Stage III Chemo questions

Welcome Gin.  Of course we would love to have you here.  We are sorry you have to join our group but very glad to have you!  My ca didn't show up on my mammo in Aug.  I too found a area in a self exam in March.  Low and behold I had a 1.7 cm in my upper outer breast as well.  After many biopsies and MRI and such we found I had 20 tumors (some of them very small) in the right breast and two in the left.  I had a bilat on 4/19.  4 nodes.  So as you can see we are similar.  My treatment regime is a bit different than yours.  I am doing (4) AC on a dose dense cycle - every other week and then 12 weeks of Taxol.  I am doing a clinical drug as well - Bevacizumab along the way.  I will do rads after the chemo.  In the process I am also doing reconstruction.  Every three weeks or so I go for a saline "fill".  I am up to 8th grade tata's! 

I have been blessed with minimal SE's so far.  Today was Treatment #2.  I still have my hair although we buzzed it in anticipation because I couldn't handle the long hair I had falling out.  I took a bit of control and did it my way.  I am loving the new look with the hats and scarves.  I do have a wig but don't know how much wear it will get because it is hot.  But I will use it when I want anyway.

You are going to do great!  I can tell.  Keep in touch on here and we will help you along the way. I know tomorrow will be a bit scary but you can do it!!!  I wil keep you in my prayers. 

Welcome to the Stage III board.  I'm less than a year out and this board was my lifeline.  I thought I would share a resource with the newer ladies.  Franceluxe will send out free head scarves/wraps to chemo patients.  They are 100% sillk and come in gorgeous prints.  They usually have a backlog so it takes a few weeks to actually receive the scarf.

Here's the link

http://www.franceluxe.com/i/goodwishesscarves/Good+Wishes+Scarves.html

Hi Sandiddstn:  I had bilateral mast with rebuild approx 8 weeks ago also.  I still have pain and numb areas.  My understanding is that this lingers as the nerves and skin etc need to heel.  As much as I don't like exercising doing stretches and walking and mild strength training all help with healing.  No one has given  me a time when I should feel normal.  My guess is months.  I have had 2 round out of 4 AC and will then have 4 rounds of Taxol.  As you can see from this thread you regime seems to be fairly common.  I think you might want to interview a couple of plastic surgeons right now to talk about reconstruction options.  They have a good sense of when it is best for you to do reconstruction.  I found the two I spoke to very informative.  Hang in there!

I am 8 day post 1st chemo treatment and finally feeling alive again.  I wish I would have more days like today,but guess I'll take what I can get.  Digestion issues finally easing a little and sick headache better,thank goodness.  Thanks for all the positi

gin2ca - often the first chemo is the worst.  You'll start to noticed a pattern soon and you'll be able to plan when your energy will be the highest.  You can do this! 

Also, thank you grneyd5600 for you words and concern.  You also sound very similar to my dx and tx.  Maybe we can all help each other get through our chemo and rads.  It really does help to have ladies with similar problems to share with.  Thanks again, and God bless you and yours.LOL,gin2ca

Popping in to say hello and see how y'all are doing with chemo.

gin2/sand/jfv - sounds like y'all are handling chemo as well as having chemo can be handled. Clarice is right about the pattern - once you figure out the good and bad days you can make plans around the good and bad days. 

Sending (((hugs))) and hope you're having a good weekend.

My experience Colleen is that Taxol was a lot easier than AC.  I even did a cycling event on Day 6 following a Taxol infusion....true it was the shorter course (took the cut-off), but I did it.

I did lose my eyelashes and brows on Taxol, but again, I thought I was on the home stretch, and knew they would come back.

As a bit of encouragement, my eyebrows now look BETTER than they did before.  Much nicer arch.

Hang in there.....you are past the worst part.

Hi Ladies,

Getting ready for #3 AC/Bev tx tomorrow.  Had a good weekend and had enough energy to take my Marine Son to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Zoo!  He is visiting for a week because he is changing duty stations - heading to Hawaii.  Yes, I see a "I kicked cancer in the butt" party going on there in 2011.  Of course I was a bit jealous of all the animals getting their naps while we at the zoo. 

JFV - Onc gave me similar odds.  I am 47 and I had a hysterecomy in 2004 but had ovaries until Dec 2009.  I was a big bag of estrogen too!  Ovaries went because I had 8-9 months of ovarian cysts so bad that one point my estrogen level was 983 (normal was around 150).  I took hormone replacement from Dec until DX in March.  Took til May for the estrogen levels to start dropping enough to give me hot flashes but when the arrived they came in all their glory!  Still driving me nuts. 

Colleen - great news on the Taxol!  I hope you continue to feel that good.  You give me hope!!!

Gin - how you doing?  Hanging there I hope. 

To all -  have a good week and keep up your chins.  We are going to get through this!

