Anyone on Taxotere, Perjeta and Herceptin

Angelaaa

SFmama

I had surgery first after consulting with two oncs. Who said as long as within 1 to 2 weeks. My largest at the time was thought to be 1.8. Took a lot to get myself scheduled 2 1/2 weeks later bilateral mastectomy because surgeon thought no hurry cause all oncs say that. Got another surgeon and it was 2.2 with no lymph involvment thank god!

2nd opinion awesome  onc at Roswell cancer institute suggested Perjeta right from the start but was 2 1/2 hrs away from me so he agreed to work with onc in my home town. He had to convince her to do this even after I told her my insurance covers it and finally called to tell her how to request from insurance and it passed no problem. Had first Herceptin, Perjeta, taxotere and carboplaten 12/16/15 next 1/6 for total of 6 every 3 weeks and then Herceptin and Perjeta every 3 weeks for a year.

Hometown onc was convinced Perjeta before surgery only Roswell onc said all studies and NCC said should go with Herceptin. Needless to say, I did not choose this onc and am extremely unhappy with her care but having hard time finding another 

mdcaley

hello everyone, I am new to the forum. carolsue63, I am on cycle #4 of this regimen. We are going through this process on a neoadjuvant basis so I have not had surgery yet. I am curious about surgical decisions for those who are doing neoadjuvant treatment. At the end I have to decide on a lumpectomy or mastectomy and I am feeling very conflicted. I am ER/P+, HER+ stage IIIb with one lymph node involved by MRI. I am curious about how women in a similar situation are making the decision about lumpectomy versus mastectomy?

Moderators

Hi mdcaley and welcome to Breastcancer.org!

We're sure the other members here will weigh in soon with their thoughts. In the meantime, you may want to check out the main Breastcancer.org site's page on Lumpectomy vs. Mastectomy to help you make your decision.

We hope this helps! Looking forward to hearing more from you.

--The Mods

Almosthere

Hi mdcaley,

It really is a personal decision. Medically the decision to remove a whole breast or part of the breast is purely consmetic, if there are more then one tumor, big tumor or located right under the nipple the lumpectomy would leave the breast more cosmetically deformed and likely would be best to remove and rebuild. After neoadjuvent treatment the lump would be hopefully gone or very small which makes a lumpectomy very possible with a good cosmetic result. You would need at least 16 radiation treatments and maybe to your axilla too.

The question you have to ask yourself is if you got a reoccurance in 5 years would you be kind to yourself and say you made the best decision you could with the information you had at the time. Also, if you removed your breast (could still get a reoccurance on your chest wall too) but in 5 years you were fine would you regret removing your breast. If only we had a crystal ball it would make the decision easier. Would you have an immediate reconstruction option?

This really has to be your decision as to what you can live with and feel at peace with. I will be having bilateral nipple sparing mastectomies with immediate reconstruction using tissue expanders. I also am just finishing neoadjuvent treatment and the breast tumor was gone after four rounds and I have just finished 8 rounds and surgery is hopefully Feb 2 as planned. I never want another mammogram or MRI of my breasts again. Keeping my nipples without radiation maybe a small risk but I can live with that.

Good luck with your treatment and I'm sure yourBC will melt away too! Either option is equal for outcomes so pick either

Twirp26

hi, I am also getting neoadjuvent therapy. I am meeting with my surgeon on 1/19. I have cancer in my left breast with lymph node involvement. I have decided that I want a bilateral mastectomy. I have cysts in righty and have a history of having to get diagnostic mammograms. I just know myself. I know that I will worry everytime I need to go get checked. I feel that while it doesn't take the risk completely away, it will reduce my chances of having to do this again. I also want my breasts to look the same as each other. I agree, it's a personal choice. Good luck with your decision.

PMR53

Mdcaley- I chose a MX because I refused to get Radiation. I had 4 rounds of TCHP which worked well. However they did find DCIS in another area after pathology came back.  I am glad for my decision. This breast was trying to kill me. (Right side).   It had to go. In 2006 I had very tiny Stage 1 on left side. No nodes. I had a LX with radiation at that time. No chemo in 2006. My MO said the left side got chemo too and she felt I could go with a UNI MX. Big decisions for sure. 

