1st Chemo 2 days ago!

Jean 0609

lasimpson said:

Thanks for your update / August Chemo Sista's
Heather,

Thanks for your chemo update. Sounds like you are doing well. My thoughts and prayers are for you and your mom. I realize I have more strength than I knew I had and try to keep a positive attitude. All you can do is be the best "you" for your mom. Tomorrow, I start my first chemo. I have been drinking lots of fluids and tried this combo for nausea that was in another thread on this site. (hot water, chunk of fresh peeled ginger and a slice of lemon). I added 1/2 of this mixture to a glass of regular water. Unfortunately, I had 6 surgeries and an infection with the tram flap which did not take due to an infection. So I have been on Femara for over 2 months and 2 1/2 months on two different types of antibiotics until the end of November. So I have been experiencing some of the expected side effects already. Maybe that is a sign that the chemo will not be so bad. lol - can only hope.

Best of luck to everyone and especially the August chemo sista's. Take care. Laurel

Hey lasimpson,
Good luck tomorrow. Hopefully, things will go well for you. Keep us posted. Hugs, Jean

Jean 0609

Heatherbelle said:

update...put your feet up, this may take a while!
Thank you all for your comments & encouragement! I was up with the birds this morning after a full 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night (which is no small task for me, with my sleep issues -PLUS I had my 20 month old baby in bed with me!). I feel like the reverse chemo girl here. I started it last week fully expecting to feel pretty normal for 3 or 4 days then crashing - it has been the exact opposite for me. I started feeling crappy during the chemo itself, got worse over the next couple of days, then started feeling better. I woke up this morning at 5 & decided to fire up the old laptop here instead of going back to sleep. I think the worst part was (sorry for the gross-out here but I do believe we're not a shy group of people around here) being constipated. That along with the nausea from the chemo just made me miserable. I drank alot of water & lipton diet green tea (best.drink.ever.) and took senokot & once i got that situation under control the stomach issues lessened. Even on the steroids though I was literally in bed all day the 1st day and most of the next. I had hardly any appetite at all but did manage to eat a few subway sandwiches with extra lettuce (lettuce is fastly becoming my new comfort food -maybe it's the crunch?) and lots and LOTS of carnation instant breakfast drinks. I think i will get some Biotene wash because I really don't want to have any kind of mouth sores or taste but issues -I'm such a picky eater by nature & don't want to end up living on lettuce & breakfast shakes for the next 5 months!
That neulasta shot hurt like HELL when she gave it to me, but I haven't (so far) had much pain from it. I have noticed when I'm on my feet for long periods at a time, my upper back will get achy, my hands have started hurting a few times, but that's about it. I'm thinking the rest of my chemo treatments will go easier for me - I'm pretty sure I had alot of anxiety about getting it started and that itself helped to make me feel so crappy. I must give a special shout-out to Rachel & Jean for texting me throughout my chemo and checking in on me - I really felt you ladies in there with me
Now I'm just doing the waiting game. I got my hair cut super-pixie short -everyone says it's short but I don't like it at all -which is why I did it, because my hair falling out is going to be really hard for me, so I had to start getting used to having almost none I do have some really cute hats & scarves, and I've been splurging at my favorite make-up store so I can still feel pretty. I have no idea what I'll do if my eyebrows fall out - I don't know how to draw them in! I've never penciled in my brows before!! I do get another fill in 2 days at my plastic surgeon's, THAT always perks me up. In more ways than one, I guess!
AND I almost forgot - in a cruel twist of irony - this afternoon I'm taking my mom for a follow up to her annual mammogram. They found something in her left breast that they want to take a closer look at. HOW do I possibly help calm her & reassure her that she'll probably be ok, that about 80% of the time it turns out to be nothing, when her 34 year old daughter is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer? She's a little scared, but says seeing how well I'm handling it makes her not so anxious. You better believe I'm gonna be right next to her, asking all the questions that I wished I would have at my appointment, because that waiting & not knowing is the worst part of it all through this. She's a smart cookie, though, and faithfully gets her mammograms every year, doesn't have any palpable lumps, and no outward signs (skin dimpling, puckering, nipple discharge, etc.-although I didn't have that either) - but at least with her being so good with getting checked yearly we know if it turns out to be something, that she's finding it fairly early.
Ok -there's my long winded check-in for the day! We had a very busy weekend with family -big wedding at the basilica at Notre Dame (breathtaking in it's beauty -and I'm not a churchgoer) on Saturday, we've been staying with my husband's brother, sister, father, and their families at a lake cottage since thursday (although I've been coming home to sleep because it's more comfy for me here) -so I've been busy busy with that. I even had 2 glasses of red wine at the wedding reception Saturday night! Life in the fast lane!!
*big big hugs*
Heather

Hey Girl,
Hope everything went well today. I really don't know how you do it with your 2 little girls. You are an inspiration. It was great hearing from you while we were both doing chemo last Wednesday. Our little "text club". I know most of my friends & family are at work & I don't like bothering them. Hugs, Jean

laurissa

Hey Heather
Glad you're doing ok, Yukky sums it up. Hope your mom's ok too. The neulasta kicks in 36 hrs later. I remember when the jabbing pains started in my shins, I took vicadin for 3 days. Day 8 was my feel better day til the next treatment. Now its 7 months past chemo and I'm feeling good. Its hell going through it. I drink alot of green tea too, make about 4 teabags everday. Take care.