New Taxol Regimen

I also did Taxol for 12 weekly treatments.  I was like you and disappointed that I was going to have to go so long but I was doing a clinical trial and the onc explained that doing smaller doses over a longer time would increase my chances of being able to get through it.  LIke Lee64 I had minimal SE's until the end.  I did lose my eyelashes and eyebrows and my nails are still a bit of a mess.  I didn't get any mouth sores until the very end.  I have to admit compared to some of the other ladies getting Taxol in the higher dose I did much better on the 12 week cycle.  I will also tell you that doing it weekly really made time go quickly!  I was amazed how fast I could mark the days off on the calendar. 

Good luck! 

epcnyc, did you do ac 9 years ago? I did ac 8 years ago and am doing it again, dose dense, but with a 24 hour drip and a nuelasta shot the day after. My first treatment my counts went very low, so they also added 3 nueposgen shots. The second ac, my wbc finally kicked in and my counts were decent with just one nuelasta shot. I have not heard of many people doing ac twice, but I am one of them. My doc also mentioned he wants to do 6 treatments of ac if my muga scans keep coming back good, he does one before each treatment. Not looking forward to the taxol/carbo!

I'm currently doing a 12 dose taxol stint, followed by 4 DD AC.  I am doing taxol first because of a research study that I am participating in.  I had second treatment today.  The first treatment was worse than I expected and my oncologist didn't think that it would be as bad either.  Day 3 was the worse for me with some nausea and a lot of diarrhea.  I think that I got a bit dehydrated as well.  I am hoping that this week will be better. 

bkj66 - the weekly Taxol/Carbo I did was very doable, although I did start to feel it at the end, but mostly the day of and day after transfusion.  I wasn't nauseated for the most part, just lacked energy, and my WBCs really took a hit.  I was doing Neupogen shots the last 5 weeks.  But my hair started coming back, and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as AC. 

epgnyc - there are some studies that are suggesting weekly Taxol is more effective than DD because it is a constant hit on the cancer.  And the SEs are much more manageable.  I agree the extra time sucks...but it goes fast.

And Luah is very wise - water, water, and more water!  Several times I scheduled "fluid days" just to be sure I was very hydrated.

I started on weekly taxol Feb 5th for 12 weeks for a recurrence after 20 years.  I did femara, aromasin and fasludex shots for three years before the taxol.  After 12 weeks and some success they decided to keep me on taxol for an additional 12 weekly treatments.  I had treatment 17 today.  Side effects have been minimal but worse on some days.  Hair loss, nosebleeds, neuropathy in feet and hands is getting worse and got script for neurotin today to help the pain. A week ago I also developed a rash on my arms and legs.  THey are not sure it is from the Taxol, but want to get as many treatments of taxol in as possible.

 I am still working 40 hours a week but am getting depressed especially about the hair and pain.  Was told because it is recurrence, same side after mastectomy 20 yrs ago I will need to be on some kind of chemo maintenance the rest of my life.  I am going on 61 and my mom died at 62 from this crappy disease.  I am not ready to give up, but would like my life back and my body return to normal.  Need some assurance.