Hi Ladies
Sorry for lack of posting, but been too whacked out with 2nd kimo. Just beginning to come round a bit, but having checked my emails etc, feeling like a rest again. Had a wonderful surprise this morning - a cup of tea in bed without even a hint to my son for one. I was just thinking yesterday how wonderful it would be if one of them could bring me a cuppa in the morning considering I have now been off sick so to speak for 9 weeks about with this bc business and most of the time Mum has kept functioning for meals! and then surprise surprise in walks my eldest with a cuppa this morning. Made my day!
Hair very thin now and will need to wear the wig when I go out. Pheebster - my head was very sore at one stage when coming out but has settled now. Also sorry to hear about the vein situation. I have also been threatened with a line as they don’t think my veins will last for another 4 kimos, so keep us posted.
Sorry but to exhausted to concentrate - Best Wishes everyone
Hannah
Hi girls…what a booster for you this morning Hannah. Little things mean so much at times when we feel so rubbish!
I am on day 4 now 2nd FEC (or should that be something else beginning with F!!!) and yesterday was heavy going…feel better today. Got a dinner going and gonna take Pheeb out in a mo. Haid itching and dry but still got a full head of hair if you were to look at me…though it is very cotton woolly as I haven’t put any product on to make it look decent.
So there’s my dilemma - hair that looks like fluff or risk having it look decent for a while and slap on some product!
Fancying a glass of wine but still on the anti-sickness so will persevere with the 2ltrs of sparkling water for another day.
Nice and sunny here in Essex - just praying for rain before dark so we don’t get another round of fireworks as the dog is on the verge of a nervous breakdown!
Hannah, can I swap you your son for mine? I’d love a cuppa brought to me!!! Did you find the second kimo whacked you out more than the first? It did me.
Pheebster, the hair dilemma’s a pain. I can’t say I’m massively enamoured of mine, it’s growing back slightly as blonde baby fluff, I feel like a little chicken. Hope you don’t get any more fireworks, they’re horrid for animals. Our cat was out until really late last night because of the noise, poor mog was sopping wet when he was finally brave enough to venture out from his hiding spot.
I’m doing OK, day 10 after the second FEC, just incredibly and increasingly tired at the mo.
Hi everyone very interested in reading all your discussions, haven’t been on for some while been feelin a bit low. Had second EC week ago and hair virtually gone which I expected but I didn’t expect it to hurt like this, hard to sleep for it at the moment, will this ease or will it happen each time does anyone know? Also sleep is very difficult up most of the night although tired one thing though xmas all sorted mind seems very active and restless. Appetite outrageous hungry all the time is this everyone’s experience? Sorry to ask lots of questions, just needing a friendly word!!
My scalp was jolly uncomfortable after the first FEC I had but it eased off, especially once my hair started shedding. I shaved it off to save my body the bother of getting rid of it. I find it incredibly hard to sleep all the time, don’t know if it’s the drugs working through my body, general worry and stress, or a combination. And yes, I am scoffing all sorts of things that I’d never have considered eating before like they’re going out of style. From what I can tell, these reactions are pretty normal - bummer.
Me same as Cat shaved the old hair off as I found it less distressing than seeing it dropping in the shower!!! It was quite painful when it started shedding about 14 days after 1st FEC…had my 2nd FEC 2 weeks ago and now my head has erupted in in spots eeeek! but been treating with Aloe Vera Gel from Forever and seems to be clearing up…
Found that I don’t sleep well the 1st week after the evil juice but better once I stop taking the anti sickness meds. I am also eating anything that can’t move quick enough to get caught…the cat is always looking over her shoulder lol…now starting to put on weight but trying not to worry too much about that, will sort that out after treatment!! Good job I had lost some weight before I was dx!! never mind more important things to worry about at the moment.
I keep feeling I am coming down with a cold but I don’t have a tempreture, so hoping it won’t come to anything.
3rd FEC Friday 14th half way through yipeeeeee. OH is being such a sweetheart, has really spoilt me this weekend, pictures, takeaways and sunday lunch, even done the ironing…what a star!!!
