Taxotere is a nightmare

Meek so sorry to hear this. No I have never heard of this b-4. Perhaps the advil mixed w/ the chemo didn't work nicely together. Glad your better now. When you are down to your last two tx you will have everything down pack, but guess what you will be done then.

Welcome, meekone! Sorry you found yourself here, but we are all willing to listen and share.  I had a lot of pain as well, did the curl-up-in-a-fetal-position thing for several days with each cycle, but that has indeed passed.  As they say, "just breathe!"  Not easy to do when you are in the middle of it, and don't be stoic - be sure to let your onc know and get some adequate pain relief! And if you are on oxycodone or any other opioid, be sure to start a stool softener earlier rather than later for constipation!!!

Tracie, lago, fighter, luan, omaz, et al, thinking of you all tonight and sending good thoughts!

I am participating in a yoga and cancer survivor study - had a good session tonight.

n3ypb thanks for thinking of me. I'm at the easy part now. Went without scarf yesterday & today. Called up my hair dresser and he said come on over. Dyed my hair from the gray and the black (never had black hair before) to my old dye color. Not sure if it's too red but I do feel younger. The black/gray was actually pretty but I'm just not ready to be Jamie Lee

I have decided to go au natural on Easter - seems like a good date to aim for.  My hair is dark salt & pepper, with a reverse skunk thing going on, but I am so sick of the wigs.  I started with a longer wig, wore it from October to early March, got the usual spring itch for a new "do" so got a short & sassy wig on sale for $35, much less than I would have paid for cut & color.  Am thinking of going natural color for a while to see what it might be like - I have been in the auburn/red to blond color for over 20 years.  Am also thinking of keeping it short as it is a whole lot easier to deal with than my usual wild & crazy mane that won't do anything I want it to do.  But I also am not after that Jaimie Fonda look, either!   (maybe if I was as tall and thin as she is I might be able to pull it off, but I am short and what they call "petite").  I did have a short meltdown when I was putting some things away and ran across the baggie with my old hair from before chemo.  Just a reminder.  But I am so grateful it is growing back and looking not too bad! Lago, I think you could actually pull of the Jaimie Fonda look, based on your photo, but I know what you mean about liking your old hair color and it making you feel younger. 

Also, I found out that I can donate the wigs to a local hospital for women who cannot afford one and whose insurance does not cover them (mine does not - also mine does not cover any reconstruction for lumpectomy, regardless of deformity, only for mastectomy - but it does have fairly good drug coverage).

Just another sleepless night here... heading back to bed soon for a nap before work

n3ypb - How are your eyes doing?  Any improvement?

I'll be posting my new hair color on the hair thread later today. Yes I can pull off the look. Even my hair dresser said he didn't think it looked bad. I look a lot younger than Jamie Lee IMO even after all this chemo. The grey makes me look as old as she looks. (She's only 2.5  years older than me.)

The reason why I can pull it off (and Jamie Lee too) is not the thin tall thing. It's the long neck.

I looked up tea tree oil since we have been talking about nails here. I have been using it just because my Oncologist recommended it.

Tea tree oil has beneficial medical properties when applied topically, including antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral action,^[2] and is also believed to have beneficial cosmetic properties.^[3] Tea tree oil is usually used diluted, as reactions are common with pure tea tree oil, but it can also cause irritation for some people even when diluted. Tea tree oil is toxic when taken internally, and so should never be added to food or drinks.

Tea tree oil has strong activity against Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA.^[4] When used at 5% concentration, it has not been shown to cause drug resistance; however, some resistance occurs at lower concentrations such as 0.5%.^[5]

I did post on the hair thread so if you click on the link I provided in my last post the after & before pictures are posted on that page. I'm glad I got rid of the salt & pepper. I can't believe how much new gray I got with chemo. I wonder if it goes back? I know the black should grow back brown eventually.

To be honest I wish the new wrinkles from chemo would go away. I know that's not going to happen.

Meek, My onc blamed the Zofran for my migraine and prescribed something else. Only had the migraine after my first treatment.

How is everyone doing?  I have had more of each day being good, still deteriorate when I am tired, but every day I have more energy to actually get my work DONE rather than dragging through it and not finishing.  Made major progress on the work pile today!

Had a meltdown tonight when I was so very much wanting to go play the piano for just a few minutes, but finger sensations just unbearable with ANY type of tapping.    So I ate a handful of mini-Reese's peanut butter cups, a Klondike bar, and turned on the TV to find something else to focus on.  My PCP is thinking of sending me to a neurologist, and so I did a little search to see what might be out there... also ran across an article on damage that taxotere does to teeth!  Apparently damages both developing and mature cells of all dental cell types, but apparently is reversible (60 days after exposure in mice... don't have any idea what that translates to in humans, but maybe about the same??? I hope!)

Morphological Classification of Dental Lesions Induced by Various Antitumor Drugs in Mice

Hiroshi Satoh, Yasuo Uesugi, Takami Kawabata, Kazuhiko Mori, Fumitaka Fuj, Yoshinori Kashimoto, Tetsuyo Kajimuraand Kazuhisa Furuhama; Toxicol Pathol 2001 29: 292
http://tpx.sagepub.com/content/29/3/292.full.pdf+html

I know someone else on this thread has had problems with teeth, and this is the only article I found that was primary research.  I have an appointment with my dentist in a couple of weeks and will talk with her about this, and also have a friend who is on faculty at a dental school and have her looking into it as well.  My scientifically curious side is quite interested in this, but my emotional side and aversion to chewing food is just plain annoying.

Have appointment for first surgery follow-up since Sept. with the NP; already got the results of mammogram & sonogram & PET scan: NO EVIDENCE CANCER!!!  So seeing her is sort of a formality, I guess, plus the exam (I am having tough time with self-exams - sure hope the fingers get better soon!).

Also, have figured out each time the fingernails grow out to the chemo line, that is when they are most likely to pull up, and they feel like little bamboo shoots underneath for a week or so, then ease up.  Looks like another month or two and they will be all grown out and I will quit whining about them!

Keeping you all in lovingkindness,
Linda

Oh..I'll just add that my eyes water a great deal of the time which is so annoying...

EmilyinOntario - oh the watery eyes drove me nuts and I had a bleeding nose at the same time - very pretty!!  Dosage is based initially on your size and body weight then is adjusted as needed.  My first dose of taxotere was reduced by 20% because I did not handle my first 3 rounds of FEC very well.  My second does of taxotere was reduced again but not as much.  My onc assured me that the effectiveness of the treatment wasn't affected but if it got to that point, they would look at different drugs for treatment.

Emily with what you are saying about your hands you could be having an allegric reaction the the deliverying solution of the taxotere. This happened to me and I had to come off of taxotere. My oncologist was able to change me to abraxane when this happened. Only after my severe reactions would my insurance pay for the abraxane.

dragonfly1: I have worn glasses for distance for many years, but I didn't need them for watching television, working on the computer, reading, etc. After I started on the taxotere/cytoxin, I had trouble reading--had to use my husband's +2.5s, and forget about reading the computer screen or seeing tv! The doctors said to give it some time before having my prescription changed, but I never had to. I only went to the eye doctor because I broke my sunglasses and needed a prescription to get a new pair. He said my eyes are back to where they were before chemo. I think it came back almost immediately after tx finished. Hope yours does the same!