First chemo done.....

pinkpalette
pinkpalette Member Posts: 112
in Breast Cancer #1
Greetings fellow pink sisters! My first session of chemo is complete and it really wasn't that bad. To all the new sisters, it was not as bad as you may expect and it is do-able!
I received a TCH infusion, as I am Her2+, slowly to watch for reactions. I sat in the chair from 9-4:30. That was soooo looong! I'm looking forward to shorter visits. During the second bag - which I believe was the Taxotere, I felt a little wierd. I had a heavy, achy, sore feeling in the arm on my port side and a distinct taste of metallic in my mouth. The onc nurse said that was normal. As soon as that bag was done and the Herceptin bag was started, all those feelings cleared right up.
I felt pretty good, and proud that I had 1 treatment done. I didn't sleep that well at night but woke up early and rarin' to go....shopping! I had an enjoyable day. Then, I came home to find the cancer care center needed me to immediately come for a Neulasta shot. Oh boy, low blood counts already and that was from blood drawn before chemo. Now I feel heartburn, a kind of feeling like difficulty swallowing a little, achy all over and tired. I took a claritin as suggested and hope that will kick in and relieve this. What a roller coaster ride. It's a challenge, but I'm up to it....Thanks to each of you, your kindness and comfort gives me strength and hope.
Hugs, Debbie

Comments

  • CAchick
    CAchick Member Posts: 277
    #2
    Blessings!
    I am so happy for you that you have completed #1!
    Hang in there...one day you will say that you have completed all your chemo!
    And, we will celebrate again!
    Yes!
    Congrats on one down...
    Sybil
  • camul
    camul Member Posts: 2,537
    #3
    congratulations
    It is always the first one that is the hardest. I too have found that the neulesta shot is the kicker, but even that only lasts a while, but a hard while:))
    Good luck on the rest.
    Carol
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #4
    CAchick said:

    Blessings!
    I am so happy for you that you have completed #1!
    Hang in there...one day you will say that you have completed all your chemo!
    And, we will celebrate again!
    Yes!
    Congrats on one down...
    Sybil

    Congrats Debbie on having
    Congrats Debbie on having the first one under your belt now! So proud of you!


    Sue :)
  • grams2jc
    grams2jc Member Posts: 756
    #5
    Woohoo!!
    1 down, 1 done, 1 bit the dust.

    It's so great to start counting them down, I kept a percentage of what was done on a dry erase board in my kitchen that way I could check my progress and everybody who stopped by could too.

    Congrats!

    Jennifer
  • SueRelays
    SueRelays Member Posts: 485
    #6
    Hi Debbie
    i have my first
    Hi Debbie

    i have my first treatment tomorrow and will be receiving the same cocktail. Thanks for updating and letting us know what to expect.

    ONE DOWN!!!!!
  • Noel
    Noel Member Posts: 3,095 Member
    #7
    grams2jc said:

    Woohoo!!
    1 down, 1 done, 1 bit the dust.

    It's so great to start counting them down, I kept a percentage of what was done on a dry erase board in my kitchen that way I could check my progress and everybody who stopped by could too.

    Congrats!

    Jennifer

    Congratulations Debbie!

    Congratulations Debbie!
  • dbhadra
    dbhadra Member Posts: 344 Member
    #8
    SueRelays said:

    Hi Debbie
    i have my first
    Hi Debbie

    i have my first treatment tomorrow and will be receiving the same cocktail. Thanks for updating and letting us know what to expect.

    ONE DOWN!!!!!

    congratulations on getting the first one done!
    The first is the hardest IMO because you don;t know what to expect; once you know it's not as scary.

    I had chemo every Friday for 12 weeks and got into a kind of "chemo routine" where weird as it sounds it seemed perfectly normal to be sitting there getting chemicals pumped through my port every week! I would consistly fall asleep (Benadryl in the mix) about halfway through and wake up when it was over.

    Hang in there, before you know it the chemo will be behind you and you will be on the other side, stronger than ever!

    Laura
  • Sparky53
    Sparky53 Member Posts: 6
    #9
    First Chemo
    Hi Debbie,

    Congrats on getting through your first chemo! I just wanted to share a little tip with you. Take the Claratin BEFORE you go in for the Neulasta shot, to give it plenty of time to kick in. Also, you may find that you need to keep on taking Claratin for up to 3 days after the Neulasta shot. If you do this, I will bet you'll see a huge improvement in how you feel. I feel totally normal and can do pretty much anything, since I found out about this. Before I knew to do this, I felt like %7#@ for about 4 days after the shot. I sure hope this helps you!

    Liz
  • Kristin N
    Kristin N Member Posts: 1,968 Member
    #10
    dbhadra said:

    congratulations on getting the first one done!
    The first is the hardest IMO because you don;t know what to expect; once you know it's not as scary.

    I had chemo every Friday for 12 weeks and got into a kind of "chemo routine" where weird as it sounds it seemed perfectly normal to be sitting there getting chemicals pumped through my port every week! I would consistly fall asleep (Benadryl in the mix) about halfway through and wake up when it was over.

    Hang in there, before you know it the chemo will be behind you and you will be on the other side, stronger than ever!

    Laura

    Congrats!

    Congrats!

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