Chemo starting June 2018
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woot woot!! Congrats Kat22!!
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Kat22:
Congratulations!
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Kat22 - YAY!!!!! Happy for you
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Kat22 - Woooohoooo! Congratulations!!
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My nail beds are hurting, but only slightly discolored, and not at the root ... I'm hoping I get to keep them. I promise I'll never ask for anything else.
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It would be completely foolish to get a ticket to see the Pixies two days before my fourth AC treatment, right? Like tempting the SE gods on purpose? They are playing in my town!!
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Congratulations kat!!! You went day ahead of me!:). My last tchp is tomorrow! I am just as scared as I am excited because every round has been harder. I had really bad neuropathy on my finger tips, legs and feet last round. So I keep telling myself it’s the last one to cheer myself up although I still have a year of herceptin.
Thank you for thinking of me Kat and again congratulations 🎉🍾🎈! I admire how you worked through this. I have been out of work since my bilateral mastectomy in April and not planning on going back until after radiation. You are a true warrior:)0 -
Timetobebrave: Great to hear from you! Yeah, they had to move #5 to a Tuesday and that worked out better for me so I did #6 on Tuesday also. Right now I'm in that place where Benedryl wants me to sleep and steroids are laughing at that idea. Feels sooo good to be done! I'll have surgery mid-Oct. then she said 4-6 weeks after that to start radiation, still doing the Herceptin/Perjeta thing until May, then AI's. Long way to go but I'm told that aside from the diarrhea from Perjeta my side SEs should be minimal. I think I have a plan figured out to where I'll be off for 2 weeks post-surgery but only have to miss 8 days of work. Unfortunately my DHs income is very seasonal and this ain't the season LOL so I need the $$. My boss has paid me for some days of PTO that I haven't earned yet, which is great but I think asking for 8 unearned days is pushing it so I'm gonna ask for 3. Also battling neuropathy after #5, especially in my fingers which is a bit tough when I handle cash all day for a living. Ah well, it is what it is.
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Congrats Kat22
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Congrats Kat22!! That’s awesome - I have 2 more to go - done Oct. 22 if all goes as scheduled!! I can’t wait - then continue on to radiation prob at the end of November!
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yellows, go to the concert! I went to a play and was fine. If in doubt, wear a mask. Don’t deprive yourself of the pleasure.
I am 7 days PFC. Still deal with some side effects, but at least no more chemo! Woot woot
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yellowb
See the pixies! Though I miss Kim, it's still a great show and will make you feel so good to hear live music. ditto if you're around anyone who is visibly sick or coughing pop on a mask. I saw a few concerts throughout tx and it they were so special.
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Thank you all for the congrats! And big CONGRATS as well to everyone else finishing up with chemo. We made it!
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Thanks, everyone, for encouraging me to see the Pixies! I'm going to try to get a ticket.
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I can’t believe I am done with chemo!!! Yay! I wasn’t really feeling it until the nurses gave me balloons and a tiera. I am such a baby! Lol
Thank you everyone for all your helpful information and encouragements!
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Congrats timetobebrave!!!
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whooohooo!
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Congrats, timetobebrave!!!! Hurray
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Congrats, timetobebrave! Here’s more balloons for you 🎈🎈🎈 and a tiara 👸🏻
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timetobebrave:
Congratulations! It looks like you've got some nice weather to enjoy as well.
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Woot woot, timetobebrave!!
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yay! you made it through! congrats timetobebrave!
i'm so happy to see everyone finishing up this hurdle. can't wait to join you all soon
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Congrats, timetobebrave! Beautiful tiara, you earned it
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PFC, BUT SO TIRED ALL THE TIME!!!
My final TC (x4, three weeks apart) was September 4. So, now I'm 3 weeks past that.
I am completely exhausted all the time. I can usually get up for 1-2 hours of each day and do something productive or exercise-y. A 3-mile walk, or a house project or an errand. Somedays, I need naps. Lots of lying in a heap in my recliner watching dumb shows.
My final #4 was Taxol instead of Taxotere, and it was harder on me. More difficult G-I stuff, more metal mouth. Pelvic and abdominal spasms for 4 days, and overall crappier feeling than after Taxotere. I was switched to Taxol due to a (delayed/Day 8) hives reaction to Taxotere after #3 infusion--also had the hives on Taxol (Delayed/Day 9 of #4), both times resolved with a megadose of steroids. It's been a week since I tapered off the steroids. Even so, maybe that's another source for the fatigue? DH-RN says Maybe Yes.
