had my first chemo!

i had my first chemo april 1 09.   i was fine.   by evening i was a little queasy.    sat on sofa propped up to sleep because laying down brought out queasyness a little.     next day got my shot to keep blood count up.   took my emend pill, my decadronpill.     felt much better.   this is day three.   ate a good cereal breakfast, took my emend and decadron.    im trying to be a good patient.  i have the metalic taste you talk about,  but its not bad.  i will be getting chemo every two weeks for 16 weeks.  then 4 weeks off before starting 5 weeks of radiation.    should be done by 2nd week of october.   my tumer was 3.8 cent. ( a biggy)  not in lymph nodes.  i am stage 2 a. triple neg.   im concerned about my next treatments.   im sure you get worse with each treament.   am i right?  its probably cumulative.   i am willing to do anything to fight this but we all know about the fear of the unknown.     you are all so great on here.    your support will be appreciated .   i am a little computer illiterate so bare with me.   God bless all of you.   

Hi Bondande,

thanks so much for your quick responses.   i will check in daily through this hoping i can help someone else as you all have done for me.   maybe 25 years down the line , when i am still  writing my messages,  :) it will encourage someone.      lets all pray for that cure!       but cure or not,   God is on my side, do or die.    with him at the end of not my first choice ,which is survival, i cant go wrong.   we all only have today.    im going to enjoy it to the fullest and hope for the best in everything else.  i am in HIS hands.   God bless.

thanks for the info.    my nurse did give me the ice during my treatment.    i sure hope it helps.  i picked up my wig today.      i look a bit like elvis  :)    ive been a hairdresser for 34  years.   im 54 , retired from hairdressing 4 years ago. thanks to all for input.       love and hugs.    bon           and yes i am doing a/c  then tax.  then radiation.     ill try the ginger tea.   how do you make it.

Edited by bondande - Apr 03 2009 at 12:11pm

I had my first chemo today as well,  am on Taxotre and Avastin for 8 cycles, then 10 cycles of just avastin after my surgery. Im not sure if it is cumulative or not, I sure hope not cause I did really well today, just a little red face and a bit of nausea. I came home and slept for almost 5 hours. All my prayers,hopes and hugs go out to you.
Janet

Janet if you post a new thread re Avastin in the Talk forum I imagine more members will see your comments and chip in their experience.

thanks for the recipe for ginger tea!      im making  it as i type.   smells great.   im still scared to death of the cummulative  aspect of this.   my first treatment was pretty uneventfull after the first two days which gives me a false sense of hope of things to come i think.  how much worse is it going to get for me.    i shaved my head saturday and love  the look and so does my husband.    said to never wear it long again !   he is the greatest.  the fear of the unknown is so hard for me, as it is for all of us, im sure.      i just feel like spitting it all out  right now so excuse  me if i ramble.   is everyones first treatment not so bad?   maybe its the support from the people around me that helps me so much.    i feel so naive.  i will laugh at this post some day im sure.  i think im just having an anxious day about the future.  thanks to all who have responded.   God bless you all.  bon 

thanks regina for the words of encouragment.   i sure hope you are doing well.   best of luck to you and your family.  hope your reconstuction has gone well too    :)         bon

Edited by bondande - Apr 06 2009 at 8:16am

hello,   im just touching base today and im going to ramble a bit.    this has been a reality check for me in my life.    for the good i must say.    it has brought my husband and i closer together,  brought me closer to God than i have ever been before.  i have a sense , now ,  that with God on my side, do or die,  i am going to be fine.    i sleep very well , probablly because i have given up my 2-3 glasses of wine with dinner i used to have almost every evening when my husband came home from work.   we thought we deserved it i guess after a tough day.  little did i know it was probably contributing to the cancer by lowering my defenses.   haha.  its still early in my treatment and i know i will have some horrible days with anxiety, doubt, worry, and just feeling sick and  down and out  about the whole thing,  but today is a really good day and im going to enjoy it.   im going to bake some cut out cookies for Easter dinner,  get ready for my son and his girlfriends visit this weekend, and do something, im not sure what yet, for someone besides me. its been  to much  about me lately.  maybe later i will need it , but not today.    i think its always been to much about me in my life.   ive never been much of a giver, more of a taker.  im so glad im waking up.   hopefully i wont lose these feelings of hope .     i thank God for this forum. what i have learned from all of you about what to expect with this cancer is absolutely priceless.     God bless all of you who check in with us and make us feel like we are not alone. as they say misery loves ( and needs) company.   this probably isnt the right place to post comments like this.   seems more like a blog post i guess,    but it has done me some good.   there i go,      me again.     oh well,      prayers and best wishes to all of you.       bonnie                             after reading this post again,    the realization came to me once again that there are way to many I's in it.     i must stop with the  I, I, I stuff.     well ,at least til tomorrow, anyway.   :)

Edited by bondande - Apr 07 2009 at 4:40am

Hi, I just finished chemo a couple of weeks ago. Even though the effects were cumulative I found that my management of the symptoms improved as I went along. So by the last treatment I felt pretty good. I know everyone's been talking about nausea but constipation was one of my most difficult issues. I found taking two Colace at night and a senekot in the morning as well as eating 5 prunes a day helped. I also had to start on a prescription drug, Reglan to help move food out of my stomach. My whole digestive system seemed to slow to a stop from the anti-nausea drugs. My oncologist worked with me and we tried a lot of different things and this what ended up working. Hope this is a help to you if you experience any of these symptoms. Also, I found days 5 and 6 to be the worst as far as joint pain ( from the neulasta) and tiredness. I think I kind of crashed from the steroids that were given during treatment. I usually felt pretty good for the first couple of days, also due to the steroids I am sure. Best wishes to you. You will get through this. Hugs, Gerrie Sue