Mom diagnosed, how bad is the chemo

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wbts
wbts Member Posts: 56
edited June 2014 in HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer
Mom diagnosed, how bad is the chemo
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  • wbts
    wbts Member Posts: 56
    edited April 2011

    My mom had breast cancer 10 years ago and was VERY sick from the chemo. She's a tough lady but the chemo really got her.  Just found out today that she is negative to estrogen adn progesterone but HER2 positve 3+.   She was told 2 days ago that she would just have to have radiation and now with this news has found out she is goign to have chemo after the radiation.  I believe she gets her port on Monday and possibly starts Herceptin Monday as well. My questions are:

    1. She's devasted by having to go through chemo again... This will be different chemo meds so I'm wondering,  have any of you gotten extremely sick?  Last time she would vomit to the point of blood. 

    2. I've been reading the board here and am wondering if it's odd that she's doing radiation first then chemo?  She's already had the mass taken out. She has a couple spots in the left breast area (she has a mastectomy 10 years ago on this side where it has shown back up) and 2 positive nodes that they want to hit with radiation. From reading her though it seems like most have chemo first then radiation?? It's IDC also if that helps. 

     One more thing. How bad will be getting the port in and first dose of Herceptin on Monday. I have a sister there but am wondering if I should take off work to go there. I'd like to save my days for when she's going through chemo to help her then.

    Thanks in advance. YOu are all so knowledgeable and uplifting. I will be praying for all of you along with my mom!

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  • dragonfly1
    dragonfly1 Member Posts: 766
    edited April 2011

    WBTS So sorry your mom has to go through this again!

    Did she have a port for her chemo the first time? Getting the port placed is not too bad although it varies from person to person. I was very sore for a few days from the surgery and waited a week to start chemo but they could definitely access the port immediately if necessary. She will need a little bit of time to recover from the port either way. I had a lot of chest/muscle tightness and discomfort for several days but nothing that wasn't managed with Tylenol.

    As far as the treatment, it does seem that most of us get chemo and then radiation but I'm sure there is a reason for her specific treatment plan. Herceptin is an absolute godsend when it comes to HER2 and it has minimal side effects overall. I had cold-like symptoms with my first infusion i.e. sneezing and feeling like I was really developing a cold but it went away the next day and I've never had that reaction again. Getting the Herceptin infusions has always been the easy part. They will monitor her heart as well because Herceptin can affect heart function in some people.

    My chemo is Taxotere and Carboplatin and I'm currently in my 4th of 6 cycles. I won't say it's the easiest chemo but I don't think it's anything like what happened 10 years ago. The nausea is well controlled-that's the one SE I don't have to worry about. They give me anti-nausea medication in the infusion as well as oral anti-nausea medications so that it is well controlled. The primary SEs I've dealt with during every cycle have been taste alteration, constipation, diarrhea/cramping and fatigue. Having said that, I am working full-time and have only taken 1-2 days off during each cycle and I would rate my SEs as fairly intense for 10 days of each 3 week cycle. I hope that's encouraging! Herceptin is so important with a HER2 diagnosis and unfortunately Herceptin must be given with chemo to work...Best wishes to your mom as she begins treatment!

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  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited April 2011

    I had my port placed the day before chemo. I would have had chemo the same day but there wasn't space for me that day the chemo room. THe first chemo they put you in your own room and watch you closely. The port was pretty easy for me.

    I had 6 rounds of Taxotere, Carboplatin and herceptin. Finished on Jan18th. I'm now just doing herceptin. They have much better medications to control nausea. I was given 2 different medications for nausea… but I never got nauseous. Granted everyone is different. Now the anesthesia from the BMX made me nauseous!

    BTW the 1st 3 treatments I was working out the next day or meeting friends for lunch and walking around the city. I can honestly say for me having the flu felt worse. I did get the rare side effect where my nails lifted from the nailbeds… but that is very rare. I had some constipation that was handled with Metamucil. I also had heartburn but they had meds for that too. At the end I did get stiff muscles but it goes away. I'm fine now.There were a few other things but as I mentioned they were managed and everyone is different. I did find I was more tired at the end of the day… and of course hair loss.

    Seriously they do a much better job managing the side effects than they did years ago.

    I didn't to radiation 

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  • wbts
    wbts Member Posts: 56
    edited May 2011

    Thank you so much for your responses. I printed them out and showed them to mom and she was encouraged.  I wish she had internet so she could join this website but she has no desire.. So I guess I continue on searching for support for her.  Thanks again.

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  • Faith316
    Faith316 Member Posts: 2,431
    edited May 2011

    I've taken Adriamycin, Cytoxin, Taxol, Herceptin, Xeloda and Tykerb and I have never thrown up one time.  Not even close.  Tell your mom to ask about having Emend which is a really good ant-nausea drug that many of us have taken.  It makes a big difference for most people.

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  • Nevo84
    Nevo84 Member Posts: 94
    edited May 2011

    My mom was taking ACTH. With adriamycin and cytoxin she used EMEND which is a new drug for preventing vommit and I think It was not available 10 years ago so be sure that today the medication is so different from that time. She was so weak in her first four courses but when she started to use taxol and Herceptin she was fine. Don't worry. Everything will be fine

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