@China Expat How are you doing?
That is great. I assume you are now on a weekly taxane and hope the dose keeps working well for you. I have had shoulder length hair for about 5 years now, and I still get shocked at how long it is!Hello! Thanks for asking! Chemo treatment has been surprisingly easy. I have 8 more chemos out of 16 left. Hair is growing back and I am able to live my life normally with no real side effects.
That is great. I assume you are now on a weekly taxane and hope the dose keeps working well for you. I have had shoulder length hair for about 5 years now, and I still get shocked at how long it is!
It sure is. Taxane refers to the class of chemos. I believe Taxol to be most universal, but I have seen others take taxotere. I took 4 dose dense Taxol. My friend just finished her 12 weekly taxols—16 total. I assumed you were on a similar regimen. I asked my oncologist, and she said the newer standard is 12 weekly taxols to reduce a lot of side effects. Not all, but still quite a few.I am on Taxol...the same thing??
It sure is. Taxane refers to the class of chemos. I believe Taxol to be most universal, but I have seen others take taxotere. I took 4 dose dense Taxol. My friend just finished her 12 weekly taxols—16 total. I assumed you were on a similar regimen. I asked my oncologist, and she said the newer standard is 12 weekly taxols to reduce a lot of side effects. Not all, but still quite a few.
Your family’s issues are just as important as anything going on in the world.Happy Easter, ladies! Hope this day finds you all doing well.
LMP, thinking of you and hoping you're feeling better.
Smiley, happy to hear you're doing okay.
Kendall and I are doing okay, considering. We were both very ill the last week of February into March. We both had fevers and horrible coughs. Kendall suffered from extreme stomach upset. I ended up taking her to the ER. At the ER, they asked if Kendall had been to China or had been in contact with a person confirmed for Covid-19. We explained that she had tutored a student from South Korea who was ill. He is here on a golf program and lives in a group home with other South Korean students. They had just had several new students arrive. Some were ill when they arrived.
I ended up having breathing difficulty. My oncologist put me on a z-pack and a steroid. It helped, but I was ill for about three weeks. I couldn't lay down because of the wheezing. We are both fine now, but my oncologist believes it is possible we both had the virus. They weren't testing at the time, so we won't know until the antibody test is available.
I had a Pet Scan done a couple of weeks ago. The tumor activity is better, but still there. I will continue the Ibrance for another three months, followed by another Pet Scan. Unfortunately, the scan showed something on two of my thoracic vertebrae. I had another CT of that area on Thursday. I won't get the result until next Friday. The oncologist said she'd be surprised if this was a new metastasis, since I am responding well to the Ibrance and my markers are better. If it does turn out to be cancer, I will undergo radiation of this area. Fingers crossed!
It's hard to even worry about the old issues with all that's happening in the world. So looking forward to better days! Thinking of you all! Stay safe!
So nice to see everyone posting.
This week I managed to get my long overdue neck sonogram and aortic ct scans.
No visible cancer in my neck but the vascular surgeon wants to talk to us about the inevitable next surgery. I already told dh that it will wait until after ds1 wedding in Sept. Worse the hospital has a no visitor policy and I would have to go to the terrible ICU I was in before. I see the surgeon the end of June. Also working on a medication adjustment and more blood tests. To get my scans you must wait outside in your car with a beeper. I waited over 1 1 /2 hours. They said they were confused with my testing schedule. A truly horrible experience.
Most stuff locked down here or very restricted.
Dh doing most work from home.
Ds1 still on for the wedding so far it will be zoom unless the govenor changes it.
ds 2 working from home. Dil having a hard time coping. Gets everything delivered, won't touch anything, constantly showers and sanitized everything. Only came here for my birthday and wouldn't even sit in a chair in the front yard.
Ds3 training in different ICU's. This week it's CCU. He found an internship for his fall masters class with a doctor 30 min. away.
We know 4 people who died of the virus. Ds said they have 50 patients now being treated and they were told by September to be ready for the 2nd wave during fall/winter.
GAGWTA. Thinking of you all.