Crawling back up towards the living after chemo 2

Nancy, how are you doing???

Love,

Eldri

unknown said:

Hi Eldri

I'm recovering good now, it's day 11 (I think) since chemo.  The nerve pain is gone, but the fingertips are numb.  When I talked with my nurse on Thursday and told her I couldn't feel texture, the fingers hurt when I used the adding machine or hit the keyboard, she said they would probably have to lower my dose.  I told her no, so I'm not going to complain about this again.  I need to give myself the best first time treatment because my cancer is advanced, and I'd rather live with dead fingertips than not live!  Anyway, I also got a bad case of folliculitis, and I had an appt with my regular GP on Monday (six month wellness), she looked at the fluid filled red bumps and prescribed an antibiotic which thankfullly is working along with Dial Gold soap.  They kept breaking and the infection would spread so she said to use the soap because it was 99% bacterial.  Now my scalp is dry and itching.  But again, when I think of all the things others have went through (including you) and what my dear husband endured, I won't complain too loud.  I do find it hard to type and spell correctly, so please forgive.  I can't wear my wigs or stylish hats, so I'm sticking with scarves or going without anything in the house.  It looks like I have a bad case of the measles on my head, so I have to wear something there.  I did manage to work a full week, including some overtime so I guess I'm doing great.

Nancy - I had a bad rash on my head that also required an antibiotic cream.  That did get rid of the infection.  I still have a slight rash that hopefully will go away now that I am finished with chemo.  Just thought I would mention that I applied a cortizone cream to my scalp and that helped a lot with the itching an dryness.

My fingers and toes are still numb. But it has only been 19 days so I think it is too soon for me to expect that to be resolved.

You are doing great!  Keep up the can do attitude.

Love and Hugs,

Cindi

unknown said:

Hi Eldri

I'm recovering good now, it's day 11 (I think) since chemo.  The nerve pain is gone, but the fingertips are numb.  When I talked with my nurse on Thursday and told her I couldn't feel texture, the fingers hurt when I used the adding machine or hit the keyboard, she said they would probably have to lower my dose.  I told her no, so I'm not going to complain about this again.  I need to give myself the best first time treatment because my cancer is advanced, and I'd rather live with dead fingertips than not live!  Anyway, I also got a bad case of folliculitis, and I had an appt with my regular GP on Monday (six month wellness), she looked at the fluid filled red bumps and prescribed an antibiotic which thankfullly is working along with Dial Gold soap.  They kept breaking and the infection would spread so she said to use the soap because it was 99% bacterial.  Now my scalp is dry and itching.  But again, when I think of all the things others have went through (including you) and what my dear husband endured, I won't complain too loud.  I do find it hard to type and spell correctly, so please forgive.  I can't wear my wigs or stylish hats, so I'm sticking with scarves or going without anything in the house.  It looks like I have a bad case of the measles on my head, so I have to wear something there.  I did manage to work a full week, including some overtime so I guess I'm doing great.

Nancy it is important that you let your doctor know about any reactions you are having. From my experience, the neuropathy continues to get worse with each treatment. Are you being treated w/Taxol?  My doctor had to take me off Taxol after my third treatment because of increasing neuropathy in my hands, feet and legs. He switched me to Taxotere and told me it was equally effective but did not cause neuropathy. It seems to have worked for me and the neuropathy did slowly abate. Its been 20 months since I completed chemo and I am still NED. The bottoms of feet are still slightly numb but otherwise the neuropathy numbness and shooting pains are gone. Your doctor is the best person to discuss this with. I don't think there is just one right treatment that works for everyone. Please talk to your doctor so he can work with you to find the treatment that is best for you.

unknown said:

Hi Eldri

I'm recovering good now, it's day 11 (I think) since chemo.  The nerve pain is gone, but the fingertips are numb.  When I talked with my nurse on Thursday and told her I couldn't feel texture, the fingers hurt when I used the adding machine or hit the keyboard, she said they would probably have to lower my dose.  I told her no, so I'm not going to complain about this again.  I need to give myself the best first time treatment because my cancer is advanced, and I'd rather live with dead fingertips than not live!  Anyway, I also got a bad case of folliculitis, and I had an appt with my regular GP on Monday (six month wellness), she looked at the fluid filled red bumps and prescribed an antibiotic which thankfullly is working along with Dial Gold soap.  They kept breaking and the infection would spread so she said to use the soap because it was 99% bacterial.  Now my scalp is dry and itching.  But again, when I think of all the things others have went through (including you) and what my dear husband endured, I won't complain too loud.  I do find it hard to type and spell correctly, so please forgive.  I can't wear my wigs or stylish hats, so I'm sticking with scarves or going without anything in the house.  It looks like I have a bad case of the measles on my head, so I have to wear something there.  I did manage to work a full week, including some overtime so I guess I'm doing great.

I'm glad to hear you're recovering from your last chemo.  My doctor or chemo nurse never once mentioned lowering the chemo dosage despite all the side effects I was having.  It continues to amaze me the number of different treatments different doctors recommend.

Love,

Eldri

ComestheDawn said:

New to this website

Hi Lou Ann

Welcome to this forum!  You can start a new thread and introduce yourself.  Everybody here is very nice and can be quite helpful if you have any questions.

Love,

Eldri

unknown said:

Hi Eldri

I'm recovering good now, it's day 11 (I think) since chemo.  The nerve pain is gone, but the fingertips are numb.  When I talked with my nurse on Thursday and told her I couldn't feel texture, the fingers hurt when I used the adding machine or hit the keyboard, she said they would probably have to lower my dose.  I told her no, so I'm not going to complain about this again.  I need to give myself the best first time treatment because my cancer is advanced, and I'd rather live with dead fingertips than not live!  Anyway, I also got a bad case of folliculitis, and I had an appt with my regular GP on Monday (six month wellness), she looked at the fluid filled red bumps and prescribed an antibiotic which thankfullly is working along with Dial Gold soap.  They kept breaking and the infection would spread so she said to use the soap because it was 99% bacterial.  Now my scalp is dry and itching.  But again, when I think of all the things others have went through (including you) and what my dear husband endured, I won't complain too loud.  I do find it hard to type and spell correctly, so please forgive.  I can't wear my wigs or stylish hats, so I'm sticking with scarves or going without anything in the house.  It looks like I have a bad case of the measles on my head, so I have to wear something there.  I did manage to work a full week, including some overtime so I guess I'm doing great.

Agreeing with others regarding not mentioning neuropathy to doctors again. Though I will readily admit I said the exact same thing to my husband about not mentioning it again when the dr mentioned potentially cutting back. 

Have you tried accupunuture?  I get both accupunuture and massage through interventional care at my cancer treatment center once a week.  It really seems to be helping with both neuropathy and nauseau/gastro issues.  Both my fingers and feet get pretty bad during week 2 of the cycle but are pretty good (except the very tip of my thumb at the end of cycle 2) by the time the next cycle rolls around.  Might be worth trying it if you have the option to do so.