#3 AC and questions

map66

hello everyone, I'm starting round 3 of AC next week. Since I'm doing neoadjuvent treatment, I understand treatment before surgery and at my 2nd chemo check up, both breast lump and lymph node on left have disappeared. My lymph node was almost 3 cm and breast mass was almost 2 cm at diagnosis. My question is, should I ask for surgery before taxol starts? I want to know more after my AC ends. I feel like I'm still in shock a bit and kind of got swept up into this whirlwind and now I'm questioning all the chemo before surgery. Is it even possible to do AC then surgery and then go from there. I'm a little freaked out that I can't feel any lumps after only 2 rounds of chemo. Happy but ready

for surgery. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

CanuckMom

When they did your biopsy then they would have placed a clip where the tumor was...they will remove affected tissue surrounding the clip...not sure about nodes...maybe the sentinel?  That is fantastic news! You had a complete response to chemo which means it worked...something you would never know with surgery first.  I think you will be fine'

Radical2Squared

Surgery can not be done immediately following any chemo because they need to wait for your immune system to get back to speed. I'd research and ask about the effects of putting that wait time right in the middle of your treatments instead of finishing them first.

Congrats on your shrinkage! Awesome news!

map66

thank you, ladies. Against my will, I started taxol and I'm sick as can be. I'm worried about my appetite and weight loss going in to this next phase of chemo. I'm down 17 lbs and finding it more and more difficult to eat. One taxol down and 11 to go. Any tips on keeping an appetite? Another lovely SE from taxol is diarrhea. I thought this was supposed to be easier than AC?? Holy hell.

NancyHB

*hugs*. I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time right now.  I hope you start to feel like you've turned a corner soon.  My friend told me that Taxol was like "a vacation to Aruba."  

She lied.

I had a harder time on Taxol than AC.  I will say that my appetite returned a couple of weeks into T; AC completely killed my sense of taste and smell.  I had to force myself to eat, and frankly I are a lot of high calorie food just for the energy.  Ice cream was a godsend.  I didn't gave diarrhea though - just the opposite.  Don't hesitate to let your MO know about the SEs you're having - there are meds that can help with that.

Morwenna

I was in weekly taxol for 12 weeks after 4xAC. I did have to delay I think it was the ninth taxol for one week as the diarrhoea got so bad. Despite this, I GAINED weight on Taxol!

Up to about the 7th Taxol I'd have said I was doing far better than on AC. In AC I got clots in my legs and lungs and the nausea was pretty bad. The taxol gave me the bad taste, but no nausea. The fatigue during Taxol was cumulative

Generally I preferred the Taxol, but was heartily glad to be finished all of it. I'm nearly a year out now! 

Kicks

I did 4 DD A/C neoadjuvant and 12 Taxol adjuvant.  So yes, chemo can be done both before and after surgery.  Surgery (UMX) was done 2 weeks after last A/C and 3 weeks after surgery I started Taxol.  Rads started a week after last Taxol.

Different Drs will want to do different TX plans with different people.  Some will do surgery first with some types of BC, some will do neoadjuvant (1 or 2) and some will do neoadjuvant and adjuvant.   In my case, Drs wanted to get the IBC to form a 'lump' and shrink with A/C so surgeon could get 'it' out.  Then do Taxol to go after any cells that might have not been gotten.

I lost all appetite, sense of taste and smell on A/C.  Hubby called me several times a day to remind me to eat something.  A/C was not bad at all and did not slow me down but Taxol was nasty.  I spent the entire 12 weeks basically either in bed or on the couch in front of TV completely and utterly EXHAUSTED in addition to the loss of appetite, taste and smell.  Throughout both - I had no problem eating, just never thought about it.  For some, A/C is worse than Taxol but conversely for some Taxol is worse than A/C. 

 We are each unique.  Our bodies all react differently so experiences and time lines are not set as exactly the same for all.  

map66

thank you ladies. Feeling a bit better today..(day 4) aching but managed to eat a bit more. I had a really strong gut feeling taxol would be my challenge. So far, gut wins. I'm praying for a speedy 11 weeks! Thanks for the support! Bless us all!