Starting chemo February 2018
Comments
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Butterflylily-my nails are in a limbo state. They don't hurt as bad but my thumb nails are curling up at the sides and I can see more blood spots under them. I'm still hopeful they won't really go, maybe just kinda deform for a bit. They tend to get feverish a day or two after treatment and I keep a cup of ice water on my desk to dip them in when they heat up. I also noticed they have horizontal lines (like tree rings) marking when I've had round of chemo. But I think the lines I'm seeing are from the AC and have just now grown that far out.
I'm icing to keep the neuropathy at bay, not because of my nails. The first round before I had the ice mitts I couldn't stand keeping my hands in the ice and that was the time I had pins and needles in my hands. Since I've been using the mitts/socks I have had barely any of that sensation. Neuropathy runs in my family anyway so I may see more benefit for the trouble than others in that regard.
My blood counts went back down
I feel ok though and I think my vision is improving slowly so that's good.0 -
Jacqueline and lolette as far as surgery goes the plastic surgeon I saw really didn't give me many choices I can't do diep flap I surprisingly don't have enough extra abdomen tissue for both breasts I can't do immediate reconstruction unless I want to go smaller and I'm already between a B and C cup and the plastic surgeon kind of acted like I was not a good candidate for that so my choices are only remove the right breast where the cancer is I could get diep flap in that one and leave my left breast which I did not want to do I'm still pretty stuck on double mastectomy I do not want to go through breast cancer again and I know I still could even with double mastectomy but hopefully that will lower the chances a lot so my choices on reconstruction are pretty much just expanders and implants or a combo of implants and diep for both breasts have I made a decision no not yet
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Lolotte - glad you're feeling better & getting stronger! Fingers crossed that's the end of the fever & soon you'll get to go home! I had surgery before chemo. I'm ok with the lumpectomy decision. If my BRCA etc had come back positive I would have gone for bilat mx with no reconstruction but as it is, I'm going to just leave it at the lumpectomy. Locoregional recurrence (ie in the breast, same side or other) would suck but I'd deal with it. It's metastatic recurrence that is the scary thing for me and a mastectomy wouldn't prevent that.....
Mom of two - I hope your pneumonia clears up quickly
desbsmisto - poor you with the tummy troubles. Diarrhea is so awful, esp when it drags on like this
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OMG I'm 9 days out from chemo and still so fatigued and chemo sick stomach is a wreck yikes please get me off of this train. I hope the rest of you girls are doing better with side effects and having a good day.
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Hey, for those of you that are going to do radiation do you know how long after chemo you start rads?
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CBOK- my oncologist told me when round 6 of my chemo is finished I would have to wait 8 weeks before starting RADS. I have no idea if this is the standard or if it varies depending on type of CA, stage, etc.
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Hi Girls, phew, Lolette, glad you are starting to feel better, keep on keeping on. And Debmisto, I'm glad you took some time to rest from work. If anyone else is wondering about breast surgery, I had a 2cm tumor on the right breast at 7 o'clock. I chose a lumpectomy and radiation. I had to make the decision so quickly and this is what the surgeon recommended so it's what I went with. When I was told I had to have chemo too, I was frustrated by my decision since it means I get every treatment: surgery, chemo, radiation and hormone drugs. BUT... after my friend and neighbor chose the double mastectomy and seeing all the stuff she had to go through surgically, missing work, painful inserts, about 3 surgeries, physiotherapy for back trouble (once the breasts are off your body has to adjust) Increased chance of arm issues. I am glad I chose the lumpectomy and radiation. I am lucky though, I am on a trial and doing Partial breast irradiation instead of whole breast so I only have to do 5 days instead of the original 16. Anyway, I have found the radiation to be fairly non eventful so far. Good luck all you all. Wishing all a good SE free week.
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lollote I’m sorry you’re still in the hospital. You’re right the infection must be viral that’s why the antibiotics won’t help. Hospitals like to bill so stand your ground.
Feel better hun. You’ll be home before you know it
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Hello all
I am home! However no taxol for me tomorrow. It will be 2 weeks in a row of missing the second dose. It postpones everything. Cancer sucks!
Deb were you able to attend your event today?
Cheers!
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Lolette- congratulations on being home. It's a shame you have to postpone your taxoll but the most important thing is you are home.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you who have children, pets, nieces and nephews, Etc.
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- Can someone please explain how to determine tumor markers from CBC ? What test do we look
- at ? I googled it but it just says it’s in CBC bloodwork and about higher and lower cells .
