Stopping Taxol early?

Luckydog42

I started Taxol/Herceptin two weeks ago. Immediately after my first chemo, I developed non-stop tingling in my feet. A few days later the bottom of my heels were numb and I was having a little numbness in my hands. But that lasted just a day. My oncologist told me to take vitamin B6 and L-glutamine, try the second week's chemo session, then see how it goes.

It has been two days since the chemo session and the neuropathy is worse. The bottom of my heels are slightly numb and painful to walk on.

I am scheduled to see my dr. on Tuesday, and am going to tell her no more taxol. I can't risk permanent neuropathy.

Am I crazy to do this? I was in the "gray area" as far as needing chemo in the first place because my invasive cancer was 3mm. I am in my early forties with two young kids and scared I will have a recurrence.

kcat2013

Hi Luckydog I had a lot of neuropathy on Taxol also. What my MO did was delay my chemo 1 week to give my body a chance to heal a bit more before hitting it again and then when I went back for my next Taxol she reduced my dosage by 15%. My MO took it pretty seriously and said we'd stop the Taxol if the neuropathy didn't improve with the extra week off and reduced dose, but it did. So hopefully your doctor will listen to your concerns. My MO said one way they can judge if the neuropathy is too much is if it goes away before the next treatment. Which for me was every 2 weeks, so if the neuropathy was bad the 1st week but got better the 2nd in time for next Taxol then it most likely would not be risking permanent.

Kendra