Chemo starting June 2018
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Thank you. It went well. Nothing unexpected happened. When the nurse said,"now it's time for the chemo bag." My eyes did tear up but there's still a part of me that is so shocked this is happening. I took a deep breath and waited for some kind of reaction but there wasn't one.
Today I woke up feeling great. I'm still nervous about day 4-6. I'm just hoping for the best!
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Thank you. It went well. 🙂
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Kat22, good luck on your second infusion tomorrow!!!0
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LibbyLou and cc738nj, sounds like my SE have been similar to yours. First week rough, but feeling good now. I have not had any bloodwork since my infusion, 6/13, so no idea what my wbcs are doing.
I am doing a terrible job of living in the "cancer bubble" though. I am staying with my in-laws about a half hr outside my city for a month because we had to get out of our apartment before we had a house. And I am on full disability (I work in a germy ER), so I am around all the time. So now that I feel well, I am basically like "I need to get out of here!". So I have been going out with friends who say they're not sick and trying to show up at local festivals at times when they are less crowded. Also it's no fun to cook at their house, so I have been eating out A LOT. Hope I'm not sabotaging myself.
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I hear you out_and_about - not sure how to live in a "bubble" since I work FT and I interact with colleagues and clients. And my MO said to keep as much of my normal routine as possible especially exercise so I'm at the gym and yoga... and I have to get food, etc. so just using wipes and hand sanitizer like mad and staying hydrated and eating healthy. Like you, I don't know my wbcs but I'll find out 7/2! Stay healthy and active!
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timetobebrave: Good luck today with round 2!
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Hello everyone!
I LOVE reading your posts every day, it is so encouraging! I get my first chemo infusion on Friday. I think I am fully prepared, and ready to embrace it! I can't wait to come back here and tell y'all that it was just a breeze..
In terms of the hair, I get some anxiety to think about it, because hair has always being "my thing"; but if that is what it would take for me to get over this cancer, so be it. I have a good excuse to wear some fashionable scarfs and wigs. My 7 year old daughter is helping me choose a couple of wigs, and I am going to embrace it, so she gets some saying in this whole situation; and she can feel proud of that part. I just hope is not a pink or rainbow mullet
Eskimo, glad to hear from you and everything went great!
@out_and_about; can I ask why did you have surgery before chemo? My doctor told me that was not an option, b/c my cancer was too far out. But no lymph nodes or skin had been affected, yet.
One last question, my cancer is genetic negative, and positive for Estrogen and Proegsterone, so I am going to start a hormonal therapy. Does that happen during chemo, or after? I am 45, and my doctor said he was going to induce me for menopause. Any feedback?
Thank you everyone, and this is my "support group"
Hugs to everyone!
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Hormone therapy is typically after chemo. I believe I've read different things about whether or not it would be given at the same time as rads. If you're post-menopausal (natural or not) you'll be on an AI vs. Tamoxifen.
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hi all!
Couple of questions. I will have my second ddac tomorrow and my hair is coming out like crazy, normal about this time. Also, a nurse told me I can’t swim in our pool with a port? Why? It hasbeen over 2 weeks
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Hi, guys. Something funny for your entertainment. My first experiment with English poetry:
Ode to my hair
My hair is gone. I have no hair.
It wasn't much, but it was there.
A modest mop right on the top
To keep me safe from heat and cold.
I didn't like it. It was flat,
It looked horrendous under a hat,
But it was mine. And now it's gone
To rest in peace while I go on.
I lost too much in this long fight
But I'll keep on with all my might,
I'll soldier on, I'll overcome,
And at the end I will become
A mix of someone old and new,
With a few parts borrowed and a little blue,
And a fledgling brand-new hair crop.
A light peach fuzz right on the top.
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thank you InnaB - it brought a laugh as my hair is shedding like mad and flying away in the wind today!
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InnaB2018 thank you so much! I laughed out loud and read it to my sweetheart. It's so important to see the end when our hair and healthy life will be coming back. Your timing is impeccable as I've shaved it off this afternoon. I scheduled my hair appointment on day 12 and it was perfect as I actually was getting handfuls for the first time today at lunch. I've been wearing a baseball cap since and just trying to give my brain a break. Other than the hair I am feeling like I'm round the corner -no nausea - just a little light headed. My biggest ailment is cabin fever so I'm going out to eat occasionally but usually at off hours - no real crowded places - mostly staying busy with my mosaic table top and my garden.
