Starting Chemo in July 2017
Comments
-
Teese- during DD AC on days 4-5 when most queasy, I would also wear SeaBands on both wrist which seemed to help.
Hope ur treatment next time is easier for you
0 -
Joining the club. I started chemo yesterday, July 19th. Sounds crazy but I couldn't wait to start. Was diagnosed about 3-4 weeks ago and it's been torture waiting to do something about this. I'll have chemo first 6 times total every 3 weeks then surgery. thank you DodgersGirl for posting about your experience. Knowledge is good and everyone's input is so helpful.
IDC, left, ER+, PR+, HER2+
0 -
dodgersgirl - funny you should mention seabands, I just dragged mine out and put them on yesterday. Thanks for the advice and well wishes.
Welcome Emily, thanks for joining our group. How are you feeling?
Theresa
0 -
Leatherette - I'm HER2+, I just posted for first time today. Had first chemo yesterday, July 19th. I was looking for fellow HER2+ as well!
0 -
Teese - did you try to drink some ginger tea or ginger candy for your stomach? I heard people said it helps.
I'm going for my chemo tomorrow morning today I will meet with my friends to have lunch to enjoy a day out before the fight.
0 -
Emily- welcome to our group I found so much supports and information here.
0 -
0
-
Teese -so far so good. I expect side effects to kick in tomorrow or the next day I guess but I feel good today. Trying to drink lots of water and went for a walk.
PauletteK -thanks, I am finding much comfort and support here too.
0 -
I'm here at the infusion center on my first cycle of Cytoxan. Will be getting Taxotere next here shortly. Since I just got my port in 2 days ago, there was some swelling around the port and the infusion nurse took a while to find the place to poke. But she was so gentle and she even numbed the area with ice and I didn't feel a thing. I hope I have her each time! I made the mistake of watching YouTube vids last night and was cringing watching people's experience with port access.
I am drinking green tea with ginger while I'm here. My throat was dry last night and this morning, not sure if it was a SE of the dexamethasone that I took yesterday. I always drink ginger tea before singing to clear my throat and it's helped with my throat dryness. I also took a stool softener this morning since I was feeling a little constipated.
Starting Taxotere now... Should be another couple of hours and I can enjoy the rest of my day.
0 -
Paulette - yes I tried all the easy natural methods I've read on here and elsewhere. I have every ginger thing imaginable, gum, queasypops, candied ginger, tea, and it's giving me heartburn. Mentioned it to the dietician and she said it happens like that to some, just too strong. So right now the Ativan and Prilosec are working. I'll take it
Pink - thank you for the link. Today was a good day and was able to put in 45 on treadmill at prechemo pace and 5 miles on the bike. Oh how glorious to feel almost like my old self, if even only for the next few days till infusion #2.
Emily - yup the water and the walk, your doing the right stuff. Let us know how tomorrow goes.
Theresa
0 -
Sunnyjay - you're looking good there, where's the Denny's grand slam I'm wanting to know? Haha! Yes, finish up that infuion and do something enjoyable. My hubby and I live 2 hours from the infusion center so we head home. I'd much rather do something fun.
Theresa
0 -
Teese: I had a decent breakfast at home, so I decided to forgo the Grand Slam this time. Haha! Your infusion center is 2 hours away? Wow! I guess if I went to a major center I would be doing the drive too. UCSF is only about an hour away. I go where my doctor is which is about 20 min away. But because of our proximity to Stanford (the clinic is about 10 min away) many of the doctors here come from Stanford so I guess I'm pretty lucky. But I generally like long drives if there is no traffic to deal with. I find the ride relaxing, as long as I'm comfortable.
Emily: welcome to the group. Feel free to share your experiences as we all learn from each other.
Dodgersgirl: thanks for the tip on Seabands. I have a history of vertigo but I never know when it comes. It is a good thing to have in my arsenal!
Paulettek: Enjoy the time with friends today!
0 -
Hi emily mh-Thanks for noticing my post about HER2+ status. Any thoughts on how your first day went? Are you getting the TCH treatment? My first one is in 5 days, and I'm scared, mostly of potential allergic reactions. I am also going nuts waiting. I'm going to try to enjoy myself, but it's looming over me... I am going to a bluegrass festival/camping this weekend. Hope it helps!
After reading the post about nails, I got OPI Nail Envy (the original formula has formaldehyde, so I got the one for "dry and brittle" nails), cut my nails real short (fingers and toes), used the OPI on them, then teatree/vitamin e oil on the cuticles. I hope this helps, because I am not sure I'll tolerate icing the hands so well (still going to try). How would I tap my screens?
