Merry Christmas Bella, and a very Happy New Year xx
Ostrich - glad that you’re feeling better hope antibiotics work and you’ll be able to have a much deserved christmas drink.
Hi Tanya - glad your well.
Hey Lorna how are you doing ok I hope.
Hey Cat how are things up at the big house!! Think I might look you up on Facebook if you don’t mind.
Peebster - how did it go today, hope your fine and your first tax was ok. Nails don’t sound too hot maybe you could try one of the new blackberry colours that are out? look quite nice in the magazines and uber trendy. lol
Had my hickman put in - not too bad really, bit achy on the shoulder but they gave me some paracetomal and ibuprofen and feels ok now. made having the kimo so much easier, pink stuff went in in half the time and no hassle trying to find vein. Have got quite a bit of tubing hanging out but its not as though I’ll be wearing any low cut tops anyway. lol
Am feeling ok at the moment mainly because I’ve only got 2 to go which feels great!!
Hi to Irina, Soo hope you are both ok love and hugs to you both.
Avonlea - how are you, long time no hear hope all ok.
Gonna have a cup of tea now ( hubby is in nurse mode ) so will pop in later.
What a nightmare, you’d think that with a side effect like that they would at least warn you of the possibility of it happening! Most times its the worry of the unknown that is so awful. So glad it turned out to be nothing to worry about have a nice rest and will catch you later.
Love and hugs xxxxx
Evening everyone
I just want to catch up with you. I,ll go over the posts tomorrow.
At the moment I am OK, I had my usual kimo of Docetaxel 80mg x1, Docetaxel 20mg x2 (why not just say x 120mg?), and Herceptin.
The extra meds are Xeloda, 3 tabs twice a day for a fortnight. The potential list of SE’s (hey I,m getting the hang of the buzzwords LOL) is sooooo long, so as I,ve only just taken my first dose I haven,t a clue which may affect me.
My anti-emetics have changed to Kytrel. I was on them last year. I,m still taking Prednol though.
The Onc told me today that I have cancerous cells (hence the Xeloda) above where the breast was and that it is inoperable so for 3 sessions we will try Xeloda and if there is no improvement he will change me onto Tykerb which I will have to take continously…not sure if he means for the rest of my life?
Anyway thats my update, like I said I,ll catch up with everyone properly tomorrow.
Night night and a huge thank you for your supportive messages.
First TAX is in and here I am waiting for the kick that is probably not too far away. I was kept waiting 3 hours and warned that treatment may have to be delayed until today as On forgot to sign my chart. Not a happy bunny so I pleaded my case and another doctor sorted it all out for me…thankfully! Found a vein ok, after I insisted he go into the front of my hand and not those big bluies running down the inside of my arm…I draw the line at that one. Was warned that the TAX was agressive stuff (think I knew that one already) and that did i want to bother with the cold cap? Well hello…yes I bloody do. So on it went (3 in all) and I was given a very posh booklet all about the drug which was very handy, I have to say. All you TAX ladies, I am now the official information provider on SE’s common and not so common!!!
I’m still in bed after being up at 4.00 this morning (bloody dexa) and John has taken ‘4 Legs’ to the woods for me. Planning on doing a Sainsbury trip today to get in the crimbo shop before the bones start aching. Rest of the shopping should arrive Monday from M & S (lazy, but nice).
Cat…what is the latest? Do i understand right that you’ve lost your voice? I’ll text you.
Cazz…so pleased all went well.
Ostrich…I want one of those steamers…are they as good as I’ve been told. Keep yourself warm and away from all those bugs - that goes for all of us!
Soo…you’ve also joined the TAX club…let’s hope this does the trick for you sweetie
Tanya - good to have you back and Lorna…keep that washing going.
I’m going to stay in bed a bit longer then attempt the shopping, so take care all.
Just a quick post as my Mum is on her way over with the dog and I need to go and kick son out of his pit.
Temp is still staying at 37 so looks like I am winning the fight against the bugs, emotional bucket now back on a level suface.
Tanya, unfortunately son doesn’t know how to operate the steamer - however I do and it has a very small nozzle for small tight spaces if necessary!
Caz, glad the line went in okay and you are feeling good. I am still thinking - blimey another 3 to go, will it ever end!
Soo, hope you are coping okay with your kimo regime and not too many SEs. I don’t know your BC history so don’t know whether you have/had secondaries/a recurrance before and therefore how you feel about what the Onc said. Sending you hugs ((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))
Pheebster, my mum brought me the steamer and I do love it. The first time I used it was one of those “uck but ooh” moments when it blasted hidden dirt out of hidden places in my kitchen/bathrooms. My chemo nurse has used one of the veins in the side of my arm and one running down the outside/elbow edge of my forearm (which leaked saline into my tissue) as my hand veins seem to be able to run away quickest. Hope you don’t get too many SEs from your tax.
Off to do the last bits for xmas in town shortly with my Mum having virtually been a recluse since kimo last Tuesday, suddenly realise I picked the wrong day - school finishes today so youngest will be home as well from tomorrow - peaceful quiet days gone (son stays in his room on x-box) - should have ringfenced my last one - you dont realise what you’ve got until its gone - or about to go!
