Chemo Starting August 2018
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MGJ — Rads are a cakewalk compared to chemo. I had 20 rounds. The side effects don’t hit you until mid third week, which is redness and fatigue. The fatigue all of the sudden comes (for me) in the late afternoon. Your get up and go suddenly gets up and wents! My rash/redness should go away in about a week per the rads doctor.
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MACTAZ, Kwilli, wanderweg & MGJ-- thank you for your thoughtful caring messages!
& MGJ you are adorable in that photo - thank you for sharing!
Surgery went well, & I am home--- tired and sore, but nothing awful! I managed to misplace my phone somewhere, which is annoying, but I am sure it can only be at the surgery center and must've got dumped from my bag when I changed back into clothes. Because I know I turned it off just prior to surgery. They may be closed till Mon, alas...
Pathology.... slow.... holiday..... blah blah.
(Sidebar: Waiting for results is the single most galling part of treatment to me. When results are known, and you don't know . The tech knows things you don't know, and it's your body. WTF? At my center, they have watercolor classes and yoga-- for stress reduction emotional wellness program. I say, 24 hour test results for stress reduction and emotional wellness!)
The surgeon took 4 total lymph nodes. I was loopy when we discussed it so not my best self-advocacy Q&A skills. She said, there wasn't an obvious 5th node to take, it looked good and if she finds out anything at all, she will call me whenever the lab calls her.
My breast still looks pretty normal-- my upper side boob/armpit was the location of the tumor and node, so 3/4+ of my breast is visible even w the bandage I have. I mentioned to the surgeon-- wow, looks pretty normal!-- and she said I will have a good cosmetic result. (Wouldn't it be nifty if I could be done w surgery as of today? I would love that.)
For anyone wondering, wire placement to mark node/clip was no biggie.... sounds much worse than it is. A thin metal wire is literally threaded into you via needle under ultrasound, avoiding blood vessels, etc, to guide surgeon pathway to clip or tumor or node... then the wire is hanging out of you, cyborg-like, as you leave imaging and walk to surgery. Weird, but not the worst. Funny how a wire hanging out of me is sort of a nothingburger now!
Everyone was so nice. I'm relieved to be through it, and I plan to nap all weekend.
Hope I'm good for NYE!!
Hope we all are -- we deserve a little celebration!
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PS Waaaaaay less painful than I had feared. No pain pill since yesterday afternoon! Just ice. I feel very lucky.
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Santabarbarian - really glad you are doing so well after the surgery! Especially about not needing pain meds. I guess that's an advantage of a lumpectomy over mastectomy. How great to have that outof the way before the end of the year.
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crap. I typed out everything and my iPad died. Thus, gone.
Cefinkc—thank you for letting me know that rads went well. I have 30 treatments I believe. I met the RO today and she seems fantastic. Finally a dr I like!
Santabarbarian—I’m so happy you’re feeling great. No pain pills? Such a rockstar! Waiting for pathology is definitely frustrating. I’m happy you only had 4 nodes out. A wire hanging out of your boob and walking down the hallway to surgery like a baller? Total badass.
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MGJ!!!!!!! Wahoooooo!! Awesome photo; so happy for you!
Cefinkc!!! Yay! Done!!
Santabarbarian! I cannot believe how hardcore you are. As MGJ said; total baller!
Hughope1: you doing alright?
Kelly-Anne: hanging in there, love?
MACTAZ, Wanderweg and anyone I may be missing: sending sweet thoyour way!
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Kwilli - when is your surgery scheduled? It must be coming in the next few weeks, right? Crossing fingers everything goes well for you!
And wishing all the best to anyone who is still coming out of the chemo fog, or healing from surgery! We are here for you. I think there is someone who is finishing up in January, for chemo... ? Let us know if you are finishing so we can cheer when you're done.
MACTAZ keep us posted on your 2nd opinion!
Hughope, wishing you speedy healing.
Is anyone on this thread looking into proton radiation?
