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Anthi...how are you doing?

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Posted 2/4/2007 12:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hanging in there?  Feeling better?  Getting yourself ready for "round two"? 

Been thinking about you.

Hugs...

Bev

Posted 2/4/2007 4:24 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Bev and good to hear from you.

Yes I've been feeling much better thank you and kept busy last week - taught my classes, went to my French conversation lesson and to my Salsa class - great.  I've also been exercising every day in an attempt not to gain too much weight while I'm on chemo !

Feeling a bit disappointed this weekend as my hair has started dropping out - fast.  I know that with FEC people usually lose all their hair but I was hoping that having used the cold cap when I had my first treatment might have made a difference.  But I'm not going to shave my head.  I shall wait and see.  The nurses said that by  using a cold cap quite a few people end up just with thin hair rather than completely bald.  My hair still looks fine but I had thick hair to start with. So when I go for my second treatment on Tuesday I shall persevere with the cold cap.  It's worth a try.  And I keep telling myself that if it all falls out anyway I know it's really not important as long as the drugs are doing their job and hopefully killing off any cancer cells.

Yes back for 'round two' on Tuesday and tomorrow I shall be at the supermarket to stock up on eggs !!!

Best wishes everyone and take care

Anthi

Posted 2/4/2007 5:16 PM (GMT 0)
Glad to hear things are going well. As for hair, it grows back. I didn't have thick hair, but I had long hair that I hadn't cut in years. So I cut it short before starting chemo so it would be easier to deal with. Getting the cut was traumatic. The hair loss wasn't so bad for me. My kids were 7th and 8th graders at the time, and they had quite a bit of fun grabbing a handful of hair and just pulling it out. A novel way to entertain friends and family at that age! LOL Sinead O'Connor was "in" at the time, so I was quite fashionable with the "teen" crowd. The good news is, it does grow back! And people with thick hair seem to get it back before people with thin hair...another plus for you!

If they didn't "taper off" the steroids last treatment, ask your onc about it this time. Sure helped me with the big crash that I had a few days after my first chemo. Long time ago, but I think I took it for three days after the first time, then stopped. The next 8 rounds, we went three full days, then lowered the dosage the fourth, lowered again the fifth, and the sixth day I was off. Much gentler on the system that way.

Stock up on the eggs. And good for you for exercising! Keep it up, sweetie.

I'll be sending good thoughts your way as I head off to bed on Monday evening. See...remembered the time change!

Take care...
BEV
Posted 2/5/2007 5:52 PM (GMT 0)

Hello Bev and thank you for remembering and for the good thoughts.

about 75% of my hair has fallen out now and the rest is dropping out fast ! The weather here has turned rather cold and my head feels quite chilly so at least my wig will keep me cosy.

Take care and best wishes

Anthi

Posted 2/6/2007 11:26 PM (GMT 0)
Okay, Anthi... round two is down! Did this treatment go better? Hope all is well.

Hugs...
BEV
Posted 2/7/2007 12:22 PM (GMT 0)

Hello Bev

Yes thank you it went OK despite it taking them three (painful) attempts to get the cannula in !

Took lots of meds last night to cope with the  nausea and now (12.15) UK time am getting up and about to jump in the shower,  having successfully eaten my first fried egg sandwich !

I had some good news from the oncologist too.  She had the results of my HER2 test and my tumour was HER2 positive so after chemo and radiotherapy I shall now be having a year of Herceptin as well as 5 years of Tamoxifen/Arimidex.

There was some correspondence on the board about red devil which I think is the same as epirubicin which I am having.  I asked the nurse why they put goggles on when they are pushing it into us and she said that if it were to accidentally spurt out into their eyes they would be blinded ! And that's going into our veins ! No wonder we feel a bit strange afterwards !!

Best wishes to everyone and take care

Anthi

Posted 2/9/2007 1:09 AM (GMT 0)
I had a male oncology nurse that I absolutely loved. He always shielded his "privacy zone" when he hooked me up. When I asked him about it, he said he might want to have children one day and didn't want to take any chances...lol.

Yes, don't you just love the thought of filling your veins with toxic chemicals? Who ever thought of that one, I wonder? Let's just kill everything that grows fast. Sounds like the military's "scorched earth" policy, doesn't it?

HER2 is good, now that they Herceptin. It's very effective.

Enjoy those fried egg sandwiches, friend. Sounds disgusting to me!

Hugs...
BEV
Posted 2/9/2007 10:13 AM (GMT 0)

I'm afraid the food cravings are getting worse.  Last night at 10.00 I was tucking into a jacket potato with butter and cheese  !!

Not to worry - I shall go back to sensible eating in weeks 2 and 3 between chemo sessions once I've got over this last session.

Take care

Anthi

Posted 2/10/2007 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
Okay...now the baked potato with butter and cheese sounds perfect. One of my favorites...but a "forbidden" on my diet right now.

Take care...
BEV
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