Teese-glad you were able to do your exercises at a level that felt good! Enjoy your good days! Maybe there will be more the second time around.
Leatherette
0 -
day4- not so good! Really Hoping tmrw will be better.
Teese- papaya helps you go! Smoother than prunes. I eat the fruit, not sure about the pills! 45 min! Wow, proud of you. I took a 10 min walk but my head ( new bold spot) was hurting! Not sure about the cold caps....
Leatherette- I held the cup of ice on and off. Best I could do! I couldn't concentrate on screens or tv! Bathroom breaks and cold caps took my time
0 -
Sunnyjay- you look so good and calm, I will have my infusion tomorrow morning and I hope I will be calm as you are. How are you feeling after the infusion? Are you tired??
Tess - you are my mentor I will try to do my walk daily I will be very happy I can do a 10 minutes walk on my infusion day.
I planned to have my normal breakfast tomorrow and bring my goodies to my infusion appointment. Hope minimum SE 🙏
0 -
Mari - I didn't get my cold cap should I get one? I hope you feel better tomorrow. 🙏
0 -
Paulettek, It was smooth sailing this morning. I took Dexamethasone yesterday as directed. I slept for 3.5 hours not because I felt restless from the meds but because I was looking up "what to expect on first chemo infusion" or something like that. I have a habit of looking up procedures so I know what to expect. Well, I am happy to report that my experience wasn't as traumatic as others seem to be. It maybe because I have a high pain threshhold. But I have to really give credit to my infusion nurse. She made the whole procedure relatively painless. She started the taxotere in increments of slow to regular drips to make sure I didn't have any reactions... first 12cc slow, then 30cc a little more, then the rest at a normal rate.
She will ask for an EMLA prescription for my next round, but honestly I didn't feel the poke since she numbed the site with ice.
I was able to eat a 1/2 turkey sandwich for lunch and a little pasta salad, and I haven't felt nauseous. I do have a little bloating so I at a couple of crystallized ginger pieces. I also just had a snack a couple hours after lunch (Almond bar from Trader Joes made with flax, poppy, sunflower, sesame & pumpkin seeds and almonds). I took a compazine 6 hours after my infusion, and have been monitoring my blood pressure and temperature, and writing everything down!
I'm heading to Wal-Mart (5 min away) for Biotene in case I develop mouth sores in the next couple of days and that Nail Envy stuff that I've seen discussed in other threads. And probably get pho noodle soup for dinner while I can still keep food down.
Then probably wrap up my evening watching the Giants baseball game or binge watching something on Netflix. Tomorrow I get the Neulasta shot and have Claritin at the ready!
Wishing good thoughts for you tomorrow, and anyone else starting a new cycle in the coming days.
0 -
Sunnyjay - so happy to hear that you are doing so well. I guess I better take my Ativan tonight so I will have a good night sleep for my big day.
I know we are strong and we will sail through this and we became a stronger women
0 -
paulette - good luck tomorrow, definitely take the Ativan and get a good rest. I got up early enough to get in a walk on the treadmill, eat breakfast and hydrate. You're so ready for this. Keep us informed.
Sunnyjay - sounds like your first day couldn't have gone any better, yay! Hoping for a restful night.
Mari - so sorry for a crummy day, 4 and 5 are the worst for most on here. Hoping for an early turn around day for you. Hugs.
Leatherette- we'll take the good days as they come. We really live in the present during chemo, but that's ok as it's really only short term.
Jen - how are you girlie
0 -
Anyone have issues with there port moving? Mine has slipped down a bit and possibly flipped. Probably too much bouncing around in the ocean waves. I talked to my MOs nurse and she said I could wait till my appointment Monday to look at it. I'm out of town now so not much I can do about it. My next infusion isn't till the 31st so they should be able to fix it by then
0 -
janeway10 - that's something new I don't have that problem and hope I won't also.
Teese - you are one wrong woman and I need to follow your footsteps.
Mari - days will over soon. Keep you in my prays.
0 -
Janeway10: my infusion nurse took a while to find the port insertion point. She finally realized it was tilted and had tue other nurse verify it. Sure enough, it was but there were no problems inserting the needle. Hopefully yours is just tilted and should be fine.
I'm really dreading days 4 & 5. Even my MO asked if work was flexible in case I had to stay home in Monday. 😒
Is anyone here keeping a blog or online journal to keep friends & family updated? I am considering caringbridge or mylifeline. I have kept my situation very private, but do want to keep those I have told in the loop so I dont have to keep repeating myself.
