Starting Chemo in July 2017
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Paulette, What a relief, I'm so glad you're almost done. We'll be starting rads together! Woot!
Tpralph, how are you doing PFC
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Teese. Notes some peach fuzz on my head today so there is hope. Energy slowing getting better. Still having odd mild headache that lasts an half hour or so . Occasional diarrhea depending what I eat. Nice not having chemo today! ( Would have been my day for it) two weeks pfc
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Tpralph - you gave me hope, something I will look forward to.
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Hello ladies! I have been MIA the past few days. A busy week with Halloween! Thanks to steroids i am awake at 4:45am. I completed chemo yesterday. It's almost surreal. So much has happened... for the most part chemo went the way I had hoped. I had minimal SE's, worked around my chemo treatments and down days, and was able to do my normal on my good days. The hard was losing our sister in law. It was difficult and heart breaking. Miss her every day. I know I have not fully processed every thing that has happened these past months. I am sure that is coming. It was an emotional day yesterday. My hubby, mom and sister in laws mom came to chemo with me. I had picked up donuts from the favorite donut shop in town for those awesome nurses at my center, they are truly angels on earth. We had made a blanket in memory of my sister in law and yesterday my sister in laws mom and I gave the blanket to the cancer center. We requested that it be given to someone else suffering from pancreatic cancer who is in need of love, prayers and hugs. It was placed in a special spot away from the closet with the other donated blankets. They assured us it would be given to the right person. We are going to continue to make blankets 1x @ month for the patients at this center. A way of doing something in memory of my sister in law and giving back to a wonderful place who did so much for both me and my sister in law. Chemo was pretty uneventful. I had asked our 3 sons , my dad and my husbands parents to come up at end of chemo to watch me ring the bell. When we walked into the lobby i was greeted by our parents, our boys, my brother and his wife and 15 beautiful gals from my mom's group wearing pink!! Such a surprise..I had no idea. Found out my hubby can keep a pretty awesome surprise! There were tears and hugs and a bell was rang. I had mixed emotions about ringing that bell. It hurt to know my sister in law did not ring the bell and there are others who will not ever ring. But decided it was important for me and my journey and my boys wanted me to ring it and it was important for them so I rang it extra for my sister in law too. I know she was with me yesterday. We celebrated with a family dinner at new restaurant in town last night and I signed up for a holiday exercise challenge group I do every year. It starts next week and runs to the wk before Christmas. A perfect thing to get me back into the workout groove! It was a beautiful day. Thank you to all for sharing your journey on these pages. I too will keep checking in until the last person leaves. On to radiation!
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Runnermum - saw the pictures it was very moving what a bittersweet moment. This journey is very dramatic and emotional for me. Whenever I think about it I weep. I’m going to my infusion soon and took my Ativan ahead of time so I won’t get anxiety anymore.
Ladies we are truly are tough ladies .... God will look after us.
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Well, I'm embarrassed to say but my house is now officially dirty. Once I feel better I'll be back at it in the mean time I try to "let it go". There's only so much I can do. My slippers aren't sticking to the floor yet. Hubby does his best but ... they just don't see it the same way we women do.
Teese: After five weeks I can finally manage to stay upright for most of the day. Last week I was feeling pretty good one day, went to Walmart, Michaels and like you collapsed when I came home. I would have collapsed in the store but wasn't about to have a 911 call made on me. I still have days where the fatigue hits like a ton of bricks falling on me. The nurse practitioner told me yesterday I'm doing better than most in my recovery. She also slipped into the conversation that it could take up to two years before the fatigue finally goes away. TWO YEARS! Ha ha, so much for being patient.
Side effects are slowly getting better. Today I actually made it up all the way up the stairs without having to stop half way up to rest and catch my breath.
