8/30/13 - Chemo Side Effects

Sorry for not checking in. I haven't been feeling too well. I've had a few side effects to contend with. On Chemo day I came down with a red face and chest. From what I've read, that seems to be a common side effect. I took a couple of Benadryl's and by morning it was mostly gone. It looked like I had a sunburn. The day after Chemo I felt pretty good. Mike and I even went for a 30 minute walk. I could tell my system was backing up so we walked in an effort to get things moving. Unfortunately, the walking didn't help! On Wednesday Robyn and I went to Sam's Club to pick up our Smartphone's. Yeah - I know, I finally caved. That trip pretty much did me in and it went downhill from there. The worst side effect for me has been constipation and stomach cramps. I've been told to take Senna in the morning and Colace at night but it doesn't seem to be helping. I've been drinking a lot of water and eating higher fiber foods, but I'm kind of losing my appetite. Robyn made a wonderful pot of chicken soup last night. I had a couple of bowls of that. Jeanne made my favorite split pea soup in these really cute individual serving sizes. I had that for breakfast today. I'm hoping the fiber will move things along. As most of you know, my biggest fear has been bowel and hemorrhoid problems considering my history. I'm hoping things will get better as this stuff works through my system. Right now it would be nice to go potty without feeling like I'm giving birth! At least when you give birth, you get a wonderful little bundle of joy at the end. I started my Neupogen shots on the 28th, as well as the Cipro. I get some bone pain with the shots, but it's not unbearable. I also broke out in a few hives after the shot but Benadryl took care of that. I've been good about taking my Zofran, so I haven't really experienced any nausea. It seems for every side effect they have a pill and for the pills that have their own side effects, they have more pills! I'm just a pill poppin' queen! Well there ya have it - my honest assessment. Aren't you glad you stopped by??  :) Hopefully I'll be back to my chipper, obnoxious self in a few more days.

Cheers,

Beppy

P.S. For anyone that has called - I'm so sorry I was not feeling well and was sleeping most of the day yesterday. I do appreciate you calling to check up on me. Thank you!

8/26/13 - 1st Chemo Day

Only picture you will probably ever see of Beppy

This morning I woke up at 6:30 and had a bowl of cereal - Fiber One with a glass of juice. I packed my chemo kit the night before. I took my laptop, kindle, chemo blankie, barf bags, change of undies (just in case), iPod and some other things to keep me busy. As usual, I way over-packed. Bud packed me large amounts of water, pudding snacks, peanut butter crackers and a peanut butter sandwich. The nursing staff must have thought we were moving in.

We left our house at 7:30 and arrived about 8:50 for check-in. My appointment was for 9 a.m. I was met by a lovely nurse named Christy. First she took my weight and then showed me my little cubicle. I got a nice cushy chair and a TV, which I didn't use. Bud, Robyn and George were here with me. Only two people are allowed in the room, so they took turns. The first thing the nurse did was start an I.V. with fluids. She put it in my left arm because I haven't had surgery or any lymph nodes removed yet. I didn't feel the needle go it at all. My arm was a bit sore after the nurse ripped off the tape and took the needle out.

BudBud - Gotta love that face!

Chemo medication

The first chemo drug they infused was Carboplatin. That infusion took about 40 minutes and I had no side effects from the drug. The second chemo was Taxotere. That one took about an hour and there were no side effects from that drug either. I've read that you can have a metallic taste during the infusion, but so far that hasn't happened to me. I've been drinking a lot of water to flush out as much of the meds as I can. Before arriving I had 16 ounces and during the infusion I had about 44 ounces. I had a snack of peaunt butter crackers - yummy - in between the Carbolplatin and the Taxotere.  They started the Hercepin at 11:45, at which time I ate my peanut butter sandwich. That infusion took about 90 min. I'm told the next Herceptin will take about 60 min. and the rest will be about 30 min. I had to go pee two times during the whole process. They let you roll the I.V. poll with you into the bathroom and they instruct you to flush twice.

Good thing I have good veins

The infusion was finished at about 1:30. Then it was time to pick up more prescriptions. I'm thinking about starting a pharmaceutical company with all the drugs they prescribe. After picking up the prescriptions we did what we always do - stopped to get something to eat. Today we went to the Stonefire Grill in Irvine. I had the quinoa, lemon chicken and a bowl of soup. Then we made the 90 minute drive home. I'm feeling pretty good at this point. I took my Zofran pill at 6 pm and so far I haven't experienced any nausea. I'm due to take my steroid pills at 7:30.

