September 2016 starters

Going through breast cancer treatment Chemotherapy monthly threads
241

Hi LIsad

I too have found the emotional side hard. When the emotions and the side effects coincided badly a few weeks ago I too referred myself for counselling away from the hospital (shorter waiting time). Only had one session so far but it did help. I’ve never really thought about outward image before but it’s being forced on me now and it’s hard to deal snitch along with feeling really rough. It also has quite an effect on your relationships and how you see feel about yourself and your need for support.

 

keep your chin up xx

242

I think the emotional side is often overlooked. I am usually a strong person as well but I have days when I feel anything but strong and being told I am strong and can get through this doesn’t help! Luckily my nursing friends understand a bit more and even though there isn’t a lot they can do they do listen to me moaning about how rotten I feel and offer hugs, lecture notes and silly jokes.

I haven’t felt the need for counselling but I am glad that those of you who do have been able to access it.

I have a Special Birthday in December as well but I think I can work out my celebrations around chemo. I will also be on a good week over Christmas, as long as no viruses get in between my treatment plan and Me!

I have cycle 3 on Wednesday and I am dreading it simply because I know I will go from feeling extremely well to feeling like something the cat vomited by thr bed. Does anybody else get those Sunday night feelings before a chemo cycle?

243

Thanks for your input ladies - makes me feel that I am not alone.

 

Will go and stock up tomorrow onthe Vit B12 - anything that can help get us through this the better.

 

Hope your all feeling better soon:heart:

 

244

I had to post this here because nobody else will completely understand.My named chemo nurse rang today and asked about my SE’s from my last cycle of chemo. When I told her she agreed that prolonged nausea is unacceptable and has prescribed Emend. I have heard so many good things about Emend that I’m almost excited about tomorrow :womanlol:

 

I am easily pleased!!!

245

Got last FEC yesterday.  Also got flat tyre on the way home and we had to sit for an hour and a half on a hard shoulder before the RAC fixed it - awful.

 

I took EMEND again this time and the nausea is quite difficult again but I think it does help a bit.  No other side effects except for tiredness, a tingling in my sinuses and off my food as usual.

 

Food tips …my portions are very small but all I can manage …I try to eat every 2 hours when I feel the nausea starting to rise

 

I eat banana on toast for breakfast

tomato soup for lunch - really settling on the stomach

veg and chicken or meat with one spud for dinner

 

Tea and a couple of biscuits do help settle the stomach

 

I find dessert is settling too … I eat ice cream every day and pear and white chocolate crumble or another crumble…

 

I can’t really look at chocolate or hot chocolate and I keep fruit to small portions.

Crisps are easy to eat too

Tesco do snack size portions of dried fruit and the one with some white chocolate covered raisins is v good

 

I am trying to overdose on big glasses of water - I tried flat diet coke but its hard to take a lot of it.

I do have a wee whiskey at night but this gives me heartburn - there’s no pleasure in this is there!!

 

I too have been getting down about my appearance and the hats/wigs are ok if you are out for a walk but look silly indoors.  Thats the most difficult thing to get used to for me.  I ordered a second wig cos the one I have is far too artificial looking so I haven’t got to the wig wearing stage.

 

I keep saying I’m halfway there.

It will be over some day.

Keep looking on the bright side and try to get something enjoyable out of today.

 

Aine

Hugs Hugs

 

 

 

 

246

Little and often is definitely best when the nausea strikes. I find I go off meat, except for chicken and sweet corn soup. I have also found that some of my favourite foods sicken me and other foods that I rarely eat I can’t get enough of. Coke is an example, although a friend of mine who is pregnant agrees that it is marvellous for sickness but we have found that it must be full fat Coke and it must be chilled and fizzy.

I am doing my best to eat healthily to avoid weight gain. It seems to be working so far so I hope it continues. I just hope my teeth don’t drop out with all this Coke!

247

Hello ladies, 

 

just thought id post to say that I had my fourth and final chemo therapy session today. So once I get through this set of side effects I’m off to radiotherapy which I’m due to start on 30 Nov for 20 sessions.

