Starting chemo in December 2011

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Hi all,

I had joined in the November thread as I was hoping to be starting chemo this month, but I’m now starting on Dec 16th so I thought I would start a new thread for us December girls.

I’ll be having 4x TC and I’m undergoing treatment in my home country of New Zealand so I’m very fortunate to be going through this in the warmth of a New Zealand summer and with my family around me to help me through it. I usually live in London, have lived there for nine years now, and will be returning there once my treatment is over (I’m probably going to have a mx and immediate reconstruction of my affected breast here after chemo).

Tracey xxx

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Good luck Tracey,

I started chemo yesterday and it all went fine it’s the thought more than the doing. Glad you are near your family at this time for all the support.

Take care

PP xxxx

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Hi, My name is Sharon, I am starting chemo in December; I dont have a date yet…but I just want to get on the rollercoaster now.

All the best x

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Hi girls,
Promised to join this as have been hitchhiking on the November thread, hoping to start my chemo by them. However, the best laid plans…so on. Now will be starting in December, I think, as all lymph nodes are affected and now have to have bone and CT scans. will know more when I meet with my oncologist on Monday.Never thought I would be desperate to start chemo but this disease is just full of ‘surprises’…

Lets make this thread as fun and supportive as the November one.

Love
Debbie x

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Hi all,
I’ll join too. Have appointment tomorrow to get results from mx and node clearance so hoping for a Dec start date for Chemo. Like u said gingersmithy, who’d have thought 2 months ago top of my Christmas wish list would be a chemo session(well, maybe not top.)
Herbi x

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hello to the December gang

don’t forget to pop in and let us November gang know how you’re getting on

All the best

Gill x

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Hi Ladies

Do you mind if I join this thread too! Like many of you I have been reading the November thread, where the ladies are amazing and so supportive of each other! However I am due to start my chemo on Fri 2nd Dec, so just missed out!

I was dx 13.10, had left mx 26.10 and due to start 6 x FEC next week. Due to meet the chemo nurse this afternoon for an advisory session.

Good luck to you all with your battle’s. Hopefully we will be able to draw strength, share moans and laughs together.

Colette xxx :slight_smile:

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Hi December Gals, Just popped in to say the PJ Posse from October wish you all the best too, and may all your se’s be tiny, Simone xxx

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Hi girls,

Another October jammies girl just popping in to wish you luck.

May all your se be titchy

Hugs

Jules
Xx

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Hi everyone

Hopefully will be joining you December girls. Like the others have said not exactly top of my christmas wish list.

I had lumpectomy and SNLB last week and get my results Friday. All depends if margins are clear and no lymph node involvement. Then referal to oncologist. My BCN said I should be able to start chemo before christmas.

Nobody has mentioned anything to me about more scans. Is it usual to have MRI’s, bone scans etc.

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Hi Scotianne and other new girls,

I’m only having scans cos after my lymph clearance more infected nodes were found so there is a risk that it has ‘escaped’. hopefully you wont need them. fingers crossed for you.

love,
Debbie

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Hi December gang, had results of my mx and node clearance today, 23 out of 29 nodes effected , but at least that is 6 clear! am now waiting for oncology appointment, so tired of waiting!
Scotieanne - most people seem to be offered scans but when varies. I’m now waiting for bone and ct scans to check for further spread but I’ve spoken to people who had them earlier on in diagnosis, it depends on ur hospital. Try not too worry.
Herbi x

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Hi December lassies,just thought I would pop in from March lassies, wow where has this year gone! I want to wish you all the very best, its right what they say that waiting for results is the worst part as is the thought of chemo, it isnt nice but I have to say it was definetley not as bad as I thought it would be. The care I received in RSH (I am also on the Shropshire thread which I started back in Feb i think) the care I received was fabulous and I met alot of people on this website too, no question is a silly question and everyones situation is totally different but you can draw comfort from this site from those going through the same and from those who have finished treatment.

I was diagosed last Dec and had a lumpectomy in January, followed by 3Fec and 3Tax plus 23 sessions or radiotherapy, I have now gone back to work part time and am building up my hours. Keep posting everyone and I am sure you will all draw and give comfort to each other just as us March and Shropshire Lassies did and if anyone has any questions to ask me I am more than happy to help. Its not nice being on this road but being on this thread sure makes the journey a heck of alot easier, lots of love, Silvershar xxxxx

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hi december dudettes

im an october Pj Posse and november member popping by to say hi and good luck with your chemo.

scotianne extra scans arent routine you only get them of you are found to have positive nodes… some units do them for 1 nodes but some only do them id you have 4 or more affected nodes…hopefully you wont need them.

Lulu x

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Hi Sharon, Debbie, Herbi, Colette and scotianne! Thanks for joining the thread. I’ve taken an idea from the November thread and just created a spreadsheet with your names and details of chemo schedule for those who know it already, so I can keep track of who’s starting what and when. There are a lot of TBAs though, I hope you all find out soon what you’ll be getting.

