Starting chemo February 2020
Comments
-
Scattered, this is great news! Good luck tomorrow with the 2nd cycle. I hope we have a much easier time!
0 -
P. S. I would usually be asleep for the night by now, but the steroid gives me insomnia. So I decided to add a short note: (uh oh - chemo brain is real, I lost my train of thought) :-) About driving yourself to and from chemo - I read recently that chemo infusions can actually raise your blood alcohol level to legally impaired, so that's not safe. Hopefully your medical oncologist can tell you if your chemo drugs will do that.
Just used a "sunburn" spray by Banana Boat which is Aloe Vera and Lidocaine on my very sore and broken out scalp. Felt good.
Fun fact or fiction: the reason that my nose is always drippy is that my nose hairs have fallen out. That was asserted in something I read. MO gave me no explanation for side effect drippy nose. Why does having some idea "why" make it less bothersome?
Take it easy (as possible!) Best Wishes!
0 -
Hi Sweettalker52! We want to welcome you to our community, and thank you so much for sharing your tips and experiences! it's so helpful to know what worked for others.
The Mods
0 -
Stupid question lol. Do you guys eat breakfast before your chemo treatment? For my first one I didn't because I thought I preferred to eat it after without being in a hurry (appt. is early) but in the end I felt shitty and I ended up not eating. Now I'm wondering if I should have breakfast before since I feel good now.
0 -
ScatteredEnergy- I did before my first and will if I can before my others as well. I figure I might as well eat as much as I can while I’m feeling good vs. when I start feeling blah
0 -
ajminn3, yeah, I ate breakfast but have been feeling nauseous since then but I think it is stress. I don't want to be since i know shitty days comes after.
Anyways, here I am for my 2nd treatment.
0 -
i was doing intermittent fasting eating from 12-8 and, haven't broken the habit. I didn't eat before Chemo last time and seemed fine. I did have some snacks with me but, wasn't really hungry
0 -
You look absolutely beautiful ScatteredEnergy!!! I’d have to agree that I get an upset stomach with my stress/anxiety more than anything. I hope Round 2 goes well for you
one more closer to being done0 -
Thank you. I finished after only 2.5 hrs. much better than the four hrs. it took last time. I'm feeling okay for now. Waiting to see my MO's sched. and then heading home to rest. I'm hoping I feel good enough to go to class today @ 5:40
0 -
ScatteredEnergy- That’s fantastic news!!
Fab4Mom- Hugs to you. I hope you get some relief soon. Wig shopping with fun friends sounds fabulous! I hope it lifts your spirits.
Sweettalker- I’ll check out those videos. Thank you!
Dysonsphere- Hugs for you!
Ajminn3- Sounds like a pity party was warranted. I’m really surprised by the response at your 24 hour line. Why on earth would they send a chemo patient to urgent care?! Do you have help with your kids?
I’m on day four. Yesterday I started having pain in my hips, thighs, and knees. At times the pain is quite intense. It was a rough night last night. Today I’m exhausted and have general achiness. Fortunately I have been blessed with lots of people who are eager to help. A couple of women from church will drive my daughters to their classes today so I can chill at home
0 -
Scattered Energy - So wonderful that your tumor has shrunk so quickly. I am going to visualize that myself... picture that every upset stomach, every ache, every time my mouth is sore, is the chemo pummeling my cancer.
I am not eating well either. I finally figured out last night that I can't eat anything that isn't slippery. Anybody else? My husband made a Chicken with Vodka Sauce that I normally love, but it just felt like it didn't have enough sauce to not get caught in my throat. That got me thinking about what I did like eating and what I didn't. Everything I like eating is sort of slippery. Rice pudding, oatmeal, applesauce, milk. Anybody else experiencing a similar issue with foods that seem dry and seem to stick in your throat when you swallow?
0 -
TaraMom22- I’m still tolerating most food, but now that you mention it, I do prefer slippery foods. Avocados, scrambled eggs, applesauce, and pudding seem to be my favorites.
0 -
Scattered - I have my treatments around 9:30 and have been having a yogurt before each one. I also take a snack, usually hard boiled eggs and fruit that I eat during my treatment. So far it has worked for me - i have found even on a daily basis that I need to eat something, even if it is just a hard boiled egg or half a banana every three to four hours.
0 -
@Taramom - I thought that was only given if there's still cancer after surgery (when you do Chemo first)? How do they know you need it already?
0 -
TexasMama- luckily my husband was off of work this weekend so he took on most of the weight of caring for the kids and we sent the healthy one off to other people’s houses to stay heathy and have fun. I’m fortunate to live by a lot of family so we have lots of people helping out. I just hate I can’t care for my kids myself right now.
TaraMom- now that I think about it I’d agree with preferring more “slippery” foods. I feel like it’s because my throat was a little sore and mouth was quite dry overall maybe
I had my a follow up Appt for bloodwork today. I went in feeling good...appetite is back, antibiotics kicked in, fatigue gone! Then the bloodwork came back I am neutropenic and had seriously low neutrophils..like almost at 0. So now I’m not allowed to leave my house and my kids are packed up and sent to grandmas (2 still have the crud). Ironically I was planning on returning to work Monday. Now I have to wait and I spent the day crying and throwing myself another pity party. *sigh* this too shall pass, right? I guess now I qualify to get the neulesta onpro for my following rounds so this doesn’t happen again.
0 -
Morrigan_25 - Are you referring to the Kadcyla in my signature? Or to something else I wrote in a prior post?