 

i really thought I would feel euphoric at getting the last session over with but instead I was really very teary all the way through. Staff were lovely as always and tell me that lots of people feel a bit down as they come to the end of chemo. It seems quite bizarre to me as I’m normally quite an upbeat person (or so I’m told).

 

So now I’m left feeling strangely flat and mortified at making a prat of myself! Anyone got any good jokes to cheer me up? 

 

Anne 

 

 

 

 

248

Hello Ladies - and well done Madmac22 for getting to final stage of chemo even though it isn’t the end of the treatment. I can understand the anticlimactic feeling, though, I suppose it is like so many other things in life, when you’ve been waiting so long to achieve some goal or reach a particular milestone, thinking you will be happy when you finally get there, but when you finally do, it isn’t quite what you expected. I suppose we will all feel a bit like you when we get to the same stage, because it isn’t the end of the road but just the end of this particular section of it, just a pause along the way. Sorry I can’t think of any suitable jokes to cheer you up at the moment, it’s a bit late. I have also just had my fourth cycle of chemo yesterday, the first of three T cycles plus the targeted biological therapy (Herceptin and Pertumazab) that is supposed to really go to town on shrinking the lump. And I am glad to say that I survived and have not been affected by nausea this time, so up to now I have been able to eat and drink normally, and have had none of the symptoms of sodium deficiency I had last time. I was therefore able to go back to the hospital again this afternoon for the Neulasta injection. I am sorry to hear that some of you are being plagued by nausea and loss of appetite again. Although the nausea I had before was very severe, it didn’t last, so in some respects I have suffered less than some of you. As you know, this cycle was the one I’d been really dreading, because like others of you, I read about the SEs and the scary posts from other ladies who have already had Taxotere, and have been suffering. I’d also had a difficult time myself in the early days of my first and third FEC cycles, ending up in hospital, so I was apprehensive incase the same thing happened again and was seriously considering not going ahead. However, at the consultation with the oncology team last week I was persuaded to carry on, and was assured I would be monitored throughout the treatment and that the new combination of drugs is much less likely to cause nausea than FEC, although they can have other potentially serious side effects. I have been given steroids to help deal with some of these, and was warned to look out for bone and joint pains - am taking Paracetamol for this as a precaution - and indigestion/ possible digestive problems, for which I already have remedies for each possible scenario. The worst thing I have had so far is a flushed red face, which the nurse said could be a reaction to the Herceptin, but is nothing to worry about as long as I don’t have a temperature as well. Unfortunately, our thermometer has chosen now to pack up so I can’t check this at the moment - I seem to have got it a bit too wet last time I cleaned it and the battery has corroded - so I will just have to hope I am OK until tomorrow when we can get a new one. Which I promise not to get wet. There is another, more mundane, possible reason for the flushed red face though; I recently started using some new Nivea face cleansing products supposedly for sensitive skin, and I suspect they don’t suit me, so I have stopped using them just incase. Will I never learn? I have gone back to the tried and trusted Sanex Demo Sensitive soap once more and if the redness goes away, we’ll know the Nivea is to blame, not to the Herceptin. Still it’s early days for this cycle, and there is plenty of time for more SEs to appear… though let us hope not. I will try to keep you posted but even the electronic communications are against me, I have had terrible trouble trying to post via my phone lately, I keep losing connection and getting error messages saying unexpected error or message unauthorised, resulting in inability to post messages I have drafted and total loss of the messages, because they were not saved. I hope this one gets through, otherwise I will feel like giving up. I don’t find it easy to type on this thing as it is, and it takes a lot longer than on the computer. ?