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Santa Barb.... Funny how I have been thinking about your surgery. Happy it is over and went well. I have 5 more taxol ending January 31. Surgery February 19. It’s going on and on but I’m doing fine. Every thing shrunk but neither surgeon nor oncologist giving up on removal of many auxiliary nodes. They started out so many and so large they aren’t as impressed with shrinkage as I think they should be. Hair actually growing back. It would be more noticeable if not snow white.
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Benji69-- I am glad you are tolerating chemo well! It is so encouraging to feel the shrinking, and to get some hair back a bit (so you know you will eventually have hair!). Mine used to be dark dishwater blonde that lightened a lot in the sun. Now it looks nearly black, but it has seen zero sun in months, so maybe it will get lighter over time.
Will you have a MRI at the end of chemo, before surgery? Mine looked really good, so that was helpful in convincing my team to be less radical on the lymph nodes.
The protocol of taking all level 1 & 2 nodes is based on the # of affected nodes at time of diagnosis... I had one that was huge w/ visible cancer on MRI, and three more just slightly enlarged. My argument was that not everyone responds strongly to the chemo, and I did, so why would they base my protocol on an old data point? (Would a person with 2 nodes originally and a poor response to chemo truly be in a better situation than a person with 4 original nodes and a great response?) My surgeon agreed that taking fewer and fewer nodes is where things are trending surgically. Also, I agreed to get a 2nd surgery, if it turns out that I do not have a pCR. My MO was supportive of this plan too. Both the surgeon and MO are very "by the books" so I figure if I am way off base with a request, they will set me straight.
TNBC is it's own animal... we get fast recurrences if we get them. The cells do not go dormant for ages the way other forms of BC can. Maybe that makes a difference to what the doctors allow/recommend re nodes.
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Inviting anyone who is starting or continuing radiation to join us in the January rad forum:
Wishing good health and happiness to everyone in the year ahead!
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SantaB, I got a call on Friday to setup an appointment for the dye shots. I was surprised as no one had talked about this. I did wonder when you mentioned this in one of your posts. I have read some posts and people say it is extremely painful so naturally I'm nervous about it. What was your experience with the shot? I'm a big chicken when it comes to needles - you would think I'm use to it by now but NOT.....certainly not the badass that you are
.I have my first Herceptin and Perjeta infusion next Thursday - has anyone had these two only? I'm wondering what I'm in for with regards to SE's. I'm hoping that there isnt many side effects and will recover quickly.
Hope all are doing well, I can't believe we have made it this far. Funny how once you get through one phase (chemo), the memory seems to fade.....take care all - hugs.
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The dye shot goes in by the areola, which is sensitive. There were three shots; the dye has lidocaine in it and that helps. Only one actually hurt.
This badass flinched and said "Ow -- that one hurts!" But it only lasted for a second or two!
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thanks that helps, imagine wimpy will say slightly more than “Ow—that one hurts".
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Benji - My hair regrowth is white (or super pale, anyway), too. My hair pre-chemo was brown. I can see it up close, but not from a distance.
MACTAZ - I had a hard time with the nuclear medicine shots. I had two, one above and one below the nipple. It was sort of like a long bee sting. But I'm a complete needle phobe, so if I had it to do over, I'd ask if they could use EMLA cream first to numb it like I use with my port.
santabarbarian - I do think taking fewer nodes is where things are trending. My surgeon said an axillary node dissection is a fun surgery for her but not good for me. So she took two sentinel nodes.
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I read an article in which with early stage cancer, after neoadjuvant chemo, if there was an imaging pCR they were skipping surgery and just doing a bunch of needle biopsies, to verify the pCR. If no live cells, then no further treatment.... just the chemo.
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santabarbarian, where did you find the article? I was always wondering why you went through chemo to get a PCR and then they still said you had to have surgery.
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The rads are required because of TNBC even if you get pCR. I think because it's so lethal and so quick to return. I did not save the link but it was a clinical trial for stage 1 breast cancer I believe.
