Chemo Starting September 2018
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Tigerlily - I'm so sorry didn't go well while you were in Hawaii. Such sucky timing to have a drug reaction. What does that mean for future zometa infusions?
beeline - Let us know how that appointment goes. I hope the scans just serve to reassure you that there's no spread.
I haven't heard back from the surgeon's nurse (I just left a message on the patient portal instead of calling), but I've asked a number of people in the medical field and all agree that the bruises on my tongue had to have been caused by the breathing tube. At any rate, they are fading, so clearly not tongue cancer!
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Thank you everyone for your well wishes! My AC #1 has been... eventful. After my lovely walk on day 2, my nausea got worse on days 3-5, finally letting up on day 6. My constipation also resolved itself without meds. Today I'm off nausea meds and so far I'm holding food and water fine. To add drama to the whole situation my daughter developed a stomach bug with low fever, throwing up multiple times while I was trying to hold food down myself. Thankfully my husband stayed home and took care of it all so I could try to pretend nothing was happening...
Started feeling a mouth sore on day 6 as well and so far it's been holding up ok. I hope that will resolve itself before the next round? I've also weirdly starting spotting today, though I have had no PMS symptoms. I cannot imagine getting my period back...?! Another thing is my vision has become slightly blurred. Fine enough to read but not quite to read smaller prints on TV. Probably not a good idea to drive in unfamiliar places.
Tigerlily - Sorry to hear about your Hawaii trip. SEs are really such terrible things...
And I think I'll try the Phyto serums. My hair is growing back fast after Taxol but I'm hoping to get them back even sooner after AC! My sister brought something nice, but ultimately not that useful for hair growth... When she said “I'll bring you something better" she was thinking something not related to cancer, but really, I need hair to not think about cancer everyday 24/7.
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Brink - think you asked on another thread about periods on AC. I got my last real one the day of AC#1 and then had 3 days of spotting/light flow with #2. It was clearly not a real period and there’s been no sign of anything since.
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Thanks beeline! It is very weird as my period already completely stopped from Taxol. I would think it wouldn’t try to make a comeback until I’m done with AC. Oh well.
Hope your trial goes smoothly. I’m wondering what my options are too now...
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Has anyone had tissue expanders exchanged out for implants? If so, how big a deal was the surgery? My PS said it would involve 3 hours under anesthesia, which makes me fairly nervous after my mastectomy (which wasn't easy). Can you describe the bandaging? How soon you could go back to everyday activities? Driving? My surgery is not until May, but I'm worrying in advance! Thanks!
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Hi everyone, I know many of us have moved on to rads or hormone therapy threads but I am a bit in limbo and like our group -- I don't feel ready to start over on a new thread yet! I had my meeting with the new MO for the clinical trial yesterday. It was actually quite a nice day despite getting up at 5:30 and spending 4 hours in the car. It was a sunny and warm, and my husband and I so rarely have time to spend just the two of us that it was almost fun. We also had a lovely lunch with my sister in law who lives there.
After the appointment, I felt so relieved to have this unknown part over with that I was really happy. I was also excited to start hormone therapy right away, weird as it sounds, but after having to quit chemo early and still waiting for rads to catch up I really want to be doing something to prevent recurrence. Now that I've had more time to think it over I'm not sure how crazy I am about the new oncologist, though he is one of the best in NZ. I will miss my old one who was a really good fit for me. The new one wouldn't discuss OS + AI though he did promise to in the future and referenced the SOFT study. On the plus side, he brought up the low-dose tamoxifen study and also mentioned a patient of his who takes tamox every other day, so he is acknowledging of the side effects and willing to to try alternatives. I just get the impression that the alternatives will always be of his choosing, and he won't be open to my suggestions. The egos on these doctors. Sigh. That said, he did a physical exam of my neuropathy symptoms -- which no one else has done despite saying they are bad enough that I have to quit chemo! He also said I will need to be followed with MRI due to dense breast tissue, again something no one else has mentioned. So I do think I'm in good hands. And with luck, I will get the study drug. If not, I can always choose to drop out of the trial and go back to my current MO.
