Taxotere is a nightmare

I do not think Claritin makes me drowsy... I normally take allegra so I may not be the best to judge...

My employer has been great too... I go to work, but when I need time off, I take time off... be it chemo day, ill day, leaving early or arriving late due to appts... they are great... If they weren"t I probably would have needed to take a leave because I need to go to appts and whatnot and that comes first.

Lago... You wrote: My body got used to the Claritin after a week so I never had the issue again… but I was on it continuously though chemo.

You meant NEULASTA, right?

Were you on Zyrtec for the Neulasta pain?? I am normally on Allegra but take Claritin for a few days around treatment to combat Neulasta pain.

Cynthia, Kar12, and others, I also had pain with taxotere, like a severe "flu" with muscle aches and SEVERE fatigue, but that cleared up in about a week.  I was very lucky to have colleagues who helped out when I felt my worst - had to take about 2 days off completely with each cycle, but worked most days otherwise, sometimes only partial days.  But I was glad I did because it really helped me to feel more "normal".  The pain I had with Neulasta only lasted a couple of days with the second round but nothing with the first or other rounds, and it was definitely different from that of the taxotere.  Interestingly, my white count remained fine throughout treatment, but dropped after my last one and has not come back up to normal yet! Hmmmm???

Working was a mixed blessing - took lots of energy, but also energized me from interactions with colleagues and my students.  However, I finally took the advice of my docs and took a reduced load this semester as I was not taking the time for healing that I needed, physically, emotionally, spiritually.  Still may not be doing so great on this, but for me, "normal" means taking care of others, so it is difficult to focus on my own needs.

And just as I thought my fingernails were finally doing better, I pulled up 25% of my right index fingernail and 10% of the middle nail and partially the left thumbnail yesterday morning when I dropped a jar in the bathroom and tried to grab it.  Now I am back to babying the nails and paranoid about doing ANYTHING that could hurt them - and it is gardening time!   And my boob hurts.  And there has to be SOMETHING that can be done about these miserable hot flashes besides drugs that mess up my brain!!! (I added flax seed and tofu back into my diet - had not been cooking much and had gotten away from them, so maybe that will help!).

OK, enough pity party for Linda tonight.... I won a prize (a gift card to Starbucks" when I attended a breakfast meeting this morning for amateur radio emergency club, my hubby put topsoil into my planting bed so it is ready to go tomorrow if I can work in it, and I have had a relaxing Saturday afternoon.  So I have had many blessings and "moments of grace" today.

Hoping all of you are doing OK tonight.  Be kind to yourselves, know that I am sending you loving thoughts and prayers for courage and healing.

When I began my chemo in Feb, the nurse told me not work in my flower beds!  She said there was mold.  Well, tending to the perennials and whipping those flowerbeds back into shape after winter is one of my favorite hobbies.  

 And I hear a number of women on here talking about working outside in the yard and dirt.  So of course, I have been trimming some things and pulling weeds and dividing perennials and replanting them.  A little bit at a time.  And haven't had any kind of issues with it.  Trying to get lots done before my 4th chemo this Wed. because I know it'll be at least a week before I feel up to it again.  We're having my son's hs grad party in the back yard in June, so DH and I have extra incentive for wanting the yard to look nice.

I keep my nails short, always have, and never used acrylic nails or had manicures or anything.   Haven't had any finger or toenail issues as of yet.   

I keep all  nails clipped short and don't use polish.  I am using vinyl gloves inside my gardening gloves to add additional protection from dirt under the nails. 

I think that they must be most susceptible to "lifting" as the chemo lines grow out - I have been fascinated with how there are little "scale" type lines across the nails with darker color in between (the darker color seems to have occurred at the time when my nails felt like they had all been hit by a hammer, and that pain has resolved completely), so I am thinking that the effects of chemo made the attachment a bit weaker, so as it grows out to the end of the nail, that is when it is more susceptible to injury.  Just a theory here, but it seems that it would explain why I am still having problems (intermittently) 4 months after last chemo, and it seems they should be completely grown out in another 2 months, so am aiming for that as a celebration time.  Toenails also have the same lines, but without the dark color (or pain!), so I am wondering about taking good care of them over the summer in sandals as toenails take about a year to grow out ....

I use an antifungal cream under all my nails after being in the pool (I am doing pool physical therapy) because I was worried about fungal infections.  I asked my MO and she said the cream was fine since I already had it from early chemo, but they also make a liquid preparation that may be easier to use under the nails if you think you may be at risk.  Ask you MO, especially if you are doing gardening or having hands/feet in prolonged moist environment and have any nail problems.

And it got very cold here last night, so am not sure about the gardening today, but at least there is sunshine!