I must be experiencing that famous cumulative fatigue of chemo. I also feel breathless. Not like I have a lung problem, just super de-conditioned. Out of breath walking upstairs or walking fast. I never noticed that after Taxotere, so maybe it's also Taxol-related? As though I can't inhale a deep breath. I'm assuming it's also chemo-related and will resolve. No weird things in lung like pleurisy or rattles or anything impeding my inhaling.
Sleep is weird. Can sleep 7 p.m. - 3 a.m. I'm on my own special schedule! Last night, I stayed awake until 8, woke up at midnight and took 2x Benedryl, and slept until 5, so that was actually a reasonable night's sleep.
All my blood work is in the completely normal range: red and white blood cells, etc.---it was all tested on the nadir/lowest point day. As instructed by my oncologist's office, I'm continuing the high-protein diet (80-100 g per day) for another few weeks to help with cell repair, and also I'm trying to still drink a lot of water---I know that helps body recover.
Is anyone else 3 weeks or more PFC, and still tired, out of breath, etc? I am trying to adjust my expectations. I'm 61- I'm old on top of having just finished chemo, so that explains this? Just wondering if I'll feel better in a week or month or 6 months.....
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hikinglady:
I had my last TC of 4 on August 17th. You walk a lot like me and we are pretty close in schedule and treatment. Two weeks out from my last treatment I started to have sore toes and finger tips, retain water (14 lbs!) and be completely out of breath. Walks that had never been an issue became near impossible. It was really depressing because I thought I'd gotten through chemo relatively unscathed and then it felt like it had kicked my butt as I was walking out the door. I'm now 5 weeks out and it's resolving itself. I had my implant exchange at 4 weeks so my naps are probably from that. But the breathlessness is entirely gone and I only have about 4-5 more lbs of water weight to go. I have a theory that its all temporary peripheral nephropathy which is a SE of the taxenes.. The scariest part is thinking that these ailments are the new normal and we are going to feel this way for ever. I recently decided to give myself 6 months to just recover and try not to worry about the long term effects of all this. I have to start work in two weeks and hope I have the energy to at least fake it till I make it. Hope this helps hikinglady.
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WHEW--this is helpful, thank you. I will stay hopeful that breathless and tiredness will resolve. I have not had water retention, thank goodness.
My foot neuropathy was worse on Taxol than on Taxotere for about 10 days, but it's better now, 3 weeks PFC. I do have a supplement regimen that I've been taking. It either has made me have expensive pee, or it has helped. Ha ha, I'll never know! All on my oncologist's recommendation list: L-glutamine, special "Neurosol" tabs, specific B6 and B12 and Alpha Lipoic acid.
At 5 1/2 weeks PFC I'm getting on a plane to visit family for a week, and I am hoping that I'll be a bit stronger by then.
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I take an incredibly expensive multi vitamin and extra electrolyte minerals. Thanks for the recommendations for the other over priced pee colorers. I'll pick them up next time I'm at the health food store. Can't hurt right?
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RE: supplements for neuropathy
My specific supplements, in certain dosages, were recommended by a Naturopath who is part of an oncology clinic in Portland, and also by my oncologist. The reasons: some components of amino acids are poorly absorbed during chemo. The specific dosage and exactly what else is in each to potentiate absorption took me hunting--internet and health food store. This is actually in a protocol he accepts and recommends, and there's research backing it. Same for my 80-100 g protein/day diet throughout chemo and for another month--very research backed, and my oncologist concurred with the Naturopath. All of this is a bit recent---my friend had chemo 3 years ago, also in Portland, and her naturopath made all these recommendations, but doctors scoffed. No scoffing now. Oh, and SHE is an MD, but she knew that allopathic medicine isn't always up to speed on nutritional stuff, so she took herself to a Naturopath. The naturopath I met with also said to suck Slippery Elm Lozenges "all the time," but I hated having a gummy mouth, and stopped and threw them away. Expensive garbage that day. They were also for neuropathy.
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I'm on it. thanks
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Hi hikinglady - like rachel carter I had my last TC on 8/17 and yes, the last 5 weeks have been surprisingly still filled with a few SEs. The fatigue is improving very slowly so hang in there (for a few days I had to pause between 2nd & 3rd floors climbing to my apartment!). I'm still struggling with edema and neuropathy in left leg only but I had no problems with either during the previous weeks & treatments so go figure - guess it's that cumulative effect. Wondering if the left side is because that's the side my surgery was on or that's the heart side - anyone know? Trying massage this week to see if they can get the fluid moving. Now 5 days into radiation so hoping the fatigue doesn't get worse. Stay strong everyone!
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