Topic: Starting Chemo March 2021

Mar 3, 2021 09:40AM - edited Mar 3, 2021 11:16AM by Juju-mar

I just wanted to wish you luck. I have my last chemo next Tuesday. It feels overwhelming at first, but actually goes by fairly quickly! Best of luck to you and the other new ladies. The RN's are fantastic- most are so friendly and talkative. Make you laugh. Good distraction. I brought a book or an iPad to watch shows. My appts were usually 3-4 hrs. I also have a short blond wig I am giving away. It is petite-average size. If interested, I can send a pic. I wore it only a handful of times. I bought a brown one on PaulaYoung.com. That website shows how to measure your head for sizing. Her wigs are reasonably priced and look real.

Julie

Mar 3, 2021 10:19AM - edited Mar 3, 2021 10:26AM by GreenOutdoors

Hello Aram!

I will be starting TC, 4 cycles, later this week or early next week. My MO was debating between AC-T and TC and we settled on TC, followed by radiation and homone suppression.

It looks like chemo is the first treatment you are getting, probably due to HER2+? I'm sorry that you are finding yourself here, and I'm hoping your treatment will go by fast! We can do this!

Editing to say Hi! Aviva5675! I think we posted at the same time. Wishing you luck. The hospital gave me a free wig, I bought some head wraps, have prescriptions to pick up and waiting for an exact start date

Mar 3, 2021 01:26PM Aram wrote:

aviva5675 good luck tomorrow! I will be a week behind you and hopefully we can compare side effects, and how it goes. I need to talk to my MO about Claritin and Nausea meds. I didn't know the icing helps for AC as well, I thought it is only for Taxol. Probably I should order some from Amazon.

Mar 3, 2021 04:07PM Juju-mar wrote:

ladies,

Chemo is different for everyone. I never had vomiting or nausea. My appetite was fine, no mouth sores. I had 4 cycles of AC and each cycle gave me different side effects. I had sinus stuff, fatigue and diarrhea. But only for 2-5 days each 14 day cycle. I think I only had 3 days where I stayed in bed resting. Otherwise I worked from home 2 days a week. Hair fell out by day 17. Lived pretty normally. Be kind to yourself and take the meds if you need them. I actually take Claritin for seasonal allergies year round, and never had pain with Nuelasta. I have a blog if you'd like to read about my experience. go to: jujuscancerjourney.WordPress.com

Best of luck to you all! Keep positive and drink lots of fluids. Read stories of successful survivors. Pray and look for the silver linings. Pity parties are ok too, just don't stay there long. There's always something to be grateful for, even in cancer treatment.

Julie

Mar 3, 2021 09:56PM Shani15 wrote:

Hi everyone! I will start 3 months of weekly Taxol tomorrow, I already had my mastectomy and got my port in on Monday, it is very itchy and still sore but they told me they will use it for my first infusion. I am a bit nervous about all of these but I am staying positive, I hope fatigue doesn’t hit me too hard because I have a 5 year-old full of energy that wants to be entertained all day. Good luck to everyone and I hope everything goes well for all of you.

Mar 4, 2021 06:27AM Aram wrote:

Hi Shani15, good luck with your first treatment. My son turns 5 in April too. We have had a talk with him that I am going to be tired for a while. I hope it goes well for you.

Hi Carols, I get rounds of anxiousness as well but going through chemo threads for previous months have helped me control it a bit.. Good luck.

aviva5675, let us know how it goes today

Mar 4, 2021 08:01PM Aram wrote:

Taralynn, we have similar treatment plans. I don't have my port yet though, and I think first one would go without it. I am anxious about the "Red Devil". By the way do they do cold capping for AC as well?

And I totally understand your worries for children, I only have one and he will be 5.

Mar 5, 2021 10:50AM GreenOutdoors wrote:

Hello Corals,

I’m also doing 4 TC cycles and just found out that I start Tuesday 3/9. Were you also given steroids, two anti-nausea medicine, Claritin, Omeprazole? I’m very scared too! But we will be ok!