Hope you are all hanging in there, and hope to see you on other threads if not here. xox
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Brink - Well hell. I'm sorry it's not going more smoothly. When I had what I thought were mouth sores with TC, the onc prescribed diflucan - he said he thought it was thrush. I don't know, but it helped.
Fairchild - I thought the recuperation was much, much easier for the exchange surgery. Mine took almost 4 hours (compared to the 7 hours of the mastectomy), but recovery was so much faster. I was in recovery for 3 hours with the mastectomy (they couldn't get my BP up), and out pretty quickly with the exchange. Not sure of the exact time, but it was day surgery vs. the overnight stay of the BMX. And there wasn't nearly the physical impairment that you get with a mastectomy. But the biggest part was the pure relief of having those expanders, which I hated, out. I woke up from the exchange surgery in a compression bra and there were a couple of layers of plastic stuff over the incision sites. No steri strips. I had to wear that bra for two weeks except for showers. (plus compression undies because I had fat grafting). I took two weeks off work, which was how long it was before I could drive again. And I worked just part-time that first week back. I was sore, but it just didn't feel as overwhelmingly awful as the BMX.
beeline - Other groups go on for a long time - I see no reason why we can't. No reason you can't follow different threads. Besides, chemo is only part of this journey. I want to hear how things go for all of us! I sure hope the new onc grows on you and listens to you. That's so important. So, will you be starting on tamoxifen? I've been on the 20 mg for 10 weeks now, with no real side effects.
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Personally I plan on staying on this thread as we started IMO the hardest part of the journey together. Plus all of you have gone through pretty much what I’ll be going through and more! Even rare SEs from Taxol and Zometa! I’ve learned so much from this thread and received so much from all of you.
I’d love to hear how everyone is doing, at least from time to time. As for me I’m doing so much better now. Can’t wait until my last infusion on 3/18...!!
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So glad I'm not the only one planning to stick around!
Brink - March 18th will be here before you know it! The one good thing I found about AC was that it was very predictable, so once I knew the pattern of my SE's it was easy to plan for.
wanderweg - yes! I am at least starting on tamoxifen. I picked up my prescription today and think I'm just going to go for it and start at the full dose tonight. Hoping my experience is like yours!
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I'm with you guys! This thread is a lovely group - you've all been so important to me thorough this. A few words of encouragement and understanding have just been gold, you precious people, and I'm sorry I haven't been more communicative myself. (just getting a bit misty here, darlings :-))
Tiger, what a bummer about the Hawaii trip! I know you travel regularly, so am confident you won't be discouraged by that. Horrible timing, though, and a blow to feeling that you can just relax and be normal. Life is not uncomplicated yet.
Wanderweg, Brink and Beeline, your surgery has been so much more confronting than my lumpectomy and axillary clearance. All that has healed well, and lymphedema is staying away apart from a bit of swelling on my side if I wear a "proper" bra. I've always liked good lingerie, so that's another adjustment. At least the stretchy things I'm wearing now are cheap!
Brink, like Wanderweg, I had oral thrush. After treatment with nystatin it stayed away if I was good about rinsing my mouth with a solution of bicarb soda. The taste of which will be forever linked with this, now.
You have been good about getting back to work after surgery, Wanderweg. I've worked more at home than in the office through this, though I love my office colleagues and do much better with people around me. We had ovens installed in our kitchen, and tested them out with a slow roasted lamb lunch recently. Love the photo of you in the rocking chair, too.
I'm enjoying the break between chemo and radiation, while these taxol ses are hopefully working their way out of my system. I do have some numbness and giant pins and needles mostly in my feet, and random other odd things. I've started back at pilates classes and belly dancing, the best therapy. Even went to a gig on Saturday - Monsieur Camembert - Israeli, gypsy, eastern European music, and they do great Leonard Cohen as well.
