Chemo for 52 weeks straight?

lv2crft

I've now got a tumor in the liver (biop on it 2morrow 2 C if it's malignant), in addition to the ones already pinpointed as IDC in the left breast and left armpit.  My breast specialist (onco) wants to give me 52 weeks of chemo (wasn't clear which ones when and how often, but the ones she listed are:  taxotere, herceptin [sp?] and perjeta). 

 My question is:  has anyone here ever had **52** solid weeks of chemo?  (One/wk for a whole year!)  It sounds like it's enough to kill a hippo, for cryin' out loud!  

My breast onco told me I'd be susceptible to infections, which is nothing new: I've been that way for decades already with the durn CFS, but now it sounds like the vulnerability level will get jacked up by a factor of 10.

 I just watched a few of 1StrongWoman's videos: she only had 8 rounds of chemo, and I think they were several weeks apart, yet she almost died from the low WBC.  I'm not afraid of dying, but I don't want to take this treatment if all I'm going to do is become a wretched vegetable for a whole blasted year.  

Leah_S

lv2crft, I'm sure you'll get more details of the chemo after you have the liver biopsy.

What would usually happen if the biopsy of the liver is benign is that you'd either have surgery, then chemo once every 2 - 3 weeks for 4 - 6 months, then continue the herceptin (which is not chemo) once every 3 weeks for a year or you'd have chemo once every 2 - 3 weeks for 4 - 6 months then surgery and the continuation of the herceptin after that. If the liver tumor is cancer it would depend on your response to the chemo how long you would do it but I think for most people who are Stage IV (and with a tumor on the liver that's how it would be staged) chemo is given on a 3 weeks on, 1 week off schedule. The length of time you're on the chemo would depend on your response to it.

I very much hope the liver tumor is benign. Your liver can have cysts, hemangiomas, and other benign growths on it whose only function is to scare us silly.

Best of luck. Let us know what happens.

Leah

Jenwith4kids

lv2crft - I'm not as experienced as many of the women here, but I know that herceptin is a drug that is used weekly for a year.  It is considered a targeted therapy.  I do not know it's side effects as I'm not taking it, my sister is (I've been too busy researching my own regimen!).  But maybe your doc is suggesting a "normal" round of the other two drugs with only the herceptin to complete the year?

lv2crft

Leah and Jen, many thanx for your replies.

In fact, the onco told me when I saw her about a week ago (first time) that if the liver is cancerous, then I'm automatically Stage 4, and that means no surgery, just the infusions.

But the PET scan, which will of course tell "the whole story," was not OK'd till the other day (stingy insurance), and will be the LAST test (Monday a week from today) out of the marathon of tests I've been scheduled for.  Sure would've been nice to have that thing EARLIER!  Clarity helps a body deal with things a WHOLE lot better.

ziggypop

Hi Lv2 - 

Let me first say how very sorry I am that you find yourself here. This diagnosis is tough no matter what stage or type of BC you have. It is scary and mean nasty shit. That said, let's first hope that the liver biopsy comes back B9 - which it may very well might. Please let us know either way. I'm sure that you are going crazy waiting for that result - don't forget that it's totally okay to ask the doc for anti-anxiety meds. 

Chemo - any cancer fighting drug can be classified as chemo, and there are a ton of them. Generally, people thing of chemo as the stuff that makes you sick and lose your hair, but many of us are on AIs or SERMs for ten years and they have side effects but not what you would expect from the normal 'chemo'. People react to chemo ALL DIFFERENT ways. There is no reason to think that you will have a horrible reaction. Try to tale it one day at a time, as hard as that is. 

Many hugs.