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pink, I laughed out loud over your comment about not collapsing in the store because you weren't about to have a 911 call made for you. That has motivated me so often in the past few months myself. I'll say to myself, "There is no way on God's green earth that I'm going to slump down to the floor in this store, I WILL make it to the car." My guess is we've all had a day or two like that. ;-)
Runnermum, your post was heart wrenching and uplifting, I'm so glad your last infusion was filled with so much love for you, your nurses, family and dear sister in law. The blankets you're making are so kind and will be so appreciated. I feel privileged that you shared your chemo journey with us, I know you were overwhelmed and dealing with such sorrow, thank you for coming back and posting here when it would have been so easy to let this slide. Your strength helpe us all.
Paulette, you must be at your infusion and I know it's a long one. Wishing and praying for it to be uneventful and SE manageable. I have a feeling it will be because you know it's almost all done. Yay!
Tpralph, waaaaahhhhhh, I have NO peach fuzz!!!
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I do have some hair growing in, just found it after my shower....................my underarms. Really, sigh
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Teese-- I feel your pain. For me, the first hairs were on my chin. Arggg
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home from chemo, major goof! I did not drink water while getting my infusion, was almost done when i realized i was feeling faint, lite headegd. Told nurse, she took my bp and itmwas hugely higher than when i had checked in. Of course they freaked, made me stay till bp came down as they figured it was reaction to taxol. Thought about it and realized. Dehydrated, did not drink enough h2o
Dumbo here, my pal drove me home, i have gozzled lots of liquids and feel fine
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I have an uneventful infusion, now I’m on steroid high, so I guess I can do some cooking. Met some ladies FB in clinic people all gained weight except me. So I guess I really need to do some cooking if I know how.
Wow two years to get back to our old self, that is scary!! Pink, I just want to able to some shopping without short o breaths. I still do my 40 minutes walk on my good days, I live on the hill, so there is uphill walk.
My bedroom is on second floor, so I do need to climb stairs daily .
Ladies have a good weekend, if anyone still want to join FB you can contract me, Teese, runnerm, Or K.
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Thank you Teese. I have learned so much from all of you. Everyone's journey is unique but very similar. It's been nice to be a part of this board.
Pink...glad you are doing better. I haven't been drinking as much water during infusion as I should have my last couple times. Hate getting up to use the restroom all the time.
Paulette..Yay one more left right?!! Hope you have an easy weekend with side effects.
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Dodge girl - no hair for me 😓😓😓😓
Proud - I don’t think I drink enough water because I slept half of the time plus iced my hands so I can only drink about two cups of water during that 5.5 hours time. I used to drink 4-5 cups .
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I think it was my last round, I didn't drink enough one day before and one day after, so even though I drank plenty during infusion, I was sick as a dog for several days after.
My last infusion is Thursday, Nov. 9; not this past week, sadly, but six more days! I am scared abt side effects, because it has gotten progressively worse since my third round. I can feel my body breaking down; my skin is crazy dry, I have purple hematoma-looking spots on my hand and arm, and I am not bouncing back as I get closer to the next round like I used to. I look like I am 80 years old when I have to climb stairs. In earlier rounds, I could still run up stairs when I was ten days or fewer before my next infusion, and I didn't have to hang on to the railings
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Leatherette - sorry I am an old lady I walk my stairs slowly now. Now brown spots on nails because they went to my face hands and even bottom on my feet.
I totally agreed each chemo it took some of our good cells away. And our good cells can’t regenerate that fast so our bodies just being more fatigue. We have only one more to do, need to tough it out! my wbc didn’t change at all so I’m happy. Will keep eating when I can. So far I lost 8 lbs.
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Good morning,
Dodgersgirl, I say this while laughing, this hair thing is the ultimate insult. It's a good thing I have a sense of humor!
Pink, My neuropathy is ever so slowly improving. It's a good thing this was my last infusion, it was quite a bit more severe this time and I would be afraid to see what one more dose would do. Unfortunately fatigue takes a bit of time so I guess the next big SE I'm hoping to see decrease is the shortness of breath. Maybe by Thanksgiving (ours is late Nov). As an aside, I wish our Thanksgiving was earlier like yours. It would be so nice if it wasn't so caught up in the Christmas shopping confusion.