249

Hello Ladies - and well done Madmac22 for getting to final stage of chemo even though it isn’t the end of the treatment. I can understand the anticlimactic feeling, though, I suppose it is like so many other things in life, when you’ve been waiting so long to achieve some goal or reach a particular milestone, thinking you will be happy when you finally get there, but when you finally do, it isn’t quite what you expected. I suppose we will all feel a bit like you when we get to the same stage, because it isn’t the end of the road but just the end of this particular section of it, just a pause along the way. Sorry to get all philosophical, I can’t think of any suitable jokes to cheer you up at the moment, it’s a bit late. I have also just had my fourth cycle of chemo yesterday, the first of three T cycles plus the targeted biological therapy (Herceptin and Pertumazab) that is supposed to really go to town on shrinking the lump. And I am glad to say that I survived and have not been affected by nausea this time, so up to now I have been able to eat and drink normally, and have had none of the symptoms of sodium deficiency I had last time. I was therefore able to go back to the hospital again this afternoon for the Neulasta injection. I am sorry to hear that some of you are being plagued by nausea and loss of appetite again. Although the nausea I had before was very severe, it didn’t last, so in some respects I have suffered less than some of you. As you know, this cycle was the one I’d been really dreading, because like others of you, I read about the SEs and the scary posts from other ladies who have already had Taxotere, and have been suffering. I’d also had a difficult time myself in the early days of my first and third FEC cycles, ending up in hospital, so I was apprehensive incase the same thing happened again and was seriously considering not going ahead. However, at the consultation with the oncology team last week I was persuaded to carry on, and was assured I would be monitored throughout the treatment and that the new combination of drugs is much less likely to cause nausea than FEC, although they can have other potentially serious side effects. I have been given steroids to help deal with some of these, and was warned to look out for bone and joint pains - am taking Paracetamol for this as a precaution - and indigestion/ possible digestive problems, for which I already have remedies for each possible scenario. The worst thing I have had so far is a flushed red face, which the nurse said could be a reaction to the Herceptin, but is nothing to worry about as long as I don’t have a temperature as well. Unfortunately, our thermometer has chosen now to pack up so I can’t check this at the moment - I seem to have got it a bit too wet last time I cleaned it and the battery has corroded - so I will just have to hope I am OK until tomorrow when we can get a new one. Which I promise not to get wet. There is another, more mundane, possible reason for the flushed red face though; I recently started using some new Nivea face cleansing products supposedly for sensitive skin, and I suspect they don’t suit me, so I have stopped using them just incase. Will I never learn? I have gone back to the tried and trusted Sanex Demo Sensitive soap once more and if the redness goes away, we’ll know the Nivea is to blame, not to the Herceptin. Still it’s early days for this cycle, and there is plenty of time for more SEs to appear… though let us hope not. I will try to keep you posted but even the electronic communications are against me, I have had terrible trouble trying to post via my phone lately, I keep losing connection and getting error messages saying unexpected error or message unauthorised, resulting in inability to post messages I have drafted and total loss of the messages, because they were not saved. I hope this one gets through, otherwise I will feel like giving up. I don’t find it easy to type on this thing as it is, and it takes a lot longer than on the computer. ?

250

And the messages that do get through are often duplicated! ? I will have to go back to using the computer at a sensible time in the day, on one of those rare occasions when my husband thinks it is appropriate and doesn’t complain about me spending too much time on it. I know I am often slow and stupid and therefore take longer over composing and typing messages than I should. Because I am so slow, there’s rarely a ‘good’ time to do any of the things I need or want to do, only a time that is for some reason usually inconvenient for my other half. Hence trying to post on my phone at an unearthly hour…

251

Such good news that you haven’t had SEs this time, Dawn, may it continue that way until the end. Boo to your husband though. Sometimes even the most loving of family don’t quite understand how important places like this are when you are going through aggressive treatments. I have found it a Godsend for advice and empathy. I don’t always post but I do read everything.

Anne, apparently it is very common to have an almighty wobble at the end of chemo. I think it must be because we invest so much energy in fighting this terrible disease and battling on through rough treatment and do everything we can to keep a sense of normality that it is a bit of an anticlimax at the end and probably relief that we don’t have to dread that 3 weekly date anymore. So many emotions are whizzing round at this time that it is difficult to predict how we will react at any given time. Sorry, no good jokes here - I always forget the punchlines!

It must be Chemo Week because I had cycle three yesterday too. I took Emend beforehand and topped it up with Cyclizine and my nausea was much improved. I even ate fairly normally - plain and small portions but it was normal diet, not invalid diet! The nausea was still there a wee bit but I was very tired so that could be a contributing factor. I had about an hour at bedtime when it got really bad to the point of vomiting but I took a Cyclizine early on and that saved me from an unpleasant experience. I think the steroids are affecting sleep and eating patterns because I woke up about an hour ago starving but I keep a tin of table water biscuits by my bed for such events so now I just need to get off my phone and try for sleep again. I have a lecture at 9am which I don’t want to miss. I do have an arrangement with uni to come in later if I need to but I want to keep that for if I have a really bad night/morning, which hasn’t happened yet. Fingers crossed my new meds do the trick.

