July 2020 chemo club
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AnnatheBrave, that's good advice. I've thought about scheduling one of those as well - maybe along with a massage!
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mtspacekace - Congrats on #5! One more down!
Well I had my first Taxol on Monday. It started out not so great. I had an allergic reaction about 5 minutes into the infusion - funny feeling in bottom of my throat and became flushed. They stopped and loaded me up with more Benadryl and steroids. Thankfully I was able to finish with no more issues. It sounded like this isn't uncommon and I should be ok going forward. I'm guessing I'll just be on a stronger dose of Benadryl but shall see. Fingers crossed! Otherwise I am definitely feeling much better and more alert with Taxol than I did with AC. Side effects (as of now at least) are minimal.
Hope everyone is having a good week!
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My eyebrows have started to fall out — particularly the left one. I still have weird, random stubble growing on my head and leg hair that refuses to fall out, but my eyebrows are giving up.
In other news, the first week of cycle 3 was surprisingly good. I had stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea of course, but I didn’t spend the entire week sleeping and I had several hours on each day where I didn’t feel too terrible. The second week has been a steady improvement every day and the last couple of days I have only had mild nausea hit near the end of the day.
Tomorrow my husband and I are going to a cabin in the woods of PA to take pictures of Fall colors and escape from our every day lives some. I’ve been looking forward to the trip for several weeks and I hope it’s as relaxing as we want it to be.
One week until cycle 4
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Melbo, I too am losing my eyebrows. Until this little hiccup, I Was planning on going as the lady from Star Trek for Halloween. But she had beautiful brows...maybe I can paint some on! Your trip to PA sounds wonderful! We've had beautiful weather lately - should be perfect for taking in the fall foliage. Have fun! Try to relax. These are the moments we're fighting for.
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Just popping in to announce that I have completed my chemo as of Tuesday!! I'm hoping I don't get a ton of side effects like I have been getting... Patiently waiting for them to pop up. lol. I have been cold capping to help save my hair and hope it makes it through the next big shed in a few weeks. I'll be starting tamoxifen at the end of the month. Praying for little side effects from the pills. Also hoping port will come out and implants in by the end of the year. Good luck to those of you that are still on your chemo journey
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Ampmusic14, Congratulations! Go have a wonderful life!
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Infusion #4 (last one) in the books. I dreaded it, but itwas uneventful and not bad at all. Far easier than number 3. I'm officially done with chemo. Now on to rads.
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I am 6 day away from infusion 5. My finger tips are wrinkling and actually tingling a bit. My concern are my finger pads. Has anyone experienced this?
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iamloved, I haven’t had the wrinkling that I recall, but I have had tingling in both fingers and toes which comes and goes. Could you be dehydrated?
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Kmom thank you very much. Just as I suspected, symptoms were delayed... Patiently waiting for them to go away. Could also do without the mood swings that chemo brings.
Hope everyone on here is doing well!
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My fingertips have been tingly off and on, also have some peeling like in that photo...more-so on the edges where my nail meets skin. I use a good moisturizer and it seems to really help.
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Hello, I just found this site although I started chemo July 9, 2020. I've completed the AC dense dose 4 rounds every 2 weeks.
I've now started on and just completed my 3rd treatment of 12 weekly rounds of Taxol.
Surgery to follow chemo Decemberish - Merry Christmas. :-) Then radiation following surgery.
Doing my treatments on Fridays so I can recover a bit by Monday so I can keep working as much as possible for my insurance (and income of course) as long as I can. The NP called me a beast Friday but that's because she saw me prior to the benadryl and steriods. Ha!
I am also experiencing the wrinkling fingers and also burning toes/top of feet since I started the weekly treatments.
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Welcome RhondaGG!
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I also have the peeling fingertips! Moisturizer seems to help some. My fingers and toes don’t get tingly exactly, but my hands and feet do often feel like they have a sunburn and hurt when I put too much pressure on the skin.
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Dear KO,
So happy to read this update!!
Clara
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Those tingling/burning sensations are symptoms of neuropathy. For most of us, they don't get worse. For some of us, they do. Please let your doctors know if they get worse. Neuropathy often goes away (mine did), but more serious cases can lead to permanent disability.
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I talked to my naturopathic Dr today. She is getting some sulfur tablets for my fingertips. I hope it helps the peeling and tingling. I will start my 72 hour fast tomorrow for my 5th round this Thursday. I really hope I can breeze through these last 6 weeks!
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Has anyone dealt with a sick significant other? My husband woke up at 4 this morning with a sore throat, and scared to death he was going to get me sick. He sprayed disinfectant all over the house, and then couldn’t sleep so decided to pack up and head to our ranch house until he is feeling better. I think he is over reacting a bit....but I guess I don’t want to get sick either. My 3 year old nephew came down with a cold, and the hubby was around him a bit working outside last weekend...so he is afraid he caught it too.
I’m hoping and praying that I don’t get the cold, how horrible is my immune system? Can it fight off a few germs?! I’m pretty careful about hand washing and stuff around the house.
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Thanks for the welcome KMom57!
