Starting chemo February 2020
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My infusion was uneventful. No anaphylaxis this time! Yay!! That's the way we like it! The silver lining is with abraxane I don’t need to take steroids for three days. Another yay!
I feel fine. I can tell that I will need to eat only small, bland meals. I tried to chew a piece of gum and it was disgusting.
Maddy83f- I’m planning to follow your advice and get some exercise every day and drink lots. I hope I’ll do as well as you have.
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TexasMama, the same about the gum. I have a bunch because I used to chew a lot and now it will just sit in my house lol
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ScatteredEnergy- I know! I thought gum was going to help with the weird taste in my mouth, not make it worse! Oh, well.
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Thank you Maddy83f and morrigan. I start next Monday and knowing what to expect is so helpful. I know everyone’s different and my mileage may vary, but I’m hoping my se’s won’t be too bad. I keep thinking that lots of folks do chemo - not fun but doable - and get through it just fine.
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MNSusan, I hope you do well with chemo and have few side effects. I was reading your diagnosis and it says in 2012 you were stage 1 then 2020 stage IV. Did it just pop up somewhere after your mastectomy? What signs did you have if you don’t mind me asking? I’m assuming the mastectomy got rid of the stage I then it came back somewhere else in your body in 2020
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Has anyone started losing their hair yet? Today I woke up feeling like I had slept with a ponytail all night but no hair loss yet. My 2nd chemo is this Thursday if I'm not able to change it for Fridays.
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hray1993, the deep margin on the left mastectomy in 2012 was very very close. My oncologist at the time was unconcerned. She said a margin of even one cell was enough so I didn't have radiation or anything to clean it up. Before the holidays this past year, I felt two large lumps in my left armpit and knew it was probably breast cancer again. When I had my axilla ultrasound, I told the tech that I was pretty sure this was a recurrence and I was okay with doing a biopsy right then and there. There was a radiologist there willing to do it and she knew, looking at the screen, that they were malignant and suggested that my next step was getting a PET scan. I started my appointments, scans, biopsies, etc. on Jan 2 and here we are. Got the port yesterday and I'm looking forward to getting rid of this crap.
Edited to add: Just found out I met this year's insurance deductible already ($8100!).
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MNSusan, that sucks. I'm so scared of this shit coming back.
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@ScatteredEnergy - I'm at 14 days and haven't started shedding yet. I expect it will happen this week
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morrigan_2575 😔
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I started on the 6th so I'm day 13 and my hair has started coming out. Nothing scary yet. I have a lot of hair so I'm hoping to drag it out as long as possible!
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dysonsphere, bummer.
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Has anyone else had bad back spasms? I have paraspinal muscle spasms, both sides, started on Day 4 and got worse every day until they peaked yesterday (D7).They coincide with the timing of my Zarxio injections. They were really bad after I woke up from a long nap yesterday so maybe worse from dehydration but aggressive hydration and electrolyte repletion didn't help. Heating pad didn't help either so I finally took a Flexeril and things calmed down. Very mild and tolerable symptoms today. Tongue tingling is almost completely gone but I still can't eat spicy food.
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nimmy1976, mine ran along my spine and finished on my lower back. It was hard changing positions while sleeping, sitting or standing. They lasted about a day or two.
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Port placement tomorrow! How was the procedure? I’m not looking forward to this.
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mine was done under general anesthesia so I didn't feel anything. After that it didn't hurt too much, I had to put some ice on it 2 days later but, otherwise it wasn't bad.
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Lindy4- My port placement was super easy. They put me completely out, so I wasn’t aware of a thing. I felt fine after. I think I only took pain meds the first night. I have had a few times that it’s been irritated, so I iced it. That helped a lot.
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Lindy4, I had mine placed on Monday. I was also under general anesthesia. The proceduretook 20 min and stayed numb for 24 hours. Yesterday, I took ibuprofen a couple of times. It’s a strange feeling but not painful at all.
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Does anyone drive themselves to chemo? I have friends that have agreed to take me to chemo but my chemo is scheduled so early (730) that I hate to bother them to get up that early. I am going to my 2nd chemo tomorrow with a friend but I'm hoping I might could drive myself to my 3rd and 4th AC infusions.
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Lindy4, my port surgery was good. They used twilight anesthesia. Sore a bit after but super easy.
dysonsphere, I can drive myself to it and maybe drive myself back home after but I'll let you know how I feel after this week. I feel fine now so I know I can drive myself there. Maybe you can take a Lyft/Uber there and then your friends pick you up after?