It will be back to reality on Friday when I go for my rads planning appointment. That will be 3 hours and includes an hour of 'radiation education', which will be lots of things I don't want to know, I guess, though my boss thinks there should be a least some NASA connection (she's hopeful).
I've noticed some of the long term threads seem to include regular weather reports, so: in Sydney today the temp is high 30s (C) with a hot dry north westerly wind blowing from the red centre. Bush fire weather. But a cool southerly change is expected this evening. And I promise I won't do weather reports!
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I don't know if this is normal or not but since yesterday I've been hungry all the time. It's like my body trying to catch up on all the “lost food" from last week. I suppose that's a good thing, although I end up eating a lot of not-so-healthy pastries and such. I ended up shopping for more kitchen gadgets too. Woohoo! Onion goggles! Cut resistant gloves!
On the reverse side of things my sleep has suffered since I stopped taking compazine, which had made me sleep last week more than I ever had in my entire adult life. I suppose this is partly why I'm hungry now...?
I did mention to my MO about my vision getting a bit blurred and she right away asked me to schedule an eye exam. I didn't know that can be serious SE from AC. But now there's a snow storm coming this afternoon so I'll probably wait until tomorrow to see an eye doctor.
I think my MO is prescribing me some sort of mouthwash for the mouth sore. Thankfully it's not that bad yet, so hopefully it'll be resolved before next week!
And lastly here's a chinchilla trying to get back in shape!
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Good morning....I'm not going anywhere. I love this group!
Brink....I assume you're taking steroids with the chemo? I had the same experience, though I did TC and not AC. The chemo week I didn't feel great and so didn't eat as much but never lost my appetite. But the week after and as I started to feel better I was starving! And it got worse as I got farther through chemo. My nurses said it was the steroids and the fact that breast cancer drugs (generally) cause less nausea than people stereotypically think about when they think about chemo. There were some days I could not get enough food. I'm lucky I didn't gain more weight and fortunately I've lost it all and then some. If you got the banana flavored bile looking like crap for the mouth sores I'm sorry. I couldn't stomach it. I used a lot of coconut oil/water to swish. I went to the dentist yesterday for the first time since all this stuff and they said my teeth looked great. That was reassuring. And I thought I had bumps on my tongue, but apparently nothing concerning.
Sue....sounds like you are having some fun! Belly dancing would be fun....
I closed the loop with MGH about the Zometa reaction yesterday (sort of). And am going to rewrite their side effect list and bring it to them next time I go in. They have 6 months to figure out how not to kill me next time. I spoke to a woman over the weekend who had a similar Zometa experience years ago - same oncologist - and they figured it out for her. I was relieved to not be the only one apparently to EVER have that happen. I'm a little freaked out by some muscle tenderness on my right side, but my torso in general is still a little sore all over. Other than that I'm pretty much back to normal. And need to get back to exercising again. I have a real vacation coming up next week and intend to enjoy this one.
My normal is actually getting better....sleep issues still but soreness from the AI/OS is improving.
Enjoy the snow Brink and the rest of you in the NE
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Beeline, I am gonna stick around. This is the very first thread I had joined. I love and respect all you wonderful ladies. We all will grow old together 😊 Many best wishes to you to start tamoxifen, hoping it will be gentle and effective on you.
Brink, countdown has begun for your last infusion. Yay!! I had used biotin mouthwash throughout chemo and I think it helped me. Yep, I too used to get hungry just like you. It's normal. I have heard about blurry eye vision on AC. But not sure what they do about it, may be doc will give some eyedrops.
Tiger, sorry about all that happened on the trip. But good that they figured it as SE so that next time they can take care of it. Enjoy the upcoming vacation, sounds exciting.
Sue, glad that you are healing well. Wishing the best for radiation. I get awed at the flexibility of belly dancers. Way to go, have fun with it.
