Taxotere is a nightmare

lago

Tracie we are all allowed bad days. So glad you are better today. Yes this is the toughest thing I have ever gone through too… and I'm sure many would concur. We are all used to getting treatment and getting better. Chemo doesn't quite work that way does it.

Fighter_34

Awwhh Tracie I am so sorry. We will get through this. (((((((((HUGS))))))))

Adey

I concur.

coni111852

Hi ladies just started taxotere will be having second one next fri Feb 18 not looking forward to it, I had the aches and lots of mouth issues, a bit of thrush and swollen and sore throat, of course really bad acid....my throat was soo red, swollen and red like when u r getting a really bad cold. Not fun at all....will discuss with onc to see if he can maybe lower dose I don't know...I could not eat a whole week... Well home nurse just left and said to try to stay with same dose just to make sure cancer will stay away I guess I'll suck it up.

lago

Coni ask if you can suck on ice during the taxotere infusion. It really helped with my mouth sores. I was taking drugs for heartburn/acid reflux too. First prilosuc which did nothing then Protonix then Nexium.

I am also wondering if the sore throat is an allergic reaction that might be controlled by Zyrtec or Claritin. I'm no onc but just trying to prepare you for questions. They should be able to give you drugs for most of the SE like thrush and heartburn. Be sure to tell you onc everything. Write it donw as it happens with dates. You will forget stuff if you don't.

tracie23

lago how are you doing? has your swelling gone down? How do your nails feel today? My eyes are so watery and burning. I am telling you everyday is a new adventure on this taxotere.... I hope you are doing ok.

conni: I get a sore throat every time I get taxotere and it lasts for about a week. And on top of the sore throat I get the sores. I asked my doctor the other day to give me liquid Nyisten because thrush in your mouth is really yeast in your mouth also got diflucan. I hope you do better on the next round. I wish you the best of luck.

coni111852

Thanks LAGO i do have the list of my SE I'm really dreading my next Friday....but I have to do everything I can to beat this stupid disease

Tracie yes!! That's exactly what I get two sores on the back, and the top of my throat swollen and red....I hope u too get better...when do u finish?..

lago

Tracie I think I lost about 1.5 lbs on the diuretic. Just started to take it this morning. I have a ways to go but I'm only taking 1/2 a pill. My legs still look like stumps.

That new finger that hurts a lot, swollen at the top and is pink today. This is usually what happens before it springs a leak (starts draining). I'm giving it a little time before I call the dermatologist. The finger next to it started to bleed a little, hurts but not as bad as the other one. I'm going to try and make dinner but right now that 1 finger hurts even to type.

Eye twitching and watering not so bad today but I'm about to go out in the cold so we'll see.

Hang in there everyone.

tracie23

I have the eye twitching to ....people must think I am a maniac when they look at me ... LOL I have not got the swelling and I sure hope I don't. did you get all the way to the end with no swelling ? I hope your hands start feeling better.

tracie23

coni: My last taxotere is next Thursday .... I am so happy to be finished with this crap. How many do you have?

TifJ

My eye twitching stopped at about 4 weeks PFC- there is an end to it!!

coni111852

Tracie i just started, i get three more last one will be April 1st....I cannot wait to be done....i want this to go fast i wish they could induse coma and wake up and all is done

thegood5

Tracie23: I would rinse my mouth several times a day with 8 ou. water and 1/4 tsp. each of baking soda and salt.  My mouth still felt like crap, but I never got a sore.  Crest mouthwash worked well too, but burned depending on how sore my mouth was.  What got me thru were the coke slushies I had daily....felt so good in my mouth and beat chomping on ice.  I had the watery eyes too and the twitching...I'm 3 weeks out and both have just about stopped.  You're almost at the finish line...hang in there!  April

lago

Biotene is a mouthwash that has no alcohol. This is what I used through treatment.

Lee7

I'm new posting on this thread....and curious about what is the dosage of Taxotere you get. Do they start everyone at the same amount? I'm going to be having it with the Cytoxan.

coni111852

lee7 good question i think it depends on weight and height but i will ask my onc on monday...

shooshoo23

I have the eye twitching too! I thought is was just stress! It's been twitching since TX2. And I get a weird muscle like sore throat and I thought that was just allergies, but it's happened every time. Since my hands swell and itch I really think I'm allergic to taxoterrible. We are all going to make though, brighter days are ahead, right?? It is so awesome to connect with women who are experiencing the same thing. I mean I hate that any of us have to do this but at least we can commiserate with each other! It makes it less scary I think. My body feels so weird all the time and every little twinge freaks me out, so when others are experienceing it I figure it's just another se.

Coni, I told my family the same thing, put me in a drug induced coma and wake me up when I'm through! To bad it doesn't work that way. 

marjie

lee7 - coni is right, your dosage is based on your height and weight as well as any underlying health concerns.  My taxotere was reduced because I reacted so strongly to my FEC, and then the second tx was reduced as well.  They want to give you the limit that you can tolerate with out it being too much.

Trisha-Anne

We must think alike - I also told my husband that for the next two treatments of T I wish I could be put into a coma and just wake up when all the se's were finished lol

I'm feeling really good today, I go in for my next round on Tuesday, and I'm trying so hard not to dwell on it.  Tracie - I'm so happy that you will have your last one next week - alright - I'm a bit jealous too :-)

My onc is reducing my dose for the next tx as the last one was so hard on me.  I'm hoping this will mean I won't be quite so sick. 

