Chemo starting April 2018
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Engine, I'm sending all my will to her healing and u both being able to enjoy life and each other. May I say for all of us, U both are a blessing in love.. thank u for trusting us to support u both..
Hugs...and a healthy recovery for Janice...
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Thanks, Urdrago71. Much appreciated.
Her fever is still 100.5 just now, so if we hadn't gone in to the ER this afternoon, we would be going this evening and probably be there most of the night again. I'm glad we went earlier and started the antibiotics.
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Engine sending prayers your way that Janice is starting to feel better when those antibiotics kick in. Chemo kicked my butt and I wasn't even dealing with any kind of infection. I can't even imagine how bad it's knocked Janice down. Thank you Jesus that she is finally done!
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DONE. Its still not hit yet. Aug 13th looked so far when I started on the 3rd of April. April friends, all of you were a part of this journey.
Engine, that does make sense. Now her body will have a real chance at recovering from the surgical incision. Best wishes to you and Janice.
Facial fuzz is back, nothing on the head..I am way behind this guy.
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Frog--congrats and LOL! Best wishes for speedy recovery from this one so you can get ready for surgery. Did you get your date?
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Oh, Engine, I am so sorry Janice has all these issues. I hope she feels better soon. You are one amazing husband
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Thanks, everyone. She seems a little better this morning.
She said even if the MO hadn't said she could stop chemo, she would have told him she can't do anymore. Coming from someone who was hospitalized for six months straight during multiple rounds and a stem cell transplant 16 years ago, to say this has been rougher really tells me it's been bad for her. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact her marrow doesn't recover quickly after each TC round.
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Frog Love that little duck! Congrades on being done! Right?
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Engine, sooooo sorry Janice is suffering again. Thank heavens she's done with chemo and will be able to heal now. You've been super-amazing through all of this and she is clearly a fighter. Sending big hugs and good wishes for her fast recovery.
Frog, yay, congrats on being done! You can start planning what to do with all your free time next Monday, lol. Love the duck, won't it be great when you have that much fuzz on your head?
Had my surgery consult today. I liked him and what he said matched a lot of what I wanted. I'll get a preop MRI and mammogram in mid September, then surgery in mid October. He wants 6 weeks out from chemo to give me a better chance at healing. I was going to do a UMX, but need to do something with the unaffected breast to make it more symmetrical, so I'm really thinking hard about a prophylactic MX on the other side since I'll need surgery anyhow. Thoughts from those of you who have had a MX and/or preventive MX? Happy with your surgery choice? Would you do it again or change anything? (I'm doing a MX regardless due to my triple negative status, but I'm also doing lots of research!) Thanks for any input.
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woohoo Congrats, Frog...onto the the next step.. how long of a break will u be getting between cheno and aurgery?
Gawarrior-I will be having a six week break as well so I've got a better chance of healthier recovery..Glad to hear everything went well at ur surgery consult.
Happy Monday everyone, hope everyone has a peaceful week..
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Taxol 12 day 2
Thankyou for the wishes
Mild aches and pains. Fingers are bit numb. My eyes are so irritated and keep tearing up.
Thats awesome you have your surgery date Robin. My Surgery date has been confirmed, 6th of Sept. I will have a break of 3 weeks and few days.
Wishing everyone a restful week ahead.
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GAWarrior, I went with BMX. I also had cancer in one breast only, but I was 34DDD before this nightmare, so the other breast had to operated on anyway, same as you. I went with BMX for these reasons: if I ended up with one fake boob and one real one, they won’t match completely and the real one would have started sagging eventually, while the fake one would always stay perky. I didn’t want to deal with this. Second reason was fear that in a few years I might end up with cancer in the second breast and will have to start everything from the beginning. I’d have to have mammograms on the real boob on top of all the checkups of the fake one and wait for results again, which I didn’t want to do. I went with implants because 2 of my friends had flap surgeries and both had horrible complications after it. Didn’t want to deal with that either.