- But what are you guys looking at specifically ?
- Thank you
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idkidk - a CBC doesn't give you tumor marker results. The doctor has to order those separately (& many don't. I've never had it done).
CBC stands for complete blood count & just gives the breakdown of the different white & red blood cells (that's technically called differential & it's often tacked on as CBC & diff but most labs now when they do a CBC they do the differentials automatically; literally autotmatically as it's a machine that counts them all....)0 -
Had taxol 2/12 today. Reduced dose because neutrophils are still borderline & I have to start back on grastofil as well for 3 days after each treatment, so I foresee bone pain in my future.
On the plus side, I finally got some ativan to take before the IV start. They were beginning to freak me out more & more (I thought I'd get more comfortable with them as time went on but I was getting worse) & I was white knuckling my way through them so the chemo nurses advised me several times to get ativan from my doctor. I'm not sure I took it early enough but still, today was a good infusion day.0 -
Lolotte, glad you're home with your family!!! Bummer about the delays. Cancer is sure a time thief, in so many different ways.
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- Ty Moth yes onc at Sloan doesn’t feel it’s reliable. But I was reading that certain cell counts when they do a CBC they can tell. But didn’t point to anything specific.
- Thank you for responding. Much appreciated
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Good Morning ladies and fellow BC fighters. I'm not good at posting but I am always reading your posts, praying for you all. Sharing your issues and side effects help me get through the worst part of the treatments. I finished my last #6 of 6 TCHP chemo on 5/8/18 I am so glad. Next part of my treatment is BMX some time in June. Hang in there as we get through this stinking BC.
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Congratulations LKinKC! Wish you a good rest period before the next leg of your journey!
Moth nice that infusion went well today. Hope your neutrophils stay steady so you can continue your treatment.
Happy mother day to all the moms in this group!
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Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms, and have a great day, easy on the SE’s, to all!
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jo6359 - next and last Taxol is this coming Friday 5/18. So thrilled! No rads since I had a mastectomy. I'll be on Tamoxifen for about 1.5 years before my MO let's me try to have a baby and then come back to Tamoxifen for another 3 years or so. I did 2 rounds of IVF and that's actually how I found out - my fertility doctor sent me for a mammogram when i was trying to plan an embryo transfer. So, I have to wait at least a year and a half. But, for the fun part, I'm going to Montauk to celebrate and maybe Virginia Beach after chemo is done! Need my ocean treatment. Pooch does too
Tlow990 - I used Biotene on AC and no mouth sores. On DD Taxol, forgot to replenish the Biotene and haven't used any. I have my last Taxol tx this coming Friday. So far nothing remarkable to report. I thought one was forming on the left side but it's nothing really. And i think it's going away. But if you stick with Biotene I think you should be fine.
Jacqueline - hope the Taxol pain is getting better? I had my dose reduced 15% after the first treatment and was prescribed pain meds for the pain by my MO. That changed everything and the 2nd and 3rd Taxol treatments were very manageable.
Lolotte - So sorry about the hospital experience! Glad you're starting to feel better. Sending you a hug.
CBOK - it's strange I had the worst pins and needles, and hammered nails feeling after the first Taxol only. Taxol 2 and 3 everything was so much more tolerable - hard to believe only a 15% reduction in my dose made such a difference. Are they giving you anything for your blood counts? When are you done with chemo?
This week I've been freaking myself out a little because I can feel a lump right above the nipple of my right breast. Right breast was supposed to be he healthy one that they found no issues with. But now I can feel something there and my mind has been busy worrying. Told my MO and she gave me an RX for ultrasound. We agreed that it's weird since I've been on chemo - how can something appear now? Anyway, I'm going to the imaging center to have it checked on Friday right before my last treatment. I pray it's a false alarm..
Also, unless I'm going crazy, I think my hair is starting to grow...
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Lolette, congrats on being so close to finished. I'll bet you'll have a wonderful time at the ocean. My hair started to grow back pretty much every time between treatments so your hair starting is not so surprising. Hope it's nice hair.
On a personal note: I have stark white fuzz! I was about 70% grey before treatment. I'm done radiation and have to report, for me, it was easy. The radiation nurse told me it's common for we chemo girls to not complain about RADs since it's so much easier than chemo. lol. I still have excellent energy. Yesterday I walked the dogs, played tennis for 2 hours, did some housework and went for a bike ride. My goodness, I'm appreciating little things so much more now than I was before treatment.
