Starting chemo February 2018
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Hello lovely ladies. I wanted to share some good news, and that is that my genetic testing (the 9 panel) has come back and it is negative. There are many cancers on my father's side, and this had me worried- and quickly got me the insurance approval for the testing. Hopefully the negative results will make future treatment options a little clearer for me (but really, are they ever?? So many decisions we have to make!). I still need to meet again with the breast surgeon next week, but she had previously told me that my surgery would be a lumpectomy, and that's what I had been mentally preparing for. Plus I've been blabbing to the whole family about how the cancers could be all be connected, and in this case I'm glad that by getting myself tested I just hopefully reduced those odds for everyone a little bit.
The not so great news is that I think this has been the toughest round for me yet. Is it just inevitable that chemo gets harder and harder? I feel like I'm doing everything right to manage symptoms, but I'm just so tired, sick feeling, and with the ever present touch of the D that started last night in the middle of the night, guaranteeing that I would not get a good night's sleep. Again. It doesn't seem to be enough to call and complain tothe onco about- at all- but even my family noticed that I'm fading fast this round. Any advice on how to approach this? My fantasy right now is that my onco takes pity on me and slightly reduces the dose of the chemos or targeted therapies, but I'm not sure in what conditions that even happens. Maybe I’m dreaming- now that I'm halfway through I'm just really ready to be done with all this and grasping for straws for some way to bring some comfort back into my life. Thanks again for listening ladies and being here for the good and bad times.
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22FightFor - sorry you're feeling tired and weak after the most recent round. Did they check your red blood cells/hemoglobin? After AC 3 and 4 I started feeling weak and out of breath and it turned out I was anemic from the chemo. They gave me a shot of Procrit and that helped. Worth checking just to be sure. I hope you feel better soon!
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22fightfor- sorry you are feeling so down this round. I also found the half way point very tough both physically and mentally. My oncologist was never very usefull in addressing SE, except when she believed there was a serious concern, in which case I had a round of taxol cancelled. Make sure to write Your SE down daily so it's easy to discuss later.
Some of the SE we get, like mild anemia, low potassium, fatigue are expected, so I found the MO didn't alter my treatment despite the fact that It felt very hard some days. I am currently going through a couple of those hard days so I know how hard it is to cope at times. That said, if you feel you are fading fast going to ER is a sure way to get checked out quickly. i wish I had done that on a few occasions looking back at it now.
The good news is you may not get progressively worse SE. My MO said the general trend is toward more fatigue as you go, but I'm on my last round and feeling much better than many of the earlier ones (despite having worse blood work numbers). Some of my earlier trouble was due to common colds and I just didn't know it at the time. Keep up your good eating plan and liquids as much as possible, I found it did make a difference. Also, Daily hydra lite drinks and extra protein really helped me this time. You are half way so the numbers are only going to get smaller from here!
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so i am doing my very first docetaxel infusion.. hope its mild on me .. first time my blood counts were good enough for infusion and dint get delayed.
Also this time my hemoglobin increased from 8.6 to 9.8 .. all i did is ate handful of soaked raisins , 2 prunes daily and bunch of sauteed spinach like most days .. some days they were out of stock so i skipped .. but really i saw a tremendous change
And about surgery .. i had mastectomy.. i dint have any pain or issues maybe my medicines was ahead of time.. Even drain tube Cleaning and waiting it to get removed is only thing that gets you little troublesome .. and main thing is donot forget to do the exercises they teach you .. because the more you do the more you get flexible like before
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Hello 22fightor I had also a rough time after AC round 3. I wanted to stop. My MO decreased the dose for round 4 and it has been much more manageable so far. Maybe you should talk to your MO and check with him or her if you can decrease the dose. We all have our limits. Hang in there!
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Aanoliver, hope your SEs will be minor! Great news for your hemoglobin number. It seems that you have found the successful recipe. I should probably get this spinach soup out of the freezer.
Cheers to all!
