Starting Chemo September 2021
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Sarah, so sorry you are having issues and hoping it resolves soon. You are due a Christmas miracle!
I'm off to chemo today a day early due to Friday being Christmas Eve Day and they are closed. Five more to go after this. We may not get a white Christmas in Arizona but I'm getting a white head of hair to compensate. I look like an old man....
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I'm praying for perfect outcomes for all of us
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Hope your chemo went well yesterday Hummingbird , yeah, the little stray hairs growing on top of my head now are pure white. And stand straight up. I feel like an old man too. Sucks.
Merry Christmas eve. Happy holidays to everyone.
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DONE WITH CHEMO!!!!! YES!!! Last dose was yesterday and I am so jazzed to have that part behind me. What a great Christmas gift. So far so good except my taste and appetite went almost immediately where it had taken about 5 days or so previously. Hoping that means it will come back earlier. Nothing else too bad so far. Cooking up a storm for our kids to pick up tomorrow - outside quickie visit and off they go with food and gifts. We'll open and stuff on Zoom later. Different but it will work for this year to keep things safe for everyone. Hoping everyone can have some joy and happy over the season and days of feeling OK-ish or at least as good as it gets right now. One step at a time. I start my hormone (herceptin) infusions only on Feb. 3rd and meet with my surgeon early Jan to set a date for double chop chop. Merry Christmas everyone!!!! So glad I have met you all. We're all soul sisters now. XOXOXOXOXO
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Congrats DebbieM1958 on being done with chemo!!! woohoo!
Merry Christmas everyone.
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Congratulations, Debby! Enjoy your holiday knowing that the Chemo is behind you now.
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WooHoo DebbieM!! It's a great new year for you!! Don't be a stranger to those of us still plodding along....
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Congratulations, DebbieM!
I hope everyone is enjoying a restful holiday, and those of you with treatments through this time are being treated kindly by the chemo gods. I have just come out the other side of my last week of taxol pain and focusing this week on moving slowly towards feeling “normal” again
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Hi everyone, CONGRATS Debbie!! and Mindthief, so glad you're on your way to feeling more like yourself!
Hummingbird, I'm right there with you.. 5 more! I had my last one on Christmas Eve and then after all the Christmas festivities, I am completely wiped out. This is purely a recovery week now.
Sarah, how are you doing
White hair? Uh oh 😬 I have a light dusting of fuzz…
I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays in the best way possible .. hugs to you all!
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Just to close out what has been a terrible year, I broke a tooth the day after Christmas and saw the dentist this morning in the first available appointment. I get to have a root canal this afternoon. Like cherry on top of a bad sundae....what else? There's two days left, hopefully nothing more after chemo tomorrow.
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Ugh, sorry Hummingbird - this year needs to be over for sure. Better things in 2022 for all of us. Happy New Year everyone. After Cycle #6 I have had a bit of a rough week, very very tired and no appetite but hungry, but today feeling a little better. Got bruising from my Xarxio shots this time around but I read that happens. No Big D - just little D.....so anxious to get all these things out of my system and start to feel better. Surgeon appt on 1/4 and PET scan on 1/6. More to follow.
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Hope everyone is having a relaxing holiday season, with minimum side effects.
Thanks for asking spades, days #4 - #9 had been worst for me this cycle. I was literally crawling between bedroom and restroom, big D, terrible stomach, acid + bloating you name it. I slept pretty much all day. #10 it suddenly flipped and feeling much much better right now! Hubby will cook our Christmas dish on new year's eve so I won't be missing it :-) Can't wait.
Hummingbird, sorry to hear that you get more on your plate as if chemo hadn't been enough. Hope root canal went well and you can take some time off 2021's gifts that keep on giving.
oldladyblue, hoping for any growth of hair here, nothing so far. I even tried to cold cap but lost almost all but 20% left :-(
Debbie, congrats. I am right behind you as you know, 7th January is my last chemo, 10th and 12th I have surgeon appointments. I am hoping to find someone I feel I can trust, that is very important for me since during the operation I will be sleeping and they will decide on my behalf. I don't feel that link with my onc right now. I heard though he is a good surgeon too, so if any of the other 3 aren't giving me that feeling, i might still go with him. Advantage would be that he is situated in the hospital which is 5 min drive from our place so if a complication occurs after surgery, we can be there very fast. This will be my first major surgery, so a little bit of a learning curve with this.
I also want some other breast centre check my case, since it is a bit more complicated than usual, I had 30 grey rads to under arm for Hodgkin's 10 years ago so probably they can't radiate again. My report indicated breast edema, which suggests skin involvement but it is not clear how they had seen it, since I couldn't. I asked these and didn't get a good answer.
I also still feel a hard part on where the initial tumour was, hoping it is just scar tissue or DCIS, not active cancer. I won't know until after surgery. If it has active cancer, I will need to get Kadcyla instead of Herceptin and Perjeta, which is making me anxious.