Wanderweg, congrats on completing 10 weeks on tamox without SEs. Awesome!
My MO was not much concerned about backpain as i am still recovering and the pain is not continuous. But she gave me another news that kind of made me upset. She is suggesting to take chemo pills for 6 months as preventive measure on top of OS + AI that i am already on. She said she wants some more details on path report that came after surgery before deciding this step. As chemo was a first step for me, she wants to know what was the actual tumor size prior to chemo and few other points. She will be discussing details in next month appt though she said it wont have significant SEs as infusion has. I was looking forward to just get over this and be on the other side after recovery. But seems will have to give another 6 months. Since then of course i have googled about it and found SEs. Mentally not prepared for it, but on other side i want to be aggressive and do all that i can to avoid this in future. Anyone else here or that you know of is on chemo pills and what were the SEs?
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beeline - I may have spoken too soon - I noticed today that the slightly woozy feeling I have at night when I lie down is there most of the time. I can only assume its because the tamoxifen has built up in my system? But it's not terrible - very, very mild. Also, tamoxifen has helped bring my cholesterol from 218 to 166! (Tamoxifen has been shown in studies to lower total cholesterol and LDL, but can raise triglycerides).
Sue - I so agree - the encouragement here is so wonderful! Fun music! I'm ready for some warmer weather but it's cool and rainy here.
Brink - That chinchilla is both cute and mesmerizing! My mother had told me that when she was in chemo, she would completely lose her appetite the first week, gain it mostly back the second, and then the third eat anything that wasn't nailed down. Turns out, I had the same reaction - that last week I just ate all the time. And it was more true with each round. It was like being pregnant. The mouthwash probably has nystatin in it - I hope it helps!
Tigerlily - I sure hope the next zometa round is better. And that you are able to really enjoy the vacation coming up.
Bein - What sort of chemo pills? It does seem like a very aggressive approach if you've already done TC. You didn't have lymph node involvement, right?
After a couple rounds of telephone tag, I talked with my BS about the bruises on my tongue after my port removal surgery. They're gone now, so at this point I was just curious. She said the anesthesiologist had trouble seating the breathing tube in my mouth and had to maneuver my jaw around by pressing his finger up against my tongue. Mystery solved.
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Tigerlily318 & wanderweg - Seriously I've never been so constantly eating until now. Not even when I was pregnant. I did take some steroid pills last week during infusion but that was it. As I am typing this I'm eating snacks still. My reasoning of course is I need to be ready for next week, but at this rate I probably will need to hold back a little... Even looking at the chinchilla picture i was thinking that wheel looks like a nice springform pan!
The mouthwash I got was basically the same thing you would get after getting a procedure done at the dentist. My mouth definitely feels extra minty afterwards and so far the sore seems to be going away. Yay!
Edited to add: My spotting has turned into a light period, which my MO said will probably stop after the next infusion. It is kind of a bummer I’ll probably need OS on top of Tamoxifen or AI, but who knows..
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Oh Being, what a punch in the gut to think you were done and be told you need more chemo! I hope your MO comes back and decides it isn't necessary. it does seem like a lot based on your stats, but maybe there is something that makes it more aggressive? If you do have to, I have read that the side effects of Xeloda (I'm guessing this is the oral chemo) aren't too bad. The worst one is apparently hand and foot which causes pain and skin peeling, but many people don't get it at all. Keep us posted.
Brink, I am still laughing at the chinchilla gif! And I also had a HUGE appetite after week 1 of AC. I joked to my husband that I had the appetite of a lumberjack and would have 2 helpings of everything at dinner and sometimes more! I didn't really gain or lose any weight over the whole of AC though, so it must have balanced out with the weeks where I was too nauseous to eat much. I bet the next infusion will knock your ovaries right back again, but I understood we might still need to have OS because they can't say for sure if our periods will come back or not.
wanderweg, I hope you can continue your no/low SE run on tamoxifen. I read in the prescribing info that it takes 4 weeks to reach steady state levels of tamox itself but 8 weeks for the active metabolite so maybe that's why you're just noticing now. I'm glad it's mild and hope it goes away! My migraine resolved over the course of the day and I otherwise feel ok so I'm hopeful it was a one off.