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Hi bobby77056, so to answer your question. At first I was diagnosed with stage 1 and they recommended surgery. Then I had an MRI that made it look bigger, stage 2, so I was sent to meet with the onc first. He recommended neoadjuvant chemo to shrink the tumor first, but told me I had the option to do what I wanted. My surgeon told me the MRI can overread sometimes. I was still hoping for no chemo, so I asked if I could do surgery first for accurate staging, and my surgeon told me she didn't think the chemo would shrink the tumor enough to make much of a difference, so I went with surgery first. It turned out the MRI did overread, and it was stage 1, but I also was high oncotype, so I had to do chemo anyway. But I am also pretty young, so my onc would have wanted me to get chemo unless I was a low oncotype, as it turned out.
In other news, the hair loss has commenced. I have a funny story. I had noticed a few extra stray hairs on myself yesterday, so hair loss was on my mind. I was taking a shower and facing away from the water rinsing my hair. I suddenly felt something slide down my back and heard a thud on the floor. I froze, terrified that I might turn around and see a third of my hair lying on the floor like a dead rodent. Slowly, I turned around to take a look...... it was just my poof, which had fallen off the faucet. Whew! What a relief I did not lose my entire scalp in one fell swoop! That being said, I managed to comb out a golfball sized chunk of hair after my shower. Nothing is noticable on my head yet. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
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Dear God,
Is it possible that my gray hairs could fall out FIRST when the shedding really starts?
- thanks,
Kicking Cancer's Butt with a southern drawl
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InnaB: Thanks for the chuckle! Good stuff.
Felling like an outlier today. Got great news yesterday from MO just before TCHP #2: My 5cm tumor is now 2cm! I'm doing neoadjuvant therapy (chemo first, surgery after). So I finally got the nerve and confidence to tell her that I do NOT want a mastectomy, and she seemed to think that was entirely possible due to the stunning success after just 1 treatment. So I'm super happy about that. I know I'll have surgery of some sort, but to know that keeping both breasts is a real possibliity is fantastic. Probably some node removal, and rads is ???
On another note, has anyone tried for any kind of financial assistance? I'm still working and will take LOA when surgery comes, but I'm already nervous about day to day expenses. I'm pretty much at my $5000 out of pocket limit on insurance, so medical bills aren't really a concern (I'll deal with that later), but missing work days here and there, coupled with what will be 50% of my income from short term disability coming soon, I just don't find any programs that help with regular bills. Any suggestions?
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Kat--I don't think many women take more than a few days following a lumpectomy. I treated myself to 3-4 but didn't actually need that much time. Congrats on the excellent neoadjuvant results--that is indeed wonderful news!!
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ingerp: Thanks for that info! I admit I haven't looked into it that much yet. That would be great having just a few days off. I'm not a workaholic, but I do really enjoy working and I have a really fun job
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Dear kat22,
The tumor changed from 5 cm to 2 cm after the first cycle? Wow? truly fantastic!!! Thanks a lot for sharing, it is really encouraging !!!
One thing I am a little curious about is, your stage is 1B with the size of 5 cm. But for My wife's Dx, it was originally considered 1 A (with size of 7 mm by mammogram), and later when Breast MRI showed 2 cm, the BS said it should be 2 A (both mammo and MRI showed nodes clean). I understand it is clinical stage and may not be very accurate. Also in terms of treatments plan, there are no difference, but how the stage is categorizied?
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LilyCh:
I'll be honest, I'm pretty clueless. I believe they originally said stage 2, then they said 1B which confused me based on the fact that it spread to the lymph nodes. To be honest, I filed it away as just a number that, like you said, didn't affect the treatment plan so didn't really care. I had a PET scan a couple weeks ago which showed no further spread beyond the lymph nodes, which was fantastic and a huge relief. And yes, I was STUNNED yesterday when she had a little trouble even finding the tumor, then measured it at 2 cm. I thought it was pretty great when it went from 5cm to 4 cm a week after first treatment. I guess I just expected it to stay that size until after another treatment. Now I'm really excited to see what round #2 did to it yesterday !
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kat22:
Keep it up!!! By the time you finish the neo, you will be NED!!!