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hi all hope this finds you guys doing okay I'm on day 5 out from my chemo I will say this has not been the worst round for me this is Round 4 side effects were better the Big D came but was very manageable fatigue is worse though. I'm finally setting up appointments to see my surgeon and reconstructive surgeon two more rounds of chemo so I figure it's time not sure what will happen with radiation yet it's so nice to have all of you here going through a similar situation I have leaned on you all greatly
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Hi everyone. I've had a couple rough days, feeling sorry for myself and going through the steroid crash on Monday.
Also got all emotional and worried that I made a mistake with taking on this adolescent pup and second guessing myself about everything and just being a mess and having a hard time thinking logically about things... That Monday I also didn't have help with the dogs so even though I felt really awful I had to get up and walk with her and get up and stop her from being naughty etc etc etc. It was a bit much honestly but hopefully that was the worst of it. Then I mapped out 12 weeks of taxol on my calendar & got all depressed about how LONG this is all taking & how it will affect my plans for the fall (I was supposed to be going back to school but now I don't even know what I want to do, never mind if I actually would be able to...) Hopefully my mood will start lifting today.
According to those charts I posted a while back these days I'm at the lowest point of immunity right now so I'm also trying to be super careful (while dealing with a messy big dorky dog and my ds & dh both have colds, ugh! ). Yesterday I started feeling so tired and out of it & having a bit of trouble temperature regulating - one minute hot flashes, the next I'm so cold. I started getting paranoid about fever and was constantly taking my temp but it never rose above 37.1 so I wasn't having any real fever. I really don't want to get febrile neutropenia again! I was super tired and went to bed a couple hours early but didn't sleep terribly well.
Today I'm wondering if it's actually anemia causing my symptoms. I read that low rbc's can present as being cold & out of sorts like that. I'm going to keep on taking my temperature and try to eat things that might boost rbc's and hope that I'm not getting sick. I just want this AC gunk to be over finally as it really seems to hit me hard.0 -
Moth, sorry to hear that the last few days have been horrible. Hopefully the next ones will be better.
Deb, glad that the SEs are not worse this time around. Let's hope for the best!
Day 6 after infusion has been hard on me the last 2 rounds. Blood pressure drop, very weak. I am curious to see if tomorrow will be different as my dose was lowered last time. I have been progressing on my puzzle. I will soon reach the hard part, which is the sky. I was almost ready to go for a walk today but I got stomach pain after lunch. I was quite disappointed because weather is sunny. Maybe tomorrow or later when the middle schoolers are in their home. I don't want them to see me with a hat, I don't know why.
Talk to you later
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Well I spoke too soon, day 7 after chemo day and I feel just awful today. I think I'm dehydrated, having a hard time getting fluids down and don't want to go to infusion center for fluids. I'm super weak, mild D, and I think my kidneys ache. My BUN had been a bit high lately, anyone else have this? Dr said it could just be from dehydration, hope my kidneys aren't failing, stupid cancer 😏 Hope you're all doing OK.
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Hello girls, Well looks like there is a theme these last few days and I'm going to add to it. Today super hard, I have the sniffles, just the sniffles and I'm laid flat out, absolutely zero energy. I know how you feel, Moth about the dog. I have 2 and although they have brought me many good things through this chemo journey, they are my one going concern. I wrote an email to my friends and set up a walking schedule online for the first week after chemo. That helped a lot. But today, I am on day 15, you'd think I'd be up and about but I feel like I've had the *&%$ beat out of me. Last night woke up to the bed soaking wet, never happened before and no fever. Last Sunday and Monday, you'd have never known I was the same person, I did 2 days of gentle mountain bike riding and felt great. It's discouraging. I'm so glad you all are here. It helps me to hear you all feel frustrated along side although I sure wish none of us were feeling this way.
On another note, I see some of you are preparing for surgery. I've already had my lumpectomy so anyone moving forward if you want to know about it, just ask.
Thanks for being there, February girls.
indahood
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Laurie, Deb, sorry to hear that you are down. I hope you feel better soon. Sending you virtual hugs.
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Laurie and Deb- hang in there. Chemo can sure be nasty. I hope you feel better quickly.
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just read all your recent posts ladies. Seems this week has been tough for some. Just want to remind you all the treatments will be over soon. And we'll look back and be glad we took a pause and did everything we could so we can move on with a piece of mind! I'm thinking of you girls.
