day 8 post TAX 1
hiya folks - how you all doing?
aches n pains subsided but mouth - ouch ouch ouch! still sore despite difflam, nystatin , fluconazole and gelclair- cant eat a lot - no appetite and it hurts so much when i try ro eat
sleeping tablets - got some prescribed yesterday but pharmacist hadn;t got them - slept better last night anyway
have a good day
claire
Hi fellow taxers!
Rachel (Pinkrose) - good luck for Monday and definately ask for the mitts (bit like boxing gloves so look a bit funny but fingers still feel fine for me - anything to reduce any nerve pain)! Have you been on a LGFB day yet? I’ve got mine at Maidstone on 21st March and cannot wait. Think there’s still spaces if you wanted to get on - just ask chemo unit to give you details.
Sue - well done on last tax today, hope all went ok and any se’s are kind to you. Even though you’re moving onto the next stage you’re on the up and up with the chemo over.
Sophie - hope 1st tax went well today. Just read all the tips on here and hopefully you’ll be one step ahead of any se’s.
Claire - having a mouth that tastes of lard was the worst thing for me as I LOVE my food. I lost 11 lb after first tax as just couldn’t eat anything apart from soup. Put 5 lb back on since then. Developed thrush in throat which made things worst so am armed with Flucanazole, Nystatin and mouth wash this time. Takes a while I think when tax is finished before all taste buds and mouth go back to how they were before so hopefully I’ll have a svelt new figure by then (yeah right)!
Day 3 now following 2nd Tax and making most of what energy I’ve got by sorting out paperwork etc. Did Nueulasta(?) injection last night which usually starts off my pains but so far not too bad. Think will kick-in tomorrow and Mrs Moonface will pay me a visit (that’s when I avoid mirrors)!
Best of luck to everyone during the Tax phase - we’ll get to the end of it before you know it!
Love Barneypaws (Debbie) xx
Hi there Barneypaws. Had my LGFB session last Monday at Maidstone - it was brilliant! Loads of make-up freebies and a cup of tea and biccies. It was great to meet other women going through the same thing and I did LGFB afterwards! Saw the oncologist last week and he really played down the SEs - said take paracetamol if you ache a bit! didn’t say much else. Thanks for all the tips - looking forward to losing 11lb - (desperately trying to find a positive to this chemo). It has got rid of my eczema, there’s another positive!
Keep posting everyone, my first tax on Monday - I’ll be watching this thread closely …
Rachelxx
Hi girlies
Well working my way up to Tax 3 on Tuesday. SE’s havent been as bad with dose 2 as dose 1, although my face was aching a bit more it wasnt as puffed up, so the ibuprofen did the job, just took them at night as it was uncomortable to lie on the pillow. Am drug free this week so taking advantage of mouth tasting ok, although must refrain from eating all the time (note to self) and spoil the weight loss.
Has anyone lost all their hair?, only my OH shaved mine off when it started coming out in handfuls the weekend before tax 2. I lost my hair in 2007/8 when I had Epi and CMF, but I had the cold cap for 2 of the 4 cycles and it was not as quick coming out. My hair is growing again, albeit slowly and I am wearing my wig when I go out.A friend took me out to lunch on Wednesday and there we were, laughing away and as I leant back my wig fell off! After the initial shock she picked it up off the floor and was quick to put it back on my head, but then we just cracked up, thankfully the restaurant was quiet, but now I am worried a gust of wind will blow it down the road like in a cartoon! Always have my buff hat in my bag just in case…
Well, good luck to everyone having tax next week, I will be half way there on Tuesday, then only 3 more to go. Still have the dry mouth, not sleeping nights and of course those lovely steroids to start on Monday whilst I look like a cherry tomato.
Take care all
Anne xxx
Hi everyone,
Had my second C+Tax yesterday,woke up in middle of night (at least had a few hours sleep after the steroids), with migraine type headache just like last time, which is still lingering, together with nausea. Have lost 2kg since first Tax so was told to put it back on again when I’m eating again - just as I was enjoying the feeling of slightly looser trousers!
