Starting Chemo April 2016
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Sue that is fantastic news!! I wish for you even better news soon
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Hello, cking in. I am five weeks out from last Taxotere (every three weeks) which I did backwards, radiation first then chemo .Really seems the radiated tissue, which seemed to have healed and regained flexibility after treatment, really did not do well with last two chemos. Some swelling in neck and collar bone, soreness to point of pain when breathing and laying on left side at night. It has gotten better tho still have someawful stiffness, tightness that goes awaynear end of day, then builds back up overnight. I saw Radiology oncologists last week abd she felt I was doing well. I am due for labs, ckup and some bone infusion next Thurs. I feel physically im back to 80 - 85%.
Hope everyone is wrapping up and moving on soon....
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Suems--So happy to hear of your progress! It is a journey, and you sound like it's a good trip right now! So enjoy! Keeping you in my thoughts going forward.
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Last Taxotere/Carboplatin today (6 of 6). Even though it's the last one, I can't bring myself to look forward to it. I think I'll get happier when I go back in three weeks for my Herceptin-only infusion.
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7OF9 - congrats on being finishes your chemo. Sorry to hear about the side effect you are having and hoping that you get through these soon. Best of luck with your check up and bone infusion. You will get there in the end but it is often a struggle in the process, and a long drawn out struggle. I try not to think about what might happen in the future and just concentrate on the treatment I am getting and making myself believe that when I am finished I will be cancer free forever. If I didn't think like this I would not be a able to function. I also pray a lot and I get great comfort from prayer.
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BAGGER - That's great that you got your last Carboplatin today. I think sometimes when we feel we should be thrilled we get an anti-climax when the time comes. We tend to look forward the whole time when on this journey and we always have the feeling that the next step will be better. I am half way through my Taxol and I always thought that when I reached this stage I would feel great relief, but now I am concentrating on having only 4 more left, not 6 which is half way. See what I mean ?
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HOUSTON - well now isn't that very reassuring that the chemo will not allow tumour to grow. I had a feeling this was the case but I am no cancer expert. Glad you feel a whole lot better now. We do tend to worry because our mind runs away with us at times. I found myself that sometimes some of these medical people leave out important information that would set our minds at rest if we were only told about it.. You are on the right path now so no more worries.
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numb - like you, I rarely read online these days. Prayer gives me a lot of comfort.
Virtual hugs to everyone. One day at a time, we'll get there eventually
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Last chemo in the books!! It feels like such a relief but odd. The past four months have revolved around chemo schedules, managing side effects and doctor visits. Now most of that is done. I meet with the radiologist tomorrow to get my radiation schedule set so I guess it all starts again, just in a different way. Developed UTI symptoms over the weekend and called the dr. She was pretty sure that's what it was and put me on an antibiotic and said they would do a urine test Monday before they started. Of course I'm imagining it's something worse that's going to put off my last chemo but it turned out fine. My husband is away for work so my daughter took me yesterday and then 2 of my sisters surprised me with balloons and cake while we were there and we had a nice lunch after.
My doctor said if my blood counts stay good over the next month I could get my port removed sometime in August.
Okay, hair - it's safe to start growing again!! (Of course most of my lower lashes are gone, upper lashes are thinning and I think my brows are a little thinner. I have no idea how long it would take for brows to regrow?)
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NIR426 - It is great to read about someone having their last chemo. How I envy you. You will be fine on the antibiotic and I doubt your last chemo will be effected. Stay in touch and let us know how you are doing and best of luck on the radiation.
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Congratulations to those of you finishing or moving to the next phase of treatment!
My hair at the end of chemo (TCx4):
My hair recently (around a year and 4 haircuts later--this is the length I normally keep it):
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KSUSAN - Thanks for the good wishes and the photos, you look great. I can't imagine ever having hair again
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It hung around as fuzz for about maybe 8 weeks, then suddenly it was hair again. Short hair, but hair. I got the fuzzies cleaned up with an early trip because there was a lot of "fishing line" white curly stuff happening.
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Njr426 / Bagger its great your chemo is done and over with - probably the toughest part of the journey. Very Happy for you.