I am in Central NJ... and I fertilized and mowed last week and planting is still a couple of weeks away...

I usually wear gloves and don't think I will double glove because I just have had no issues... my nails look and feel great. I do ice them during infusion, so that may be the trick... I don't have any lines or bumps or darkness.

We have a 40 foot long garden and grow veges and some flowers... our strawberry leaves are green and healthy, and other than those I need to plant new plants... I enjoy the planting but do not enjoy the clean up (edging beds, laying mulch, pulling weeds) but that is all done and I only had to write a check.

I recall being told to wear gloves for gardening because of lymphedema but I suppose the same logic would apply to chemo..you don't want to risk an infected scratch or cut. I had a tetanus shots a few years ago because of the risk of tetanus from rose thorn punctures etc since I am such an avid gardener.I am going to have trouble with the gloves this year I think as I love the feel of the soil when I plant things. I don't have any nail issues ..yet..but sure wouldn't want dirt under the nails if they were in any way at risk for infection from loosening or lifting.

lago - are the gloves something that you do from now on?  I haven't had my surgery yet but will be having axillary node dissection on the tumor side b/c I had 4 suspicious at dx.  Maybe the surgeon will tell me about that sort of stuff when we have our pre-surgery consult?  I had read about not having blood pressure done on the side with nodes removed, but wasn't aware that I should plan on gloves...anything else I should know about protecting that side? 

I too love to garden - husband is getting the raised beds ready right now for some heirloom tomato plants we got at today's farmer's market.  I also clean when I am feeling stressed and a need for control (like scrub the baseboards with a toothbrush kind of cleaning....) and sometimes the skin on my hands gets very dry and cracks...sounds like I'll have to be more careful in the future as I suspect I will be having more-frequent stress related cleaning episodes once I'm done with treatment.

Yes the gloves are good preventative for the rest of your life. I started wearing them before I had LE. For other prevention information check here: linky

No blood draws for either side for me unless medically necessary. I had to fight to get them to give the IV in my foot for my CT a month ago but they did it. Had the IV in my foot for the port surgery too. I still have my port so my blood draws have been from there. In the future they are going to have to do it in my foot or they aren't getting a drop.

No BP unless medically necessary. My onc does have me doing BP on my sentinel side only. I make them do it manually though. The automatic machine is too constricting. If they don't have a manual then I make them do it on my leg but they never get a good ready. It always says I'm dangerously high. I don't let anyone else take my BP right now because I do get it taken every 3 weeks except for my LE MD. He's the only one who can seem to get a correct reading from my leg.

Have to be honest I'm not all that comfortable getting BP on my arm. I have LE in one arm. Don't need it in two. After I'm done with herceptin that's going to change.

mimidi - were you allergic or intolerant to Taxotere?  Abraxane is supposed to have fewer SE's due to its lack of a solvent to deliver the med into the bloodstream.

Man I just started my chemo rounds and let me tell you I texted my doctor and told him that I believed Chemo was trying to eat me up inside out. My first treatment of TC was on 4/11/2011. I was fine all the way up until 4/13/2011. Good lord, I dont have any nausea, no upset stomach, no diarrhea, no nothing.

I woke up wondering if I was going to be so lucky to just sail through. That night I awoke to a migraine that was like death con 1000, I literally rolled up in the fetal position and just cried quietly cause I didnt want to wake up my son. OMG this lasted from 10pm at night until 6am the next morning. Called Chemo nurse and she told me to take 4 advil every four hours, I did that and it kinda went to a dull throbbing that I could deal with. The next day, I thought everything was fine, I was walking in the grocery store and my leg plum gave out on me. Went back to the car and could barely drive home.  By the time I got there it was going through my whole body, this pain was unimaginable, and was unexplainable.  I have never felt pain like that before in my life.

Call Chemo nurse back and asked to speak to Dr.  This couldn't be normal.  Dr was pissed that they had me managing this on Advil.  I called an ambulance because I couldn't drive.  The took me to ER and had to give me a steroid shot and some drug call Naxtol.  Took them three hours to get it under control.  Has anyone else ever had this problem?

meekone - I definitely had the brutal headache on tx#1.  I could only manage it with Vicodin that I had leftover from BMX.  I can tell you that the headache I had on tx #2 & #3 was much less painful and could be managed with Tylenol.  I have not experienced anything like the leg problem, but your onset of symptoms coincides with days 3-5 being the worst, which is pretty standard.  Had your onc not warned you that this would be the timeline?  I know I was lulled into thinking during the first couple of days after the first tx that everything was going to be fine.  I am wondering if your dose is too high?  What is your onc saying now?