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mtspacekace - You can fight things off but may take some help from drugs because our immune systems are taking such a beating. My hubby is super-protective and reactive as well but better safe than sorry. I had a hard time fighting an infection that is a superbug (caught probably at the infusion center since that's basically the only place I go right now). It set up in my bladder/urinary tract and in my eye. Just keep your doctor on top of ANYTHING that is unusual for you. That's what helped in my case. I stayed vigilant and asked for a second bladder screening when I finished antibiotics (wasn't offered/recommended by either doctor). Glad I did because it took a second round of antibiotics to get things truly cleared up.
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Iamloved - I have not heard of the sulfur for fingertips or fasting prior to chemo. Best wishes and congrats on round 5!
I am hoping to make it though 12 rounds of this one as well. Doctor is talking about reducing dosage if my feet keep giving problems because he said it's really early for it to start on the first round. 2nd and 3rd were not as bad as the 1st for some reason. He gave me Gapatentin in case they are on fire again. Haven't taken any yet. Round 4 coming up Friday.
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Are any of you working in office environments while going through chemo? I’ve been working from home, but it sounds like I might have to return to the office in early November, which is pretty scary with Covid. My office is open floor plan and desks are mostly 2 feet apart. They have done a few things to help protect people, but the mitigations don’t seem like enough. ((Continuing to work from home does not seem like an option — big corporate push to bring the office back to 100%.))
My other option would be to take leave at least until I’m done with chemo and have my immune system back — so something like 6-9 weeks of leave. I have the leave, but I hate spending so much of it at once when I still have months of treatment ahead of me.
I have an appointment with my MO tomorrow and it’s definitely something I’m going to be asking him about
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Melbo, can you request a workplace accommodation from HR to continue working from home because of your reduced immunity during treatments?
Rhonda, welcome! I hope all goes well for you on Friday.
Iamloved, I hope all goes well for you on Thursday. Regarding your picture: I had the wrinkling and peeling, but it went away when I replaced everything in the shower with fragrance free Dove for sensitive skin. The pins and needles sensation in two fingers and a thumb were more recent so that was unrelated to the wrinkling and peeling that I had.
Mtspacekace, I hope your husband is recovering and you do not have it.
Ampmusic & KMom, that's great you have finished chemo. 🎉🎊 I wish you all the best in the next stage of your healing.
Brittonkb, I hope your infusion went well on Monday.
Wishing everyone a pleasant rest of the week. To any Canadians here, wishing you a pleasant Thanksgiving weekend.
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Had my 4th infusion yesterday. Other than being annoyed because the nurse was super slow getting me started and some restless leg syndrome (the nurse said the Benadryl likely caused it) the infusion went fine.
I talked to my MO about my immune system and he said it would take a month after finishing chemo to get it back. If HR refuses an accommodation (and rumor says they are being pretty hard core about bringing everyone back) then I will likely use sick leave until the week of Christmas. (My last infusion will be 20 November.
Also - if you did chemo first, at what point did you start taking to the surgeons? My MO was surprised I hadn’t heard anything from them yet. I’m thinking about calling them Monday just to remind them I exist.
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Melbo...I talked to my Breast surgeon's office after my 3rd infusion. And my plastic surgeon just a week ago. I would contact yours ASAP. I wanted to get my surgery scheduled before the end of the year because of insurance. So mine is scheduled for Dec1.
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On Thursday I had my 5th infusion. Oncologist said again she can barely feel the tumor. 👏 However I needed 4 units of magnesium and my red blood cell count is low. She wants a transfusion if in a week my numbers don't change. Does anyone have any ideas on how to raise red blood cell counts? I do not want the transfusion!
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Melbo—have you looked into short-term disability leave? Since you’re doing TCHP, you’re still going to be in treatment even after chemo ends, so you might be able to take that kind of leave, get paid, and not have to exhaust your accrued vacation time (though they’ll probably expect you to use some, and maybe allof it, depending on their policies).
IamLoved—I don’t know if it actually helped or if my body just caught up, but I started taking iron (just one gummy, no megadoses or anything, though my iron wasn’t actually low—did they test yours?) and eating a ton of spinach and doing a lot less physical activity when my numbers started drifting down, and they were slightly higher at the next draw. I also felt much better. If I had to guess, I think being easier on my body did help. From what I’ve read, there’s no quick fix other than a transfusion.
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Melbo and Iamloved, that's great another infusion is over. And Iamloved, exciting news that the oncologist could barely feel the tumor.
Wishing everyone a pleasant week with minimal discomfort.
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Melbo- I met with the breast surgeon and plastic surgeon after my 4th chemo. We discussed my options and figured out what we are going to do for surgery, but they haven't officially scheduled it yet because AAMC is not scheduling very far out because of COVID. (I could tell this frustrates the surgeons a bit.) So that may be why you haven't heard from the surgeons yet. I would give them a call on Monday.
As for me, I haven't reported in a bit. I'm done with infusion 5 and am struggling a bit emotionally. This has just gone on for soooo long and each round it takes me longer to "bounce back". I keep trying to tell myself only 1 infusion left, but that isn't really helping because I still feel awful from the last infusion and know that I will feel awful for a couple of weeks after the last infusion. Nothing to do but just endure I suppose. Hope everyone else is hanging in there too.
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