To all my beautiful February Chemo ladies good wishes to you all. CBOK, thanks for starting this post. It was so important to my recovery.
Talk to you all later,
Indahood
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Hello Indahood,
Glad you are done with your treatment. You have so much energy, it is wonderful! I have 11 more taxol rounds before the next "adventure ".
Have a great week everyone!
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Hi all,
I'm into the second week of my unilateral mastectomy without reconstruction. I've had tightness toward the armpit pretty much since the first few days. In the first week I assumed it was just tender and needed time to heal. My range of motion is not bad for this stage, but now I realize it's tight because of early scar tissue.
I discussed this with my surgeon and he recommended a few basic exercises. Anyone have good results just with exercise? i asked about massage and physiotherapy, but he didn't think I would get much benefit. Not sure that's entirely true. Anyone benefit from massage or other scar tissue treatments to adress tightness? Any recommenda In the Vancouver area
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Walden - did you have a PT consult yet? When I had surgery at Surrey Memorial I had a PT consult through the hospital. Before surgery, after surgery & I'm having a 6 month follow up in June (plus if I'd had problems I could have called to see her earlier). They have PT who specifically sees breast surgery patients for lymphedema screening but also to monitor range of motion & healing.
Fwiw, I think massage definitely helps adhesions & loosens the tissue but I'm not sure about how soon you can see an RMT. I know you can massage yourself as soon as the wounds aren't weepy so I'd definitely do that.0 -
Walden-I experience generalized tightness post BMX plus 18 lymph nodes removal. I am an OTR. I performed basic stretching exercises 4 to 6 times a day. Every 2 hours I would do 5 to 10 minutes of exercise with emphasis on stretching and incorporating minimal resistive exercises. I performed self massage to minimize scar tissue and increase circulation. Within 14 days I had full range of motion. . I have not had any issues with pain and edema . You need to err on the side of caution. Listen to your body.
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This is what my nails are looking like. About a quarter of my middle fingernail has detached from the nail bed. They are turning yellowish and the dark spots are from bleeding according to my MO. Second picture you can see how the nail turned up at the outside edge. I've got 5 more taxol to go.
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CBOK, ouch!! My nails have dark & light bands but not signs of lifting yet.
I was looking at the calendar yesterday & realized I'm past the half way point of chemo: I started 13 weeks ago & I have 10 more to go . I always like the second half of things - it seems to go faster to me. It's like the downhill part of the roller coaster. Wheeeeeeee, sliding towards the end!
Taxol #3/12 later today - probably reduced dose as my counts are a bit low even though I started grastofil injections for 3 days after the last treatment.0 -
moth- I am looking forward to round 5 of chemo tomorrow. That means I only have. 2 more chemo tx left. I'm hopeful that my next two treatments will go as well as the first four . I keep telling myself Just 2 More. Hallelujah I am more concerned about radiation than I ever had with chemo. Radiation is going to be more disruptive work-wise because of having to do it 5 days a week. The number of weeks have not been determined yet. I'm not sure how they determine the duration of treatment. I haven't been assigned a radiologist yet
But that's okay. My worst side effect of chemo has been the blurred vision, food tasting metallic and a couple days of brain fog. Several of you have been through hell with your chemo. So hopefully you'll be able to finish your chemo with minimal side effects and move on to the next treatment. On a positive note since I've lost hair from head to toe I haven't had to shave my legs or underarms in approx 3 months. LOL
Cbok-your nails look bad. This to shall pass. A million thanks for starting this post.
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CBOK, hope your nails are not too painful. Mine are darker at the bed but like Moth I have no sign of lifting.
I hope that I can have dose 2 tomorrow.
Have a good weekend!
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Hi ladies, happy to report I'm done with chemo! Also happy to report you'll be there too before you know it! 😀 I start Tamoxifen now for xyz number of years.
CBOK- my nails are a milder version of yours color wise but thankfully haven't felt too painful after the taxol dose was reduced. Thank you for starting this thread! It has been tremendous support.
Indahood-I'm gonna follow your example and get active-tennis, biking, Pilates! Can't wait!
Love you all. Will check back soon. Just know that this too shall pass and we'll be stronger for it. This experience has taught me to appreciate cherish life and enjoy the good we are blessed with and help those less fortunate!
AND! I just registered for my first cycling event to end cancer! Oct 7, 2018 New York. Velocity ride.org
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ButterflyLilly, so great news for you! Have a happy post chemo life!
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