My MO said 6 rounds of chemo (3 weeks apart), then Mastectomy, then radiation, then 11-13 more rounds (3 weeks apart) of "targeted drug therapy" because I am HER2+. It might have to do with the size of my tumor, might have to do with the HER2+. I am not saying it is all set in stone, but that is what they have told me to be prepared for.
0 -
ajminn3- Oh man, that’s rough. You’re right, this will pass. But still, it’s not easy right now. I’m glad you have family nearby to help.
0 -
Today was my 2nd AC round. I've decided to approach it differently. I was so scared and didn't know what to expect the first time. This time, I discussed with MO what we could do so I wouldn't have so many bad days. For their part, they increased my steroid amount and let me know they are more than willing to give me 2 IV infusions the following weeks if I needed. I will make sure I take my home steroids (I accidentally skipped a day at home).The first 4 days I will push fluids, eat properly, and if on Monday I feel dehydrated i will ask for IV right away. This plan makes me feel so much better. They are also adjusting my dose since my WBC went so low last round.
As for my hair, it was really messy today so I went for a pixie cut. A cut I would never ever have in real life! But it should help with the shedding! Good luck every one, and whatever round you are on, I hope it gets better and better.
0 -
@TaraMom - yeah I was reading your signature. I am on TCHP for neoadjuvant treatment as well. I have a similar plan, TCHP then surgery (I'm doing a BMX) I was told no radiation (but that could change) then continue the HP until 1 year is up.
I just recently asked my MO about doing Nyrlynx for a year after HP ended because I read an article that it has some crosstalk with HR+ cancer. So, while the side effects might not be worth it for HR-/HER2+ it has a greater beneficial impact on HR+/HER2+ cancers.
He mentioned that we could look at Nyrlynx or Kadcyla after surgery if I didn't have a CPR (fingers crossed). That's why I was curious about the plan in your signature because when I looked up Kadcyla it mentioned it could only be used if there was still cancer in the tissues after completing Chemo
0 -
At the advice of my boss when I go in for chemo I tell the nurse to let me finish the last iv of fluids. Yesterday she said she will put in a new one at the end. I have no idea if that's the reason why I'm feeling better this time around but maybe try to do that too for yourselves.
0 -
Scattered, thats a good idea! I will ask about that next time.
0 -
Well day two of my 2nd AC and it is starting. It doesn't stop falling lol. I feel like my dog lol. I think I'll be trimming it this weekend.
I also want to brag lol. My scar looks beautiful. I have been taking care of it because when I had my tummy tuck the scar got a bit dark because I went to get sun too soon. This one i have it covered all the time. I hope it stays this light. It will be a long year but worth it if i won't have a dark scar in the end.
0 -
Dysonsphere and ScatteredEnergy- You both sound like you have a good plan. I hope the extra fluids help!
My legs still hurt. Last night I slept a bit better than the night before. This morning I had to sit down while I brushed my teeth. I’m not sure if I’m fatigued from chemo or from poor sleep. I have a follow up appointment with my MO today. I hope she has some suggestions on how to relieve the leg pain.
0 -
Scattered - you will be surprised how you will adjust to the hair loss. I'm not over it yet (or done, yet) but I found a long hair on a fuzzy sweater in my closet this afternoon, and thought, wow, I had long hair earlier last week. And I didn't even tear up! Now it's Pixie or less than Pixie in the bald spots, but my hats have arrived from TLC/American Cancer Society. That's also the first place that I've seen in print any timetable for hair loss from chemo side effects. Page 18 of their Fall/Winter catalog discusses it. My Medical Oncologist had the catalogs in their waiting room for patients to take home. If you want to check it out online, the url is www.tlcdirect.org
Thank you for posting pictures. Maybe someday I'll be brave like you. I think your scar is beautiful. Mine not so much so far.
Best wishes, and a shout-out to all our sisters and brothers promoting pink ribbons!
0 -
anyone doing Taxol first and have started the hair loss? I’m doing her taxol first and had my second taxol treatment yesterday. I had cut my hair into a pixie last week so there’s not much of it anyways but I did start losing hair this morning. Thinking of going ahead and shaving it all tomorrow.
Also, my second taxol was a little scary. The first one I had no issues and slept through the whole thing. This time, 10 min into the taxol I had a reaction. My heart started hurting really bad so I sat up in my chair and just saw spots every where. Then felt sick but never threw up and my lips felt like they swelled up to the size of a basketball. My mom told me they weren’t any bigger but they sure felt huge. We had to stop and give Me more Benadryl and steroids then went slower for the first 15 minutes to make sure everything went Okay then they sped it back up and I made it through the rest of my treatment. No side effects today other than the start of hair loss.
0 -
Sweettalker52, thank you. I'll check it out.
hray1993, how scary.
0 -
hray1993 - I'm so sorry you had a reaction like that. I wonder if it's because the infusion rate was faster this time around? I know you can always ask them to go at the original speeds if you have bad reactions.
My understanding with Chemo/hair loss is that day 14-15 is pretty much the point where hair starts to go. Even with the dignicap i started shedding on day 15.
0 -
hmmm I guess I’m a little early then. My first chemo was the 13 so I’m only at 9 days and my hair started to go yesterday. But I have very fine thin hair so that may have something to do with it
0 -
I'm going to the hair salon as soon as they open. I just washed my hair this morning and I don't ever want to feel that again. The hair just wouldn't stop falling. I had to finally get out of the shower. I haven't even brushed it. So I guess I'll be almost bold today.
0 -
I'm sorry scatteredenergy. It really sucks that Chemo takes so much away from us but, if all goes well it will give us something so much better
0
