Starting Chemo April 2021
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Thanks for the references, Mamacure. Netflix has good film so I will be sure to check it out as well as the book. Glad to hear your infusions are good, I think there is no doubt all the things you are doing are helping. I especially like how you are seeing an acupuncturist, something I should do, and I have heard the mox is effective.
My 2nd infusion is coming up later this week, hope things are smooth for me & everyone here.
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Hi Everyone. I hope everyone is doing better than expected. I've just gotten my port in on Tuesday, and I'm most likely going to be starting chemo some time next week. I wanted to stop by in case anyone was browsing the forums, to say that this port and bandage is so itchy!!!! Terribly itchy!!!! So just be prepared. LOL. They are having me keep them on until next Tuesday when they do the post op check of the port site.
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I had my first round April 23, of taxotere, cytoxan and doxorubicin. Followed by the shot for wbc. So far so good. Just feeling tired. Same treatment every three weeks. Six rounds of chemo.
The only issue I had yesterday after chemo my blood sugar went way up. Not good for a diabetic. Trying to control it with oral meds. Thankfully it normalized over night. Will see how long the bloodsuger dance lasts. Hopefully only a few days.
I'm trying to lure the hubby out for a short walk.
We will get thru this. Stay strong lad
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hi always me,
My port was itching terrible. Mine was due to an allergic reaction to the adhesive on the bandage. i hope you feel better soo
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Hello
My bandage was itcy too. The nurses have started to use iodine to clean rather than the other cleaning solution. It still itches but not as bad.
Hahlyn
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Thanks Taralynn for starting April 2021 chemo thread. My wife Nicole will be starting AC portion of chemo on April 29. Looks like most of you already had a head start.
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Hi everyone, best wishes pchyen to your wife starting AC soon. It seems some start with AC and some with Taxol, I wonder why.
I was doing fairly ok with Taxol (and Taxol + Carbo) and had a good week, but the 3rd infusion of Taxol, I had a reaction with face flushing, heart rate increasing, feeling dizzy. They forgot to give me the call button, so I had to shout for the nurse. They stopped the drip and after consulting with MO, gave me extra steroids. I slept ok despite that after taking 2 tabs of Quietitude sleep aid. Thankfully, able to finish Taxol dose without further issues. Thank God. The next day, I felt a face flush coming on again while driving so I drank a ton of iced tea and was ok. Now, my MO is switching me from Taxol to Abraxane or similar if my insurance approves. I have 3 more rounds (9 infusions) left before moving onto AC. White cell count went down again, otherwise walking and feeling pretty good. Hair started falling out, but still have a full head......Hope everyone is doing ok, please keep us posted. Take care everyone!
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Pchyen, sending healing wishes to your wife. I am sure she will do well with a husband caring enough to post.
Mamacure, sorry you had a reaction. Thanks for posting that drinking helped, that is valuable information. AC is a cancer antibiotic and Taxol are plant alkaloids, I guess used first or 2nd at the discretion of the MO based on their strategy.
Welcome DH320, stay strong. hope your bloods stabilize.
AlwaysMeC, I had problems with my port hurting whey I worked on my computer as well as reached for items but now it is fine. I honestly didn't think the pain would get better, but it heals in time.
My 2nd round of AC was last week, felt a bit weaker from my Rx's this time around, GI still sensitive so still on a LRD which means hours in the kitchen. There goes my free time, oh well. Hair falling out in large clumps.
Sprinkling healing dust on you all.
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thank you mamacure & HopeHeal for your well wishes.
Went through some of the threads on preparing for chemo.
does anyone have suggestion for things Nicole should bring with her on first day of AC chemo? Snacks? Her chemo is scheduled to start at 10:45am so I am sure it will run through lunch time. I am thinking crackers, fruit, prune, juice? I am a bit lost as the list for preparing chemo is fairly long and not specific for things to bring during chemo. I will be driving her and picking her up. I am not allowed to go with her due to Covid.
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TODAY: In case you are interested, come be with others just starting or in the process of chemotherapy in a relaxing, confidential and supportive virtual environment. Caregivers are welcome. This will be a recurring meeting.
To Register, download the Zoom app and click the link below.
When: Every Tuesday 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting (if you register once you will not need to register for future meetings):
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvc-uurzgvHNyvhpw-l0KPkwjlKN_KbOeC
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
See you then!