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Dysonsphere - I was told I can drive to/from Chemo after the first infusion. I just haven't yet. I have a ride lined up for #2. Will see about self driving for #3.
Just got back from my checkup, everything looks good, I'm on track for Infusion #2 next Wednesday
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Just in case anyone needs to. There's this app called Abridge. I use it to record my doctor visits un case I need to go back and look for something I forgot. It gives you a transcript and you can search for key words.
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So I just finished my appt. with my MO. I'm surprised. After only one chemo, the mass is smaller and softer. It went from 7x7 cm to 4x4 cm and she can no longer feel the cancerous lymph node. 😮🤩
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ScatteredEnergy - That's awesome! Congratulations!
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So, I'm one week out (Day 8) of my TCHP chemo. I'm doing ok, but it's been a struggle. I haven't had much luck with my taste buds or appetite. My nausea is controlled by meds, but my stomach is all messed up as a result. I went in today for blood tests and they gave my hydration through my port. I lost 6lbs this week and I have to eat more. I'm trying, it's so weird, but it's so hard to eat. So far I feel like noodles are easiest for me to handle. Oatmeal in the morning. I bought protein shakes to supplement too. Also, the days feel so long. I don't work, I'm a stay at home mom to 4 kids, and they were around alot because of presidents day. I feel bad, and don't have tons of energy, but being stuck home in the cold makes the day feel so long. I have gone on the treadmill most days. Yesterday was a better day than today, which was kind of disheartening, I was hoping each day would just get better and better.
Also, I've gotten a rash which looks like teenage acne on my face. My doctor is great about it, prescribed me a cream, and got me an urgent dermatologist appt for tomorrow, but it's lots of tiny little pimple like bumps, some with whiteheads. Hopefully I can get that under control before all my hair falls out, what a sight I will be!
I have plans tomorrow to go wig shopping with some of my fun girlfriends, I'm looking forward to that.
I'm glad to hear that most of you are tolerating your side effects pretty well.
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ScatteredEnergy, that’s wonderful!
My port and neck felt tight and sore for a week after surgery but finally eased up.
I had my first CT chemo today. The worst part so far has been the bad taste the Dexamethasone leaves in my mouth. I’m drinking my water. Sucking on hard candies and using the baking soda swish. Appetite okay. A little jittery from steroids.
Tomorrow I go back for the Fulaphil. Is that a shot or short infusion?
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Just saw a video on YouTube by the owner (and BC Survivor) of Hatsscarfsandmore. Nikki, I believe. She was a hairdresser for years and years. She said not to shave your head - go to a number 2 guard on the clippers to avoid ingrown hairs. Lots of great information there. I am experiencing significant hair loss. It began two weeks after my first chemo (TC with Neulasta X 4) So I cut my hair shorter than a pixie. My husband has much longer hair. LOL My first round was January 29th and second was this morning, February 19. Time to drink a few more gallons of water, eat something else and take the anti-nausea medicine (Zofran.) Best Wishes!
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I'm on day 14 and have started losing hair at rapid rate. I bought a wig and ordered a beanie today. I was hoping that I could have my hair for longer but it's easy to see that losing hair at this rate can quickly become annoying.
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As I told my medical oncologist this morning, the back spasms were so intense that night of onset I was crying out like a woman in labor. And I didn't cry out that much when I birthed either of my two children back in the day, natural childbirth. :-). MO offered a Rx for an opiate, but I don't want to go there. So will have to make do with alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen, and taking Claritin and/or Zyrtec. The MO said it's a known side effect of Neulasta, not the chemotherapy drugs. But maybe it's worth it, because my white cell count was above normal! Woo Hooo!
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I’m on day 8 of cycle 1 TCHP. My blah/loss of appetite continued, my nose was stuffy and drippy causing sinus pain. I kept flirting with a 100.5 fever for a day or two...I called the 24 hour line like they drilled into me and was met with a, “take ibuprofen” the first time and a, “go to an urgent care to get checked out if you think it’s a sinus infection” the second time. So I cried and called my regular doctor who squeezed me in and gave me some antibiotics. I didn’t think urgent care in the winter during peak flu season would be wise. I feel much better but still kinda run down and blah. I knew with 2 kids under 3 being sick all weekend I wasn’t going to get by not getting sick too as hard as I tried. It was a long weekend. I definitely threw myself a pity party for a bit wondering if I could really keep doing this for another 5 rounds despite having generally mild side effects.
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