Chemo starting June 2018
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rachelcarter35 - yay! Excited for you.
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bgirl:
Hopefully I will be able to have the surgery within four weeks of my last infusion. But yes it is nice to have an extra week of good eating. My mother is going to make a nice dinner
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rachelcarter35 - yay! Excited for you.
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hikinglady! thank you for the fantastic post!
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I have a post-chemo check up and 6 month mammogram on Monday. Chemo has changed the way you see everything, because I'm feeling more anxiety than usual. Anyone else feel this way before doctor visits now?
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I have a post-chemo check up and 6 month mammogram on Monday. Chemo has changed the way you see everything, because I'm feeling more anxiety than usual. Anyone else feel this way before doctor visits now?
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Now we've experienced having really bad news from a doctor. I think it will change me forever. I know now that life can change on a dime.
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HikingLady-congratulations and thank you for the detailed post! Fatigueis my worst side effect right now-still walking daily, but lots of napping too. I have skipped social outings just to sleep. Only 8 more Taxol infusions. Hope to ring to ring the bell by Halloween! Take care out there Chemo Warriors!
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Taxol pain advice/experience, anyone?
Today I'm on Day 7 of my 4th/Final infusion cycle. My chemo meds were changed from Cytoxin + Taxotere to Cytoxin + Taxol (because I had an allergic reaction to Taxotere) for this final infusion. Compared to Taxotere, I feel slightly less nauseated and have slightly more stamina on Taxol. However, starting on Day 3 and continuing for these past 4-5 days, I have lots of pain. I did not have a Neulasta injection for this cycle, so it's not that. Abdomen and pelvis and lower back spasms. Any advice out there? It's not gas (I tried Gas-X), Vicodin knocks it down great (but, ugh, also constipates), and it's a nagging 3/4 out of 10 on the pain scale. Tylenol and Ibuprofen don't touch the pain or help at all. My oncologist terms this a "known but very rare side effect." I'm wondering if anyone else experienced this, and how long it will last....
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HikingLady, I had 2 DD Taxols before I was switched to Abraxane due to allergy. First time I was in pain for 8 days, second time for 5. The only thing that made a difference for me was acupuncture. No idea why your oncologist said it’s a rare side effect. My MO specifically warned me about it. Thank God it was the last infusion for you! Congrats! Mine is on Wednesday.
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Sorry, forgot 2 more things I’ve done for pain: warm soaks in Epsom salt bath and infrared sauna. When it’s too bad, I take Tramadol. Abraxane is no better, same shitty pain.
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Hikinglady I had pain in my hips and lower back and I iced my lower back day 3-10. I have one of those big blue flat ice packs. It helped.
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HikingLady, I had back spasms, but they only lasted a couple of weeks. Because of elevated liver enzymes, I am not taking any pain relievers..not even Tylenol. I used the “downward dog" yoga exercise to relieve the spasms, and it seemed to work.
Had excitement at medical center...the room is full and we are all hooked up to our drips. Fire alarm blared! Nurses had to race to unhook each of us and we all had to evacuate along with the entire medical center. We were outside forabout a half an hour before the All Clear was announced. At least I had my warm blanket with me AND the rain held off for that time! A little fresh air is never bad!
Take care all
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the doc lowered my dose of the T+C by 20% for round #5 and it’s made a huge difference. It’s day 4 and I feel almost human, whereas before it was taking me 10 days to feel ok to go to work. One more round left
hope you all are hanging in there. xxx0 -
how are the ladies doing who were battling swelling of feet/legs/torso???? I'm still having problems - swelling during the day then it goes down at night but not 100%. Any more tips besides elevating legs and hydrating?
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cc738nj, you can try drinking green tea because it's diuretic. Acupuncture and massage helps. I also try to walk a lot. Swelling comes back in the evening, but at least I am moderately fine throughout the day.
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Thanks, InnaB - I'll try anything and everything at this point!
