January 2016 Chemo!

Valstim52

Just to chime in had swollen hands and fingers. MO said taxol side effect. In fact she noticed. It's a little better 9 days PFC taxol, but still there. My appetite is still not back, but my taste buds seem to be recovering.

Sheri64

How long after chemo did tastebuds come back.  I am a month PFC and still have no taste.

buttaflydiva

emilyjane-my face breaks out too. My face stays a little blotchy all the time now (yuck). I have taxol every Friday, then every Wednesday and thursday my face starts breaking out like crazy and looks like i have a severe case of acne and nothing we have tried helps. so since I just go to work on those days, I just throw on some moisturizer and a little eye makeup and go. but if I go out anywhere, I will put on cover my face with make up and powder to hid it all lol. if it doesn't clear up once I stop taxol, then ill start worrying about it.

Veronica31

Butterflydiva- It's so interesting to hear your breakout cycle. I have chemo every Monday, and every Saturday and Sunday, I break out like crazy. I think the steroids keep it at bay and then as the steroids wear off, we get the Taxol effects. My MO said to expect it to get worse through treatment.

Smurfette26

Thinking of all you beautiful ladies who are struggling at the moment.

LifeAloft so sorry to read you are not being supported by your bf. We need the support of that special person on this journey. Hugs.

Right after my first chemo I started using Organic Virgin Coconut Oil for vaginal dryness EmilyJane7505. I use it twice a day. It's working well for me.

LifeAloft

Thank you Smurfette, I agree!! hugs back to you.

Had my 6th Taxol today, my counts were low but not too low for treatment. They are having me come back for Neupogen so we don't run into problems next week for Taxol/Carbo, I'm thankful they are being proactive, I don't want to get behind in treatments.

I was also told by the PA to try American gensing for fatigue, she said it's been known to help women going through treatment, I figure it's worth a try. I'll post about it if it works.

So weird how every place is different, I told her that I'm getting some intermittent tingling in my toes and she pretty much just said that it's a known side effect. I'll definitely be mentioning it to my MO when I see her next week.

I'm laughing at myself that it took me so long to write this because I couldn't think of some words. Gotta love the ton of Benadryl I got today and the chemo brain!

Paxton29

I did TC (so Taxotere not Taxol) and I too am plagued by hot flashes, dryness and painful intercourse. Chemo put me in menopause but don't know if it's permanent. I've been thinking I need to look into lubricant solutions, since the hair loss and asymmetrical tissue expanders and mastectomy scars have not dampened my husband's ardor.

DFWFLYGIRL

Right there with some of you ladies .....getting ready for Taxol #8 tomorrow and am really tired going into this one.......the ladies who have finished are giving us good inspiration!!!!

Myraknits

Maya, great news! I'm so glad you had such positive results with the neoadjuvant. I'm going for my MRI tomorrow after 4 rounds of TCHP...then just 2 more to go before surgery. Hopefully it's all gone too! Are you still having surgery? I'm hoping for just a lumpectomy

zinny

LifeAloft, so sorry to hear that your BF doesn't get it. Do not let that get you down on yourself - this is real! Does he need a bit of education about this?

Re menopause and taxol and dryness - how about both? My mouth gets so dry the week after Taxol that I wake up in the middle of the night and my entire mouth is like the sahara. Have even woken up with my lips stuck together, had to try to lick them to wet them so they would separate. and if I do any exercise, it's like my mouth can't keep up with the evaporation and it gets so tacky and gross. So if that's happening upstairs… I am also having chemo hot flashes and regular hot flashes - the ones I call chemo ones are so much more dramatic.

I admire those of you who are having sex. I got all amorous one night and thought it was a good idea, and then had to stop because it was so uncomfortable, and I think my poor DH is totally scared off. Haven't felt the least bit amorous since, myself. Looking forward to that part of life feeling more normal again...

LoveMyVizsla

LifeAloft, I bet you'd like to dose him once or twice to let him see how it feels!

Songbird, my MO said taxol can cause edema. She didn't say what, if anything, they would do about it though.

EmilyJane, I had a breakout on my chest that she called folliculitis, and prescribed clindimycin. Worked within a few days.

Here's a pick-me-up for those of us still slogging through. I went on a photo outing yesterday with three friends. Isn't this guy cute?