Tigerlilly, I hope your MO is able to figure things out with you before your next zometa. And great news that the soreness from the AI+OS is going away. Hopefully that means you are well placed to enjoy your real vacation coming up!
Sue, glad you are sticking around, too. I agree this has been such a wonderful group through all of this. I'm glad, too, that you are enjoying your break. I have my rads planning on Thursday this week though only because I called and hassled about it. Seems I fell through the cracks in the change of MO's and chemo ending early. Not looking forward to rads, but nice to know there will be a a friendly face on the journey.
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Hey, y'all!
Brink, I'm so sorry about the mouth sores. For what it's worth, I had them in the first treatment, but they actually went away by the 2nd treatment and never reoccurred. I think that was b/c the onc lowered my dose some when I had so much vomiting. I have also had blurry eyes periodically, and from what I read, they can be a SE of chemo.
Being, I'm SO sorry about the chemo pills!!! I've never heard of that as an option, and I can well imagine your disappointment at the thought of yet another thing to go through!
And Wanderweg, dear, thanks for the info on the exchange surgery. I'll be really glad to get rid of the TE from hell. IMPORTANT QUESTION: Did you have drains afterwards? Methinks I cannot bear the drains again....They were so upsetting and I had them for 3 full weeks. I'm really worried about having another seroma, given that I always seem to have a seroma. Did you have to have someone stay with you, or were you able to manage on your own?
Y'all are all special to me. Don't go away!
Fondly,
Fairchild
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BeingPositive - I just noticed you also did neoadjuvant chemo. I assume because they found residual cancer during surgery, that’s why they want to put you on chemo pills to kill off whatever may be left? If I remember correctly, you had some blood count issues during chemo? Did you have to reduce dosage?
Fairchild - Are you getting the same surgeon as last time? I do wonder whether seroma and other complications can be avoided depending on the surgeon we have.
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Yay! So very happy to hear that you're all sticking around! I've been reading everything you're saying and soaking up the information and supportive vibe, but I'm not that awesome at chiming in. I type up several paragraphs but get distracted, and by the time I get back to it, the conversation has moved on. I'll be better.
I've also been a fly on the wall in a few mets threads, but I'm not ready for that. And there's the radiation group that I'm late to, but it's hard to jump into an ongoing conversation. Oh… the introvert in me…I had my second monthly Zometa infusion and shot of Zoladex yesterday, and seem to have lucked out again with few SEs. Tiger, so sorry you had such a horrible time with it, especially being away from home! From what I've read, the first one is the worst, but I can imagine you'd be leery of going through that horrible mess again. I got a normal saline bolus before, and Zometa was infused over 15 mins. If yours was the same, perhaps they offer a slower infusion next time and pre-medicate with Claritin, Advil, Aleve, etc.
Today is 13 of 33 rads; just starting to feel the slightest bit irritated. Work has gone bonkers and will stay that way through February so I'm hoping my energy stays up. I think I'm going to take some time off in March, though. Last day of this series of rads is 3/14, then we go straight into zapping T6 and possibly my 9th rib. I've got an MRI on 2/28 to figure all that out.
On the eating topic, OMG! I've completely given up. I had to laugh at myself recently, on the day when all I consumed was cheese, Girl Scout cookies, and chardonnay. It was funny and horrible; I had absolutely no self-control. Even my kids noticed, but mostly because they think they have dibs on the cookies. Ummm… I don't think so! My will power bucket is close to empty right now.
Being, chemo pills AFTER infusions??? I'll start Ibrance after radiation, and the SEs are said to be minimal for most. Do you know what they're suggesting for you? And why? I really hope it's a false alarm and you can get to the other side!