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Frog--congrats on the surgery date!! And I always kinda liked the post-op time--like a month that you couldn't do anything but heal. Will you have any tx after surgery?
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Frog, so happy you are done with chemo. I hope you have plenty of time to rest. I hope you have the energy everyday to take a walk and drink plenty of water and get that stuff out of your system. Consider in a week asking about some vitamin supplements. I take 1000 vit C daily the weeks b4 surgery and still do. I do think supplements continue to help me. GA, I also went the BMX route. I wavered a little bit which is normal but all things led me to stick with my decision. With dense breasts I could not deal with all the testing on the other breast. Fighting for MRI with insurance when mammos clearly don't pick up cancer is something I didn't want to deal with. Of course, cosmetically the results would most likely look better. Not sure where you are with things but maybe nipple sparing is an option on your healthy breast. I just had my final exchange and things look ok but still bruised and swollen. Flap surgeries were off the table for me anyway. It is such a personal decision. Just know it's normal to waiver a bit, it's not an easy decision. I must say, when I was handed my final path report ( very strange thinking pathologist was dissecting my breast) it was a relief that no other cancer was found in either breast. Very thankful. Had there been it would have confirmed my decision even more. One of those things you just don't know for sure unless you go with BMX . Continue to ponder and research. Hugs to all
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Hi GAWarrior,
Thanks so much. She was still running a very low-grade temp (99.4) last night. I left for work this morning before she was up, so I hope it is normal this morning.
Yes, after seeing what my wife is going through with her surgical incision, I like your dr's idea of waiting six weeks out from chemo. Janice started chemo two weeks post surgery and that is the main reason, the doctors think of why it hasn't healed. I wish we would have waited longer, perhaps a month at least.
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engine, look in to vitamin C and wound healing. Now that janice is done with chemo maybe you can get her boosted up a little. Like 1000-2000 mg a day. And of course protein. I hope each day gets better for her.
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Hi DebAl,
Thanks! I'll suggest that. I know she takes a multi-vitamin and a calcium/D3 every day.
She'll be on a hormone suppressing drug soon. I don't think they use Tamoxifen anymore (?), but it will be something like that. I wonder if they will still want her to stay away from vitamins during the time she is on that medication?
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hey engine, research vitamin C and wound healing. You really can't go wrong. It helps with collagen production. I am on an anti hormonal too with no restrictions on vitamins but please ask. I can't believe it, I have a morning and night weekly pill dispenser. I'm officially my mother. However other than thyroid and the anti hormonal pill the rest are supplements. I found that once I was passed chemo my attention went to making a few needed dietary changes, getting in my exercise and learning more about a plant based diet. I'm not willing to give up everything but I have learned a lot from the other threads. I hope each day that janice is feeling better.
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Thanks for your surgery input InnaB and DebAL. Lol, I said the same thing to the surgeon - if I don't do something with the healthy breast, I'll have one perky 25 year old boob and one sad, droopy 60 year old one at some point. Plus, there's the dense tissue thing in my case, too, Plus not wanting to have mammograms forever (especially since my lump wasn't even seen on the mammo). He will do skin sparing and nipple sparing, I asked for them and he was on board. I'll do TEs first, then implants. I couldn't stomach the idea of flaps and healing 4 places at once (2 mastectomies and 2 donor sites). He also said not to expect nipple sensation, that it would be gravy if I had any afterward. That part makes me really sad. Any good news on that front, ladies?
InnaB, so sorry your friends had problems with their flap surgeries. Just another reason I didn't want to mess with them.
DebAL, sounds like things are healing well despite being bruised/swollen. The surgeon said I'd probably do the exchange surgery 2-3 months after the mastectomies. Ugh.
Headed in for T #9 tomorrow. 3 to go after that! Good luck with your T #2, InnaB, also your T#11 Urdrago.