Patty

azurean

Hi,

My mother starts six cycles of THP this coming Monday. She was originally DX'd three weeks ago as Stage 3 with a 5cm breast tumour and lymph node involvement; after recent PET scan she's now Stage IV with a single bone lesion. She's due a bilateral mastectomy after the first six cycles.

Anyone out there able to share insights into how best to cope with side-effects? The team will brief us the day she starts chemo, but this doesn't give me a whole lot of time to prepare.

I've read a lot about gastro-intestinal SEs. I had ulcerative colitis a couple of years ago and used Slippery Elm, Smecta and (of course) imodium to control my symptoms; unsure whether using Smecta (or other forms of clay) is contraindicated with THP. Have also read about using activated charcoal (link to JHOP study).

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Thanks ;-)

A

Kberry7

hello sounds like it worked. Did her hair grow back

BigPeaches

Reviving an old thread as I am starting this cocktail next week. Port was put in yesterday, so far doc isn't giving me Nuelasta which is a blessing, that stuff is the devil.

BJKinNebr

I am on Taxotere. Have been taking it once a week for 3 weeks on and 1 week off since last summer. They started me on Faslodex in March. Too early to say for sure if the Faslodex is doing what we are hoping for. My tumor marker number has been going up since the first of this year. We're hoping this will get that number going back in the right direction. I am stage 4 metastatic. Was diagnosed in January of 2016.

BigPeaches

Saw the PA yesterday, she wants to do Nuelasta ACK!! NOOOOO!! I mean, I'll do what I have to but NOOOOO.

agness

I did Chinese herbs instead of Neulasta — it worked

dmwaser

starting my Treatment on Wednesday. My Chemo regimen is Taxotere, Carboplatin, Perjeta, Herceptin and Neulasta. I am hoping for no side effects. How long before the show up

HappyHammer

My MO suggested the following before every TCHP treatment....day before and for following 3 days- Alleve and Claritin as directed on bottles to ward off joint pain....the last 2 cycles I did this for 5 days after because the cumulative joint pain was eveident and helped by this!  Good luck.

NCLive

I had the same treatment. I received 6 treatments......one every three weeks. I took the Neulasta shot.

How are you doing

BigPeaches

Not going to lie, every treatment is getting harder to deal with. The Nuelasta pain is worse, then the diarrhea (thanks Projeta) is worse, then the nausea is worse. Thankfully so far Imodium has helped the diarrhea but I've had to take lots more of it to get it under control, and they prescribed me some stronger nausea meds which got that under control.

I have one more treatment left with the T and then it'll just be H&P for me!

RobynS4

dmwaser.....I will be starting the TCHP regimen in about a month. Having a mastectomy next week (left side). Can you let me know what type of side effects you have been getting and what the fatigue level is or can you compare it to like a flu, etc? Any help you can offer would be appreciated. Hope you are doing well. Thanks!

Kjelftr

Just checking in ladies! How are we doing on this therapy? I have the acne like rash but other than that, feeling pretty good 6 days after first round.

Have a great day!

MissouriCatLady

Hello. I will have round 2 of 6 Wednesday of TCHP and was wondering, do things get worse on this treatment, or do they stay about like the first round? I know everyone is different and will have to deal with whatever comes my way, just thought I would ask some of you warriors that have finished off your treatment. My best wishes to you in your journey. Thank you, Lisa

fishingal68

MissouriCatLady,

I found that my symptoms got worse with each treatment. I was only able to do 5 of the 6 scheduled treatments. Thankfully, I ended up having a good result, so I went on to surgery, followed by radiation.

My best advice is stay on top of any nausea or other side effect. Don't try to be a hero. Get help from your medical team & your support team and don't be afraid to tell them when you need it.

Good luck!

Newfromny

I’m on day 11 from my second infusion of TCHP and I’m still tired. This one was a little harder than the 1st, a little more tired, nauseous, and D. But, I’m managing and hope it goes well for you. We are warriors!!