I hope everybody isn’t feeling too unwell and their SEs are as much improved as Dawn and mine are. We can get through this, even the wobbles at the end of the line. Hugs to you all.

252

Is anyone having severe night sweats on Taxotere?

253

Hi
Yes, night and day especially my head. Hope it settles soon x

254

All the time but I had to stop my HRT for obvious reasons so I’ve got double whammy…
It’s odd that some days are worse than others so still trying to find a link, maybe food related. Had my 3rd cycle TC 3 days ago & had 2 glorious nights sleep with the help of Diphenhydramine & paracetamol. Actually woke up cold!
It’s so frustrating though, these sweat sessions. I’m always sniffing myself too :slight_smile:

255

Hey See See yes I’m also not looking forwards to the old tamoxifen. I’m also hairless & found that I’m much more comfortable in bed with a cotton cap on even though I sweat mainly on my head.
It’s all a mystery & so many different affects it has on different people.
I’m certain a chest infection would definitely make you sweat more & hope you recover soon! Chicken broth is my rx ?

256

Had a few hot flushes so far but mostly during the day. It was that cold last night would not have minded one! Should be careful what I wish for, but I can’t seem to find any warm sleeping caps to wear in bed, hence am wearing several layers of them. I was also surprised how cold my head was outside today, even wearing a fleece hat over my wig. :snowflake: A synthetic wig has nowhere near the same insulation quality as your own hair, even with two wig liners underneath. Should also take back silly criticism of husband, no, sometimes he doesn’t understand the need to communicate with others going through the same thing now and again, but mostly he has been brilliant, and has had a lot to put up with, including quite a lot of grumpiness from me (nobody’s perfect! ?) as well as the worries about my illness and treatment, particularly the times I was in hospital. He has also driven me round anywhere I have needed to go, mostly without complaining! Reading posts from other ladies on other threads, whose partners have chosen such a time to walk out on them or are expecting them to resume domestic duties after treatment when they have not fully recovered, makes me realise how lucky I am to have such a supportive husband. ? So will try and remember that in future before posting any silly, trivial gripes - and also to avoid posting so late at night. I don’t take back criticism of posting via phone though, it’s playing up again. ?

257

Had a few hot flushes so far but mostly during the day. It was that cold last night would not have minded one! Should be careful what I wish for, but I can’t seem to find any warm sleeping caps to wear in bed, hence am wearing several layers of them. I was also surprised how cold my head was outside today, even wearing a fleece hat over my wig. :snowflake: A synthetic wig has nowhere near the same insulation quality as your own hair, even with two wig liners underneath. I must take back silly criticism of husband last night. No, sometimes he doesn’t understand the need to communicate with others going through the same thing now and again, but mostly he has been brilliant, and has had a lot to put up with, including quite a lot of grumpiness from me (nobody’s perfect! ?) as well as the worries about my illness and treatment, particularly the times I was in hospital. He has also driven me round anywhere I have needed to go, mostly without complaining! Reading posts from other ladies on other threads, whose partners have chosen such a time to walk out on them or are expecting them to resume domestic duties after treatment when they have not fully recovered, makes me realise how lucky I am to have such a supportive husband. ? So will try and remember that in future before posting any silly, trivial gripes - and also to avoid posting so late at night. I don’t take back criticism of posting on the forum via phone though, it’s playing up again. ?

258

Hi Lisad 

yes I had that problem on FEC. At present I’m sleeping so much that drinking a lot isn’t a problem!

good luck xx

259

Yippee. I managed a shower and a passing thought for how I might look today ? BP is back up and temp seems fairly stable. Just the normal SE to cope with. Hope you all have a manageable weekend xxx

260

I’m on EC not FEC but if I’m going to be sick I have to try and empty my bladder first because even the tiniest bit of liquid in there shoots out with the force of stomach spasms. Luckily I am wearing my pyjamas at the time!