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GA warrior, I had skin sparing and nipple sparing and so far very happy and if I have to go thru this consider myself lucky. They expand u quite a bit further than the actual implant. I wanted to be a tad bigger than b4 diagnosis but I feel I look the same. I made my daughter look, she seems to think I'm a little bigger. I guess I got used to the TE size because I was expanded for so long. Anyway, I have the "gravy". I have dull sensation on my skin along with nipple sensation. When I'm cold, they are cold. When I'm not, they aren't but there may be a slight delay in response time. It is different but it's ok. My incisions are infra mammary so they are not visible. I was very fortunate to be a candidate for this type of surgery. I just could not go on worrying about dense tissue in the healthy breast. Final path said 50% dense on healthy one, 40% on the bad one. That's crazy. For piece of mind I made the right decision for me. 2-3 months sounds about right for exchange. My PS would not fill until 4 weeks after mastectomy. If it takes a month to get fills in you usually wait a month from last fill b4 exchange. Have u decided pre- pectoral or behind the muscle? Decisions seem never ending. I'm glad everyone is headed towards or crossed the finish line with chemo. Hope everyone has a good night.
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Yay, DebAL, I feel better! Some sensation is better than none. I was picturing feeling entirely numb from shoulders to belly button. I am getting pre-pectoral implants. I was worried about cutting the muscle in the post-pectoral, especially with my job. I don't want to cut any more nerves than I have to, nor do I want weak chest muscles if I'm moving a heavy xray unit around or helping elderly person with a walker or wheelchair (which I sometimes have to do to get them into/out of my chair to clean their teeth). If I'm doing this, I want to go slightly bigger, too, so I'll keep in mind that the TEs need to be bigger than what I want. The BS said no inframammary incsions in my case, but he drew all over me with a marker to show me exactly the cuts he'd make. They'll be small scars. My PA at the MO's office has seen several women that have have surgery by this Dr. She says he does wonderful work - she couldn't even tell that a woman she'd seen the day before had even had a mastectomy, the scars were so small. He's an oncoplastic surgeon - specially trained for breast reconstruction after cancer treatment. I'm excited he'll be doing my surgery (and very nervous to have the surgery).
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GA, I'm glad you are going the pre pec route. If you read on exchange city and the pre pec thread there are active women that are unhappy with sub pec due to animation deformity. That was one decision that was easy anyway. They can fill u pretty rapidly with very little to zero pain. You can follow whippetmom also. She has helped many women with implant sizing. Thread is implant sizing 101 when u are ready. I have mentor round high profile implants. Again, I'm a pretty small person. I maybe would have liked to have been a little bigger but I'm still ok with it. I'm here to help as you move forward. Sounds like u are in the hands of a great team!
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I told Janice about the vitamin C. Thanks for that.
We're both just frustrated right now and kind of snapped at each other.
I was at work all day with the understanding that my cousin would be by. She did come over but Janice's fever was a bit higher all day, peaking at 100.7. It went down to 100.1 the last time we checked, but I was upset when I came home to hear that she and my cousin didn't think to call the doctor to see if the cultures had come back and if a change in antibiotics might be a good idea since she's been on it since Sunday evening and the temp is averaging a bit higher. Anyway, we agreed to keep an eye on it tonight, taking Tylenol at bedtime, if need be, and see what it is in the morning. I sent an email to the doctor (They had told us that is faster than leaving a phone message) and see what he says. We'll call them if we don't hear back. School is starting and I am trying to balance both work and home. It's just hard and frustrating. Sorry, I just needed to vent. 0 -
Vent away Engine! This road has been just as hard on you because you have had to sit back and watch and with no power to help or take it away. Thst has got to be driving you crazy! Sounds like you're a school teacher? If you put that in earlier post I must have missed it.
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Hi Life1963,
No, actually, I am in administration in the international studies and foreign language department at a small college. We have our faculty retreat and new student orientation next week and then classes start the following Monday.
Thanks for letting me vent. My wife and I are both very frustrated. Additionally, I'm frustrated by the fact that neither my wife nor my cousin thought it might be a good idea to call the doctor at any point all day. We could know more by now or even start another antibiotic.