Ostrich…3rd kimo was hard. Go with it. I feel so much better only having two more to go…though I’m sure that will change over the next few days when I feel like crap once again…
Have a good trip and give the dog a nice big cuddle from me - what breed is (s)he?
Hi again everyone
Well I,ve taken my second dose of Xeloda and I,m still feeling OK. I did read the threads relating to Xeloda and it seems that side effects kick in after about 7 days so I may have a surprise in store for me on Xmas Day - oh deep joy.
Pheebs - It seems I,ve been on TAX from the beginning this time around. Yesterday was No 8, and Herceptin No 9. As my prescription said Docetaxel I didn,t realise it was the same thing. Durr what a numpty I am! I hope you are feeling ok after your first round of TAX.
Tanya - Glad that you,re back here, everyone was worried about you.
Ostrich - I know Orhaniye. I drove through there to get to Selimiye, one of my favourite places. It really is beautiful in that area.
I,m on my second time around re breast cancer - had a mastectomy last year and it recurred this year so they removed about 1/3 of the recon this year.
Cat - hope you,re feeling brighter now.
To everyone else - have a happy and painfree week-end and don,t overdo thing in the run up to Christmas. Keep away from people with colds etc when you,re out and about.
Sending everyone some of the lovely sunshine from Kas…
Blimey, I blink and there are a billion posts. Glad everyone’s more or less coping. Pheebs, is there a web address for your Tax leaflet, would be useful to have a squizz at what it says. How come my lot don’t bother giving me useful information, gits!
Had a bit of a scary couple of days. My mx scar and arm got very sore and a little bit swollen on Wednesday. I rang the bcn who said I should wait and see what happens over Christmas but I wasn’t up for that so they fitted me in for an appointment with a consultant yesterday. So, 4pm appointment, finally got seen at 5:50. The usual ritual humiliation of being naked from the waist up as a random bloke poked and prodded and measured while the nurse looked on. then a bcn wandered in for a look, too. I know they see this all the time but it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing or humiliating for me. Anyway, the consultant told me there was nothing wrong, not even a trace of lymphoedema, and my biggest fear, no lumps!!! God, I’ve been mega stressed. It looks like an unusual SE of Tax.
Yes, I have lost my voice and it’s not funny. I woke up yesterday and when I tried to talk, nothing came out apart from a squeak. My GP’s not bothered, the consultant and nurses yesterday weren’t bothered, and although for me my temperature’s been a little higher than usual, I’m doing OK. Just wondering how long it’ll take the regain a voice. The sprog found and opened my Secret Santa present yesterday and I went to shout and tell him off but ended up bursting into laughter at myself because I sounded like a demented elf swigging helium whilst on crack cocaine.
Ostrich, glad things are stabilising for you.
Soo, hang in there, babe.
Pheebs, I am sending you every bit of fairy dust and magic in the house that you skip the SEs of Tax.
Well my day didn’t go according to plan. Went to leave with Mum and dog and discovered she had a flat tyre on her car which must have happened as she came off the motorway to my house. We decided that we as girlies could change the tyre because I asked my husband to show me when I got my first car (13 years ago!). She only got the car last week on a trade in (its an 07 mitsubishi colt) and my OH has tutted away that she went and brought a car without the benefit of his manly wisdom but we figured out where the spare tyre was, found the jack, found the point to put the jack under the car and began to raise the car! Yeah, go girls.
A neighbour (male) came over and asked if we needed help and we said we were okay but any advice would be appreciated. He asked if we had loosened the wheel nuts prior to raising the car. Um, no. We then went to loosen the wheel nuts to discover that each wheel has one locking wheel nut on it exclusive to mum’s car (like a fingerprint and designed to stop someone stealing her wheels) and that we would need the locking wheel nut tool to undo it. Guess what? No locking wheel nut.
Male neighbour leaves as he has to go to work so me, mum and my 16 year old son and the dog turn the car inside out looking for the wheel nut because its not with the spare tyre etc. No show. We called the garage that she brought the car from and their helpful reply was - “Its bound to be there, we would have made sure before we gave you the car, you have to look hard (you could almost hear the ‘its because you is women and is stupid’ in his voice) and if its not there bring the car here and we’ll have to force it off and replace it.” When asked how we were supposed to bring the car to them with a completely flat tyre the general gist of his response was - “not my problem, too busy, not enough staff to send anyone to you, pay for a recovery truck”. When I challenged him on the fact that the locking wheel nut was NOT in the car and that they didn’t supply it and how on earth was my mum (62) supposed to know that she should have checked that it was with the car before she accepted it his reply was “I would have checked” as if to say "its cos you is women and stupid!
The upshot is that we ended up speaking to the manufacturer rather than the supplier and they have sent one of their recovery trucks to take the car plus mum and dog to one of their main dealers to try and sort it out but that mum is going to have to pay for it all and look to claim it back from the suppliers.