One more... A little kit.

Maya15

Myra, fingers crossed for your MRI! I'm having surgery sometime in June. I'm not a candidate for lumpectomy because the cancer is multicentric, they would have to take out all the areas where there were lumps, i.e. the whole breast. Axillary lymph nodes have to go too. Meeting a PS tomorrow and BS on Monday.

Veronica31

Lovemyvizsla- Love the pictures! They are so cute! Where do you live?

LoveMyVizsla

I live north of Seattle. The pictures were taken a ferry ride away from me on San Juan Island. My friend just sent me this pic of me with one of the adult foxes.

LovesToFly

9 days pfc. I feel pretty good, except my mouth always tastes like roadkill

jensgotthis

For those who did chemo prior to surgery, do you have plans to do a little more chemo after surgery too? I'm thinking of suggesting to my MO but feel perhaps a little crazy doing so.....

LifeAloft

Jen, I'm triple negative, if I still have residual cancer after all of this, I've thought about asking if there is any more that we can do. I won't have surgery until late June/early July...but yes, it's definitely something that I've already thought about.

Valstim52

My Mo said it depends on my pathology report after surgery. She said some medications (soft word for chemo) are only sucessful on recurrences and/or mets due to my TN status, but she is open depending on my path report. She bought it up.

I've opted personally NOT to have more. I'll take my chances I'm done unless it recurs or spreads. I'll do rads (33) after surgery but that's it. I feel if 5 months did not get it, then 2 more won't. My roll of dice no matter what the 'path' report says..

Maya15

I asked my MO if there would be more chemo after surgery, she said in theory no, but it depends what they find during surgery. Rads would likely come first anyway, and I will also be getting Herceptin until next March.

DoxieMomof3

hello ladies 😃 I just had my last of 4 rounds of dense dose Taxtore ( did 4 rounds of AC before that). They have been doing my tumor marker blood work through it all and my markers have gone up from 17 in the middle of February (this would of been during AC) to 45 last week (during Taxtore) my oncologist says that Taxtore causes tumor markers to go up. Has anyone had this happen to them? It just makes me wonder 🤔

Thanks!!

jensgotthis

for those who got a cold or virus during treatment, what did you take? I have a very sore throat and loads of nasal congestion, and I'm totally wiped out energy wise. Starting radiation on my hip on Monday and hope to feel loads better. Tea and honey is helping but is there anything else I can safely try

LovesToFly

I had an awful cold, I took Tylenol cold and flu. I also used nasal mist for nasal congestion, dristan. I spoke to the pharmacist at the Chemo Clinic, and they were fine with both.

A few days and I had blood work done. Once they saw that my platelets were fine, they also okayed Advil with the Tylenol.

Feel better soon!

jensgotthis

thanks Jill

kellychameleon

I also had a really bad cold when I first started Taxol. The nurse at my MO's office also told me to take Tylenol Cold & Flu and Flonase. They also made me go into an urgent care center and get a strep test, which was negative, thankfully. I hope you feel better soon.

Re: chemo after surgery, it will depend on the path report. I am crossing all fingers and toes that it's not recommended though. I am so done with part. I am 99% sure I will start radiation in July, so hopefully that will be enough.

jensgotthis

I'm sorry if this is a ridiculous question, but how have you found chemo to have affected your stamina? I can walk for a long time and distance on a flat surface, but boy if you had an incline, even slight, I can feel my pulse and heartbeat quicken. And my legs tire quickly. I'm curious how long this will las

Maya15

Same here, I'm fine with flat surfaces but hills and stairs I have a really hard time with, my legs feel too tired. It was worse with AC than with Taxol.

LovesToFly

absolutely. I too have been walking a lot and have no trouble with that, but I have to sit down and recuperate after I come upstairs from the basement!

Valstim52

Ditto for me. After a while whether flat surface or an incline, have to rest, or thighs will start aching.

Valstim52

Just wanted to add, same with riding my bike, The minute the terrain changes just slightly upward, I'm done.

jensgotthis

I'm sorry that so many of us are experiencing this but feel better I'm not alone. I'm used to bounding up the stairs no problem but on Friday declined going for ice coffee with my work friends because I knew I'd have to go up 8 flights of stairs. I wonder what it is about the chemo that does this. Weird