I'm not sure what the best plan is other than to speak with the doctor tomorrow. Her fever has been at or just slightly above the 100.5 criteria for going to the ER, but that is mainly when someone is neutropenic, which she isn't anymore. It is averaging about half a degree higher than yesterday. The counts are low normal or just below that. So, I'm not sure going back in is needed, but I do think we should let the doctor know, and also to see if the cultures have come back.
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Hi Engine - vent away! No apology needed, you're going through this just as much as we are and we know you're very worried about Janice. If this helps, my PA told me to stop taking my temperature 3 times a day like I had been doing since I started chemo. She said temp spikes are normal and you can take the temp a few minutes apart and get a difference in temps. She said if I was neutropenic, I'd know it because I would feel yucky and have the corresponding temperature. That made sense to me. If Janice felt good and wasn't worried about going to the ER, maybe it's because the antibiotics are working and she didn't really need to go (a "trust your gut" thing)? I'm sure she's so tired of seeing the ER. Fwiw, I had temp spikes within the week after chemo almost every time (just below 100.4) and it was because of those stupid hot flashes we get. Good luck to you both!
DebAL, thanks for the thread info. I'm a small person, too, sounds like we have similar ideas of how we want to look (ummm, not Pamela Anderson, lol).
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Hi GAWarrior,
Thanks so much!
We're on a first name basis with several of th staff at the ER/Urgent Care
I think, and this is totally understandable, that she is done with the blood draws. She's always had bad veins, but now it is near impossible to tap a vein and they can only use one arm. She feels yucky and has the low grade fevers. Her counts indicate she is not neutropenic. One of the good things about Kaiser is that you can log onto your records and get test results. The drainage from the incision does seem to be lessening, so that is a good sign. We see a PA at the surgical office tomorrow. She had 99.4 this morning when I left for work. She was going to call the dr if we don't hear back on our email this morning. Not much else we can do. Thanks again, everyone for your support. I feel unworthy venting being that all of you, as well as Janice, are going through it and I am not. Not in the same way, anyway.
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Hi Engine,
Please don't feel unworthy of venting! I was a caregiver for my mother (brain cancer) and later for my father (congestive heart failure/AFIB/pulmonary fibrosis). I know what it's like to be helpless and not able to control a situation. All you can do is just sit there watching the person you love when the feel yucky or are in pain or in the hospital. You're suffering, too, just in a different way and you are exceedingly worthy of venting.
How's Janice today? Did the Dr call back? Since her temp is down and the drainage is lessening, I'm betting they will wait and check her tomorrow at the surgical office. So sad to be on a first name basis with the ER, right?
Hang in there. Big hugs to you!0 -
Maggie2, hoping your surgery went well today!
Urdrago, good luck with T #11 tomorrow. You must be so excited that you'll be done next week! Oh - I took off my wig this afternoon and can actually see teensy, bitty, tiny fuzzies, just since yesterday - woot! Gotta get going with the castor oil/vit E/coconut oil.
Weeedie, hopiong you're doing okay with T#10 this week.
InnaB, sending hugs and good thoughts your way. Hoping for no SEs after your DD T #2 today.
Frog, how are you doing after your last T?
Some lucky soul got to ring the bell while I was getting chemo this afternoon. We all applauded and I turned green with envy. That will be me in 3 weeks, can't wait! (Oh, my RBCs were holding steady at 8.5 this week
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Hi GAWarrior,
I appreciate your thoughts very much. Thanks again.
I'm sorry you had to be a caregiver for your parents. It is hard. This is my third time doing it for Janice too.
She seems to be feeling a little better, with a bit more energy. Temps were slightly lower, but not much. Our primary care doctor's RN wrote back and said the first run of the cultures came back clean and that she would have him review the urinary infection to be sure Janice is on the right antibiotic. We haven't heard back. Tomorrow we see a PA in the surgical department and see what she says about the incision.
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