Starting chemo February 2020
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"Had my first HP only infusion today. Seemed pretty easy. Took forever because they ran labs and that was slow, and then the pharmacy wouldn't process the treatment until the labs came back. But in the future they won't run labs every time, so it should go much more quickly. It was nice to drive myself, and I don't feel any different. I'm mainly on the lookout for diarrhea from perjeta."
Tomorrow is 1 week post Solo HP #1 (HP #7 in total). Not really having any of the issues I had during TCHP. No watery eye, no nose bleeds, no lack of appetite, no crazy taste. Only issues: 1 day of Diarrhea, a bit of an ache in the thighs, and a tiny bit of that tongue issue (sometimes it tickles, sometimes it burns and sometimes it's numb) but it's really minor compared to TCHP. I'm hoping this is just residual issues taking longer to clear up.
I was disappointed how long it took as well. The actual transfusion was quick but the waiting for labs and waiting for the NP to go over them and waiting for the meds to be ready. My appointment was 8:15am, I walked out the door at 10:30am. So, a little over 2 hours for 1 hour of treatment.
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Got my blood counts today, officially 4 weeks post final Chemo.
Platelets went from 73 to 246
Hemoglobin went from 7.5 to 9.5
White Blood Count went from 3.8 to 3.9 not a big jump but my neutrophils were in the good range.
My MO says I'm good to go for surgery on Friday no transfusion needed.
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Nice platelets!
(I've become a platelet number junkie since it's my chemo weak point). I started at 200, so I didn't have far to go down to get into trouble.Good luck on Friday!
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Morrigan- yay! That’s great news!!! Sending all the good vibes for your surgery Friday.
Anyone have some serious brittle/lifting nails? I’m almost positive I may lose my big toenails soon and my fingernails are so brittle and some are lifting a bit. I’d really like to not lose any fingernails. I guess time will tell
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Hray - I had a lumpectomy before radiation and chemo. As others posted, the surgeon should cover everything with you before surgery. There is a rotini-noodle looking device they can insert after surgery that serves as a structure for tissue to attach to. Over time, it dissolves in your body but helps provide some structure (google biozorb). In the end, the cancer was just under 2 cm for me and the mass they took was about 4x4 cm and you cannot even see the difference. I have some swelling in the breast from radiation that the radiation oncologist says may stick with me forever but that's OK with me. I was really worried about lymphedema as well. I moved my arm as much as I could after surgery. I still had some edema in my body but it wasn't too bad (stomach and ankles more than my arms). However, the scar tissue and cording was pretty bad so maybe I paid the price for pushing things too much.
ajminn - my two big toe nails are super brittle. One has cracked about 1/4' below the tip. I am coating them with skin therapy oil and lotion every day. They are super thick now, too. Gross. I thought it was from playing tennis but it is likely the combo of chemo and dehydration on top of tennis. My fingernails seem to be fine.
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morrigan_2575, that's great. Congrats. Good luck on Friday.
ajminn3, my nails everywhere are very sensitive and hurt anytime anything touches them. They are like a dark white and some have gray spots. I finally went back to getting manis and pedis. I missed it. They do not look to be lifting. I feared losing them as well. The nail tech says they are actually super hard.
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my toe nails are fine it's my finger nails that have an issue. They're pretty strong but, I have this weird reddish/orange line across 3 of my fingers on each hand.
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You can see a white line on my nails.
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I’ve got so many white lines...this is my “good hand” that the nails aren’t too bad. I suppose my other hand is the one I use more which makes sense why those nails might be having a harder time. I covered most with bandaids and cut them down a lot.
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i did some looking around and nail changes of all sorts are normal. I mostly focused on the lifting, brittle/cracking and turning black stuff. Didn't realize this was just another normal SE.
I went for my COVID test today, it was quick and easy, they swabbed the back of my throat, not my nose. Which was good, since I worried I'd end up with a nose bleed.
My surgery got pushed back 30 minutes. My Surgeon had to slot an emergency tomorrow morning.
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mmorigan - Good luck tomorrow! I'm sure you're ready to get it done, and nervous too. And good for your COVID test too, I heard my hospital does the throat version too. It's actually just a drive through test. I'm only 2 days out from HP, but I really didn't notice any side effects. Maybe a little more need to stay close to the bathroom in the morning, but not anything bad.
My nails look ok so far. I can see a little bit of weird waves in them, and one did crack and peel, but it's nothing horrible.
My surgery is July 7, and I have to get my test July 3rd (normally it would have been the 4th, but the holiday). They sent me a letter that I'm supposed to self quarantine from the test until surgery, including from my family. Stay in a room by myself, and if I have to be in the room with them, stay 6 feet away. Even my husband, we don't have extra beds or anything, so he's not supposed to sleep in our room? Did anyone else get this request from the hospital, and did you actually follow it?
Also, my in laws want to come visit us in early August. We have been pretty strict about staying home, wearing masks if out and not bringing people into our house. Here in IL, masks are required inside everywhere, so it's been a little easier to enforce. My inlaws don't believe in Covid or masks, and they have been going out and about in CO without masks. They are going to fly here. I'm nervous about having them traveling all over and not wearing masks, and then coming into our house. My husband says its fine because I'll be about a month out of surgery and not having TCHP (just the HP) and probably radiation, so I won't be so immunocompromised. I wish they would just be more considerate the two weeks before they arrive, limit their exposure, wear masks etc. Is that unreasonable. I feel like we have worked so hard to be safe, and IL has decreasing numbers, so if they want to come here, they should follow our rules.
