29 years old, starting chemo this summer

Anonymous

29 years old, starting chemo this summer

Bep

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum.

I got diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma at the beginning of April just a couple weeks after my 29th bday. I've had a lumpectomy and am scheduled to have my 2nd (hopefully last surgery at all) re-excision surgery next week.

I'll also be starting chemo at some point: Perjeta, Herceptin, Taxotere and Carboplatin every 3 weeks for total of 6. And would love some feedback and advice. I've read some things about permanent alopecia after Taxotere and that's definitely a worrying side effect. Would love to hear your experiences. Thanks all xoxo

ajminn3

I just finished up TCHP 3 weeks ago and now am just doing HP. Chemo is no walk in the park, but I do feel like I tolerated the side effects well overall. There were certainly some tough days and weeks along the way, but once you see how your body handles treatment you’ll see a pattern with side effects that you can get ahead of to generally manage. Joining a chemo group on this site is also helpful for whatever month you’ll be starting. You can also go on some threads for people who started chemo a few months ahead of you to see how it went for a variety of others. In terms of hair loss, I did lose all of the hair on my head, but I still have majority of my eyelashes and eyebrows so I’m hopeful my hair will start to grow back over the next few months. Some people very successfully cold cap during TCHP to keep their hair. There’s a thread for that also if you’re interested. This site has so much information and wonderful people to connect with for support

MinusTwo

Bep - I answered on the other thread you started and send you a link to answer many of your chemo questions.

WC3

Bep:

Sorry you have had to join us. The risk of permanent alopecia due to taxotere is one of the motivating reasons that I decided to cold cap.

However there is an alternative to taxotere called taxol, which I believe carries less of a risk of permanent alopecia. I believe taxol is also given weekly as opposed to every three weeks as is the case for taxotere.