Welcome - i could not sleep very well either and my hair start to fall off day 12 days after fist FEC. I am now 12 days after my second FEC, just have a thin layer of hair left. I did not shave off though i thought about it . I want to see what exactly going to happen with my hair. If I have 3 hair left i could still have a braid, hehe My sacle was very uncomfrotable though and it hurts when touch the pillow- there are some medicine for it - you could ask your GP to prescibe you.
Worn my wig for the first time today and went out shopping - no one could tell it was a wig and it actually make me look slightly younger than my real age… you see that is how i find my silver liner…
My sleep was not good so the doctors have give me some calming pills- Diazepam. I only take it before my chemo but my doctor said i could use them if i really could not sleep …it s not very strong… maybe you could ask your GP for some if you like.
Food wise- i want to eat but find my stamoch could not digest well so i intend to eat small meals - i donot want to lose waight so i have been trying to eat some high carolies stuff.
I got a fluish thing last week but now my nose stop running. not sure why but my kimo nurse said as long as my temperature didnt go up it is ok
I am living on my own - so no one’s cook for me or tide up my place. Had been very untidy in the first two weeks after kimo . The other day i really could not bear it anymore so when a friend came to visit - i got her to clean my place a bit… felt a a bit bad but it really helps with the place is cleaner.
Hi Girls…I can’t sleep either. Dog tired about 8 p.m. and here I am again at 10.20 pacing the house. Just rammed two mini danish pastries down my neck and an instant horlicks…gross…I don’t even like cakes!!! Everyone else in bed, just me and the lappy downstairs. I agree that the anti-sickness seem to have a lot to do with sleep patterns too. I’m on two lots - totalling 8 tablets a day for 4 days. Still, I think i would rather be free of nausea and put up with broken sleep for a few nights.
Interested to read the above posts… we all seem a bit zapped again don’t we. Avonlea…I’ve had diazepam for back pain. Just to let you know is is also known as prozac, so be aware!!! I have been thinking about a wig today too…think I will just go with the flow and find something I really like. Who cares if it looks like the style I have now anyway - this is about me.
I have found 2nd FEC different to first…easier I think…I just hope the 3rd one is the same, though that’s no for another couple of weeks.
All the best for Friday Swan, in case I don’t catch up with you before then…keep us updated.
Nite Nite - off for another try for sleep …if the dog hasn’t nicked my space in bed by now!
I got woken up at 5:15 by my son who wanted a drink. When I went back upstairs he was in my bed fast asleep with nowhere for me to go so been up for ages
Avonlea, you’re so right about feeling better if the house is tidier, mine has turned into a right pig sty recently because I got too tired to pick all the toys up sometimes. I won’t even go into my utility or dining room sat the mo because my husband’s been using them as a dumping ground for his eBay stuff. It’s nice to get some help though; I have a lovely friend who now comes on a Monday to clean the house top to bottom for me. I pay her for her work and it makes such a difference to know that at least once a week the place is how I like it to be.
Hope everyone has a great day, am going to try to catch up on a billion e-mails now before everyone else wakes up and untidies the house - been cleaning since I couldn’t sleep!
In a perverse kind of way its good to know that others are having sleep problems too - you don,t feel so “wierd”!
Last year I had no problems with sleep at all. This year, on a different combination, I find that for about 48-60 hours after chemo I hardly sleep at all. At most 3 hours a night. Then exhaustion kicks in and I sleep on and off for about 2 days and then life is back to normal.
The amount of jobs I get through is amazing. Once I was cleaning my bathroom tiles at 2am.
My hair fell out after about 16 days (both times). this time around I have a regrowth of a peachy fuzz. Just before it all fell out I took some pics of myself looking like a baby orang utang and e.mailed it to all my friends!! LOL
I haven,t been down the wig route, but I,m lucky that I live in a muslim country so I go unnoticed wearing a scarf
Morning and lovely to have you join this thread! Sorry that you’ve had to endure two rounds of chemo, it’s tough going! Good on you doing the photos; I’ve been documenting my chemo journey with photos and posting them so friends can see, get some interesting reactions!
