1st Chemo on Thursday

Cherryblssm

OK, so I got my purple power port this past Wednesday and I go for my first chemo treatment this Thursday. To say that all of this has been going quickly would be an understatement. And I'm just bursting with questions.

I have all my meds for home set up, including clairitin, numbing cream for my port, 2 anti-nausea meds and some good old Klonopin (because honestly my nerves are shot)

Does anyone have any other suggestions for me? Luckily I have 2 daughters (18 and 14) who are amazing helpers around the house, so that's not a major concern for me. I do plan on trying to work as much as possible (desk job and I've been cleared to work from home as much as I need) But I honestly NEED to work, not just for the income but to be able to take my mind off all of this, even if just for a few hours. 

What if anything will I be able to do during the chemo infusion? I'm getting dose-dense AC every other week and the nurse said it should take a little over an hour each time.

Are the meds going to hurt going in to the port? Will I feel sick instantly or will it be the next day or so?

for the neulasta, we're doing the on-pro delivery that attaches to my arm and then injects it later on a timer, so that I don't have to go back to the clinic the next day. Has anyone else used that, how was it?

also, I have had a deep vein blood clot 17 years ago resulting in my having a vena cava implant - I'm going to give myself lovenox injections during the chemo treatment in order to hopefully head off any possible blood clots forming. Has anyone else had to do this or have experience with this? 

 

Beepositive

Best Luck and prayers

Best Wishes and prayers With everything, Cherryblssm!!

you will be fine!

 

continue to  BEEPOSITIVE!!

HapB

Cherryblas s

I can't answer your questions because everyone reacts differently.  The nurse will keep a close eye on you during the infusion and will do what is needed.   Hopefully, everything will go smoothly and you may not feel the effects until the next day.

Good luck!  It is great that you have your children to help out. 

1surfermom

1st chemo

Hi Cherryblssm,

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers for Thursday. This board is filled with wise people who will give you some great advice throughout your whole treatment and beyond. I can only offer my experience with Chemo. On the day of my first treatment I can honestly say I had never felt so vulnerable in all of my life. It is a feeling that is hard to describe but in all honesty it was pretty awful. After the infusion I felt pretty good and almost relieved that it wasn't as bad as what I had conjured up in my head. Make sure that you hydrate, hydrate and hydrate some more. Don't be frightened when you see bright red urine ( it's just the lovely AC). Also make sure you take your medications before you feel sick, I didn't and learned the hardway.  I know it's hard but it is doable and if you need anything we are here to help. Love Surf

Apaugh

Prayers going up for you...

You can do this, be brave, roar and fight like a girl!    We are here for you.  No question is too dumb or simple or silly.   We totally get it.   Take a zrytec before you leave the house, it will help.  and water water water.    eat bland and little bites and 6 small meals vs 3 big ones.   Watermelon feels good on the tummy too.   Those are just the few hints my nurses gave me to help. 

HUGS,

Annie

Chocobo

The neulasta was horribly

The neulasta was horribly painful for me 3 or 4 days after the chemo. They will take you to take claritin to help the bone pain. It does a bit but in my case not a lot. If you're prone to bone pain (if you're young it's usually worse, im 32) ask them to prescribe some real anti pain meds like tramadol, just in case. Also, one thing that works great against that pain (at least it did for me) is CBD oil (endoca is a good brand).

Cherryblssm

so far so good

it's  been pretty good so far the neulasta shot is supposed to feed in this evening

haven't feel too much different other than a little woosy at times and tired but not overly tired - just like I didn't sleep as well, although I did sleep pretty well. I'm not hungry at all but I am making myself eat something as well as drinking lots of fluids

I think the real test will be this weekend - fingers crossed that it all hold out

I did buy myself a large waternelon, lots of gatorade, protein drinks, water, and popsicles - so I think I'm prepared

Apaugh

Cherryblssm said:

so far so good

it's  been pretty good so far the neulasta shot is supposed to feed in this evening

haven't feel too much different other than a little woosy at times and tired but not overly tired - just like I didn't sleep as well, although I did sleep pretty well. I'm not hungry at all but I am making myself eat something as well as drinking lots of fluids

I think the real test will be this weekend - fingers crossed that it all hold out

I did buy myself a large waternelon, lots of gatorade, protein drinks, water, and popsicles - so I think I'm prepared

yah!