Hi Ladies, So good to hear from everyone.  Jackie, we do sound alot alike glad to hear you got out.  . Glad to hear you were up and about gin2ca.  Had a tough day yesterday.  Sleeplessness set in along with the blues.  I think I pushed a little too much over the weekend.  Daughter said "How many more do you have to get through?"  I think we are all tired of the Mom on chemo roller coaster.  Saw Onco yesterday and she suprised me.  Said after this last AC I could do 4 Taxol over two months (which is what I expected) and not be able to work and feel like I "was hit by a truck" or take taxotere over 3 months and "get bloated but be able to work".   This may not be the correct thread to post this on but... Any opinions? Claire I know you did well on Taxol.  But, in no cancer life you are waaaaayyyyy more fit and active than I am.  You are truly an inspiration! Claire did you have rads after?  thanks for letting me pick your brains!

Joan

Joan - I think most ladies find Taxol much easier to tolerate, and it seems to be easier if given on a weekly schedule.You might want to ask you onc about the proposed schedule. Taxotere has rep as being of of the toughest chemo. The sleeplessness and blues are probably a side effect of the steroids.  I hated them, and did everything possible to get off.  I was able to eliminate steroids during Taxol and lowered my dose some during AC.  It makes a huge difference!

To all the tough women going through chemo - Once you hit Taxol it should get much easier. You may even have more energy during rads  than pre dx so take advantage of that time before you start hormonals.  My theory is that before I was dxed my body was struggling with a tumor load and I was exhausted at this time last year.  I exercised like crazy during rads and felt fantastic.  Not so much during my first month of hormonals but it's getting better.

Hi JVF,

I do consulting work, and was able to do this during Taxol.  Because of the SWOG study, I got SIX DD of both AC and Taxol....as opposed to 4 which is standard.  So I really got hammered.

That said, when I started Taxol, I immediately felt better except for the the first week, where I had symptoms of both.  I was really dragging....remember sleeping....but used that time to switch over to my new SONY computer, load all the software, and do the file transfer.  (I took naps during the file transfer as about as exciting as watching grass grow.)  Then I got to learn Office 2007 as I did my next consulting projects!

I think you will be able to work with DD, with perhaps a few days off.  I also had Neulasta shots as part of the deal, so would feel fine except for Days 3-5.  By Day 6, I was ready for 20 miles of cycling and on Day 7, I was ready for more.  Week 2 was just fine.

So I would go for the DD and just get things over with.  I found it took about 4 weeks for my body to finish the last Taxol round.

On Week 4, I started radiation, had my port out, and started Arimidex.  Have to say that I was dragging a bit from the port yanking.  Would schedule this for a Friday if I had a lot going on.

By Week 7, I had tons of energy and was in mid-rads which I found a non-event until the very end when it did catch up with me.  I think I had about three weeks of dragging.....nothing serious, but wasn't doing anything with a ton of enthusiasm.  I probably made this worse by doing two 45 mile cycling events, one 4 days and the other 12 days after final rad.

Now that I am 7 weeks out of radiation (and three months PFC), I have tons of energy (though can sleep a lot and know my body is still rebuilding), enough hair to ditch the wigs, and am planning on doing the Seattle-to-Portland Bicycle Classic this weekend with a friend.

I have done this event the past two years, and know I have it for the 202 miles over 2 days!  I did a 50 mile training ride last Saturday and was none the worse for wear.  The good news is that I have about 20 pounds less of me to drag to Portland.

I would say that I am something like 95% of where I was last year at this point, and expect to be healing for something like another year or so.  That would be consistent with some sports injuries I have had in the past. 

Thank you so much ladies.  Your info is such a help.  As you well know the unknown is scary.  I will be working in an elementary school with first graders as an aide.  It is not taxing work but I am a little worried about the germs, and of course, no napping during the day.  I think I am allowed some disability to start the year.  We start school Sept 8 and have days off during the month.  So, I think I can take some days off without ruining my rep at work (I hope).,  I really appreciate you laying everything out for me Claire,  KittyDog I am so sorry you had such a bad time!  That must have been awful!  As you say, you have your life.

I can't really weigh in on the Taxol because I am not there yet.  But, I can tell you I have two friends who have experienced it so far.  One like Kitty has had a terrible time.  But she also was sick through the AC.  The other friend has done well but elected to go with the 12 week cycle of Taxol.  (Lower dosage over a longer time).  My onc told me that there is evidence that the taxol given that way is more effective.  Of course, that is the way he was proposing for me because I am in a clinical trial that needs to go that so he opinion may have been a bit swayed.  Either way, I am as anxious as you JFV about how I will do.  For now though I am going to celebrate the fact I only have one more AC TX.  As Scarlett O'Hara said..."I will worry about that later".  LOL