Thank you so much for support, Sue and Lisa. I do think I am getting just a little less pain each day now towards the end of the week, thank goodness. and actually it sounds as if you have had it far worse than me, Sue. I take a bit of paracetomol a couple of times a day, but not much as too much always gives me a headache and I don’t want that as well!.
Re. Dairy - I just got that from the leaflet with the ciprofloxin antibiotic tablets I am on, it just says eating dairy WITH that drug inhibits absorbtion. So if I want milk/butter/cheese/yog, I consume it either four hours later or before a dose. which really means lunchtime. I am not missing it. Your antibiotic may be different.
hiya, week up tomorrow and coming round from hte pain thank god. Read my antibiotic leaflet and does say keep away from milk and yoghurt for four hours or before a dose.
Thanks for the info.
Update from Linka - yes the pains subsided by Saturday (JUL 26) and turned just into little tiny aches and pains which feel more like being very tired, and go away completely sometimes. Liveable with now.
Glad you coping with it now Linka. I must admit to absolutely dreading my next tax (Thurs), I don’t know how much longer I can bear this. Mind you, I also now have a low red cell count, and it was only the fact I was asymptomatic that saved me from a blood transfusion…but now I have symptoms! Absolutely exhausted. No energy at all, can barely climb the stairs!
All the best with the rest of your treatment
Sue xx
Hey Sue, you are having a tough time - I’m so sorry. Though it’s a plus that your red cell count has improved. What was the virus? Times are grim when having one is ‘good news’. And it’s good you are through the worst of the Tax pain, Linka - a couple of easy weeks to recover. I had the neulasta the second 2 sessions but not the antibiotics as prophylactic - only when I went in with an infection on my first outing. Treatment seems to vary - but what I want is a miracle :).
It’s my own final session this Thursday (3rd Fec after 3xTax) - I should remember, Sue, but I get the feeling that you have a couple more up your sleeve? (sorry about the pun). I saw the onc for the last time today. I didn’t feel folorn. My neuts are lower than they have been throughout chemo and he’s going to cut the final dosage a bit - oh I really don’t care any more. He gave me my prescription for Tamoxifen (or similar) which I start taking three weeks after the last chemo (the same week as rads consultation) - and he filled me in on symptoms, which I’ve sort of avoided investigating. Quite frankly, they sound almost as bad as chemo. I’ve sort of lost the plot and catch myself wondering why either I or the medical system are going to so much trouble. There are more productive ways of spending money. I don’t remember how it felt before all this started, so seriously wonder whether it’s all worth it.
If you are online and remember - and me the same - maybe we can exchange a bit of steroid chat on Thursday?
Just to wish you all the best for your final TAX on thursday. I did mine last tues and have just come out the other side.
Felt quite strange and did feel down prior to and just after it. I read a paper by a Dr. Harvey on the end of treatment and found it very helpful. Just go to:-
Good luck with the Tax on Thursday girls, hope it goes better than mine, I just had my third, and had reactions to the 2nd and 3rd…just great, I was in there forever!! They managed to get it into me though, so lots to look forward to for the next couple of weeks!!
My Onc is looking into the possibility of bringing my op forward,not sure if the chemo is still working, and has arranged a meeting with the surgeon in two weeks time, so they can examine me together, hes also given me an appointment for my 4th Tax so who knows? We, myself included cant decide whether my tumour is growing or shrinking, he said it really doesnt matter at this stage,I suppose its coming off anyway!!
Strange I will feel a bit of a failure if I don`t make my last… think I am definately getting chemo brain!!
No doubt - definitely chemo brain Jan - was wondering where you had got to, was getting worried about you! I’d give my eye teeth now to finish with Tax - would love it if they said 3 Tax was enough…I’m feeling very weepy about all this now, sick of the pain.
I’ve had 2nd last (3rd!) Tax today, and am tempted to have a sweepstake about when pain will kick in. Was thinking Sunday, but I can feel twinges in my legs now!
I’m really sorry you are having such a rough time with the old Tax and may have to have op sooner.