Beeline, crazy that you fell through the cracks when their business is saving lives!
Interesting that our next steps are all so different. Rads, mastectomies, TE replacements, OS/AI, etc. This disease is so massive.
Alright, I know I missed some important topics, but hitting send before the conversation gets away from me. Thank you all for being here! P.S. How are you all doing with hair growth? I now have a hairline comparable to Sinead's! And soon I'll be shaving my legs... Ugh!
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Piksie, so glad to see you pop up again and to hear that you’re having an easy ride with the SE’s. have you started Ibrance yet? Hoping that one is easy for you, too. Hair-wise I am just starting to have actual, real hair again but unfairly have had to shave my legs since the beginning of Taxol!
Fairchild, happy to see you sticking around, too! How’s work treating you? Hope you are past the HR hurdles.
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Thank you ladies for your support, concern and feedback on my chemo pill treatment. Brink, that is right. MO mentioned that recent studies show benefits of having chemo pills for residual tumor. My surgery path report came with no node impact. But the original tumor didn't go away completely after neoadjuvant chemo though was shrunk significantly. Beeline and Piksie, MO has not yet shared details of the chemo pills. But she mentioned 2 weeks on, 1 week off, so assuming it will be Xeloda. Have been researching it's SEs. Seems those are manageable. But still dreading it. I think letrozole has started causing back pain as I am facing it intermittently. On top of it chemo pills seems too much to take. Will discuss benefits vs SE risk in next month appt with MO and then will decide.
Wanderweg, good to know that mystery is solved and bruises are gone too. It is such a relief to have answers for the 'why's.
Brink, so the mouthwash seems to be working. That's great. My MO had mentioned that even after OS + AI, there could be spotting and then will have to see other options. So definitely check that with your doc.
Beeline, hope the rads planning went fine. Wishing minimal/ no SEs.
Piksie, so good to hear from you. Glad that SEs have been minimal. Best wishes for continued rads and upcoming MRI.
Wishing all love and peace on this Valentine's day!
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Hi girls, I have been MIA but I have been keeping up with each one of you. So many times I sit down to write but then get distracted by something... And I hate writing from my smartphone because it always seems to have a lag... And yes, I plan on staying here. I have not joined any other threads because I frankly don't really care to.
Beeline, I am glad that you made peace with your decision. When I went to see my MO last time discussing the hormonal drug, she told me that the MOST IMPORTANT part of the treatment is actually the hormonal drug, not chemo or radiation. I am currently on Tamoxifen, biggest SEs I have is the hot flashes, especially at night. It causes me to lose sleep sometimes. I was told the best med is the Effexor is the gold standard for hot flashes, but I hate that it is an anti-depressant and that you will need to taper yourself from it. I am currently taking Evening Promise Oil, it is not 100% but I think it is helping a bit with the unbearable night sweats. I sure hope this hot flash business don't last forever!!
Brink, I totally understand what you mean by being hungry. I was there after my second infusion of TC. I was CONSTANTLY hungry! I couldn't stop eating!! I had to stuff myself to make myself happy. It was horrible, then my friend came visit from California, I was like a pig eating every 2 hours.. She couldn't believe the power of ME. HAHA. The trick is eat some crackers or toast with peanut butter, that usually hold me for 2 hours before I need to eat again.
Tigerlily, I am so sorry that you had to suffer in Hawaii when you should be enjoying the food, the weather and just being there. I hope your MO will be able to figure out what to do next time.
Piksie, so happy to see you chiming in. How are you doing?