Thanks so much to Lulu, Silvershar,Jules and Simone for sending us your best wishes. It’s so reassuring to know there are others who have been there before us and who will be on hand with their welth of experience to help us if we need it. You’re all amazing, I just hope I can get through this with as much dignity, good humour and grace as you all have/are.

Sharon, I know how you feel about wanting to get things underway. I had my operation (WLE and SNB) at the end of September so I’m now at the two month post-op mark and should really be starting chemo now but I’m in the public health system here in NZ so have been in the waiting line for a date. At least I have one though.

Debbie, good luck for your scans and I hope your onco can tell you more on Monday about your treatment. I had a bone scan done before I left London but still don’t know the results so I still don’t know if there’s been any spread, I was node negative though so not likely (cross fingers!)

Colette, I have my chemo orientation at Auckland Hospital chemo unit next week. My sister is coming with me. I’m not sure what to expect, I just hope they can give me an idea of what I’ll be able to get as a matter of course for SEs and also info on where I can go for a wig.

Scotianne, good luck for your results tomorrow and I will be hoping like you that you have good margins and clear nodes. I think it depends where you are and what hospital you are treated at as to what scans you might be offered as a matter of course, it’s also based on your specific circumstances with dx but there’s no harm in asking your specialist tomorrow. I was told at my appointment with a breast surgeon here last week that they give all women under 40 who have bc an MRI automatically after chemo, which is interesting.

Herbi, that’s a lot of affected nodes! But as you say, six are not and if they were doing their job as defences then hopefully there won’t be any spread. Here’s hoping your onco appointment comes through quickly.

Well, the sun is going down here in NZ and I imagine you are all just waking up so I hope the day ahead is a good one for you all!

Take care,
Tracey xx

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I’m a Dec girl too just haven’t got a date yet. I get 6 Chemos pre OP. Lymph nodes are affected and so I’ll get a CT scan soon too.

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I will be starting my chemo in December - a cocktail of cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin, which was originally called Adriamycin® for the first 4 followed by docetaxel for the last 4.
I live in Spain, which is why it probably does not look like any of the combinations given in the UK.
Absolutely terrified and nearly bottled out with the oncologist yesterday. He kept on that I am still too young not to want to give myself the extra chance of survival that chemo offers. I have to say, I don’t really feel it at the moment. All my previous possitivity seems to have gone out the window.
Trying really hard but after mx and recon and lymph node removal, still very sore and swollen. Not the best place in the world to start from.
Hope I can summon some courage from somewhere before the day.
Wendy xx

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Good Morning December ladies,
So glad that so many are now starting to join :slight_smile: Well done Tracey for getting the ball rolling. What a good idea about a spreadsheet, when I read the Oct thread I too loose track of who is doing what when!

Thanks to the ladies from other months that have popped in to show support, hope you are all coping well and your se’s are not too bad> I hope that this group can provide the same sort of support and positivite as your groups.

Hello to Tracey, Sharon, Debbie, Herbie, Scotianne, 3network3 and Wendya (think that’s all me fellow Dec’s so far) nice to speak to you all. Am sure we will learn more about each other and our personal circumstances along route! But sending you all a big hug for starters.

Tracey my advisory meeting yesterday wasn’t too bad. Lasted about an hour. Basically talked through how the system works and the actually procedure and the day. Then told about se’s and what to look out for and what to do in an emergency. Then shown around the unit. How I go about getting wigs and support etc. No major surpises really. The main se’s they covered were tiredness, hairloss, fertility and nausea. They couldn’t stress enough how important it is to take your temp daily and if it reaches 38 get yourself to a&e for IV antibiotics incase of infection. Was interested to find out about how they administered it, as have read about hickmans and ports etc (and in ingnorance I assumed due to lymph ris everyone got one!) but apparently not, is done via cannula. If there are a problem with your veins on your good arm they will use your at risk arm - which surprised me after being stressed so much that we must never use it for BP/injections etc.

All of you waiting for results etc, I, like many others, have found it the worst part. Had a major wobble a couple of weeks ago (inbetween mx and onc appointments) but am back on track now that things are moving again! A close friend of mine that has been here gave me the best piece of advise, no matter how bad you feel through the whole procedure you will never feel as bad as you did when you received the initial bombshell cos anything else is a positive step towards recovery! It helps me, I hope it helps you x

Scotianne fingers cross for you results hope they are the best you could as for x
Wendya do you mind me asking how old you are? Will be interesting to see how you treatment in Spain, and Tracey’s in NZ compare to our over here.

Am due to get my hair cut off this afternoon in preparation! Thinking Frankie from the saturdays! Shame I don’t have the face to match lol

Love to you all - onwards and upwards xxxx

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Hi
59 - would not have thought of that as young! just shows the different attitude in Spain - I have private medical cover as I do not qualify for equivalent of the nhs here.
Will keep you all updated - feel a bit better now - good to download
Wendy xx

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Hi

I’m 46.
Also had my long hair cut quite short last week. Feels strange when you put a comb through it and it stops just at your ears.