I have IBC

Paula,

Sorry that you ended up in Hospital from your Chemo. I aways stayed overnight with each chemo treatment and I      take a few vitamins to help with my immune and Q10 especially to stop the heart damage that the red bag E is known for. I had the bone scan and the CT scan  before the chemo and the CT scan came back with spots on my lungs.

 I also had needle and core biopsys which showed lymph nodes had the cancer too.

My hair started falling out about 18 days after the first chemo, after a few days I got my sister to cut it off as I was moulting everywhere.

I was supposed to have the FEC chemo but ended up with just the EC. Not sure about the 100.   It was supposed to change at Chemo 4  to D chemo but after another CT scan showed that the tumour in the breast had shrunk quite a bit the decided to stick to a good thing and keep me on the EC but I had to have a heart echo to make sure there was no damage already to it.

Half way through my chemo, I found it was flaring up my rib inflammation very badly and I was in pain so they agreed to cut down the chemo by 10% which was a good help to me otherwise I was ready to give it up.  I'm still recovering from the chemo and would like to go to the dentist whenever I'm allowed to as the chemo has made one of my teeth crumble.

I'm having treatment at Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne.  It's a very good hospital and everyone is lovely which sure helps when you are going through all this.  You are right about the large amount of people with cancer, so many just sitting there taking in their chemo.  It's like an epidemic.

From the day I was diagnosed, each night for weeks I would wake up shaking and dreading the treatment in store for me and thinking about dying etc etc.   Now I don't shake anymore and I sleep better although the idea of a mastectomy really freaks me out.  I can't think about it

I'll check out the IBC support mailing list you mention.

Thanks for that.