My hair starts to grow longer, but I still wear my wig when I am out and about. I hate it but for now, I am keeping it until my hair gets a little longer. I have been keeping myself busy, from looking at places to eat in Santa Fe and Tao's (going back there again in March, but this time, we are flying there), searching for rental property at Costa Rica (going in June), booking the tours to selling clothes online from home. I am trying to keep my mind off from the fact that I had cancer. Life after cancer (if there is such a thing) is hard. I am trying to be good - eating more vegetables, fruits, work out more, eat more things that are good to keep cancer at bay, limit myself one glass of wine a day (okay, I bent that rule from time to time), but I am a human being, I would also like to enjoy life! I am only 44 and I can't be good ALL THE TIME! I struggle with that as you can tell. For now, I do things that will keep my mind off from cancer, but deep down, I am scared. I want to be here when my kids graduate from college, I want to be here to see them get married, I want to be here to meet my grand kids and be able to care for them... I worry that it is only a dream.
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Hello, so good to hear from everyone!
At the moment I’m deciding whether to cut up a pear and eat it before I go to sleep. Most likely I will. Thanks JNKK for the tip about peanut butter. That sounds good too. Everything does at the moment.
I would like to post a hair growth picture, at almost 3 months after my 12 Taxols. Sort of a farewell picture before I lose them on AC #2 next week:
I’ve ordered biotin shampoo online so that as soon as I’m done with ACs I’ll try it along with the Phyto serum to see if I can beat this regrowth!
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Fairchild - No tubes for the exchange surgery! That was the first question I asked my PS. I really hated those things with a passion. My husband was home at nights but I was there alone during the day. But I really didn't need anyone - the recovery is just so much easier than recovery form the mastectomy.
Piksie - Good to hear from you. I'm an introvert, too, but somehow it feels different for me in an online format. You're closing in on halfway with the rads. I hope that's true that ibrance isn't so bad. Somehow pill-form drugs aren't as frightening to me as infusions. But I'm a terrible needle phobe.
Being - I sure hope you and your MO are able to figure out a regimen that is manageable. Cancer is such a load of suckage.
JNKK - Hey, stranger! I love Costa Rica - you guys will have a blast there. I know what you mean about wondering if plans for the future are just dreams. I saw my PCP Wednesday and for some reason he felt compelled to talk about how many tumors have different kinds of cancer cells, some of which are chemo-resistant and can colonize into new cancers. I already knew that but man! I did NOT need him dwelling on it!
Brink - I hate that you'll have to lose your hair all over again. Seems unfair.
So, I was at the library and overheard one of the librarians refer to me as “that lady with the shaved head who was just up here." She couldn't see me where I was sitting, but I wanted to yell out, “I didn't shave my head!!!" I can tell from the way people are looking at me that they are trying to decide if I'm intentionally keeping my hair this short. It's not very thick, but it's even so it's hard to tell
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Wanderweg, what a terrific picture! Your hair looks great!
I freely admit I'm a little hair-obsessed these days. I seem to have less than y'all, but then I know some of the meds I'm on can inhibit hair growth. It's finally long enough on the sides and back for me to see a little fluff of hair, but on top it's only about 3 mm, making me look like a little old man. And about half of it is stark white, although I only had 4 or 5 white hairs before cancer. The other half is dark, but I can't tell what color it is. And all of it seems to be really curly, much more so than before cancer.
In spite of my hair obsession, I finally went topless at work. I was teaching and the classroom was so hot I couldn't stand my hat. So I took it off without realizing it. One of my male students whom I really like said "I wondered when you would ditch the hats!" and I just loved him for not treating the subject as taboo, you know? Later, I did the same thing in a faculty meeting. I'm just getting less concerned about what other people think about how I look, especially since, at this rate, it'll be a while before I really have hair again.
I'm so glad to hear there are no drains with TE removal. About the surgeon, yeah, the plan is for the same one to do the exchange, but I am a bit concerned about the extent of the complications I've had. I'm thinking I will let her complete the exchange and then see how I heal up. If there are continuing problems with repeated seromas, I'll seek a second opinion then. My brothers are in NOLA, so it wouldn't be difficult to get seen at that hot-shot breast surgery place there. Or Vanderbilt is an option, I suppose...my daughter is in Nashville. I'd want to go somewhere out of town to get a truly independent opinion.
