Best day to receive Chemo

I think you should ask your doctor when your worst days will be. Every medicine is different, so he/she should know roughly how you will react. Then you have to decide what is most important in your life. It sounds like your kids' tournament is going to be when you want to feel your best, so schedule your chemo so you feel best over weekends. Perhaps you can also make some changes with your doctor's ok as you go along. You don't mention your children's ages, but even small children can and should be told that their mother is going through some tough treatment and won't be 100% for a couple of months. I'm sure they will be very understanding as your treatment progresses. Maybe you could also bring along some other relatives (siblings, cousins?) or friends to the games to help cheer your kids on and help you as well. Good luck! Anna

and then would go in on Sunday mornings for a Neulasta shot. The shot (more than the chemo) knocked me out for the afternoon and then the next day the bone paid would keep me in bed. I worked through my T/C treatments which were every 3 weeks for 6 rounds. I was also 57 at time of diagnosis (5.5 years ago) so that may have had an impact.

Speak to your doctor and ask if you will be having a neulasta shot (taking Claritin for the shot helped my friend tremendously and she never had the bone pain I experienced--she was diagnosed 4 years after me).

Each of us reacts differently and for me, the side effects were cumulative--worse with each treatment. My friend on the other hand, was able to not have to work and had almost no side effects.

Good luck,

JoAnn 

I had mine on Mondays.  With the AC, I had a few days of queasiness after my infusion (TH-SAT); but that was all.  With the taxol, I didn't.  With the taxol, I had a few tough days with breathing/coughing; but allergy pills helped with that.  I am in education, working with young children whose parents often send them to school even though they are sick.  So, I did not work.  However, if I had had a different type of job, I think I could have worked a lot of the time I was doing chemo.  I had chemo every other week from April to mid-July (2012).

Hope your treatments go smoothly.

Momof4blessed said:

Thanks everyone

Thanks so much for everyone's experience.  I figured everyone's body would react differenty but was curious.  I will have A/C every other week for 2 months with the Neulasta shot the following day. Based on you all's opinion plus the blogs I have read, I think I am going to reschedule my day for Monday following the shot on Tuesday. That will give me a few days to re-coup and praying to be able to make it to the tournaments.  I will have a driver in case I want to take a nap 

I just had my hair colored for the last time probably for awhile (only my roots); it's so surreal thinking about that.  Does it take a long time to grow back? I don't mind loosing my bobbies but my hair?  That might be more difficult, lol.

This is me today, 19 weeks after my last chemo. It's roughly the same color as before, except I was starting to go gray before I lost it and now I don't seem to have any gray hairs!

Wrongway said:

Keep swimmin

only speaking from my experience, I had t/c on Thursday with neulasta next day.  First treatment I was good all weekend, but Monday hit me like a ton of bricks went on for 10 days, just when I felt better I went back for 2nd cocktail which was much different.  Every treatment affected me differently.  I started losing my hair a week after my first cocktail.  I chose to cut my hair very soon after, actually my daughter always wanted to play hair dresser, so I let her cut it.  A few days later I shaved it off.  I couldn't stand waking up feeling like I had a bunch of cats sleeping on my pillow.  Once I took control of my hair I began giving fun.  I learned anew way to put makeup on, bought a ton of fun scarves, hats and wigs.  every time after that, I went to my girls day out lounge, aka gdol, never referred to it as infusion, I wore fun clothes, makeup and my favorite headdress!  my last treatment was August 19, 2014, my hair came in with a ton of curls and super thick, Total opposite of what Ive ever had, December 2014.   I have always been a bit vane, especially with my hair, but when i took control and made it me instead of allowing the cancer to take it from me I felt so much better.  

That's awesome! I did the same thing. We had all kinds of rituals and things to make it fun. My sweetheart came with me to every infusion, and we often coordinated outfits. I got pirate bandanas, tie dye, all kinds of fun stuff. It made chemo something to look forward to rather than dread.

Momof4blessed said:

Not Infusion but instead Girls Day Out

I LOVE that idea.  Everyone has some great ideas; what an amazing group of women

I will be checking out some wigs tomorrow.  One of my great girlfriends knows that I am a Single Mom, working full-time and have such strong faith.  Well she called me yesterday telling me she wants to contribute up to $500 for my wig.  She even called one of the best wig places in Orlando, spoke to the owner and told him once I pick out a wig or even two, to call her so she can pay for it.  I am behind words to express the feeilings of gratitude. I've always been a giver and it's strange to be on the other end when your friends reach out to want to help but instead of asking, just do.  Tears of joy and blessed beyond words for such amazing girlfriends.

Wow! That's awesome. A friend of mine bought me a $400 wig. It was amazing of her.