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I had my pre pectoral exchange yesterday. It went well. So much easier than the mastectomies. Lots of water retention from the Taxotere that I'm hoping resolves itself soon. Green tea and acupuncture is on my list once I get through recovery. I'm supposed to start Tamoxefin next week and hear acupuncture is good for the SEs too. New foobs for my birthday.
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congrats, Rachelcarter! And happy birthday to you! Many, many happy returns! 🥂🎂🍾
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Rachelcarter35 - glad things went well. Happy birthday
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Getting my 2nd to last treatment today. For the first time, my MO mentioned that I might need radiation after my double mastectomy. That was a not so good surprise. He put in a referral for me to talk to the radiation team.
Talked to my bs last week. Will have surgery sometime in November and the plastic surgeon will put in tissue expanders.
Question - MO and I were talking about how long people keep their ports. He said some people keep them for years and others get them out as soon as they can. What are your plans for keeping or removing your port, if you have one?
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RosieRed:
I had chemo first and the port might be over breast tissue so might have to come out during my surgery. Otherwise I would keep it for the duration of my targeted therapy because I typically have bad veins.
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I've had a port in since 2nd treatment, early July. Chemo is finished, final TC #4 was September 4. My implant surgery will be in early January. So, I'll keep my port in until after that surgery, so my Port-a-cath will be in for about 6 months.
Long time to wait for that surgery, but my SO recommends a 3-4 month recovery for me after chemo and before that surgery. My right side has radiation scarring, so everything I can do to set myself up for good healing for the implant exchange surgery will be important.
My arm veins had a hard time with my first chemo infusion. I had b.c. in 2003, and I save my right arm and don't risk needle pokes on it, since it's now had two bouts of axillary and breast surgery + radiation on that side, and I don't want to raise its lymphedema risk. My left arm had a lot of pokes several months before my 2018 May surgery, because I had an extensive foot surgery in February. So, by the time chemo came along, that arm had just had 2 surgeries' attendant I-V and blood draws, and the veins were not having an easy time, said my #1 Infusion RN. So, I had a port put in before #2 infusion.
My husband is an RN. He suggests that I leave the port in, so that the pre-surgery blood draws and the IV during that January surgery can be completely easy. Why not, I'm used to it at this point, and it isn't terribly bothersome. Sometimes I feel it if I get into a funny position, but I think I'd rather not worry about arm veins managing that last surgery.
One thing always on my mind, is that I carry around that little safety card they gave me after the port placement surgery. So that, if I ever land in an ER and need blood work or an IV, they know Which Type of Needle matches my port. My SO who did the port placement surgery instructed me about this. One more thing to (usually) remember every time I leave the house. It's always in my wallet.
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Anyone having fingernail and toenail issues? I ice each infusion, but nails are changing color and are very painful. I still have 7 chemo treatments to go. I am still walking daily, but switched to sandals as no pressure on toes. It sounds like many of you are winding this up! That is great!
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Today is my 6th and FINAL chemo! So happy that this phase is about over. Got a whopping 4 hours sleep last night, hope it's quiet in there today so I can nap which I usually don't. I'll be meeting with the surgeon as well today. Looking forward to at least a month of whatever normal is these days before surgery and radiation and.....
Timetobebrave: how are you? You've been on my mind a lot.
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congrats Kat22 on finishing chemo! For me the best part of finishing chemo was the return of my taste buds and being able to really taste food! Stay strong.
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yes toenails are half black but hoping that's all. fingernails went sort of brown but I'm not seeing a line where the fingernails are starting to grow a little and the color below the line is normal so I may have lucked out. Hang in there Washington 48!
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I don't know if I'm going to lose my fingernails. My finger and toenails got really painful about 2 weeks out from final TC. But now they've calmed down. A few of them look bruised under the nail....brown. I cover them in nail polish to hide the discoloration and perhaps I'm a little in denial that I might lose them. I didn't wear nail polish for years but I've been having fun changing colors each week. They'd probably be stronger if I didn't use polish but I just have to.
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And I'm DONE I'm DONE I'm DONE! Surgery plan is in place and I'm gonna get my taste buds back and grow hair! No more trips to Hell every 3 weeks. So Happy!
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