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@Fab4mom - How frustrating it is to deal with other people who are not taking the precautions that you are. I'm totally on your side. Since it's family and a family visit, it is so complicated. My daughter lives in Denver and she takes precautions but tells me many do not. And the Covid-19 statistics show it. She and I will not be visiting face to face for who knows how long. Just lost my uncle in Louisiana, who thought he had recovered from covid-19. I won't be able to go to his service because of the virus hotbed there. Not only did he have it, but so did my Aunt, and two of their grown sons (one of whom is a physician.) The other son has been hospitalized for weeks on a ventilator. Now he has a trach. I've got to go now and get ready for my daily radiation therapy. Best Wishes.
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"They sent me a letter that I'm supposed to self quarantine from the test until surgery, including from my family."
I didn't get a letter but, they made me sign a document (when i got tested this morning) saying almost the same thing. I have to self quarantine until my surgery, thankfully from me it's just 1 day. The document did say that if I can't quarantine alone that I need to wear my mask around others in the house.
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I got to ring the bell today! I am so happy to be done. Honestly, when the oncologist said I had to do 16 rounds of chemo, I did not think I could do it. As bad as it was, I did it! We are all stronger than we think!!!
Wow those nails look great. The skin under my nails is a dark purple. I just painted over them because they looked so bad. I will take a pic the next time I change my nail polish so anyone can see what it looks like. Hope everyone is having a good week!
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I hope they do the throat test on me as well because I have blood in my nose constantly. I have to below my nose several times day and night. Blood clots come out all the time.
My surgery was sched. for July 14th but no one has told me to take the test yet so I'm not going to ask.
dysonsphere, woohoo. Congrats. I'm ringing the bell tomorrow.
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Dysonsphere- CONGRATS! I’m so happy for you. 16 rounds is no joke. Indeed we are stronger than we think. I hope your side effects this last round are minimal and fade quickly
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Congrats Dysonsphere!
Scattered Energy - They didn't tell me about the test until last week and, I didn't get a call to schedule it until this week (Wednesday).
I'm not sure how every doctor is doing it but, I was a little annoyed that they waited until Wednesday to call.
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dysonsphere sphere congrats on ringing the bell!!! How exciting!!
And scattered, congrats on ringing it tomorrow! I know you’re excited!!
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Ladies, today I took advantage of this offer I saw at my cancer center. I paid for 1 hr. and it was the best. I even feel like the neuropathy in my fingers and feet has diminished. I wish I could afford to do it weekly lol
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hola yo tengo 38 años , madre de tres hijos. Tienes razón el cáncer no tiene edad, inicie las quimios 10 de febrero, con taxanos 12 una cada semana y en julio inicio con antraciclinas. mi cáncer es triple negativo, con genes positivos.
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Bienvenido a la junta. La mejor de las suertes con el resto de su quimioterapia.
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Hola Sandramile1106, bienvenidos. Yo soy una madre de tres ninos tambien. Mi espanol no es muy bueno, lo siento!
scattered- that sounds awesome!0 -
Sandramile, bienvenida a los Foros de Discusión de Breastcancer.org. Sentimos que tengas que estar aquí por este motivo, pero nos alegra que nos hayas encontrado y te hayas animado escribir! Si deseas conectar con más miembros de habla hispana te recomendamos registrarte también en los foros en español. No es una comunidad tan activa como esta, pero siempre hay alguien dispuesta a ayudar. Para ello debes crear otra cuenta con diferente nombre de usuario y contraseña, pues son dos sitios diferentes. Puedes hacerlo siguiendo este enlace: https://comunidad.breastcancer.org/miembro/registr...
Por otro lado, si prefieres continuar en esta misma sección, existe un foro llamado Latinas/Hispanics With Breast Cancer donde puedes iniciar tu propio Topic para conectar con otras mujeres en tu mismo idioma.
Esperamos que te sirva de ayuda. Por favor, haznos saber cómo va todo y no dudes en contactar con nosotros si necesitas una mano!
¡Un saludo!
Moderadores
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sandramile1106, bienvenida. Suerte en tu tratamiento.
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morrigan, good luck today. Remember that pain meds are your friends!
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hray - they did my sentinel node injection this morning, it took about 90 minutes. First they put numbing cream on and let that site for 20 minutes. Then they sprayed a numbing agent and, gave me 4 injections into my nipple/areola. I didn't feel more than a pinch and a little burning from the radioactive dye. Finally, they put me in a machine and took scans.
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morrigan_2575, when should I expect that so I can put numbing cream on my whole boob lol
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I think it depends on if you're getting a sentinel biopsy or ALND and how your Dr does it. Mine was morning of surgery. I really don't know that you need anything more than what they do. I didn't feel anything other than a pinch from the needle.
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I also had a morning surgery and got the injection for the sentinel node biopsy. I didn’t get any numbing cream given to me though, but I had my injection further from my nipple. I’d certainly want some numbing if it was going into my nipple! Since it was injected off to the side/under my boob it wasn’t too bad for me pain wise. I also didn’t get scans. It’s so fascinating to me the differences in how things work at different places
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morrigan_2575, as far as I know I'm having a sentinel node something lol
Today is my last chemo and on Monday is my breasts MRI
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