TCH: ABRAXANE or Taxotere

I had Abraxane rather than Taxotere..or so I thought. I was not aware that it was taxol rather than taxotere. However, that would not have swayed me away from Abraxane at all. The Abraxane is typically not given to early stagers and is not always easy to get insurance approval for stage 1. However, I have hand/nerve issues as well as carpal tunnel and also needed to work through chemo. My Onc. was able to push it through for those reasons. His thought was that although any chemo would likely aggravate my hands, Abraxane would be the kindest since it does not require the pre meds which in of themselves can worsen my hand issues.

With that said, I am so grateful to have been able to get Abraxane. There was the simple benefit of shorter treatment time (under 3 hours for each tx) and the bigger benefit of no neulasta, decatron etc. I did experience progressively worsening nausea and just wish I had asked for Emend sooner because that was a lifesaver! But truthfully, I think that was caused more by the Carboplatin. I say this because my WBC was very low for my last tx and because I was scheduled for surgery a few weeks after, my Onc. omitted Carbo for the last tx. I felt infinitely better without it!

I was also put on a 3 week on, one week off treatment schedule as opposed to the typical once every 3 weeks. The reasoning was that I might do better getting smaller doses at a time while continuing to work. Though I still did have to take some days, I never went a full week feeling too sick to work. While schedule did serve it's purpose, I never felt good for an entire week either unless it was my week off!

I hope my experience gives you a little more insight. The bottom line is I was thrilled to be able to get the Abraxane!