The lovely Robyn

 A very kind metastic breast cancer patient told me the anticipation of the first treatment is far worse than the actual treatment and so far that seems to be the case. I guess until you've experienced it yourself, it's difficult to know how you will react. I found out I will start giving myself neupogen injections on August 28 for 10 days. In between that time they will be checking my numbers so I may get to stop them early. During those 10 days,  I also have to take Cipro which is an antibiotic. It sounds like they are watching me pretty closely due to my history.

 

I will report back in the next few days with any side effects that come up.

Thanks for checking on me!

Beppy

8/24/13 - Chemo Class

We had chemo class yesterday. We - meaning Bud, Robyn, Mike and I. They showed us a video of all the possible side effects and showed us a tour of the facility. It was a bit overwhelming hearing about all the possible problems that can develop, but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude. On our way out, the nurse pointed out the crash cart. Not sure why we needed to know about that, but I'm guessing they want you to know they are prepared for anything. Shouldn't we just assume they are prepared considering it's a hospital? Does that really need to be a necessary part of the tour? Each person gets their own special area rather than everyone being in the same room, complete with a TV and WiFi. Sounds rather vacation like doesn't it? Can't wait for my Taxotere-Carboplatin-Herceptin cocktail! I'll drink that with a side of  Tylenol-Zyrtec-Benadryl-Zofran.

On our way out we picked up a prescription for steroids - Dexamethasone. Because one of my chemo drugs is Taxotere, I have to take two tablets twice a day for 5 doses starting with the morning before chemo - which is tomorrow morning. One of the side effects of the steroids is mood swings - I've got that side effect covered already so sounds like nothing will change there! I found out I will have to give myself Neupogen injections. I thought this was something the chemo team did after each infusion but found out otherwise. Apparently I have to give myself injections at home and I wasn't too clear on how often I will have to do that. One of the side effects of Neupogen is bone pain. Another symptom I have covered - just hope it doesn't get any worse. I thought one of the better side effects would be weight loss - however, I'm told that I will most likely gain weight due to the steroids - grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! The whole process sounds so appealing. After doing more research on Taxotere, I found that some women have permanent hair loss. That was something I didn't know and not something the medical team disclosed. So let's summarize - sounds like I'll be a bald, overweight, cranky woman, riddled with bone pain. Happy days for BudBud!!!

All kidding aside, after chemo class I was really questioning whether I want to do this or not. I didn't really talk about the more serious side effects because I'm trying not to let my brain go there. I feel like if I think about them, I may cause them to happen. So today I tried to keep my mind off of everything by going wig shopping! I found a really cool wig place in Woodland Hills called Godiva's Secret Wigs. There was a really nice lady that helped us pick out a wig that looks pretty close to my own hair. I would definitely recommend them because they have a pretty big selection. It was a long way for us to drive but well worth it. Of course we stopped for lunch, because as you all know, we are eating our way through treatment. I guess this wasn't really considered treatment but we figured it was close enough.

Now I'll share something fun. For your listening pleasure, I present, Robyn and Gareas - you can decide which one is Robyn and which one is Gareas.

Have a great weekend!

Beppy

8/22/13 - Donated Hair to Locks of Love

I chopped off all of my hair yesterday and donated it to locks of love. I would like to thank my hair stylist and friend of 11 years, Vici Peck who donated a free haircut. She is a great hair stylist in the Temecula Valley and if anyone is in the area, I suggest you have her style your hair. Not only does she do a great job, she's an awesome person - very positive and uplifting. She works at the Beauty Studio in Temecula off of Hwy 79. She suggested I donate my hair. I've never had short hair before, so it's been a bit of an adjustment. As you can see by the pictures, we got four very nice pony tails to donate. We cut it very short so when it starts falling out, it won't make such a mess.

LOOKS MORE RED THAN IT IS - MUST BE THE LIGHT

I WONDER IF I'LL SEE SOMEONE WALKING DOWN THE STREET WITH MY HAIR?

YIKES!

WHO IS THAT PERSON???

Did my echo cardiogram and got my pneumonia shot on Tuesday. All that's left now is to pick up my medications from the pharmacy. I've got chemo class tomorrow - not sure what chemo class is but my family is coming with me and we are going out to dinner after - Thai food! As stated earlier, we are going to eat our way through treatments. Not much else to report. I've got an interesting video of Robyn (my daughter) to show you all when I get a chance to upload. She is such a goof and really keeps my spirits up. You'll see why when I post the video.

Bye for now,

Beppy