Jellybabes, I am hungrier than I have ever been, I’m sure I am going to get hugely obese.
My head hurt when I was losing my hair - also itched like crazy - so I shaved it off and the hurting/itching stopped straight away.
I had a pretty sleepless night last night - I find that when I do sleep I am disturbed by nightmares - especially when on the steroids. This is a bad time of year to be sleepless too - it’d be better if it got light about 4 am then the sky would look pretty - but the long hours of darkness seem so long.
Welcome to this thread, it is nice to know we are all experiencing pretty much the same (though I wish none of us had these effects)
Irina xx
Thanks for the welcome.
To be honest, this time around has been nowhere near as bad as last year. Last year I had 6 sessions and felt wretched most of the time.
This year I,m having 10 (just had No. 6) plus I,m on Herceptin. The anti-emetics are more effective this time.
I think part of my positive attitude it that I count my blessings that I live in a beautiful country (Turkey) and am surrounded by wonderful caring friends who look out for me (I live alone + lots of cats LOL).
I refuse to let this intruder get the better of me
What a pigging awful weather we’re having! Hope you’re all OK…
Sorry to hear about the sleepless nights. I sleep like a baby all the time so am very relieved not to have this problem, but I’m wondering if we’re on different drugs? I’m also eating like a horse, everything and anything but mostly savoury. Luckily I’m not putting on weight but will try to slow down a bit otherwise I’ll be bald, mad, cross and fat and that would never do!!
Sadly my hopes that my periods had stopped were wrong. It appeared a week late and has been quite painful so all is not rosy in Bella’s world at the moment. I’m hoping the yoga tomorrow will help.
I had a lovely friend visit me who went through all this malarkey 5 years ago and she re-assured me on a couple of things which I’ll pass on to you;
She always had the same set of reactions on the same days after each FEC - in other words she reacted the same to each one and never got any worse (or better, just the same). She was only sick after the first one, which is reassuring to those of us who reacted badly to the first one.
When her hair started to grow back, it was just before the 6th FEC (which I was also told by my BCN and can’t understand as surely if it’s the E drug that kills off the hair follicles then it can’t re-grow until all the E has gone?) and it came back horribly grey and wiry. It stayed like that for a couple of months (OMG!!!) but then changed gradually until it was much softer, straighter and just like a better version of her ‘old’ hair. She looks great now. So the message is, be prepared for more hair trauma but don’t get too depressed as it will come back but might take some time.
Aslans Mum - welcome to our thread. I have been to Turkey and one of the things I remember is all the cats…and feeding them at night! I used to live in Stoke Newington in London (a large Turkish community) and loved buying fresh bread and pastries from the bakeries and getting turkish delight and halva (excuse the spelling) for my nan!
Slept really well last night 11 til 7.30 and was in the woods by 8.30 this morning with the Pheebster, who rewarded me with a squirrel which she impaled on a tree branch…clever girl:) (apologies to the squeamish lol)!!!
Feeling ok today - last day of anti-sickness drugs (yay) till the next round. Last FEC here I come…
Hair still shedding, though slower me thinks (or hopes). I too was interested to read that hair is growing back while the evil E stuff is still being pumped in…this kimo is baffling!
Laters ladies and thanks for the tips Bella…though don’t fancy the grey wiry stuff much!!!
One other thing I meant to mention: has anyone else found perfume unbearable? I can’t stand the smell of perfume on me other than deodorant or body lotion, it makes me retch. Didn’t effect me last time but this time it is overpowering…
Hi Aslanmum and welcome…Another cat lover, how many moggies share your home? I used to have 9 at one time…some strays…now sadly only one, but she is adorable. Sorry to see that you have had to now go through this twice…that’s not funny!!!
Pheebster…know what you mean about perfume…yuk…and anything with a strong smell I try and avoid, until the OH decides to have kippers for breakfast which really smell pants at the best of times …pooohy!!!
