Taxotere is a nightmare

WOW special K, thanks for that info!!  My lab work says both RBC and platelets are (L) = low.  But unless I'm dying..I can forget about a transfusion.

It's hard to make a decision right now on the taxotears.  I get really pessimistic for 2-3 days after a treatment and don't like to make decisions in that frame of mind.  I am really leaning toward NOT doing this, just taking a chance.

He showed me the literature, and the 50% of people with perm. scarring were getting Taxotere every week.  There isn't much out (that he could find, and nothing for me today either) on people who get it every 3 weeks.  So I'm just going to imagine the odds of getting perm. scarring go down the longer it is between treatments. 

Honestly, I don't know if I can do the whole general anesthesia next week.  I hate it and right now I feel CRAPPY.  What makes it all so tiring is I have to show up at 7am and then wait for an OR.  Laying there in those crappy gowns, freezing to death, until at least 1130 (he said today)...I just don't know if I'm up to it. 

But I've always had eye watering issues with my left eye...and I'm a little concerned Taxotere will be the straw that breaks the camels back and makes it life long, chronic.

He did give me steroid eye drops.  I've used them today and wow, viva la difference!  My eyes actually feel lubricated.

YES.  Taxotere is a nightmare...but...it sure does kill those BC cells!  I'm a 9 year survivor.  This June will be 10 years...pooh, pooh, pooh...keeps the evil eye away!  MEANWHILE...Taxotere can also leave you with PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY.  I had 4 ice picks in me after Taxotere.  The two in my arms disappeared after about a year.  My FEET are NOT GOOD.  Does ANYONE out there KNOW about a peripheral neuropathy DATA BASE...about 3 years old ?  Does ANYONE out there KNOW about some research that was done in 2007 ? about REGENERATING the MYELIN SHEATHS from DAMAGE to NERVES from about 4 kinds of chemo...including TAXOTERE?  Please HELP if you can!

Dear Ang7,  There's something called MAGIC MOUTHWASH.  It's a Rx, but not expensive.  Your oncologist can phone it in.  It must have some kind of lydocaine? in it...something topical that dulls the pain.  Good Luck with this.  Also...if you have the white fuzzy thrush on your tongue...the probiotic CULTURELLE really takes it down...for me. 

mrsnjband - Sorry to hear of your continued troubles with anemia.  I have only had one tx of TCH, my next one is next Thursday.  I am concerned because I am historically borderline.  Did you receive Neulasta?  Because it stimulates the production of white cells and not red cells I am left wondering if it permanently limited red cell production in your marrow.  If so, when combined with the known danger of marrow damage from Taxotere it might have been a double whammy.  I am just guessing here - but I will ask my boss.  She has 26 years experience as a blood banker.

Thanks RacheltheMultiTasker~

I will give my onc a call about it...

Tracey ~ Same comment to you here as on the other thread to which you just posted.  You need permission from our Moderators to post this sort of request.  Without that, there's no way of knowing who you are or what you will do with any information provided.  For everyone's protection, please go throught the proper channels if you wish to ask for survey participation.   Thanks.

anniemomofthree-

My onc does Neulasta as a given.  I am TCH but I don't know if he orders Neulasta for all his patients or just for certain regimens.  He did not order it for me specifically when considering any of my counts prior to first tx.  I think some oncs do a "wait and see" and prescribe it if needed.  This may be due to the cost as I understand it is quite expensive.   My previous WBC (white count that controls infection) was 4.2 (low end of normal, the range should be 4.2-10.0) and a week after Neulasta was 18.5.  Neulasta will only boost production of white cells, not red cells.  I was pretty excited because it meant I could be in public on my last weekend with hair!  My RBC (red count linked to anemia) was low normal at 4.22, with a normal range of 4.20-5.40. These are the numbers that came up on the instant CBC one week after 1st tx of TCH.   From your post it seems like your first set of numbers is white count, and the 3.6 is your red count. If your red count drops too low a blood transfusion would most likely be the fixer, especially if you are exhibiting other symptoms of anemia like dizziness, fatigue, paleness, etc.

SpecialK - I have chemo brain! 

The slew of numbers were the hemoglobin numbers. 

My WBC was 3.6.  Still no neulasta.  Beginning to wonder why no neulasta... 

Have a good night!!!

pejkug3 - can't speak for all, but I had no clue that my hemogloben was so low that I was trending to a transfusion (since averted!).  I am halfway done with TCH (3 of 6).  I would call about the headache, although this may just come with the territory.

Annie

Omaz I got the Vit E oil at Trader Joes. I could repeat what SAMayoFL says. Even my PS who hadn't seen me since September prior to chemo commented on how soft the skin is. My port scar was initially very raised. It was flattened in a month even on chemo with the Vit E. I just rub it on with my finger. You can massage too to soften the scar. Initially I was doing it 2X a day. Now I just do it before I go to bed. I use extra virgin coconut oil in the morning because it absorbs quicker.

Yay Marjie!!! That's great news!

pejkug3 headache is a common SE of chemo and some of the drugs. Be sure to report this. I too was all worried about a delay in schedule. It happens but is not typical. I never had any delay and finished on schedule.

Tracie, glad you liked it. It's my mom's recipe. What I like about it is there is no sugar added. I just added the peas the last time I made it. If you need it to be sweeter I bet you could add corn.

I never could remember phone numbers. I make sentences and/or words out of them so I can remember. My BF's phone number from 25 years ago is To-Go-Ran.

tracie23 - the funny thing is I thought I had escaped chemo brain and had it so together.....  Come to find out it isn't so!  I have been through every file in the 4-drawer file cabinet (where I last saw it!) and even took the drawers out thinking it fell behind.  It is not like it could have left the house without me, right?  I even looked through the shreds in the paper shredder!  It is driving me CRAZY!  I was really upset when the replacement one disappeared.  That is the one I found in my purse.  I quietly celebrated finding it because I was in the car with my DH at the bank and I didn't want him to know I had lost the second one too!  Years ago I misplaced my cell phone in the house - I knew it was in the house because I had been talking on it when I came in.  I looked everywhere for it.  I found it 2 weeks later inside my son's paintball jersey on top of the clothes dryer!

Kathleen I have read that SE have nothing to do with chemo working on not. Ask you onc. S/he will tell you the same thing. But I too hope it works, if it needs to work. For all we know the cells never got anywhere else or our body took care of it when it landed in other areas.

Kinda like a breast cancer cell landed in a bone and the bone said WTF this isn't a bone cell lets destroy it. (For some reason I always thing of this scene. About 2/3 of the way through the video when the line "what am I doing here" Not quite the same but still funny).