Anyone still can feel hardness around their primary tumor?
Sending you all virtual hugs. I choose to believe 2022 will be a much better year for all of us :-)
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Sarah78 so sorry for how ill you felt last chemo, but I am very glad you feel better this round. Glad your hubby is cooking for NYE, my husband made me breakfast this morning, he was a very attentive cook/waiter. Tickled me, since he hasn't been paying me much attention. He even patted my head rubbing the peach fuzz around a bit. So I guess he's warming up to me again (finally). He's been very distant this whole treatment time. I definitely vote for 2nd opinions or even third opinions before you make up your mind about surgery, or the start of any new treatment. I had my 2nd opinion right before chemo was to start and that new doctor recommended TC instead of AC and said it would be just as effective but way less hard on me. I truly am grateful now, as TC was much easier than what most of you ladies went through on other protocols. I loved my radiation doctor and staff, and start radiation on Monday, so no need for 2nd opinions there. Sorry to hear you did the cold cap and still lost 80% of your hair, sigh. And sigh again, for you to have breast cancer at 25 years younger than me, after Hodgkins earlier... I'm glad you are strong enough to fight like you are. Life is sure not always fair in dealing out struggles...
DebbieM1958 and Mindthief, I am glad your side effects are lightening up. I am 20 days out now from last chemo and feel "great" in comparison to 10 days ago. So things should lighten up for you soon.
Hummingbird I hope your root canal went well!
Spades, I was upset about the white hair, but I should be happy for my peach fuzz, it shows my hair will be coming back, I was worried about permanent loss of hair since I already had thinning crown hair before all this.
Happy New Year!
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oldladyblue: I am so glad to hear that your hubby has been attentive today. It is so hard to understand what is going on when they don't talk openly about it. It was probably a mix of fear, anxiety, worry regarding your state. It is very hard on the people in our lives too. Maybe he eventually recognised you are about to get your life back and his worries subsided.
Yes got the big C twice at 43, what a luck. Last one came with interesting realisations though, about how much I hated my job and that I didn't want to die doing it. After I was done with chemo + radiation, I worked for finding my dream job (at the university) and managed to change it. I suspect if I didn't have Hodgkin's, I'd be too late applying for it. Silver lining I suppose. If life give you lemons, make lemonade with it :-)
I am glad you are happy with the staff, radiation, oncologist. I wanted a second opinion before chemo but there was no time left. So here is my chance now, started planning early this time around. Surgery should be at the beginning of February.
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You made me smile and tear up twice with your post Sarah_78 . I think you are spot on about my husband feeling better now that my chemo is over and my life is coming back. He is a kind gentle man, but not as strong as I am in the face of adversity. I loved when you said that you got your dream job after your first battle with cancer! I don't know that I have ever had a dream job, so I'm happy for you to have done that.
Glad you will be getting other opinions soon. I really support that, and getting all of your questions answered.
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OK, so now I have Shingles. FML. I cannot get into any doctor, urgent care or clinic because they are totally booked with Covid tests and the oncologist cannot see me because it can be contagious to anyone who hasn't had chicken pox. I'm going to try a telemed service but am 100% ready to throw in the towel!!
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Oh Hummingbird, how awful, Shingles and can't get in to a doctor!!!! RRRRaahhghhh! I hope you can get through to a telemed.
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Hummingbird, so sorry to hear that you have to deal with it and can't get a time.
Your onc can't have a video chat with you?
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Hummingbird, what rotten luck. I hope you end up with just a very mild case. Timing is horrible for this for you. Super sorry.
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Hummingbird - ugh! That really sucks. I hope you were able to get some care for it andit resolves quickly.
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Morning girls,
Update on the Shingles: it's a full blown case and by the time I had seen a teledoc via video he gave me an antiviral prescription and a steroid. It was beyond the 48-72 hour window so may not work, especially since the pharmacy took 6 hours to fill it. I did learn that breast cancer patients undergoing chemo have a 30-40% higher chance of Shingles. Who knew! Also, the vaccine is not effective while in treatment, so kind of stuck. My rash goes from the center of my breastbone, across what is left of my cancer breast, around to the lower side of my shoulder under the armpit. I can't wear a bra or anything tight and I would definitely say the pain is 3X worse than surgery! I have tons of aloe plants in my yard so am making my own gel but pretty much just staying in bed trying to find some comfort. My WBC was down to 2.7 last week so that was likely the trigger point to activate the virus,
No chemo this week due to all of this so now I'm going to extend into FEBRUARY. I feel like I started this thread and will be the last person on it
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Hummingbird, so sorry to hear - I knew there was a short window on getting the antiviral - my husband had shingles a few years ago and even though he went to the doc on Day 1 the meds made no difference anyway. So don't feel too bad that you didn't get them in time.....definitely not a "for sure" cure. Take care of yourself and I hope it gets better really soon. I didnt know chemo patients were more vulnerable - I guess we are fair game for many things! Ugh.