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Great job on your 2nd round of AC HopeHeal! My GI is tender too and I feel random & brief pain all over. But, it's not strong and bearable. I am able to function mostly normal. It's almost time to shave my head i think, big chunks coming out now, tried wearing a sleeping cap last night but it fell off during the night LOL.
I have my 2nd acccupuncture today.
Question for everyone: Does your IV nurse put the IV filter on top or near the port? I usually have it near the port, but the last time the nurse in training put it on top of the IV stand and I wonder if that's what caused my reaction? Also, the order of the pre-treatments given may make a difference too. Nurse shortage here so too many nurses in training, doing things differently.
Pchyen: Very sweet of you to post for your wife. For chemo #1, take lots of water, not sure if starting with Taxol or AC, but icing hands & feet may help (search for icing tips), I use 2 big YETI ice blocks for my feet (I put plastic bags over thin socks and place my feet inside the soft cooler. I also hold a skinny YETI ice block with my hands. Also keep ice chips in mouth, you can ask for a cup of ice. Don't stay still while icing or her legs will cramp or worse, move them around once in awhile. My center provides crackers & snacks & sugary juices (!!), but I usually do intermittant fasting on my chemo days and just drink water & green tea. Best wishes for chemo #1 for your wife. Help her to rest and hydrate when she gets home.
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thank you Moderators. Nicole joined the weekly Zoom today and found it very helpful!
thank you mamacure. Nicole will start with AC, was told no icing required for AC. Will get Nicole to drink lots of fluid and get her to chew on ice chips.
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It looks like the bandage was a big part of the problem. I had tons of tiny reds spots when I went to change it for a different material.
HopeHeal, it does feel weird moving around. It's like that feeling you get when you kind of pinch your ear lobe, but it's not quite painful. I think my collar bone is irritated too because it sometimes feels like it starts there and moves to the tip of the bone at the end of my shoulder - but only for a second.
I'm really concerned about water intake. I read on the big chemo thread that water seemed to make SEs better. I usually drink about 50 to 60 ounces a day. Someone said a gallon helps!
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hi y’all,
Anyone having really bad bone pains after getting neulasta shot. Doc said Claritin and Tylenol. It is not helping. doc changed me to Zyrtec and aleve. Not much relief.
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hi friends! Haven’t updated in a while!
Pchyen- so nice of you to come here and post for your wife. Best of luck to her tomorrow. I am on AC also and have had very good luck with it so far. I tend to overpack for treatment but I bring my own blanket, a neck pillow, book or magazine, phone and a charger, and food from home. Today I just have strawberries a banana and graham crackers, only things that seemed appetizing this morning!
Right now I’m at AC #3.I’m doing well with side effects. They are compounding so after infusion 2 I had more fatigue and more nausea. Nothing I couldn’t manage with zofran. AC 2 left me with really sore muscles for a day, like I worked out every part of my body the day before! That was strange. Claritin is keeping neulasta pain at bay, sometimes I’ll get lower back pain but again nothing drastic.
The cold capping is what’s stressing me. Even though I still have about 80% of my hair left, which I’m told on AC is pretty rare, the whole experience on infusion day is a lot. So today I asked if I could take an Ativan to help me relax and I was able to. It’s been a big help! Now I can sit and read and what not like everyone else instead of being high strung waiting to get out of this restricting head gear lol!
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Thanks Taralynn, I will prepare some snacks and light lunch for Nicole. We will ask for Zofran, I am sure Nicole will need it to manage her nausea. You are very lucky to keep the hair with AC with cold cap! I think from the stats only around 25% or less are able to keep their hair.
I am a bit disappointed Nicole isn’t getting her Echocardiogram until after her first chemo session. We were deciding between TCHP and AC-THP and having echocardiogram earlier would have been easier for us to make a decision! Let’s hope her heart function is good and we can monitor.
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Just had my second chemo today. All went well hopefully the next couple if days won't be too ruff!
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hi pchyen,
To bad you can’t be with your wife during chemo. I’m glad our hospital allows one person to come into the infusion room. I was glad my husband was able to come. It definitely eased my nerves. I brought fruit,water and some pretzels. Reading material, blanket. The nurses at our hospital are super nice. My first treatment was Adriamycin after that the cytoxan and then taxotere. All in all about six hours.
good luck to Nicole with the first treatment.0 -
Hello Pchyen - Good luck with your wife's first infusion. If she is having AC infusion, I found my sense of smell very heightened which then causes you to have nausea. So it is recommended to eat foods that don't have much smell associated with them. I drank a lot of water while getting the AC infusion because it is important to be able to flush out the chemo as much as possible. I did not eat any food while getting the infusion, but it is not a bad idea to eat something before going in for chemo infusion.