When I finally managed to speak to my OH on the phone and he shut up telling me where I should have been looking for the wheel nut (cos I is a woman and too stupid to have checked EVERYWHERE) he managed to say “Well if she’d taken me along when she was intending to buy the car I would have checked that the locking wheel nut was there and so would any man”.
Arrrgggghhhh! We were doing so well being women (one bald, one old) and had the bleeding nut been there in the first place we would have changed the tyre and celebrated the fact that we don’t need men, as it turns out all we have heard today are overtones and references to how badly it turned out cos we is women and stupid at that kind of thing!!!
Bleedin’ 'ell Ostrich, you know how to have a good time!!!
Soo…you should be able to fill us in on all these SE’s we can expect from Tax then…Liz and Cat are fading fast, and no doubt I will be not too far behind them. Come on girl, spill to spoil!
I have felt ok today - tired as I woke up at 4.00 but coping. Vile metallic taste in my mouth and teeth feel odd…things taste weird and I feel weird and the dog keeps sniffing me…very weird. Have a nap this avro and John came and kept me company…not the usual afternoon delight we would have enjoyed a few months ago…more pure exhaustion - him snoring and me with my bloody scarf tied round my head to keep the hairs out of our mouths!!! at least we had a little cuddle though…with the dog on the end of the bed…haha!!!
My cable has broken for my lappy (I’ve had to borrow this one) so if you don’t hear from me for a couple of days either:
(a) Tax has taken over my life completely
(b) Can’t get on daughter’s pooter
(c) Neighbour has told me to bugger off and I can’t borrow her cable any more
Keep you heads up girls - nice weekend to all and a special get well to Cat (minus her secret santa)
had the letter through today for my first appointment with the oncologist to discuss my chemo…8th January, so i wonder how long after that will the chemo start???following week?/ what’s the drill with this…a talk, then assessment, what happens girls???
The way it went for me was a chat and a physical exam with the onc. Then we sat down and discussed a start date, which was one week later. I met with two different oncologists and both meetings were pretty much the same.
A good thing to do is make a list of questions or concerns that you have and go through everything, nothing is too small or silly because this is your life and it will help you to cope if you’re prepared.
Ask us everything, anything, and nothing…we’re all here to support each other through this.
Hope you are all keeping well. Have not been here for a while as was very tired this FEC4 round. Nothing particular happend just very tired all the time.
Saw many post here and it was really nice to know how everyone 's doing and no matter you are low or good - hope things improve
Narinia- my kimo date was given after my surgry and i saw my oncologist something like 2- 3 weeks before kimo- she checked my wound, and told me the proginoses and suggest to have kimo and what kind of kimo ( in my case it is FEC). then i was sent to a kimo nurse - the kimo nurse told me more info such as it was goingn to happen every 3 weeks, i need a blood test the day before. I was offered cold cup as an option to keep my hair. I was given many leaflet to read and take home. Then nothing happens until the kimo day.
I donot think kimo matters when you see your oncolgist - it depends on your situation. in my case- i have to have to have it start at most 6 weeks post operation. i think they normally leave 4 weeks for you to recover from operation anyway. i started kimo just 4 week after operation.
after meeting my oncologist i had chat with some friends who are nurses to see if the kimo was right regime. i did not go to ask other doctors as my oncologist is quite experiences anyway so i trusted her.
hope this helps.
And all lovely ladies- Cat, Pheebs, Liz, Soo, Ostrich, Cabzz or sorry if i forget any names but all hope you are getting in the festive sprits and have some nice breaks from the treatment .
Pheebs, to be honest I really don,t know why I,ve not suffered as much as some of you. I,ve pondered on this for a couple of days now.
Maybe one or all of the following:-
I,m on Herceptin at the same time, the other drugs I was also given at the same time which I believe are anti-emetics are Prednol (10pm the night before, 4am the morning before and 10am and 10pm for 2 days after.), intravenously, Tropisetron, Granisetron, Ondansetron and Palonsetron.
After the first dose I lost my hair and I did suffer mouth ulcers. I also experienced and still do on the 4th day after kimo a feeling as if my insides want to burst out of me. When that happens I just lay down (I also have a double hernia so it really makes them uncomfortable).
The metallic taste was bad for the first couple of kimos and then it got better. Now I only get it intermittently and I am now OK with most foods. Drinks still taste funny though.
If I have to walk for any length of time (I don,t have a car) the muscles above my knees do ache but I put that down to age and the fact that Kas can be a bit hilly in places. I never associated it with the chemo until I joined this thread!!
I believe though that the one area where I am probably luckier (ironically) than most of you is that I live alone so I don,t have the responsibility of having another person/s and their needs to consider. If I am feelng tired I can go to bed, if I have a bad night I stay in bed. Those of you with families don,t have that luxury and I am full of admiration at how you all hold it all together. I do get more tired than before but I just pace myself but as I said before as I live alone I can do that.
I,ve also wondered whether the weather plays a part in it, after all we all feel much more jolly when the sun is shining.
Last year I was on an Anthracycline and I could barely function, hence I had to give up my restaurant business.