Aviva5675, I hope your first treatment went without complications and that you are feeling ok.

Everyone else starting this necessary evil soon, I’m hoping that knowing this is temporary will help us make it through.

I had my port put in two weeks ago and ended up with a pneumothorax and fou painful days in the hospital. I debated mentioning this here because I don’t want to worry anyone here unnecessarily (we are all worried enough!). But it does rarely happen, I recovered fine and the port itself doesn’t bother me. It better work properly though! It did delayed the start of my chemo and I have to work through treatment and watching my available days off disappear is stressing me out.
I have a 17 year old daughter who is being so kind and mature, I’m sad for her between covid and my diagnosis she is having a lot less fun than she should at her age.

Mar 5, 2021 03:29PM GreenOutdoors wrote:

Hi Chrystlx, thank you for sharing this! I’m glad to read that you are doing well so far. I did read the same thing about day 3-5. I mostly read and not post very much, and others experiences are so helpful.

Aram, I don’t fully understand how doctors decide on which treatment to give us, so please forgive if I write something wrong. It does seem like AC is the standard, stronger chemo, so those HER2 cells can be better targeted. My oncotype score for my right side tumor which spread to my lymph nodes came back a low 6, which triggered the change from AC-T to TC. I do/did have bilateral bc but an oncotype wasn’t ordered for the left side and that side had not spread to the lymph nodes. My MO feels that AI + Lupron will give me the most protection from recurrence because of strong ER+. I hope our doctors are right

Mar 5, 2021 04:08PM Aram wrote:

GreenOutdoors Honestly I don't understand either. I asked my MO the same question, and he mentioned AC is the gold standard. I don't know my oncotype though. I am only HER2+, and from HER2+ forum it seems most people are getting treatment with TCHP, but maybe because my grade is 3, and I have at least two seperate tumors, he has decided to be more aggressive.

Mar 5, 2021 07:18PM JamG wrote:

Hi, Everyone, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be starting chemo this month as well. I'm meeting with the oncologist on Tuesday. I'm having chemo before my surgery because of the positive HER-2. Today I met with the surgeon for the first time, and she said she thought it would start as soon as possible. I'm scared of this part, but I also know next to nothing about it yet. I'll read the forums to see if I can get a better sense of what to expect. I just got diagnosed on Wednesday and had the biopsy on Tuesday. My MRI is tomorrow. It has been a week.

There is so much to learn! I'll add more as I figure it out with my providers. Good luck to those of you who are starting treatment in the coming week. Please post about your experiences. And take care.

Mar 5, 2021 09:41PM Aram wrote:

JamG, I am sorry you are here with us. The first days after diagnosis were really hard for me. But seeing other women on this site, I am more hopeful we are going to get through this. I haven't started my treatment yet. My first one is going to be this Thursday.

Mar 6, 2021 07:35AM Chrystlx wrote:

JamG- the initial diagnosis week is such a blur! From the appointments to telling people, to trying to learn everything right away. Glad you found this site. It has really been quite helpful!

Mar 6, 2021 09:08AM Chrystlx wrote:

yes! It was also recommended by my dentist when I went in for my pre-chemo cleaning. I know it’s early, but so far so good.

Also got some sugar-free popsicles

Mar 6, 2021 04:43PM aviva5675 wrote:

1st TC was Thurs. Slightly nauseous yesterday afternoon, took a pill. The neulasta went off right on schedule and took about 50 minutes to empty, then I removed it no problem. Felt ok this morning then go really tired and foggy in afternoon and napped. I never nap so this will be a new experience. Not much appetite either but know I need to have something. Doing the salt/baking powder rinse every few hours for mouth sores- this worked well for me when I took Ibrance. Am worried about the next few days of symptoms, but hopefully have meds for each thing. Ill keep taking Claritine, well, Walitin, til at least next week, and fingers crossed not much bone pain.

Good news, Florida opened covid shots to those under 65 with Dr letter, and I go Monday for that! Very psyched to have my first shot finally.