Marjie - my FEC treatments were a piece of cake compared to T, I'd happily switch back to it if I could.

Trish

coni111852

I am so talking to my onc hopefully he can reduce the dose....thats two of you who got the dose reduce i dont want to get so sick...

lago

lee7 I asked my onc the same question. the amount of chemo you get is based on your surface area… both your weight and height. sometimes they don't get it quite right and may have to adjust (reduce) the amount.

When I first saw the onc the nurse measured me at 5'5". I told the onc that I was 5'6" and I don't care what the nurse says. She remeasured me and I was correct… than ran out to see why the nurse was measuring incorrectly. Yes it's important.

And yes many times I with they could have knocked me out for 6 months… wake me up when it was over. But then I would have missed some life so maybe not such a good idea after all.

208sandy

I feel so bad for you ladies but please know that it does get better and fast.  Please get heartburn meds you should already be on them I took two doses of Zantac 150 that was 150 in morning and 150 at night - it worked like a charm also biotene mouthwash and toothpaste - do not use ordinary toothpaste it may be way too caustic - if I had been told beforehand I would have iced my hands and feet and put on nail hardener - I have never heard the black nailpolish story before and would be scared trying to remove it - btw if you do have to remove the nail hardner use non-acetone polish remover and rinse your hands immediately.

Lago - glad you're on a diuretic you are going to be fine - the "stumps" will disappear - remember always if you suddenly gain more than two pounds overnight - get to the doctor - it means you may overburden your heart.  I hate that your nails are so bad but I understand (and wish the doctors did too) it hurts like hell and incapacitates you it is also frustrating.

Instead of a "coma" might I suggest you get Ativan from your doctors - it helped me get through the tough times so did watching "Houswives, Atlanta, OC, NY" now that I am off treatment I cannot watch any of them without wincing - see how good Ativan is!!!

Sandy

lago

Don't put on black nail polish through treatment. If you have an issue the doctors will want to see your nails. Also removing the polish can be painful if you nails are like mine. I did wear nail harderner… and yes I am wearing black polish now because my nails are so disgusting but I might have to remove it. If you do wear a dark color be sure to put 2 coats of clear on first so the dark polish doesn't stain the nail.

Sandy I would gain 5 or 4 lbs overnight. I have been telling my onc/NP about this all through chemo. I finally got their attention this time (at my herceptin only infusion) when I told them I could no longer zip my booties over my ankles. Also this time I wasn't on the steroid that would get me to lose 5-4lbs overnight before tx. I'm sure they looked at my weight and saw I was 7lbs heavier than last time (Maybe more because I had my heavy snow boots on).

 Yes I was worried about CHF being on Herceptin but I don't have any shortness of breath. They did keep asking me that through treatment.

marjie

Good news bad news - spent the night in hospital last night with fever.  Turns out that the Neupegen shots that have been barely keeping my counts up have now gone turbo on me and my bone marrow is all over stimulated producing way too high white counts and high fever.  Home now, feeling not so great but at least I know I'm not sick.....AND NO MORE NEUPEGEN SHOTS

On another note I was finally able to attend a Look Good Feel Better class the other night.  It was fun and I really loved the skin products as my skin is getting pretty dry these days.  I was the only 'faceless' one in class so it was kind of fun to have a makeover.  I had been feeling kind of down and I have to admit that I felt better afterward.

shooshoo23

Marjie, glad ur home and glad they know what the problem is. Once they know they can handle it. 

tracie23

Marj, I am so sorry to hear that you were in the hospital... boy you can't win for losing.... I am so glad you are ok. Thank god you are done with the chemo.... and the shots. Rest and get well. Have a great weekend.

lago

marjie Hope you feel better soon. The looks good classes are fun. I actually went to two just to socialize with this one young gal I met. We are now connected on facebook.

Glad2BHere

Hi girls! I feel for all of you.  I just thought I would share that my chemo experience was extremely difficult- TCH.  It was the toughest thing I ever had to do.  I only made it through 5 out of the 6 rounds that I was supposed to have, but the good news is it worked.  When I had my masectomy the cancer was completely gone in my breast and lymph nodes. So it is worth the struggle. I had multiple transfusions, ended up in the hospital for a week because of a flu when my blood counts were down.  I'm here if you need support because I think I had every rare complication you could have, almost died, but still prevailed. Take it 1 day at a time.  It has taken me awhile to recover emotionally, so I have just started getting involved with posting on here.   I think I just wanted to pretend I never had cancer for awhile.I hope I can be helpful in some way.

Lisa

shooshoo23

Hey ladies, have any of you that had lumpectomies experience pain in your breast that started 3 months after your surgery? I have started having pain in my breast that I had surgery in and it scares me to death. I asked my onc about it and he said it's common but it's really making me nervous.

TonLee

Shoo,

I have lots of pain in my MX side (even though they told me it would be numb forever).  I actually think there are cancer cells in my skin (didn't have clear margins on the skin side) and hopefully they're dying.

If the pain continues I'd get a second opinion.  Pain is our body's way of saying....HEY!  SOMETHING AIN'T RIGHT HERE SISTER!!

Good luck!