ginger ale. Thanks for caring.
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Hi again everyone!
Artista: I know the waiting is the worst. We spent whole days in bed holding each other and crying during that period. It was the hardest 2 weeks of our lives. I don't wish that on anyone. We are praying you get the same call we did. That was a freaking good day.
Moliiefish: Yeah, the Dodgers decided to give that game away. Tough to watch. 2015 has obviously been the worst year of ours lives. That was our only (minor) escape. 2016 better be awesome. It has to balance out sometime, right?
CarolinaAmy: Hope all is well. I definitely love her with all I've got. We will be celebrating our 20th "together" anniversary in January. She has a lot of support. We did the local "Race For The Cure" and we had over 35 people on her team. I will include a pic if I can find it. (Though, some people showed up after the group photo.) They even made a custom "El Tigre" design for T-shirts at her work for those that put in for them. (Named after her blog I posted previously on this thread.) She was overwhelmed by all the love. I had to fight back tears several times myself.
My wife is still doing pretty darn good. I saw some of you mention the metal mouth. She has experienced that as well. She found she can't drink from cans since starting A/C.
This picture was taken post mastectomy, but just prior to chemo. 9/20
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Hello Beautiful Ladies! I've had company here this past week so I was just taking a moment to catch up. So sorry for all your setbacks, but hoping for better times ahead. (One can only hope!)
I'm not looking forward to #3 on Monday.
My sister was here and took me to the American Cancer Society office and they have FREE wigs! I didn't think I'd find anything, but I did and it was totally free. So, if any of you can get to an ACS office, they are a wonderful resource. I'm not sure many know about this so I wanted to pass the word.
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Grey, sometimes the saltiness of chicken broth really helps, not sure why. You can get it in a ready to use box if you can get to the store.
Please don't let the MO's resident prevent you from getting the help you need. Throwing up can dehydrate you and screw up your electrolyte balance which will make you feel worse.
Gentle hugs, and I am so sorry you are feeling terrible
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I do have to 2nd the electrolyte factor. My wife was having issues the first week of chemo with a hazy feeling. The naturopath told her not too just drink water, but to add electrolytes. We did and she had a 90% improvement. Hope you will feel better soon.
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sailorgirl - which office did you go to? My friend was going to go with me to the one on Bell but the timing was off this week.
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grey, I haven't had too much nausea (told that comes with the other drug combo I start mid-Nov.), but was told: keep your home a bit cool (too warm environment worsens nausea), try cold, cool or just lukewarm non-spicey non-greasy foods, definitely keep up fluids (mineral water, broth, juice) in tiny amounts very very often (instead of a whole glass at a time --- something about stretching a nauseous stomach induces vomiting) --- and take anti-nausea meds when even the thought that you Might be getting nauseous soon comes to mund. That last advice might have ben what helped me not actually vomit so far (except yesterday).
But grey --- with such constant uncontrolled vomiting as you're suffering from in your post, I also like several women above urge you to go to the ER or at least contact your doc, to get you hydrated i.v. If necessary first --- dehydratook itself can worsen nausea (at least have been told that). The above measures are what to do to then keep it away.
I hope that by now (several hours after you posted) that you've already received care and are home and feeling tons better (((((((hugs)))))))
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Anyone getting Taxotere: Ask your MO about getting cold gloves to lessen/prevent finger nerve damage! I wasn't given anything for my first dose and got symptoms in both hands. Got only a right glove with my second dose (iv was too low on my left arm to use one), and although I got progression on both sides, the right side is less than the unprotected left. Wish to heck I had gotten protection right from the start! Sometimes these docs/nurses are too focussed on giving drugs they forget to protect from truly awful side effects (except nausea).
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my scalp feels funny too. Especially when I touch it
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Artisa sending love and hugs! Hang in there
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I am feeling the waves of nausea roll over me today. I get an extra infusion of IV fluids when I get my neulasta shot so I am finally urinating. The pink stuff is slowly leaving- and I had chemo on Tuesday. I have too much to do today. I passed out after having a couple of sips of chicken broth and a saltine. I feel a little better- just a little off balance. I hope it gets better soon. I hope everyone has a great weekend. 0 -
Tessu- I am getting Taxotere and I had a couple days where my hands were stiff and super sensitive to heat and touch but it went away. I just had #2 infusion yesterday so I don't know what is ahead of me this time. Somebody recommended L-Carnitine to help prevent neuropathy. There's actually information out there about it when I started looking. Anyways I have been taking that since the beginning. I hope it helps.
Also I agree that some MO focus so much on nausea that they don't warn you of anything else. If I had known headaches can be common for some people on Aloxi I would have had Excedrin on day 1 and not suffered for days before calling.
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I never expected to be comfortable walking around my house without a hat or wig. I had thick hair and it was my favorite feature. There's fuzz hanging out and isn't stabbing me anymore. I actually kind of like where it is at. Some is along my hair line. I only get a cold head occasionally but that will be changing as our temperature dip below 0 in the coming months. I never realized how warm my hair was keeping my neck!
What do you ladies have planned for when we lose eyebrows and eyelashes? I don't know if it was in here or somewhere else where somebody mentioned a eyebrow stencil and special brush. Does anybody remember?
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TFoxy..my 20 year old daughter has serious "brow game" and is amazing with makeup. She assured me that Sephora is the place to go to get the tools to draw in brows that look realistic. If you have one close by, go there and ask the staff as they are amazing. I still have my lashes and brows so I will post more info when I get it on the products. As for lashes, learn to use a liquid eyeliner and go light on it to add some depth an not look too goth. Otherwise, fake lashes would do but that would be a hassle on a day to day basis. I'd save that for special occasions. I think brows are more important that eyelashes as any eye makeup (shadow, eyeliner) can make the lids look better but missing brows just look plain weird (to me anyways).
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I signed up for the online sephora store yesterday. We have one at square one and at Sherway if you venture out. It free shipping over $50. I was reading about the different make up ingredients and there is lots of anecdotal evidence about para ends et al but I haven't found any solid evidence for or against. But what I did find is that Sephora has a lot of high scores for not having worrisome ingredients. I'm more worried for the 13 year old who is wearing make up as I rarely do.
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Molliefish..my daughter is a staunch vegetarian/animal rights activist and is diligent on researching products. So much so that she's a bit hard to live with..lol (I won't give up my BBQ steaks!)
While Sephora has some products that fail her tests, more often than not, there are many options that fit the criteria. We have a few stores close to home so I'm good to go, when I'm ready. The online store is great as well and as I said before, I'll share the info here when I get it so others can look into it for themselves.
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SouthernCharm. Is there a salon you can consult with? Whether it's your regular place or one that specializes in wigs, they can advise you about colouring the wig.
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I hear you ((hugs))
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yay, glad the wig looks better!
I am about to give up on halos, they make me too self conscious. Just not ready for a wig either yet, but I have found some scarf and hat combos I like....though I still am not totally comfortable in public.
Grey, hope you and all with SEs are feeling better today! Grey, be sure to put a little something in your stomach before you get out of bed in the morning, even if it is just crackers and water.
and sorry about the taste issues Southern. That happened to me too: I thought I was doing ok, as far as tastes goes, and then went out to dinner with a friend, and she wanted me to taste a particularly wonderful (so she said) and expensive tea that she ordered after dinner...and well...it tasted like hot water to me, and metallic hot water at that! Lesson learned: I am sticking to cheap food with nice texture for the duration!
Sorry about the Jays last night Lindy, but today is another game.
Hugs to all!
Octogirl
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Headcovers.com has human hair fake eyebrows.
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