The fluid/hydration thing is so important and I know I made the same mistake on my last AC. I woke up the day after my infusion and knew this day was going to be hell on wheels. However I then knocked off my neulasta pod first thing walking through a door. At first I was mad to have to make the 2 hour drive in to get the shot. Then I thought how I could get a bag of fluids while there and it might help.
Halfway through the bag and my nausea was gone and my energy returned, by the time it was all in I was starved and we drove straight to eat. It was like a wonder drug.
My husband just left with a list so I can make a big pot of chili. It's his favorite thing in the world and I like to have it in the freezer. Today is cool and will rain all afternoon, the perfect thing for dinner. Well I need to jump in the shower, have a great Saturday with minimal SE.
Hugs and prayers to all,
Theresa
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Teese - sounds like you are not having a good morning, I made some porridge last night and it seems my stomach accepted that this time. Now I can have that for breakfast. Today should be my good day, will try to do some house works and it is raining outside nothing I can do. Treadmill day.
Ladies have a good weekend.
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well i broke down and called a wig place, this baldie thing is getting boring and if the chemo thing is endless, well all the hats snd scarfs folks sent me are great but........i look like a liittle old man
Question will be do i go funkie or natural?
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Proud, if you can swing it, do one of each!
Teese, are you saying you can administer a bag of fluids to yourself through the neulasta pod? I wish I could just get some iv fluids every once in a while, so I'm not spending all my waking hours drinking water, peeing, and refilling my water cup! I think I will ask if they can give me extra iv fluids while I get my next infusion.
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the iv fluids make me pee something awful,
I think on of each sounds good to me!
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Leatherette, no not through the pod. Sorry for the confusion. I had knocked the pod off so I had to go back to the infusion center to get the neulasta shot. While there I asked for a bag of fluids and my MO wrote a quick order and they infused 500cc saline
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I’m getting kind of confused until I read Teese last post, 😂😂😂
Proud - do one of each, why not have some fun!!
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I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who is struggling with shortness of breath. It's been 2 1/2 weeks since my last Taxotere and it's probably the most troublesome thing I'm dealing with right now. I don't see SOB very high on the list of side effects of Taxotere.
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ping - are you having problem climbing stairs? Or general walking?
I get short of bleath walking up hill or stair climbing, but my bedroom is on second floor so I have to climb stairs several times a day. So I get better.
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yeah, got 2 levels in my house so need to climb stairs but i confess to trying to combine my trips, like the laundry i just folded is sitting waiting for me and my next trip.......hmmmm maybe time to change for nightie
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hi proud - just took my 40 min walk this afternoon, I live on the hill so my walk usually have to do some uphill walking. I’m happy on the good day I can do it easily. Bad days I usually cut my walk short.
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paulette, i am not sure i could do 40 minute
Used to ride 50 miles on my bike but that ended, I was rehabbing from surgery for hydrocephelus when they found my dumb new cancer , my leg strength never has gotten back to previous level, crummy but keep working on it
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Proud - even 10-15 minuets walk would help your body. You can do once or twice a day depends on your body.
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Not just walking up stairs. It seems that any exertion using my upper body also results in SOB. I had to take a break while folding fitted sheets, for crying out loud. I'm afraid to go for a walk around the block because I may end up stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to catch my breath. Plus I'm on a hill, so I won't get far without some major gasping.
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Pingpong: hang in there it does get better. I’m five weeks PFC and just last week I could go up the stairs without SOB. However my leg muscles are still sore and I do have to stop 2/3 of the way up. I find going slower helps. I was like you, any activity even folding clothes and I was SOB. It’s almost like a light switch. One day I’m struggling and then the next I’m doing okay.
You’re doing good. Just need to be patient. I found even walking around the house for ten minutes seemed to help. The more exercise you can do the more your RBC will increase. Apparently when you’re SOB it sends a signal to your bone marrow that you need more oxygen and to make more RBC.
Just remember it took three weeks after each treatment to start feeling better before the next treatment.
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