Sounds like your ready to fight the battle.  Dont let the pain get away from you.  If you need it, you take it.  I hope you breeze through with no problems to big to handle.

Hugs,

Anne

Teach76

You sound well prepared

Good for you in getting ready for post-treatment needs.  I will just share here that after my Neulasta shot I slept - A LOT!!!!!

i remember sleeping one day around treatment 3 for 11 hours.  Oh, how guilty I felt, but I was grateful to have slept for that time rather than experience SE that I would not have enjoyed.

Many talk about joint pain after Neulasta - I did heed their advice and took Claritin for at least 7 days.  Maybe that made me sleep, too.  I'll take a Snow White/ Sleeping Beauty day if I can.

 

I also suggest documenting SE - I found through my 6 treatments that the SE surfaced on the same days (1, 2,3,etc).  Documenting them helped me prepare for the next treatment. ( things like metal taste days 3 - 9,  itchy bottom, days 4 - 8).

May your discomfort be minimal and your support be great!

 

Kathy

HapB

Cherryblsm

Cherry, you sound well prepared and I am glad that you have the weekend to rest up.  Take good care and don't push yourself. I hope you have a good weekend with few side effects.

Cherryblssm

side effects so far

so far, the only side effects I'm having are that my face and chest are flushing a bit, no fever and I don't feel warm just pinker than usual. and of course feeling a bit tired more than usual. I'm a spreadsheet nerd so I did make one up to document all side effects with a scale included.  

I did go in to work yesterday and was able to get a full day in - luckily I have a desk job. I do have some of the best co-workers - they all went in together and made two large gift bags of treats and supplies to help me through this - including a hot pink pair of strappy heels to help me kick this cancer's a$$. 

I don't have any pain meds other than tylenol - so I'm hoping that it's not going to be too bad. I do have something for anxiety if needed  in addition to all my anti-nausea meds. I had the on-pro of neulasta last night and so far I've not felt any effects from that so far. 

I've been in comfy sweat pants and fuzzy socks since I got home from work yesterday and plan on holding the couch in place this weekend as much as needed 

Thank you guys so much for all your answers, support, and care - it really does mean a lot and is very much appreciated. You all rock! 

626warrior

Cherryblssm you got this!!! I

Cherryblssm you got this!!! I too worked from home once I started chemo to avoid coming in contact with folks who were sick and may further compromise my immune system. I got my treatment every 3 weeks on a Friday and was off Sat-Tues., returned to work (from home) on Wed. to finish out workweek then worked Mon-Fri until my next treatment. It kept my mind off of my condition, made the time go by so fast and it kept my mind sharp-chemo brain is real! The anti-nausea meds really helped + Zyrtec for bone pain. I also experienced dry mouth and metallic taste in food/water.  my husband made me wonderful protein / fruit smoothies when i wouldn't eat and I used Biotene dry mouth oral rinse to combat symptoms. Stay strong!! 