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ksusan, thanks for the photos and 8 week mark to shoot for. After mixed results cold capping I have fine troll hair that almost passes for normal with a baseball cap. I am five weeks post treatment.
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Hi again. I am assuming most people have finished up chemo and moved on, but I still have one more treatment to go and need some help/advice because I am getting really discouraged. I am really having trouble eating. Luckily, I can tolerate BOOST and have been drinking 3 of those per day. Occasionally, I can eat something like yogurt, a bagel and cream cheese, a waffle, fruit and have been trying to eat more frequently. My hemoglobin has been continually dropping and right now I can hardly stand at the stove and warm up food. I can't do anything and am out of breath. When the labs came back lower this week, my doctor said I could have a blood transfusion, but she suggested pushing my last chemo back a week and trying to supplement and eat more. Has anyone had a transfusion and any suggestions about which way to go? My doctor said there are slight risks with transfusions and she suggested pushing my chemo date back. Anyone have tricks to help me eat things I don't have an appetite for. Just thinking about food makes me sick right now. I was thinking of trying to eat for a few days and if that isn't happening, just have a transfusion. I'm starting to feel like I'm going crazy.
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sfar - I'm so sorry that you're having trouble eating. Taxotere/Carboplatin did that to me for the first week after each infusion. I managed to get through all six rounds, but eating was one of the hardest things for me. I relied on Malt-O-Meal, Weetabix, and homemade chicken broth until my digestive system could handle more.
I didn't have any transfusions, so I can't comment on that. Best of luck. Keep us posted.
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sfar - I thought about it some more and I have some additional foods. How about scrambled eggs. I get Vital Farms pasture raised eggs for max nutrition. Also I ate smoked salmon -- Whole Foods has a nice brand of wild caught. And I liked prosciutto too. When I could handle it, I bought grass-fed steaks and burgers. All of these are iron-rich foods which would help hemoglobin.
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Bagger- thanks so much for all of the suggestions. I read up a lot today on food aversion caused by chemo and honestly, I think I fit the bill. There were things I ate in the beginning like scrambled eggs that tasted awful and even the thought of them make me feel sick. The suggestion was to go back and try some of those things now and of course try not to focus on how bad they were. My daughter came over today and grocery shopped for me with a big list of things to try. I ate more today than I have for a couple of weeks, so hopefully I'll work this out. I feel a little better this evening and I'll just keep forcing myself to try stuff. Thanks again...what a long "journey" this is!
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Sfaf-Most things tasted like cardboard to me, so I tended to eat those things that tasted like cardboard (malt-o-meal, oatmeal) because they tasted right to me. Malt--o-meal has a good percentage of its RDA of iron, so that is particularly helpful when your hemoglobin is low. Oatmeal is good on that count, too.
Can you eat soups? They are easy to make, and are available in many grocery stores, and keep/freeze well for eating later.
I hope your last round goes better
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What is the big D? I start chemo (perception, perjeta, carboplatin, taxotere) this week and was searching for helpful hints to get me through the unknown.
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Hi gatrgrl, and welcome to our community. We think that the big D references diarrhea, though not totally certain. Others?
Also, read and download these tips from other members (hope this works!)
Community Member tips for chemotherapy treatment (PDF).
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gatrgrl - yes, the big D refers to the runs, whereas the big C is the opposite. I'm now three weeks past my last Herceptin, Perjeta, Carboplatin, and Taxotere (6 of 6). It seemed that most of us on that regimen used the first round to find out what sort of side effects we had, because they vary from person to person. Most of us had some combination of big D and big C during the first week. I managed big D with kefir (didn't need anything stronger) and the big C with Smooth Move Tea, though others used Senakot - same active ingredient: a plant, senna. Somewhere, I read that 85% of Taxotere is eliminated through bowel movements, so it is worth making sure things keep moving. Let us know how it goes.
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Hello ladies , we have become a rather quite group but am messaging from infusion center after my last AC. Just to say it was great being a part of the group and I think the journey would have been much harder without all of your support and input. Bagger congratulations on being done , how are the rest doing ? would be good to know how life PFC is .