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Yippee, I have my surgery date set for my double masectomy on Jan. 21st. I will be so happy to have this over and done with. Bonus - my surgeon told me they will give me a shot of something that is long lasting pain med at the site for 72 hours. I am all over that! Looking forward to getting this done.
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Congrats Debbie, thank you for the positive vibes.
I can't say I am as thrilled for the surgery as you are, don't want to lose one of my boobs :-( Reconstruction sounds like a lot of trouble so I am hoping for someone telling me they can preserve some of it but at the same time because of "whole breast edema" written in the report as clinical observation (still a bit of a mystery how it was seen), it is tricky. I have last chemo tomorrow and a bunch of surgeon appointments next week.
@Hummingbird: extending into Feb would upset me too but try to see the whole picture, it is only a few more weeks. Hope shingles are easy on you. I will stick around here in the thread and keep you company :-)
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hummingbird, that is truly just so awful! I hope that it resolves really quickly! I would be totally distressed about the idea of Chemo being extended as well. I may end up being right there with you with all the Covid around my area. Any exposure or any symptoms on my end and I will likely have a delay.
Debbie, I’m glad you have your surgery date and you sound like you are definitely getting geared up emotionally to handle that step in your recovery. Sarah, because of Covid I wasn’t actually offered a reconstruction at the time of my right mastectomy, and I won’t know if I’m a good candidate for reconstruction until after radiation … but I have no idea if I would be up for the long road of numerous reconstruction surgeries. I figure I will cross that bridge when I come to it.
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Debbie - yay for having a surgery date!
Hummingbird - I hope you’re doing better now.
I had my rads planning appointment yesterday morning and saw that I missed a call from them at the end of the day, so I’m paranoid something is wrong. Assuming all is well, I’m supposed to start around the 17th/18th
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I hope my good news from my oncologist yesterday will be inspirational to everyone here - I had my PET scan on Thursday after completing chemo a few weeks ago - she said the results show "complete resolution"!!!!! OMG, I can't even begin to tell you how I feel. I am on Cloud 9. I will still be having surgery on 1/21 but as far as I know there will be no radiation. There is a small nodule on my lung they have been watching but there has been no change to it since they started looking and it doesn't light up on the PET scan which means it is not cancerous. They will continue to watch it every 6 months or so but don't expect anything to change. There is definitely light at the end of this tunnel!!!! Love to everyone.
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What lovely news Debbie1958 !!!!
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Wow, great news! I am so happy everyone is looking at surgery, radiation or the end of treatment! It's inspirational that we will move on!
I guess I started the anti-viral too late because it has little effect in the course of the Shingles. The major pain has subsided but I'm still managing the dull, all-the-time pain and rash. I had no chemo last week and meet the oncologist after bloodwork on Thursday to see if I'll go back on this coming Friday. I'm also meeting with the radiology oncologist to start the discussion on rads. They are thinking 7 weeks. I need to make a list of questions!
I don't think I'm supposed to be in the sun but I'm going to take some time to soak up vitamin D today in our sunny 72 degree weather! Sitting in the sun by the lemon tree looking at the mountains will be good for my soul!! Open invite to amyone who wants to visit!
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@Spades2525 I think you can select to go for reconstruction after rads, after some time passes, not sure how long. I will discuss it with surgeons this week too. I am also not especially thrilled to go for a few more surgeries and secretly hoping they think a breast conserving one is an option for me but it all depends on the fact that if I trust the surgeon from how he approaches my situation. It will be a hard week and it is only 3 days after TCHP infusion for me, hope I don't need adult diapers for the appointments
@Debbie1958, I am so happy to hear everything worked out for you so well! Way to go, almost finished! No rads is great news. You are sure you want to double chop when everything is gone? I have seen studies who do minimal surgery after cases like yours and survival rates seem to be the same. But I understand you want to minimise screening and scanxiety, put this all behind you.
@HummingbirdAZ: what a lovely invitation, I'd just book the flight if I didn't have to go through surgery and what not the next weeks. I miss the sun so much. Today I went out for a walk when it looked sunny and came back drenched in snow, oh well. Enjoy the little break the shingles provided you, tank some energy and finish strong!
Sending hugs to everyone.
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@Spades2525 today one surgeon said he'd rather waited 2 years after rads, other one said 2-3 months would be enough. I don't know which one to believe but they say one has 1 good shot to get a good foob and they wouldn't like to risk it by waiting too short.
Things look longer and longer for me, I just can't seem to go back to normal for another year and half. Crashed a bit today, just when I had my last chemo last week Friday, I learn we are just starting. Surgery in 3 weeks, wait 2 months, radiation for 6 weeks, wait 3 months to 2 years(!) reconstruction, which is more than 1 surgery to start with. That of course with the hopes of cancer not coming back. Morally down really, don't know how to get up and get all these stuff done.
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