love from kenya

[naturaleigh]

Hey Christie,

You will be much in my thoughts and prayer on Monday, Do they give you fluids first before the Adriamycin? Try your best to eat something before your treatment or while they are giving you the fluids? The less greasy the better. Having something on your stomach helps with the nausea. Also, try getting a good book to read or a game to play during your treatments. I too would watch as they administered the Adriamycin and would get qweezy feelings. I then decided to started reading or playing a game as the nurse adminstered the drug and it seemed to help. I would take my mind somewhere else and not look at what she was doing.

My eyebrows and lashes fell out after my second chemo. I am not a make-up person, so I did nothing. To me I looked funny, that was because it was not what I am used to seeing, but other people hardly noticed.

Have they talked about a port for you? Hercpetin is done intravenously and most people do Herceptin for 1 year. I went in weekly and it took around 1 hour. They administered the fluids first which took the most time. If you are like most people, which I bet you are, you will be extremely nervous the first time because of the not knowing what to expect. While on Herception, you will have an appetite, and no more nausea!! I was also worried about the heart issues so each time before my treatment my dog and I would walk 3-5 miles. Don't try that at first, you need to get your stength back from the chemo first!! You will be amazed at how quickly you will bounce back!!

You have been to Rwanda? That is another place I have always wanted to visit and to witness the Gorillas!! I absolutely love the beautiful gifts God has given us in nature!! Being a resident in Kenya, do you still have to have a passport to visit the other countries?

Take care of yourself and let us hear how Monday went!!

[Mary Jo]

Hi Christie,
You have brought so much to our board with your beautiful descriptions of your country. It's almost like getting away on a little vacation when I read your posts. You sound like such a positive, happy woman who loves her Lord. Your posts truly are a breath of fresh air.

Love to you Christie and may God's Peace and Joy continue to surround you.

Mary Jo

[ElaineM]

Hi Christie,
Something happened and I lost the note I was posting to you. I am sorry if you see two posts about the same thing from me.
Anyway, thank you for the invitation. Your country and the rest of Africa looks so beautiful and interesting. I hope we can visit you someday. Harrie and I are in Hawaii, so we are more than halfway around the world from you. It is great that we can make such interesting friends from all over the world.
I think chemo and Herceptin are given according to a person's weight and height. The first time a person receives Herceptin it is usually given a little slower to watch for side effects. Things should go faster the next time you receive it. 130 mg of weekly Herceptin takes about 30 minutes plus 10 minutes for two flushes. If you are going to get chemo with the Herceptin you should add how long that takes plus 5 minutes for an extra flush to calculate how long you are going your treatment is going to take. If you are going to take Herceptin every 3 weeks instead of every week it will take longer. Herceptin usually doesn't have as many side effects as chemo does most of the time.
Good luck. We are thinking of you.

[christie]

My Dear Mary jo, Anita, Elaine,

hi thanks so much for writing, they dont give me fluids before Adriamycin, they give something for nausea and after the AC chemo they give me fluids which goes on for 10 hours, yes, i will be taking herceptin once in every 3 weeks, since it will be difficult to afford every week. it will be along with the 5th chemo. Hope i will do well. My pulse rate is high, so i am a bit concerned.

I have not been to Rwanda, i would love to go there and see the gorillas, but i have read so many books on them and they really amaze me.

thanks Mary Jo for the encouragement, felt nice reading your post.

elaine, yeah it feels nice to have you all as my friend, i look forward to your posts. hopefully we can all meet one day, you must come down to Kenya. can there be recurrence even after Herceptin??

today i feel a small painful swelling in my under arm, anything to be concerned about?

love to you all
christie

[ElaineM]

Hi Christie,
Hope you are doing well today. Maybe they are giving you enough fluids before Adrainmycin, so you don't need the regular flushes. Since you are planning to get Herceptin every three weeks it will take you longer than a weekly dose would take, but the good thing is that you will only have to sit there every third week instead of every week. That will probably give you more time to recover and enjoy yourself. Whether or not a person has a reoccurance depends on alot of factors. Everyone is different. There are tests that try ot predict a person's chance of reoccurance. You can ask your doctor about those if you are interested in taking one of those tests, but even those tests are not 100% reliable.
Are there nutritionists, massage therapists, healing touch practioner's, physical therapists, exercise instructors, or naturopathic physicians in Kenya?
You might want to ask your doctor to introduce you to someone in those professions to help you keep your body strong during your treatment.
Your friends here will be thinking of you on Monday.
Take care. Stay positive.

[christie]

hi everyone,

I am back from my 3rd AC chemo, everything went well, but i could feel the difference, this time it has been a bit tough, the side effects pulled me down.

My body aches and feel very uncomfortable at times, maybe this will last a couple of days more and i am sure i will get over it by God's grace.

on 9th Sept i will do my last AC chemo, and thereafter Herceptin will be added along with the other chemo combination.

Please continue praying , i will need all your prayers. Will the next chemo be worse than this? i am a bit concerend, so do let me know if i should be expecting something, at least i can be mentally prepared and not caught off guard.

I know God has a plan for us and its for our good and whatever he does , he has a purpose in it. So hold on to God , he will never leave us.

love you all
christie

[hutchibk]

Christie, what is your status with Herceptin? Please let me know. I still have ideas for you. Is it an approval thing or that you will have to pay for it and can't afford it?

[naturaleigh]

I am so glad to see your post!!! I have been praying and thinking about you daily!!

My 3rd chemo was the worse one for me, I just did not know how I was going to make the 4th one. Everyday it did get a little better and by the time my 4th one was due, I had bounced back. I was nervous and did not want to get that sick again, but I kept telling myself that this is the final round. I my have prepared myself for the worse which was why my fourth treatment was not that bad. I felt bad for 2-3 days afterward, slept alot, then I bounced back. Be sure to drink, drink, and drink, it the long run, it will make you feel better.

Take care, and keep us informed!!

[juanita]

The last few were about the same for me and I didn't feel any worse than the last one. Hope you're feeling better soon!

[christie]

Dear Hutchibk,

hi, nice to hear from you, approval is not the problem, Herceptin is available to me, its the cost which is worrying me, as i said i have to pay $2500 for one dose of herceptin and 9 of them really seems expensive, i have just finished my 3rd dose of AC chemo, they will start Herceptin form the 5th one. Trusting that God will surely provide a way for me. thanks alot for you concern.

thanks anita and juanita for writing in, i really didnt know that 3rd would be the worse, still feeling low, hope next round wont be so bad.

i will try to drink more of fluids, thanks for your advice, i dont know what combination my onc will use after AC, hope those wont be so bad.

praying for you all.

love
christie