Emotional Pond - sending you hugs and I hope TC #2 goes fine. I found it to be a little less taxing than TC#1 but now I am day # 8 and still don't feel 100%.
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Hi emotionalpond, glad your second chemo went well!
Hi DH320 & Carpe-Diem, thank you! Nicole finished her first ACchemo today and it went well. She took a olanzapine as a precaution but she doesn't like the feeling, but it's better than the alternative of nausea and vomiting. Will make sure we get Nicole some bland food for the first few then slowly introduce regular food
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DH320 - Yes - I get terrible bone pain and aches all through my back after the neulasta or Biosimilar drug. I detest it. The past week after treatment, I increased my dosage of Claritin from one to two - I took one in the AM and one in the PM - and I also started taking a Tylenol every six hours for a few days. In a sense I stayed ahead of the pain, and I think it really helped me. I had some pain but it was not as bad as it has been in the past. Also, folks say taking a hot bath with epson salts help.
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thank you for the tip carpe-diem. I gues on the next round in two week I’ll have to try that. As of yesterday I stared to get mouth sores accompanied by a nasty headache. Calling the doc today. I sorta have to be fit on Monday. They are going to Check my flipped port. Don’t know how that happened. It sure was “fun” having the nurse try to hook me up and hit metal three times. By the way the lidocaine only lasts one poke. No digging. The fourth time was the charm but it took two nurses, one holding my port down and the other poking. I hope I don’t get the same doc for the repair. Oh well we will see. Hang in there ladies.
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Hope you get the port sorted out DH320.
Does anyone know when side effects starts from 1st chemo? Nicole seems to be doing okay so far but this is day 2 so I am expecting worse days 2-8.
Nicole will be getting her Neulasta (Lapelga) shot this afternoon. She took a Claritin this morning. I took a day off and will monitor her closely, sitting here watching her work, LOL
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pchyen, I had very few side effects from the first two infusions of AC. After that, they kicked in and 3 and 4 were somewhat challenging, although do-able. Hoping this first infusion isn’t too difficult!
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DH320 - Gargle with baking soda and water several times a day. It keeps the mouth sore away.
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Hi everyone, glad to see lots of activity here. Thank you everyone, being connected here will be part of our healing process. Glad Nicole's 1st infusion went well, especially being AC. Carpe-Diem, thanks for the tips on bone pain, my WBC went down again so I got the shot after #4. I am now on Abraxane so no more steroids, pepsid, Benadryl. Felt better than #1, but today feeling wiped out, but still able to make chicken soup. Hair is out about 50%, getting everywhere so will be shaving it tomorrow. I feel okay about it but we will see when the actual time comes. Still walking everyday. Take care everyone!
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Hello
TC #2 completed on Thursday. Side effects kicked in almost immediately. Today I feel awful. My skin feels so dry this time. Along with a dry mouth. Hoping the side effects subside sooner but I know this is cumulative. I have 2 more treatments left I'm praying I can make it through.
Wishing everyone a good week ahead.
Hahlyn
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Hahlyn - I know the pain and the awful feeling seems indefinite. But just tell yourself you got to only make it through today. The horrible feeling we get from the side effects is all temporary, and in a few days you will hopefully feel like yourself. Keep drinking lots of fluids and moisturize your body. Remember, this too shall pass.
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Thank you so much Carpe-Diem.
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Hope you feel better Hahlyn, I too had a rough weekend after infusion #4. Thanks Carpe-Diem, your words helped me out too, appreciate you.
I had to get udenyca shot to increase WBC and that wiped me out last weekend along with (Abraxane, Kitruda & Carbo) combo. Ugh. I slept most of the day yesterday with no energy to walk.
Feeling little better today, hair was a mess, basically chemo fried and dried it out so shaved it this morning. Much better. Little tears but bearable. Nausea was bad this time, could not drink too much water so that was not good either. Constipation came back but not as bad as last time. Still bad. Hope you all are doing better, hang in there. Please let us know how you are doing. Thanks.
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