Moth, hang in there with the pup. It's hard to regret a bundle of love. Mine got me out in walks by the river which was good. Hope your spirit is brighter today. We all have our days.
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Seems that many are having a rough time Deb I hope you feel better soon the big d has made things so miserable for you especially as you try to continue to work. Moth if now is not the right time to add another family member as a pet do not feel guilty sometimes things just are not meant to be. You will I know do what is best for both your self and the pup.
I do have some good news my port WORKS!! So well that my MO let them take out the PICC line. I have also completed round one of 12 taxols. Iced my hands and feet anyone planning on using the slipper socks be warned they are slick so potty before you start and if you have to go during take them off to be safe.
Hope everyone feels better today you all have given me so much hope and strength you will never know soldier on and continue to kick cancers butt you all.
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AMBurt it is nice that your port is finally working. Good luck with the taxol.
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Yea Amburt, so glad your port is working! Well I have to work tomorrow, felt pretty crappy still today so wish me luck 😏 Have a good weekend ladies
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good luck Deb.
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Amburt, glad your port is finally working.
Deb, goodluck hun .
So its my frst taxol and day 4, so far just steroid crash nothing else apart from bad taste in mouth..
Compared to AC this one so far treating me so better.. hope it goes this way throughout
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https://foodforbreastcancer.com/
- Hi. Here it tells us what foods to eat and avoid during all different types of chemo and how it Affects us before during and after.
- A must read.
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hey guys, I'm in hospital again since Thursday with febrile neutropenia. My neutrophils were 0 on thurs, <.1 yesterday and .1 today
My temps fluctuate wildly from hour to hour and I'm kinda miserable with chill and fatigue. And now I have tummy cramps and loose stool from the abx
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Moth - so sorry to hear you're in the hospital from your WBC being so low. I hope they managed to get you more comfortable and you're able to relax and start feeling better soon! Thinking of you and sending you hugs!
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moth-So sorry you are back at the hospital. I hope you get your counts up quickly and feel better. Sending warm thoughts from Michigan
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Oh no Moth, hope you recover quickly. I can't wait until all of we Feb girls are done with chemo ps I made it thru work but still battling the big D
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Well first off AMBURT congrats on the port
DEBMISTO, good luck with your work week. Sending hugs and warmth
MOTH, oh so sorry you're back in the Hospital. Such an up and down journey.
IDKIDK thanks for the list, I'll look it over as soon as I finish this post. ;-)
AANOLIVER, glad the taxol is not too taxing for you. Sorry for that terrible pun.
ROCKCITY, I took your advice and hung in there. today feeling much much better.
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Moth- so sorry you are in hospital. Sending good thoughts your way for a speedy recovery in your neutrophils
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Hi laides! Seems this week has been very hard on some of you.
Deb, indahood - I hope you feel better soon and get over the SEs.
Moth - hope your counts get up quickly so you can get out of the hospital Soon. sending hugs
Amburt - I’m so happy your port is working well!! Such great news!
Anoliver - great news your reacting well to Taxol.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!
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moth, I wish you a speedy recovery. Big virtual hug.
Deb glad you could manage your day at the salon. Hope the big D will be manageable.
Indahood, glad to read that you are feeling better.
Idkidk thx for sharing the list. Eating and lost of appetite has been a big issue for me. I have lost almost 7 kgs since chemo started.
I have a question for the group. I am still under AC influence (taxol not started yet) and I have burning feelings on 3 of my fingers on my right hand and 2 fingers on my left hand. I also feel the same burning feelings in the sole of both feet like i have walked the whole day and experienced frictions the whole time. Did one of you had the same feeling-sensation? I am afraid that taxol would increase this unpleasant sensation
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Hi Lolette,
Let you oncologist know about that SE's right away. I did not do AC but this is one of the SE that my oncologist asks me about all the time on taxotere. It's a sign of neuropathy that can be a long term SE so you want to get onto it right away. Good luck.
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Yes lolette, sounds like neuropathy I have it in both hands /fingers and both feet /toes mine's from the taxotere but my right hand had some from a pinched nerve in my neck previously that's how I knew what it was when I got it from the chemo, let you MO know sometimes they will reduce your dose
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