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Mactaz—I totally feel the same way—the memories fade of the crappy chemo days. Hubby said last night 'Remember how bad the first one was?' He was talking about the AC chemo and I remember I was so sick I just can't remember all my SE. Sure I remember barfing and dry heaving but the memories for me have faded quickly. And I'm ok with that.
Benji—5 Taxols to go? Awesome! How are your hands and feet? Any problems arising? My nails on my hands are hammered. Feet are absolutely perfect.
I will send a pic of my hair from my phone. The front is THIN. The back and sides are coming in hot. I might not have the same hair from 6 months ago. I had a ton of wavy light brown, highlighted hair. I'm thinking my hair could be straight. Idk. Its coming in blonde. Crazy. I'm absolutely not complaining! I will take blonde, straight hair. I guess this means I will have to buy a hair brush as I currently only owned a comb for my hair.
I'm feeling so much more calm and relaxed since chemo is behind me. Like I can breathe again. Like a weight has been lifted. My mind is less frantic. The walking and hiking has definitely made me feel better.
I'm so happy that the drs aren't just arbitrarily going in and ripping out extra nodes, esp in the axilla. My cording was awful after surgery. I was praying it would resolve and it did it was just really uncomfortable for months. Months! And when I say uncomfortable I mean not using the arm at all and horrible nerve pain down the back of my arm.
I’m looking forward to a New Year with amazing healing for all of us!
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i guess chemo is a little like childbirth! Only no adorable baby, just puke and diarrhea.
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Santabarbarian, LOL.....
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SantaBarbarian,
I was TNBC as well. Did your oncologist tell you that our recurrence would be fast if happens? I didn’t know that.
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No, I read it, when researching TNBC.
With TNBC, the prime window for recurrence is the first 3 years. And after 5 years, it rarely recurs.
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MACTAZ - that little kitty gif cracked me up! I guess it is fortunate that it fades in time. I kept a little notebook of my symptoms each round so I’d know what to expect in later rounds. But already it seems kind of far away.
Santabarbarian - ha! And also, the extreme tiredness.
Wishing you guys better health in the New Years!!
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Damn that shit is hilarious! Whew! I needed a laugh!
You beauties are THE BEST!
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Good to know, SantaBarbarian! Happy New Year
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Happy New Year Ladies!!!
2018 can eff off; 2019 has to be better! Woohoo!!
(Santabarbarian; that was stinking hilarious! Thank you for the laugh)!!
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Happy New Year to all my chemo sisters!
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Happy New Year!
Hope everyone is doing well and had some fun to ring in the new year! I partied with a few neighbors. We called midnight at 9:00 and then we all went home to bed. I’m not used to staying out so it really did feel like midnight!
Met with my rad oncologist yesterday morning. I’m a little excited, they are going to let me proceed with the standard radiation. Stage 4 they often just manage symptoms, but I’m young enough that they are going to continue with proactive treatment. (Eventually I’m going to have to update my tags below, but I have trouble confessing to the diagnosis. I’m going to beat this, not kick the bucket!)
Tomorrow I get to go and do the prep for radiation. They tell me no more pokes (needles), so I’m way less stressed about going. They say they can use the dots from my SBRT rad on my spine for the breast. Yay, the tattoos were ouchie.
Quiet New Year’s Day here. I’ve got a cup of coffee and a snuggle blanket that I’ve enjoyed while reading all of your messages. I’ve got a bit of fuzz back on my head that I just can’t help but feel hope it keeps growing!
Happy 2019 to you all!
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KellyAnne I love your attitude! Hell yes! I want to share w you that one of my best my friends was diagnosed with stage 4 de novo lung cancer, and she had mets all over... that was in 2014. Long story short, she's NED today on an immunotherapeutic treatment that was approved the same month she began it... Cheers from a fellow fuzzy head!
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Kelly-Anne, we will be here to support you all the way, you are one of the strong August Chemo “biatches”...
I was feeling sorry for myself and you just gave me that kick in the butt I needed, this is why I 💕 THIS GROUP.
Stay strong and many 🤗😘.
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