0 -
Hello Chemo Buddies! I read every word each of you write and appreciate all the helpful information.
Sunnyjay- I'm not keeping a blog or caringbridge site because I just don't have that many friends, lol. I manage one for a close relative who was diagnosed with Stage 4 from the get go and has hundreds of people who want regular updates. I think it is very helpful if you have lots of people who want to keep up with your treatment. Also, thank you for posting a picture of yourself at infusion. As someone else said you look so calm it's contagious.
I have other comments, but some much time passes between my postings it seems too late to say anything. I hope to get in the groove of posting regularly.
My slow-healing surgical wounds have decided to become super-fast healing surgical wounds. I am blown away by how fast they are healing since I stopped taking my prescription NSAID on July 11th. My doctors don't think the NSAID was slowing the healing, but I read online that it can delay healing so I decided it was worth a try. My arthritis pain is keeping me from getting much sleep, but I'm not going to risk the healing slowing down now. I think I am all set to have my infusion #1 on the 25th, one day short of nine weeks after my surgery. I have bought all the things that people here recommended (well, not ALL!). I have bags of homemade bone broth in the freezer along with plenty of low carb foods appropriate for my doctor-supervised keto diet. I won't go into it here, but I'm trying a fasting schedule to help manage SEs with the approval of my doctors. There is a fasting thread with discussions of the science behind it.
I think of you Tesse, every time I get on my "dreadmill".
I had never heard it called that, but it makes me smile when I think of it. I hope to continue my hour a day of treadmill time through chemo. 0 -
hello all, just got back from picking up my wig, the color and style are so similar to my natural that I wore it home and neither my husband or daughter noticed. Exactly what I was going for. Just blew them away. However it flattened out my hair and now it's all funky looking.
I have PT and then going with husband and daughter to see Dunkirk. Looking forward to a fun afternoon as I love movies.
Got my walk in only 30 min as I didn't leave enough time before my wig appointment. Going to get some cycling in after I clean the bathroom. If only all the sessions would have this period of normalcy at the end. But I know the effects are cumulative.
Janeway - no issues personally, but I've read it happens and it seems it's usually a matter of finding the direction it's facing and then using it. Haven't heard of one flipping over, keep us informed though and sending prayers it's just a simple fix.
Dmjmom - you are ready, and yes keep up the treadmill as much as possible. On my worst day a lumbered along for 2 -15 min walks, that was a really crummy day (dreadmill day) A few days were hard but doable, now I'm back to normal.
So glad your healing right up. My doctor was concerned about my healing and only did what was needed, I still have to go back for a right mastectomy. At the time she said she didn't want there to be any delays due to healing. I thought, why would there be delays? But since that time I've read about all kinds of wound issues. You never know who's going to get it or why it seems. So glad your moving forward, leaving surgery issues behind.
Theresa
0 -
Hi ladies!
Teese, thank you for constantly keeping me in your thoughts! I been in a somewhat fatigue mode, and between keeping up with work and managing rest, haven't been coming on the boards much. How was Dunkirk?! I am such a huge Tom Hardy fan!!!
Anyway chemo day is always on a high from steroids day so here I am!
A little report on side effects for me thus far on Taxol. Hair thinning out, and seeing piles of my fallen tresses everywhere. But still observing to see when I should shave it all off.
I developed a rash on the fifth day after round 2, but doctor says it's quite unusual to have it after round 2 and so many days after. Got better today. They adjusted my pre-meds today to see if it will help the rash. Got a cream and oral antihistamine too if it develops again.
And I am still getting face flushes during the chemo and after. Last week and today, they stopped the chemo halfway to put me on an antihistamine drip before continuing. Also having a little tingling in my hands, still trying to improve the way I ice, because of the lack of freezers, my icing gloves and foot wraps gradually lose their coldness halfway through.
Today was funny, cos I had them pull the curtains on and told my friend who was accompanying me to go have her lunch since I was drowsy and sleepy anyway. Suddenly I felt this sudden hot sensation spread across my face and chest. It was quite gentle though, not painful or uncomfortable. But I buzzed for the nurse since they told me many times to notify them if I feel anything differently.
Two nurses came RUNNING in, just when my friend came back from her lunch. And she thought something happened to me. So the nurses were talking really loudly to me, thinking I have coded or something, and my friend kept asking me what's wrong! The drama!
