Dealing with chemo - Page 5

dex · ‎03-09-2010

@daisyk @Thank you for taking the time to individually thank all of us.You are one very special and thoughtful lady.I wish the very best and fastest return to good health for you.

arrabella · ‎03-12-2010

There are a lot of supportive ladies on this board who have also delt with the same issues that you have. I can't offer any advice but i will pray for a complete recovery for you.

daisyk · ‎05-20-2011

@pjoyThanks so much for sharing your experience and for your prayers. I will keep that Proverbs verse in my heart-it's a good one. Thank you!

daisyk · ‎05-20-2011

@TuppermoreWow, you are a hero! Thank you so much for your words of wisdom. I'm doing Taxol for 4 rounds after I get through the AC portion. I will have to follow up with hormonal therapy too because of ER and PR positive, but we haven't discussed what exactly yet. I'm so glad you are feeling well now and know that in time I will too-thanks again-

wagirl · ‎03-09-2010

@Tuppermore----wow have you been thru the ringer !!!! You are my hero as is your whole family!!! I had a few people to help me but not many, even most of my family stayed away. Not sure why, but that was their choice., so I dealt with my adventure pretty much on my own. I had someone with me thru the "red devil" chemo but with the taxol, I did that on my own. Hope you are improving everyday and high 5's to your family

wagirl · ‎03-09-2010

Just wanted to add that my go to, feel good thing, to cheer me up during the whole chemo adventure--was to watch THE BIG BANG THEORY---that show absolutely made me laugh my tookus off !!! would watch many episodes until I couldn't laugh anymore------

qvcaddition · ‎03-10-2010

I will keep you in my prayers circle for an easier time of chemo and full recovery after.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

@cookie16 wrote:
daisyk, let me begin by saying I read your post and I understand fully what you are saying. In June of 2001, I was looking at 6 months of chemo and 37 treatments of radiation. I went to my first chemo appt. and felt great, no big deal. However, the side affects began for me after the second treatment. I told my husband I wanted to quit, I couldn't do this. He convinced me that I had to continue. Our daughter was a junior in high school and I wanted to see her graduate. My counts dropped seriously low and I had to isolate myself from everyone for fear of having to be hospitalized. I am saying this because as awful as I felt one day, after awhile, the energy would come back and we had a special day as a family. If you put your faith in your doctor, give into the various feelings you will have, plenty of rest etc. and the time will go by. I went the lumpectomy route, nodes removed and 18 years later doing great. It is amazing how strong we can be, when necessary. Best of luck with this journey.

@cookie16 @daisyk Cookie's experience was pretty much like mine. I was told to keep my circle of friends/family small and not to be around any children or babies during this time. In 2011 I was dx with Stage IIIC breast cancer. I had surgery (mastectomy, 8 chemos and was supposed to have 40 radiation treatments but I could only stand 37).

They removed 27 lymph nodes and 23 were malignant so I had dense dose chemo - just means instead of chemo once a month I had 2/mo. The thinking was that the cumulative effect would provide a better chance of attacking it.

BF lived near facility for treatment so I stayed with him at the time and I slept a lot and watched a lot of tv. My Oncologist told me to try to move some during this time but was adamant - listen to my body and don't overdue it. I was also told that since I may not be able to eat bc I may get so sick from chemo (and I did), I was told to make sure I got a lot of fluids in me bc the Onc did not want me to get dehydrated. On days the weather was pretty he would come get me to walk out on the deck to get fresh air.

One other thing - I have friends that also battled cancer and we all agree on one thing - if you can't eat - keep trying small amounts of different things bc usually most of us were able to find something we can tolerate - - for me it was bland chicken and peanut butter on saltines.

When treatment was over - I was given 2 months for my body to recover some and then began hormonal therapy - for me that is Arimidex/Anastrozole the second is the generic. That drug is to prevent a recurrence. My tumor had off the chart estrogen receptors and this drug prohibits your body's manufacture of estrogen. You may or may not need hormonal therapy or if you do it will be based on your tumor's recepters. It's been 7 years, I'm still on Arimidex but I'm doing great!

redwingsgal · ‎03-10-2010

No experience here, just wishing you a happy, healthy healing process. Prayers

I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend, til death, your right to say it

daisyk · ‎05-20-2011

@Financialgrl...Thank you so much for your reply! Your story is inspiring. Thankfully I have been able to eat pretty well. The meds they give you really help with that. So I have 2 chemo's down-6 to go. I'm having AC for 4 and then Taxol for 4 later in the summer. I don't know about radiation yet. I guess we'll see after surgery and all. Probably the worst side effect has been the fatigue, but I am off from work and my daughter is college age, so just need to worry about myself. I feel lucky there. Thank you again, it means so much to me to hear from women who have walked this path.