Feeling really down today don’t know why…suppose just fed up not be able to do run of the mill things, make plans for christmas cause I don’t know how I will feel…oh well roll on the new year…estimate all treatment finished, with luck day after me birthday…looks like a bottle of champers will need to be aquired!!!
Welcome to Aslanmum and good evening.
It is nice to share things here. I guess i am just feelig up and down from time to time. Sometimes I am ok and sometimes not. I could blame to the drugs now!!
I just had a smear test result back and I took it before my chemo. It says Borderline cell changes and i need to go back in 6 months to take a test again…
You see, things like that normally wont get me too worried. But at the moment I just feel horrible and helpless…
Swanmedicine,
I have 6 but luckily they don,t all want to be inside at the same time. I also feed about 15 street cats which congregate on my patio.
I,m also heavily involved with our local neutering programme so spend a lot of time fundraising - keeps me busy and stops me feeling sorry for myself LOL.
Pheebster,
I have a bakery at the end of my road so, sadly, LOL, I have to live with the smell of freshly baked bread. See, there is a silver lining to every cloud!
I,ve had a lovely day. My Mum is here on holiday at the moment so we spent time out and about in the sun. (Sorry, I don,t mean to rub it in - I know you,ve been having some terrible weather in the UK).
I hope you all manage to get a good nights sleep and will feel good tomorrow.
Nite nite xx
Not posted on this thread for a while as found it easier to join a newer thread but have been keeping up with your exploits to make me smile!
I just wanted to share cos I don’t know if its been mentioned much, depression is a common side effect of kimo. Not just of BC and all the sh*t and emotions this disease involves but as a cyclical (sp?) side effect. My kimo nurse mentioned so many side effects but not this one but having read other sites (both medical and forums) its a common thing about day 6ish until about day 10ish. I fell down a very black hole about day 6 and snotted and cried like a good un for about 5 days afterwards. It was horrid. I normally get low for a day or two when stuff happens in life but then pick myself up but I just couldn’t shake this then. Today, day 13 I am fine, my old self, I don’t cry at the drop of a feather and can be rational. Last Thursday (day 9) I burst into tears when I saw a friend in Tesco and we ended up praying by the Tesco Direct counter (a first for me!). I am off to the docs on Friday for some happy pills because I can’t stand to be like that again and in all seriousness don’t think I will make 6 doses without some help let alone get through all the other things my mind is having to cope with (lack of healing, anti-smoking pressure, just having had BC, time off work, sexuality… the list goes on).
Its not a happy subject and if you never experience more than a weepy day or two then then thats great but if you find yourself at the bottom of a deep dark well and wonder why - it could be the kimo and you are not losing it - thats why I shared, xxxx
Day 14 after 2nd FEC - feel a bit strange as no mouth ulcer yet this time and feel my strength is not too bad following a weekend shopping treat
Pheebster- thank for mentioning the diasepam i was given 28 tablets but try not to take them as i do not want to rely on it.
Cat- hope you are doing well? How is your injections going? It is nice to have a friend to come to clean your place and i will need to make my friend come more often… lol
On the sleeping/ lack of sleep subject- i was also given HALOPERIDOL to help me to relax day before kimo. I guess if you really need help there are all sort of drugs could help to sleep/relax but i will take caution as every one’s different - i only take these drugs day before my kimo. Other days even i could not sleep i 'd try to catch up some during the day instead of using drugs as i do not want too many drugs in my system.
Got a letter about smear test- will go to talk to my GP today- just donot need another worry!! Ostrich - you are not alone - i am very easy to get pissed off these days, the letter yesterday got me cry. I am also feeling up and downs from time to time and some of my friends some be the victims when i am feeling down…
My hair stops falling - it s wired - 14days after my first FEC i was like a big dog and hair falling when i am doing or not doing things.
I also start to take Manuka honey since Monday as my onc said it would not do any harm. My tumor is not hormone positive so no need to worry about hormones