JKoehler25

You are so young

I don't know what AC means, but I had adriamycin every 2 wks times 4. Neulasta is a real  **** and causes massive bone pain. I couldn't figure out why my bones hurt so bad. There isn't a Zyrtec in the world that could have controlled that. I started pain pills after 2cond treatment. I found I could hardly sleep at all, so they gave me sleeping pill which I cut in half. Half was good enough. I didn't have to take every night, as it seemed to kick in normal sleep pattern for few days after. I had a respiratory reaction within minutes of starting the first infusion, so I had to have IV benadryl before each infusion plus massive doses of steroid. It worked. That metal taste they tell you about doesn not go away easily. All food tasted like garbage to me and couldnt eat especially meat. All that tasted good to me was lemon pudding cups, dill pickles and sour cream. Weird, but true. I was sick all the time, but anti nausea meds did help. I got very weak and luckily I'm retired, cause I couldn't have worked at all. My daughter came up from another state and brought me some dark chocolate fudge with pot in it. I was hesitant to try it and took one small bite. Nothing happened so I took another bite. Within half hr all my pain, nausea went 100% away for the next 4hrs. It also had a slight relaxing effect, less than what the Ativan did. It's too bad the medical community isn't getting on board fast enough with medical pot. Way different than buying pot on the street corner. I could have gotten rid of 4 of my meds and taken a couple bites of medical pot which had zero side effects. I could have gotten rid of opiate that I had to take for 3 mos. I was never a person who did illegal drugs at all, but this changed my mind about medical marajuana. I didn't want her to get into trouble bringing in something illegal just for me. Too bad, it could have made all the difference in the way I felt. The taxol that I had to do every wk was so horrible, I had to quit after week 8. I actually came close to dying I think. I read several articles in my research that people over 60 should maybe not take full doses of chemo, as we tend to die from it. Some statistic. I was kind of mad at the medical team for not telling me this. I would have come to different decisions. The biggest hurdle you will have to overcome is the dishonesty of medical personnel. YOu get half truths as if they think you can't handle it. This is not a way a person should be treated when have a life threatening illness. I, for one, told all of them from the beginning that I wanted full truth all the time. I caught them many times lying by omission, like I couldn't handle whole truth or something. They shouldn't be the judges of that. I would have made different decisions had I known everything. Some of the SE of chemo will be permanent, meaning for rest of your life. They usually forget to tell you that. Can you live with these SE. Taxol causes terrible, painful neuropathy of feet, legs and hands. My hands actually became paralyzed. I hate to think what would have happened if I would have taken the last 4 treatments. My feet burn and have pain and I've developed restless leg syndrome which is a pain to try and be still and sleep. My taste has gotten better but I notice it comes and goes and I know people who have permanently loss sense of normal taste. For LIFE. I can eat most meat now. Chemo kills the fast growing gastric cells and that's why things taste funny or terrible. They don't tell you why you are experiencing the SE. Even popscicles tasted awful after a while. I could eat anything with vinegar in it.  Why I don't know, but another patient told me, she ate pickles too cause only thing that tasted good. There are some people who can go thru this a little easier and then there are the people it slams to earth and you are very sick. I have never met anyone who sailed through yet. Your hair will start growing back about 2 mos after you stop chemo. The medical people acted like hair loss was the most horrible thing you would go thru. They talked about that, but failed to mention all the truly awful things you would be going thru. So stupid. Hair, that's gonna be the least of your problems. Everything they did, they led from behind. I should have had all meds before a month. I started to feel sorry for all the new patients that I saw come in. My chemo took at least 4 hrs each time. They usually hydrate you first too. You can't feel meds going thru your port, but they have a numbing spray they can use just before they insert needle. It hurts a little when they put needle in. Ask for numbing spray cause they usually forget. I sure hope your one of those people that sail through, but in case you don't, if you have a way to try medical marajuana, I would try it. I couldn't believe how well it worked. I was amazed.  They don't want to give it a chance, but they will write a script for oxycontin with no problem. Go figure!! It's nice to be positive, but you also have to be realistic. There are serious consequences to chemo and radiation. Very serious. and that includes secondary CA. You have to go into this informed. It's not just the beating of CA. It's the qualiity of life you will have after. Lot of people have serious things happen as a result of this poison they are giving you and make no mistake, it is POISON. So with all that in mind, you can make decisions. We all want to live, and so do I. But what I told all my DR's is that I am more afraid of them, than I am of GOD. I have made peace with my mortality. If it comes to that I can make informed decisions. My chemo is done now and I do have permanent things that will be with me for life. I didn't know that until after it happened. Not fair to you or to me. So be aware. You are a lot younger than I and I am sure if I was your age, I may make different decisions. Walk into this with your eyes wide open. I don't think people really like to talk about hard realities usually. They want to be all lightness and laughter. That's ok too, but life can be harsh and the reality is that chemo poisons your body forever. Adriamycin is so terrible that you can only have 9 doses in a lifetime. Personally you couldn't pay me to go thru chemo again. I am sorry one so young is going thru this. I have noticed that breast cancer is hitting young women in high numbers. I know I'm gonna live the best I can. My last chemo was in April and my taste is still not totally back to normal. I was told that many of the SE may not go away for yr and half. Some never. Be informed. That is the best advice I can give you. Take care

Apaugh

JKoehler25

OMG!  You just said what I feel.  Thank you.