starting chemo soon

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pmudcat
pmudcat Member Posts: 4
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

I will be starting chemo soon and need to make decisions on whether or not to join a clinical trial using Avastin and whether or not I should go on short term disability.  Any advice on the trial?  IHow about working through chemo?  I am sooo confused!!!

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  • jennyboog
    jennyboog Member Posts: 1,322
    edited August 2011

    I'm no help with the Avastin, hopefully someone will come along that can.  I tried to work during chemo but the AC really fried my brain along with being a basketcase after my dx.  My job took alot out of me mentally so, I went on leave without pay and I've not regretted it at all.  Day 3 after chemo usually hits you hard and it was nice being able to worry about just "me".  Disability was not an option for me but I know there are several woman on here who did work or worked PT with no problems.  Chemo is tolerable but it does hit some of us harder than others....I thought taxotere was going to kill me :(  It didn't...I hit my 1 year mark a few weeks ago and I'm doing great.  Best wishes with chemo, I pray your tx is a success.

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  • orlandpark65
    orlandpark65 Member Posts: 106
    edited August 2011

    I would get chemo on Mondays then Wednesday it would hit me. Then I started to feel a little better. By Sunday I would back to normal.   So I took every other Mon and Wed off during chemo. I do have a desk job and a wonderful boss.  Im done with treatment and doing the tamoxifen for 5 years.  Radiation was 6 1/2 weeks 5 x times a week. That was tough.  I'm starting to excersize and get on with life.   The only complaint I have is bad indigestion.

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  • pmudcat
    pmudcat Member Posts: 4
    edited August 2011

    Did you feel worse as the sessions went on or pretty much the same throughout the treatment?

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  • pmudcat
    pmudcat Member Posts: 4
    edited August 2011

    Thanks for the info.  I am leaning toward disability since my job can be stressful and I want to concentrate on me for awhile.  Glad you are doing good after a year

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  • americanpinay
    americanpinay Member Posts: 338
    edited August 2011

    Hi. I have no advice on Avastin but want to wish you well on your treatment. I worked full-time through chemo and rads. Like Orlandpark, I have a desk job and a wonderful boss. Also, at the time, I thought I'd be more stressed if I change my routine. So except for infusion days, I went to work. My onc scheduled my infusions on Fridays so I have the weekend to recuperate. That worked really well with Adriamycin and Cytoxan. Taxol SEs hit me on the third day so I had 12 not-so-wonderful Mondays at work during chemo. Good luck and keep us posted.

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  • pupfoster1
    pupfoster1 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited September 2011

    Ask your onc about the possible side effects of the Avastin.  If they aren't too bad why not add it to your arsenal????  I wish they had an open trial during my chemo but everything was full at the time.  I took off for the A/C portion of my chemo but went back mid way through the Taxol.  I tolerated it MUCH better.  What's your chemo regime going to be???

    Take care,

    Sharon

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  • mcsushi
    mcsushi Member Posts: 174
    edited September 2011

    I participated in ECOG 5103 clinical trial. I did DD ACx4 and was supposed to do taxol x12. I had a very serious (but somewhat rare) reaction to the avastin. I don't want to scare you, but the side effects of avastin are serious and it hasn't been proven to increase survivorship. The reaction was so serious I was unable to continue chemo and was only able to complete half the protocol. I'm pretty sure the FDA has actually removed it from approved treatments for breast cancer. Please feel free to msg me if you have any questions and best of luck to you!

    ~Colleen 

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  • bcisnofun
    bcisnofun Member Posts: 488
    edited September 2011

    Hi, I can't answer for Avastin.  Much like the others, I was able to work through DD AC x 4.  I too have a desk job and a wonderful boss and was able to leave if I really needed to.  I got infusions on Thursdays and neulasta shots on Friday.  By Sat night/Sun I wasn't feeling well.  I only had to take a total of maybe 8-10 hours off through my four treatments.  I would say each treatment took a little longer to recover from, but the SE's weren't significantly different for me with each treatment.  Good luck pmudcat!

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited September 2011

    pmudcat - I did not work during chemo.  I had originally planned to but my BMX spawned 4 additional surgeries within the next 10 weeks.  I went into chemo pretty slammed.  During chemo I was pretty severly affected by gastro issues - the Big D for the first 10 days after each tx.  My job was in Transfusion Services in a large hospital.  Because of responsibility to patient safety I felt unable to do my job well.  Because we are staffed 24/7/365 and I was the only one who did my particular job during my shift - it didn't lend itself to sporadic work hours. I was fortunate to have short term disab (employee paid benefit) that ran with FMLA, then long term disab (company paid benefit) that ran with a medical leave of absence.  Good luck!

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited September 2011

    Hi pmudcat - There's some great info at the Breastcancer.org site on Breast Cancer and Your Job, including info on working through treatment. Hope this helps!

    --The Mods

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