I am 1 1/2 years out now from chemo age 42 at the time. I did chemo on Mondays (A/C/T) every three weeks.  They will infuse your chemo first with anti nausea meds and then chemo. Make sure to ask for the lanocain cream. Treat your port area with this cream one hour and 15 minutes before your chemo time. I would then add another small amount 1/2 and hour before as well. I used the next step clear bandaid patch like they do for knumbing a child before an IV. THey are at Walgreens. I had to have pharmacist find them for me. ANyways I did around the port as well as on the port. NEVER felt a thing! I also after chemo switched to using the anti nausea patch behind my ear. Worked MUCH better for me then the pill under the tongue that dissolves. That pill gave me horrible horrible headaches and nausea - once I switched I never had that headache again. Just an fyi. So 1st chemo on Mon. I did ok for the most part and by second night I started getting a little nautious but not anything crazy. Each patch behind the ear is good for 72 hours so make sure to change out on day three. Thursday and Friday was not my best days. Saturday might be iffy and by mid week the following Tuesday and Wednesday I was doing much better.   Chemo round #2 - Same feeling of that Monday -Tues decent - Wed changed out patch and Thursday/Friday tired! Sat-Sun tired nauseaus but didn't throw up, all tastes were yucky, much like pregnancy symptoms.  I decided at that point I was technically going to give new birth to my new self so this was like a pregnancy in all honesty. I got my train of thought around that and it made it better for me to cope with.  By Wednesday the next week I was much better in the nausea department. Without the patch it was waaaaaaaaay worse.  Not to mention your mentally tripping out at times and that can cause fatigue in it's own right honestly. My hair started slightly falling out and I said oh no maam. I wanted to take charge of my hair intead of cancer taking it from me.  The good news is that another way to think of it is chemo was working! It attacks the rapid cells in your body and can't decifer between good rapid cells and bad (cancer) rapid cell. So to see that my hair was falling out told me the chemo was doing it's job - sort of a TAKE THAT approach. At times I even giggled that I was kicking cancer's toosh and I was watching it before my eyes work.  I had my sister do a seriously cute short pixie I always wanted to try but never had the guts to do it. I always had long brown hair. It was shocking at first and sad but acceptable. Round #3 chemo - very fatigued - this is what I would call movie round. Lay low on the couch and watch everything you've ever wanted to watch. Ask for your friend to list on your facebook or txt you there favorite all time movies. Try to have them give you happy choices.  This was one of my greatest downtimes of cheerful while being my hardest weak time.  You will feel like a cancer patient at this point but try to flip it to this is how hard you are willing to corner this body intruder and let it know who's in charge. I sipped on chicken broth and hot and sour soup from our local chinese restaurant. Some days just shove it on your mouth and move on. Protein is your best friend more than carbs. But do whatever you can get in your mouth. Think morning sickness. You still have to feed the "baby" so whatever it takes. Weakness can be much more worse if you are eating a cracker than crash from the lack of calories so I realized early on that a bite of proteing kept my enregy up thirty to an hour longer in between my small food ingestions.  I only threw up once in my whole treatment. The rest of my hair fell out during three.  I had head sensitivity and could not really wear my wigs anymore. So I opted for cool soft cotton or silk wraps that in a way made me feel like I had hair again. I could twist the ends and make a bun out of the tail or make a pony out of the length. It was dar I say FUN. A boost in my new fashion statements. Oh and with awesome dangle earings. Many many compliments. Have a lot of fun with drawing eyebrows on.  I even had fake eyelashes on at times. just experimenting - why not?!  Chemo #4 a repeat of #3 and a couch potatoe. Needed to stay put. Dangerous to get up on my own honestly. Get a walker if you are by yourself and use it for your trips to the bathroom. Don't let this define you! It is a tool and it's yours to use. I had shortness of breath during this time and it was a little scary but I managed.  Take every nap your body insists on and again do not let this define you. A nap buys you further awake time.  Phone chat and visits can wear you out also. It's ok to have a code for people to know you need a moment to regroup.  You will NEVER see such love in your life than you will see during your journey, for that I am blessed with incredible memories. I choke up with the blessings I received through my loved ones more than I choke up that I am a cancer patient now. 

From one mom to another, you've got this!

Hugs xoxoxoxox

Bonnie

Also remember that we all respond differently to the chemo, so plan for the worst and hope for the best. I know women that kept working through their chemo and hardly slowed down. By my third round of chemo my brain and reflexes were too messed up to make it safe for me to drive, my legs were like spaghetti and I was so short of breath I needed a cane to walk around the house and if I walked outside in my yard I needed someone to walk with me. Even if you're feeling pretty good, remember that your immune system will be compromised and you may need to avoid being around large groups of people to avoid catching something.