I am going to start Radiation 10 days after my AC ie on the 19th and it will be 15 days including boosts. ( new protocol which I am happy about)
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Positivepower - yes, the group was definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Lots of good advice and encouragement. It seems to have moved to Facebook through CJ Swarma (message her to join) so that we can reply to posts in layers instead of just listing them sequentially here. It is all private, so we can still discuss the things we don't feel comfortable bringing up around others (see big D above).
Yes, it is great to be finished with chemo. Some of the gals have finished, some are starting rads, and others have had WBC counts too low and had to postpone. CJ is finished and getting hair on her head, which has the rest of us all excited.
Congrats to you for crossing the chemo finish line. I hope you recover from the last round soon. Early reports from the rads group say that it is nothing compared to chemo, so you're done with the hard part.
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Thank you for the response Bagger, not on Facebook so I guess am missing out. Good to know that folks are generally doing well during rads, am so glad I finished chemo yesterday. Hope those who have a low WBC bounce back soon.
Wish all of you the best. Do keep posting once in a while on this forum.
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Hi all, hope everyone is doing well and feeling good after wrapping up your spring/summer chemo treatments.
Question about post-taxol foot swelling:
I just wrapped up a week ago my final dose-dense taxol. My feet had been feeling funny, like I was wearing 2 pairs of socks and had slightly diminished feeling. I mentioned it to onc and he said it didn't sound like neuropathy (no tingling/burning). I realized tonight that what I have been feeling is moderate swelling of just my feet (not ankles). Considering the slow burn nature of it, I'm not really worried, but wondering if anyone else experienced this later-appearing side/after effect and what helped it resolve?
Thanks!
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Nwkgoldfinch-I also had swelling of my feet/ankles that started a couple of weeks PFC. It lasted for about 4-6 weeks, then has slowly gotten better. I'm about 10-11 weeks PFC now, and my feet are still swelling some, but not nearly as much.
Most days, just keeping my feet up as much as possible and not standing for long periods of time kept things in check. On the bad days, I wore support socks. I wore support socks at night a couple of times so that I could wear sandals during the day (support socks are hot!).
Good luck, and congratulations on wrapping up with your chemo!!
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Hi all! Haven't posted much over the summer.I finished 12 weeks of Taxol/Herceptin on July 21, 2016.
* Hair thinned do much hslfway through that I shaved it down. It's now about a half inch long, but appears thin.
* Lost my eyebrows. Granted, they were thin from Hashimoto's to begin with, but yeah...gone.
* Lost at least half of my eyelashes.
* I took Biotin throughout, so minimal nail changes. Chemo nurses are astounded.
* I would get massive, excrutiating leg pain from days 3-5 each week. Vicodin helped.
* Neuropathy stated a little over halfway through, still here. Really annoying. Mostly toes and feet, a little in fingers.
* Nausea was rare, and Compazine took care of it.
* Diarrhea and bladder pain the first three days each week. Immodium helped the former.
* I fortunately got no mouth sores, but my feet did blister a little toward the end. My gums hurt now, so I don't know if it's delayed reaction or unrelated. Remember to regularly use Bioténe mouthwash!
* Horrible metallic taste went away after the first few weeks. During that, lemon helped in my water, and I used lemon drops.
* Hot flashes from the medical menopause have been...interesting.
I'm now doing Herceptin only every 3 weeks for the next nine months. Plus getting a hysterectomy. Plus Tamoxifen or Femara for ten years.
Fortunately, no Prednisone with just Herceptin, so I won't have those sleepless nights after infusion! Yay!
How is everyone else
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This is me climbing Vernal Falls in Yosemite two months after my last Taxotere, one month after Zometa for a local regionsl recurrence in the axillary nodes after first go around in 2012. Another surgery and radiation back in Jan - March. My husband and I took our son on his first plane ride and we hiked from 4,000 feet elevation to over 5,000. The last few hundred stone stairs to the top of that water fall behind me showed me that the courage, pain and fear I conquered with cancer TWICE can be put to better use elsewhere! I know I will, but I pray the views and sense of accomplishment will be remembered by my son forever! 💘
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