It was really sweet of them. But I was really fine and was laughing when I said I really feel ok, but just reporting the hotness experienced. Really appreciate the care though.
Otherwise, overall still fine. I am getting breathless easily now, so I am learning to walk slower. I have a somewhat busy bee walk, so I tend to go really fast especially when I am on a task. I walked up to my boss' office really fast the other day, and was totally out of breath. Had to ask for a minute before I talked to him. He's a good sport though. I wear a mask whenever I go out now. Other than that, appetite's ok though a little picky on what I want to eat, lots of soup and fruits.
Oh but my white blood cells count was borderline today, luckily my Oncologist reviewed my stats and deemed me ok to go for chemo. Really hate to miss any sessions!
Been trying to read up a bit on how to keep the white blood cells count up, and found manuka honey quite recommended. Anyone has tried before or have any other recommendations? I am already taking some manuka honey, not daily since that stuffs' expensive but if it helps, I would like to try it. My Oncologist is very strict on her no supplements rule unless cleared by her, but no restrictions on food. Not about to defy her since she's my "drug dealer". Heehee! Will see her for review on coming Tuesday and see what she says too.
A little more to add about mouth sores and constipation. I had neither. Not sure if what I am doing helps, but sharing anyway.
I rinse after every meal with a baking soda and salt water mixture. And also with Oasys moisurising mouthwash once a day after brushing my teeth before I go to bed.
To prevent constipation, I eat a little dried apricot, dried prunes or prune juice. I don't do all on the same day. Just a bit of each in different days.
Worth a try if any of you are experiencing mouth sores or constipation.
0 -
dmjmom: If you've read my previous posts of what I've been through with scheduling chemo, and the port placement surgery, then my first infusion was a walk in the park in comparison. Ha! If I remember, I will take a photo just to see my progress. Since I have no family history of breast cancer, nor in my immediate circle of friends it will be my way of sharing my experience in case they find themselves on a similar journey later.
I know each day will be different and I want to keep a journal, not only to keep my friends & family updated but also for my future amusement. I swear this journey is such a dramedy and can't wait to look back, read through all this, and see how this has made me a stronger person.
Good luck to you... And look forward to reading about your experiences.
0 -
sunnyjay- great attitude! Pls keep posting maybe it will rub of on the ones less positive like me!
I am trying and these posts help me with info and strength from so many women!
Today is my day 5, I still have a cloud on my head. No way I could work this week. I am trying to avoid taking sleeping pills Lorazepan , to decrease the load on my liver, but I am tired! Tonight I want to sleep, so I will take it and hopefully not get hooked on it!
0 -
My first chemo day went well, great nurse I didn't fill any pain when she poke me. The whole process was long 4.5 hours and I haven't have any side effect term keep my fingers 🤞.
I ate all the goodies I bought with me and still can eat more. So I hope I can keep up with my eating through the night.
Hope everyone are doing well and I hope tomorrow will be a good day for me also.
0 -
Hi All! I"m just coming out of lurking mode. This group, and past chemo groups have been so helpful. Even though I started my chemo on June 30th, I feel like I'm part of the July group as I'm really on your timeline.
I just had round #2 today, totally amped up on the steroid, feel good. The first round went well. I had mostly fatigue as a side effect, and did develop one canker sore, which took about 5-6 days to heal (I ended up using honey on it three times a day, and that finally did the trick! I also did salt/baking soda washes, but it didn't really get a lot better until I started the honey.).
I ate my snacks, and sucked on ice chips this round in hopes that I will not have the mouth issues quite as much. Also hoping it will help keep some taste buds alive (I do keep the sour and some salt around, but it was still hit and miss for me).
I am cold capping with Penguin cold caps. I've lost ~15-20% of my hair, mostly at the nape of the neck and behind my ears, whiich is to be expected. We'll see how things look in a couple weeks. It's quite a process and makes for a long treatment day. I've almost given up a few times, but I'm sticking with it, for now.
Thank you to all of you who share your stories. It has been so helpful as I navigate this new world! I plan to be more active on the boards.
The most amazing thing so far is that I was able to take a real hike last week (4 miles and 1000' of elevation gain) and actually felt great afterwards. I thought I might pay for it the following day, but I didn't! Here's hoping I'll be able to do that with each round!
0 -
LoJo100- you gave me something to look forward to. I took my evening walk tonight with my dog it was a short walk but I feel better afterwards. So if I don't feel nausa Iwill do my morning walk tomorrow.
0