JNKK, I share your worries about the future. I guess at my stage in life, I don't have any illusions that things will necessarily go well, and the 30% reoccurrence rate concerns me. I sometimes go down the rabbit hole of reading medical literature on the odds of another episode of cancer... and then I have to pull myself out of that kind of thinking. I lost both of my parents relatively young....my dad at 45, and my mom at 66. So I want to be here a very long time for my kids.
Beeline, thanks for asking about HR. After putting me through all those arguments, they finally approved my leave. We just asked for another month of halftime work, because of all the gut problems I've been having. I haven't heard a response yet to the new request. My fingers are crossed that I can get through this process without having another major battle erupt with those people!
Hang in there, everyone!
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JNKK, hot flashes - I saw immediate improvement with 300mg Gabapentin. I used to have 15-20 per day, now it's 1-2. I'm also looking at Costa Rica as a summer destination with my boys! This cancer crap has increased my resolve to show them the world, so if any of you have any must-see destinations, I'm all ears. I've been reading up on the best time to travel on Ibrance, and most in my shoes say there's no bad time to travel.
Just take precautions as if WBC is low and buy travelers insurance.Brink, that's a good amount of hair! Sorry you have to go through more chemo. How many ACs do you have left?
Here's a pic of my hair. I took this in the supply room at work because I was having trouble finding a place where my head wasn't shiny. I go topless to radiation treatments when the weather allows (I'm a SoCal wimp), but still covering up most other places. I guess I'm just not there yet. It's not long enough to know what the texture and color will be (I hope it’s as dark as wanderweg’s!)but I'm excited to see hair!
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Hey ladies....just saying hello for a minute....Here is the link to this phyto stuff that Brink mentioned.
https://www.ulta.com/-revitalizing-serum?productId=xlsImpprod1260420
It's what my brother brought me back from France...his wife used it when she lost most of her hair from this disease a few years ago. My brother uses it because he's really vain about his still full head of hair at 41.
You all look lovely. I'm in the fuzzy phase. It's thicker than before which is going to be great in the long run but now but for now is just really thick and fuzzy and unmanageable. And sticking straight up all over my head lol. But I've been topless since December and toppiks free since January. My license expires on 3/19 and I need a new picture. Of course.
Our rescheduled Costa Rica trip, to Nosara, is in November. I can't wait. I've been to Nicaragua twice, but not to Costa Rica.
Piksie, good to hear from you. Fairchild, glad the work stuff is getting sorted out, and JNKK good to hear from you as well. Being/Brink, sorry about the continuing/more chemo.
I hope everyone has a nice, hopefully long, weekend.
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Fairchild I remember you had vomiting with TCHP,I just finished my 6th infusion and I’m having bad vomiting and diarrhea, any suggestions on how to handle it, I’m on 3 meds but still have problems. I wish you the best . Hugs from N
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Piksie - You have the sweetest face ever and I love that photo of you! I took my boys to Costa Rica when they were 6 and 9, and we had a great time. I think our very best trip was a few years later - we did a safari (photo, not hunting!) in Tanzania. So many amazing big animals on the Serengeti - kind of a dream trip for boys.
Tigerlily - Wow, everyone is going to Costa Rica! We were on the other coast, in Tortoguero. I have a fantasy of retiring to Costa Rica.
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Good evening ladies! I have also been MIA because I have been so busy with my kids and taking advantage of feeling so good once I finished chemo.
I'm sure I mentioned this before but I only did 5 out of the 6 TCHP chemo sessions due to my very low platelets. Just praying 5 is enough.
I had my double mastectomy yesterday and home now recovering. Overall I'm feeling okay just very sore and I hate the 3 drains that I have. My surgeon said I may have them for 3 weeks!!
Radiation is next and I start that next month of so.
I had no immediate reconstruction so I'm really scared to look at myself. I know it's not gonn look pretty and will be a huge adjustment for me.
Sending everyone a hug.
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