Fortunately didn’t have sore mouth last time,and coped well with dry mouth - sympathy for those of you suffering with this, must be horrible.
Anne - in spite of cold cap the first time, my hair has been coming out in handfuls so I didn’t bother this time. Had it cut short but it will have to be hats or give the wig its first airing when I go out. A woman who has her chemo the same time as me wears a scarf (tied like a wide hairband) over her wig - coordinated with her outfit. She always looks stunnung and I suppose it makes it more secure. Might be worth trying.
Take care everyone,
loula x
“Stunnung”, is that a new look? Stunning is what I meant to say!
loula
hope you don’t mind me joining you. After 4 rounds of epi doing nothing for me I started tax on Tuesday.
I briefly blacked out at tea time yesterday.
Today I’ve slept most of the day. Can’t feel my fingers properly, so need help opening paracetomol!
If things go well I’ve got 6 rounds to do, I’m really looking forward to it.
Thanks for all your tips and advice so far
Louise
Well, end of day 2 and no se’s…yet! Tomorrow I start with the injections… all seven of them, so am fully stocked up with painkillers in case it’s the jabs that set off the aches and pains! At moment am managing to convince myself that I won’t get hit by the tax truck at all… though as I have discovered that I have put on a stone and a half since starting chemo, I don’t think the driver of the truck will have much difficulty spotting me!!! Am almost hoping for bad mouth to STOP ME EATING! I am such a pig at the moment!!! Worst of it is, when I get back to work, I have a new uniform waiting for me (chef’s whites and trousers) which I ordered in my pre-dx size… can I hear you all say UH OH!!!
Sophie xxx
Sophie,
It does lull you into a false sense of security. I had Tax on Thursday and started feeling achy - not too bad though - on the Sunday. My injections started on Monday. I also had them on my third FEC and they didn’t really cause any problems. Started to feel rough on Sunday (day 4) but it all really hit home on day 5 - terrible diarrhoea, no appetite, horrible mouth and generally miserable. My aches lasted a few days, but were never as bad as some people’s on here. Felt grotty for a few days, then appetite picked up, but mouth took a long time to feel OK. Lost several pounds with the digestive problems, though. (Annoyingly for many of you I didn’t need to). Chemo has been a long round of lose weight first week and try to put it back on before next one. Sorry you have the opposite problem, strange how our bodies all react in different ways.
Perhaps you’ll have lost some of the weight before you go back to work - or the whites will be comfortably stretched and fit perfectly.
Fingers crossed you don’t suffer too much.
Stella xx
Thanks Stella! The weight thing is weird - but I do know I am as much at fault as any meds, as I have always battled to keep to a reasonable weight since having children #3 and #4… and this has all been a bit of an excuse to ‘stop fretting about that now and just focus on life’. And I must admit to a sudden wave of peace about it all last night - when it finally sank in that my family would rather have me the size of a whale, and still around, than be burying me in a size eight box… if you know what I mean… kind of put things into perspective!!!
I am sure a lot is water retention, too - as I seem to be bulgeing in places I don’t normally bulge…lol… I’m a def. bum and thighs weight carrier, but I can’t see my rib cage these days…
If all else fails, I’ll just buy my own bleedin uniform when I go back…lol… so our tight fisted bursar can’t moan…(and she would).
Still feeling ok, day 3…hehehehe, I’m certain you’re right about the false sense of security, it is so wierd tho, after feeling rougher within hours on FEC, to be feeling so ok at the mo. My second youngest is eight tomorrow, so would be nice if se’s could hold off until Tuesday!
Sophie xxx
Sophie - hope you’re OK for the party. Maybe you won’t get any SEs!
I’m totally with you on the weight thing though - getting through chemo is not the time to be worrying about it and your family and friends want you to be there and happy whatever. It seems so trivial in comparison to fighting bc.
