Sweetie:
You may NOT be Stage 3 and if no lymph nodes are involved you are doing good. My lymph nodes were involved, 7 of them, when the surgeon told me he looked worried, the oncologist was worried too and darn it I fooled them all and I now I have had TWO clean pet scans.
Please call the American Cancer Society right away. They have an 800 number which you can find at their web site. They provide FREE rides to your chemo appointments, radiation appointments later on down the road, other doctors visits, Pet Scans or heart test or any appointments to do with your cancer. I have been using them for almost a year off and on and they are wonderful. These are folks in your area who are volunteers. They will pick you up at your home, drop you off at the cancer center or wherever and pick you up when you indicate you need a ride back. These times will vary according to whether you have all day chemo (say 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 or 3:30 p.m.) or just afternoon chemo from say 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. You need to call them one week before you need a ride and then someone will call you back with the name of your driver and then the driver will call you to confirm your address and the times, etc.
My chemotherapy in the beginning was once a week, week one was the all day session, week two and week three just half a day and then week four another full day.
The volunteer drivers often have relatives who have had cancer and they are great people - totally kind and understanding.
The Cancer Society also offers a counseling service whereby a representative will call you if you wish and talk to you about your concerns, fears and questions. These call volunteers have all had cancer and are now in different phases of recovery - some for five years, some for many years. They, more than anyone can identify with what you are going through.
I would strongly advise calling and establishing rides when you know when and how often you need chemo. You will receive a schedule from the oncologist indicating which days these will be. Sometimes your doctor will ask that get a blood test the day before chemo. Any lab close to you will help you with that - these are just standard blood test to check your levels of white blood cells, red blood cells and other readings once you have started chemo.
I did not get nauseous from chemo. Everyone is different, depending on what chemo drugs you need. In my cancer center I was given prescriptions for pills to take the day before, the day of chemo and the day after. These were anti-nausea pills, allergy pills and one other.
In addition, they give you the anti-nausea medicine by IV before your main chemo drugs are given. Like I said my most annoying reactions or one of them was bad heartburn - to combat that I just ate like a baby until my stomach settled down - lots of soups, puddings, applesauce, bland ice cream, yogurt (not too sugary), weak tea, waffles or toast but don’t put a lot of sugary jellies or butter on them if your stomach is acting up. You will see what causes a reaction and what I did was just avoid those foods for a while.
You can actually drive yourself for your radiation treatments - you will not notice adverse affects - at least I didn’t - until maybe the third week. I found that morning appointments are best when you are fresh and hopefully have had a fairly good night’s sleep. I would go as early as possible, the radiation treatment doesn’t take long and then I would go right home, sometimes I would take a nap, other times I had enough energy to do a few things around the house.
I was incredibly fortunate that I did not have to work during all of this. My husband has been exceptional. I have made friends for life, most of my family (with a few exceptions)have also helped out.
You will find friends and supporters here and through your contacts with the American Cancer Society and you will meet wonderful nurses and other patients when you start chemo.
If there are any other questions you have as you go along I know all of us here will be glad to help you.
Don’t be scared - you will get through this. God bless you and good luck with your surgery.
Bunches
Dear Bunches:
You are certainly a wealth of information!
I will call the ACS and obtain all the information I can about the rides, etc. That’s great! That’s a stressful situation that can be alleviated. Sometimes I feel so lost. All my ‘control’ is out of my hands.
Today I was thinking, here I was rolling along in my happy way, until THIS... now it’s screwed up every phase of my life. *sigh*
With all your support, I’ll continue to post on here. It’s good to know there are women like me who are scared, apprehensive about treatment, and need positive reinforcement.
Thank you for responding to me so quickly!
God Bless You!!
MMJ