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Day 7 after first dose of DDAC. First 6 days were rough - fatigue and nausea. Slept a lot. The nausea was the worst of it. The prescription they gave me said to take a pill every 4-6 hours but I wouldn't make it to the 3 hour mark. Didn't have any appetite at all, which made eating healthy difficult. Finally have my appetite back and some energy. Nurse said they could give me a prescription for a stronger anti-nausea medication. I might take them up on it as long as the SEs aren't too bad.
Does anyone know if the effects of DDAC is cumulative? Will I feel the same for each cycle or will my SEs get worse? Hoping they'll be about the same.
Nurses want me to get a picc line but I'm too nervous after reading the risks. Took them 3 attempts to find a vein last time. They're going to try again for cycle 2 but if it is still an issue they really want me to get a picc line. Has anyone had one?
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2nd DDAC down today. Already feel sleepy but I hav drank over 3 liters of water today. I think I will be bald by Saturday. I guess as long as I don’t have a hideous shaped penis birthmark on my head it won’t be that bad. Saturday and Sunday will not be pretty but at least I know what to expect now. All of my blood work was in the normal range before treatment MO was pleased. I weighed exactly the same as last treatment
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Hey Kat22 - like ingerp I only needed 2 days off after lumpectomy so hopefully you'll have the same quick recovery. And great news on the change after only one treatment!!!!! I had surgery first as mine was small, 1.5 cm, and doing TC chemo now followed by rads. Good luck and stay strong!
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Hi Hockeychick,
I don’t have a picc, but I have a port and it’s been great. I have really small veins and have been poked so many times that they are all in hiding now. But I do have a tip for you that I read on the forum and tried before I got the port and it worked great.
I used one of those microwaveable heating pads that are filled with rice and kept it on my arm for the car ride to the treatment center and until it was time for the needle. They were able to start the IV on the second try (which is a huge success for my veins). The person who originally posted the tip said that a nurse recommended it to her. I hope it helps. Best of luck. x
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Hey ladies, finished my round 2 of 4 of TC today!! I am so happy to be 50% done with this!! I am exhausted but want to celebrate so I guess it'll be takeout and Netflix for as many hours as I want tonight!
Sending you all good vibes!!LilyCh, you might find this chart linked below helpful in making out the staging. The AJCC released new staging conventions in 2018 that takes Estrogen, Progesterone, HER2, and tumor grade as part of the clinical staging. Hope that helps!
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Good evening all! Joining this group a little late. I got my port placed last Friday and had first AC cycle yesterday. All went well, and I even met my son for dinner after. Was really tired when I got home and slept until this morning. I was so surprised how exhausted I was at work today. Not just tired, EXHAUSTED. I barely made it through the day, and was very sleepy driving home. I think I should have taken the steroids earlier in the morning until waiting until after lunch (I had conflicting instructions from MD to APN). Tomorrow I am definitely taking them in the morning! I'm otherwise doing ok. I need to get serious about finding some scarves etc, as I'm reading here that it seems most are losing hair right around the second cycle.
I have been in denial about all of this until yesterday, sitting in the chemo chair with poison going into my body. Now it's very real. I just pray to God that all this "treatment" works (for all of us!).
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Hollywood: same boat had #2 AC yesterday was extremely exhausted so as soon as I got home slept all afternoon and night. No issues of nausea, but as you said hair is coming out. I think this weekend will be shave time. My 7 yr old son is looking forward to it he's going to give me a Mohawk and racing strips.
Sherylann987: I found my scarves on Amazon. Just and FYI if you search head scarves the price goes up, I just bought regular scarves you just want a width around 36" and length 70". I watch videos on YouTube to learn to tie them. There are also videos is you buy square scarves. I hope this helps. Best of luck.
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Hi Domzie30218, thanks very much for the info.
It looks like T2N0M0 +++ should be 1A per the new conventions in 2018 (2A before 2018), but it should not matter as too much he treatment plans look the same. HER2 status was not available when the biopsy result first came out. The BS said if it is negative then no chemo will be needed. Unfortunately later HER2 status was reported as positive
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Lily—if it helps my RO told me that HER2+ tumors are indeed more aggressive but have better outcomes because of Herceptin. I’m happy to have a great treatment available.
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