Louise - Hope you are feeling a bit better. It must have been frightening to black out. Let your onc know about any problems.
Stella xx
Feeling much better today, been awake and much more human. Lets hope that’s it for round one!
Chemo brain def. worse than before I feel like I’m drunk all the time, who needs alcohol!
Started keeping a diary to take with me as I usually forget sentences let alone remember 3 weeks earlier!
Thanks for asking, and hope everyone else is feeling ok too.
Louise
Hi all,
Hope everyone is having a good weekend and not suffering too much from se’s…
Triphazard99, i hope the tax truck as bypassed you…
I’ve got my steriod out of the cupboard in preparation for Tax5 on Tuesday then only one for left for me whooo whoooo!!!
Have got the champers on ice already!
Sarah X
Interesting to know chemo brain affects a few others. I am used to working at speed, running a business and multi tasking…but cannot remember a fardling thing at the mo…which I find really annoying and irritating. Hope it goes away soon eh!
I have noticed that I am spelling things wrong when I type… then can’t for the life of me remember how they ‘should’ be spelled… I also am developing a tendency to completely zone out when my OH is trying to explain important things to me like how he’s altered the chicken feeding process… but then in all honesty, I prob. would have done before chemo. Perhaps I’m just more aware of it at the mo!!! Haven’t done the forgetting words thing yet, though a friend’s mum who is going through chemo had me in stitches… she was describing these flowers outside her back door to one of her neighbours, couldn’t for the life of her think what they might be, was certain she had never seen them before. They were dandelions.
Sophie xx
LOL So glad im not alone sometimes my writing looks like Arabic, i cant concentrate enough to listen to other people its like listening through a haze. Forgot what else i was going to say about this ha ha.
Hi fellow taxers!
Glad you enjoyed LGFB Rachel - really looking forward to it, be nice to have a bit of pampering.
Totally agree with everyone having trouble with words/memory etc. I’ve been coming out with all sorts of daft things. Watching the Chase the other day, question was ‘what was the surname of Tiny Tim’s family in A Christmas Carol’ and I’m yelling “Crippin” at the screen! Also asking OH for ‘Daegenhouse’ ice-cream all the time (think it’s meant to be Haergendauss)??
Day 5 post tax and se’s don’t feel so bad as first time although spent yesterday and most of today in bed. Mouth is yuk and hoping thrush stays away this time - weird thing is, the one thing that I seem to be able to tolerate well are Quavers! Eating packs of them at moment, seems to ‘cut through’ the lard taste!
Off now to get another pack…
love
Barneypaws (Debbie) xx
Well you would have fits over what I said the other day…there was a story in a paper I had seen and recounting it to OH said…’ well she murdered herself you know…’
Family stopped doing what they were doing and stared…I had no idea I had said anything odd
Chemo brain - oh dear, nearly got me into trouble last week. Went into a shop, holding a pile of letters to post, picked up a couple of birthday cards and was half way down the street before realising I hadn’t paid for them. Rushed back,apologised, paid-the assistant said she hadn’t noticed then as I went out, saw a poster on the window that said “This shop is working in close collaboration with the Metropolitan Police to combat shoplifting in this area.”
Then in the afternoon, went to a garden centre, added up my purchases while waiting in the queue - £15.Pleasant young man on the till said,“That’ll be £17 please.” “No that’s not right,” I said, “These are £10, these £5 and these £2 …er, yes you’re right.” He gave me a poor old dear look.
Am now concentrating hard every time I go out.
Sleep well everyone.
loula
I did find a proper medical essay type thing online (so it must be true) that looked into the phenomena of chemo brain, and decided that it absolutely did exist - and what’s more, could linger for years. So that’s me screwed, then. Basically, I was just getting over pregnancy brain (it may have taken me six years, but it’s cumulative, imo, so that’s my excuse), now I get zapped by chemo brain, which will prob. last twenty and by then I’ll prob. be going senile. And if I’m not, I shall pretend.
Sophie xxx