M-L - hope your last FEC went well. If I recall correctly, you have been suffering with it. I’ve to go on Tamoxifen too. You make it sound like loads of fun!
If it wasn’t for my OH and kids, ages 17 & 15 (ok and the fact I’m only 41) I’m really not sure I’d go through all this - I felt FINE before the medics got their hands on me!!!
Well, last round of chemo today & none too soon as it took the nurse 4 jabs to find a functional vein - and almost the same even to find blood for the tests 2days ago. I should feel cheery - the nurse & the other woman in the room seemed to expect it so I put on the act - but there are the grim times to get through first and I’m so bored with them that I have run out of resources. It’s 3.30 in the morning in Finland - speaks for itself. The discovery of Facebook scrabulous got me through last time, but its appeal has waned. ‘War and Peace’ plods on but I’m thinking that Tolstoy’s main achievement was really more the sheer length of the volume than its quality or insights (translation doesn’t help of course), so keep reverting to piles of slim and trashy that friends keep donating. Concentration and joint pain makes it hard to deal with movies - unless good, recommendations anyone? - and there are only so many TV ‘bites’ that one can bear in a day.
The daily aqua jogging has been helping pass the time if nothing else - I think it has boosted energy levels and helps to deflate early lymphodoema - and I’m going to see if I can keep it up even through this first week which I bottled out of last time. It’s a restful form of activity which doesn’t feel like the dreaded ‘sport’ - & I thoroughly recommend it to all other ‘slobs’ like me out there. Taking up a daily form of exercise, according to my onc & all research I’ve read, can have a substantial positive impact on future prognosis so it’s worth trying to find one that is tolerable if you don’t have one already (I’m a ‘curse-when-the-parking-spot-is-inconvenient’ type of person, or have been for the past 5 years in a new profession).
However, the fact that the IV part of treatment is over means that you get there in the end, so take heart those who are finding it endless. I occasionally consider that numerologically (not that I know anything about it), 2008 adds up to 1 - is this a good thing or a very bad one? The first year of what? My choice, I guess - on mental/emotional levels.
Congrats on reaching last round of chemo. War and Peace was a major cure for insomnia I found! You in pain too? I recommend Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead - very off the wall, but funny (sometimes in a gory way!). I too hate exercise as such - the interesting thing is I joined a gym just before all this started - I think it was my body’s way of saying “OI - something wrong here - OI OI OI”. I’ll do it next year when fully (hah) recovered. However, I am physically active - what with the sheep, the pony, the veg garden etc, so I think that usually counts. I do feel better when I’ve done something light in the garden, or done some work on the sheep (even spinning their fleeces is good - and you can do that in front of the tv whilst giving hands and legs and workout!). Haven’t lifted a bale of hay yet as it’s big, clumsy and heavy…but the time is coming as the grazing will soon be getting poorer.
I had my second last Tax on Thursday and today woke up in pain - but it’s upper legs, so I think it’s the Neulasta. Tax generally affects my lower legs (like my ankles are in a vice and somebody is twisted my legs from the knee down - OH can feel the muscles trembling!), so I’ve still got that to look forward to!
The good news is I go on a much needed holiday on Wednesday - to heck with nadir bloods! We are island hopping for 6 days off the west of Scotland - and I’m going to take it nice and easy - just relax and let the barmaid (daughter) bring me plenty soft drinks!
And after that only ONE more Tax (on my birthday). The end. No more. Three weeks off and then the radiotherapy for 5 weeks. Thank goodness I’m reaching the end of the Tax, coz I’m really reaching the end of my tether with it. People ask how I am and I wave my hands around in front of my face as tears fill my eyes and just say “don’t ask, let’s talk about something else or I’ll cry”. Which isn’t me. I never cry - or somebody who tries to make me cry is going to pay goodstyle first!
Good luck Emelle - lovely to hear from you. Glad you reached the end of your chemo and are taking exercise - I’m on facebook too if you wanna look me up - I’d love to chat more to you - have some way of getting in touch when you are offline!