SUNRAE * Just wondering how you are doing on chemo!

Sunrae said:

Had my 3rd chemo last Wed.
Had my 3rd chemo last Wed. and found out that my white blood cells were too low. Had to go the next 2 days and get a Neupogen shot, the second one knocked me for a loop. The last 2 days I've been curled up in that little ball in a corner, trying not to make any motions too fast. I really got nauseated, sweating, and so sick I could hardly keep any liquids down. Today I started coming out of it a little bit and was able to get a little food down. Everything has that horrible metal taste, can't seem to enjoy any food other than some juice and Cheetos but made myself eat a couple of bites of healthy food tonight. Just wondering how often I'll have to take those Neupogen shots and if it'll affect me the same every time. Hope I get to feeling better so I can have my 4th shot this coming Wed. and stay on schedule. I know most of you had to take Neulasta but since I'm on a weekly chemo schedule I couldn't take Neulasta. What has your experience been with Neupogen or Neulasta. I thought I was doing pretty good until I was hit with this. Appreciate your thoughts and prayers on my behalf.

I may have missed it but did
I may have missed it but did you say if your hair came out?

Angie2U said:

Sending you hugs and
Sending you hugs and positive thoughts!

Just wanted to update on
Just wanted to update on what's happening. The shots I had last week for my white blood cells did the trick and I was able to have my 4th chemo treatment yesterday, which means I'm a 3rd of the way thru my treatments. I seemed to have reacted badly to the shots and got sicker than I was supposed to so my onc said when the white blood cells drop down again, she is going to have me skip my weekly chemo and see if the cells build back up without the shots. My problem is I don't want to have to skip too many because that stretches out my treatments too far. And I still have all the rads to get thru. The meds seem to really help the nausea and so far the diarrhea can be controlled too. I just hate food because I can't taste anything that I eat or drink but this is something I have to learn to deal with because I still have 9 more chemo treatments. Wish something worked so I could at least enjoy a little of what I eat. Oh well, guess this will help me lose some weight the hard way. Thanks again for all your hugs and good wishes.

TraciInLA said:

Sunrae,
I had the same cocktail as you, only every 3 weeks, and thought I'd share a couple of tricks that might help with eating:

Crystal Light was my lifesaver to mask the metallic taste and make water taste good. I don't really like the taste of Crystal Light made full-strength, but would just sprinkle a little in my water glass -- it really did the trick, and they have like 1000 flavors, so it was kind of fun to try a new one each time I went to the grocery store. Other women on this board have said that adding lemon slices to water also helps.

Once you get past the nausea, if food just has no taste, you may find that you can taste spicy food -- I liked enchiladas and other Mexican food, I've heard other women mention Indian or Thai food.

Hope some of this might spark some ideas (and your tastebuds!)

Traci

Traci -
I am the same way. My husband usually cooks for a couple of days after my chemo and doesn't even plan anything specific because my taste buds have such a mind of their own and there is usually only one food that sounds good. And for some reason, all of those foods (at least the first couple of days) involve something I can put hot sauce on or has some spice.

I also started using the mouthwash (soda and salt) that has been recommended on the board and that seems to help make the taste problems a little better...

Sunrae - Hoping this gets easier for you each time....

Sharon40 said:

sweet taste
I never had metal taste, instead I had a sweet taste!! I drank unsweet tea (unheard of in my southern home), black coffee instead of my sweetener, and lemon in my water. It was the wierdest thing to me!! Your taste buds do come back, but WOW!! I will never forget it!! Good luck to you all still doing Chemo, pamper yourself . . . YOU deserve it!!

A Southern woman drinking unsweetened tea?!?
Sharon, isn't that ILLEGAL where you are? Did you have to get a special medical exemption or something?

:-) :-) :-) Traci

carkris said:

nothing tasted good to me,
nothing tasted good to me, sweets which I loved were gross. I finished the end of january and my taste buds are back. I really liked salty foods. Perhaps because of the dehydration??? anyway I lost 70 pounds but also had lots of GI issues. Now i am very particular about what i eat so i hope I keep it off.

also my friend teaches
also my friend teaches pilates and she gave me a baby session the other day, and the light stretching really helped.

Sunrae said:

Just wanted to update on
Just wanted to update on what's happening. The shots I had last week for my white blood cells did the trick and I was able to have my 4th chemo treatment yesterday, which means I'm a 3rd of the way thru my treatments. I seemed to have reacted badly to the shots and got sicker than I was supposed to so my onc said when the white blood cells drop down again, she is going to have me skip my weekly chemo and see if the cells build back up without the shots. My problem is I don't want to have to skip too many because that stretches out my treatments too far. And I still have all the rads to get thru. The meds seem to really help the nausea and so far the diarrhea can be controlled too. I just hate food because I can't taste anything that I eat or drink but this is something I have to learn to deal with because I still have 9 more chemo treatments. Wish something worked so I could at least enjoy a little of what I eat. Oh well, guess this will help me lose some weight the hard way. Thanks again for all your hugs and good wishes.

Appreciate your updating us
Appreciate your updating us Sunrae! Look how far you have already come. I am proud of you!


Lex♥