MissouriCatLady

Thank you fishing and newfromny - I thought perhaps that was what I was going to face. Having a little trouble sleeping thinking about it. My mother died of colon cancer when I was 19 and I dream about her these days. That was over 30 years ago, and I can still remember some things so clearly. Thank you ladies for sharing and helping others. You are my heroes. Much love and many hugs, Lisa

Sunocean

I am also on TCHP and just had round 4 of 6 last week. I feel horrible for at least 10 days. I get nausea and body aches and mouth sores. The mouth sores are the worse. At least with nausea you can take medicine but mouth sores the mouth wash only numbs you for some time then you feel the pain and eating is a challenge.

I also got a horrendous acne rash. It was bad. Face red and acne boils all over that would bleed. Horrible. My doctor gave me doxycycline and it has helped.

My first infusion put me in the hospital.

Kjelftr

Sunocean,

I too have experienced all of those SE. A sugar scrub in shower helped my skin once the acne healed. I’ve found chewing on ice during the taxol and oil pulling first thing in the morning helps the mouth sores. Rinse after eating with salt and baking soda too. Best wishes! Stay strong

Anonymous

I was on Taxotere, Perjeta, Herceptin & Carboplatin. I finished it up in August, 2017. I had 6 cycles of it followed by 12 cycles of maintenance Herceptin. I was very lucky. I had mild nausea & fatigue. I had my infusion on Friday and took that day & the following Monday off from work for a rest day. If I ate anything tomato based I would have bad heartburn. But I could usually take the nausea meds and it would take care of it. I never had mouth sores. I was constipated so I had to take a stool softener which kept me more like having diarrhea the whole time. My voice was hoarse the whole time and one of my eyes was cloudy, would run and was red and irritated just about the whole time. But given the list of side effects I know I was very lucky.

Sunocean

hows it going for those of us still on TCHP? I just did round 5. One more. this one is harder. They all get harder.

Kjelftr

Sunocean- way to go! You are almost done!

Tuesday I go in for my 4th infusion. I’m ready to be done. This round was harder than the first 2 and I got a cold. Hoping for minimal side effects for everyone and strength and patiences.

We are stronger than this and will be okay!

Hugs to everyone

Sunocean

Kjelftr: hang in there. You're almost there

I know what you mean though when you say you're ready to be done. I hear you. I'm so tired of feeling sick and just gross. I hate the way food tastes. Mouth sores are the worse. Just hate everything about this but I keep telling myself embrace it. These are the drugs that are killing the cancer. And I know this shall pass. Were almost there!!!!

sophiafred78

Hi, I'm Sofia. I'm stage IV on Herceptin + Perjeta + Docetaxel (Taxotere) + Denosumab. I was first dx in 2012 (34 years old) with stage I and HER2 - . I did a mastectomy, chemo, tamoxifen for five years (and zoladex for 2). In April 2018 I was going to finish Tamoxifen (5 year mark) and it was also my 40th birthday. I started having a lot of pain and found mets in bones, liver and a pleural effusion. I started chemo immediately (convencional chemo for HER2 -) since my doctor thought I was in risk of paralysis but the results were disappointing (markers wouldn't go down much) so I went for a liver biopsy and we found out that my cancer had "mutated" into HER2+. So I changed to this H+P+T+D. I'm doing it every 3 weeks and the Denosumab shot every 4 weeks. Markers went down from over 1300 (back in April/ May) and 3 weeks ago were around 150, so my doctor was feeling optimistic. I had 10 taxotere total (and am very swollen from toxicity but no heart problems). I did 3 cat scans a few days ago and I'm still waiting for the results. Today I'm freaking out because I have a lump on my left rib that suddenly seems bigger. Can't understand how markers keep going down and now a tumor seems to be growing. Can't do anything now but wait for the scans result.

Sunocean

I was only able to do 5 out of the 6 treatments. I will continue with herceptin but platelets way too low for taxotere and carbo. I guess I should be happy but I'm not. I wanted to do all 6 to ensure I was doing everything i can. I know I did and my doctor is being cautious which i appreciate it. I just hope 5 was enough and herceptin does its magic.

How is everyone else doing?