Is there a July 2011 group?

Hope everyone is feeling better today I have a question for those that did Fec the Red Devil how many tubes of the Red Devil was put in you IV as I originally had 4 tubes the first 2 treatments then last treatment I only had 2.i asked my oncol on thurs visit about it and he couldnt give me an answer I am not happy with my oncol i have only seen him twice in the last 5 visits he sends in his residents.He also has no beside manner and seems negative I dont think I am getting good care.i start Taxatore Treatment # 4 monday after that I will only have 2 more to go.So I think its kind of late to ask for another Oncoligist.I am so thankful I have all you Ladies to ask questions as I cant speak to the Oncol my Husband said our visit on thurs looks like the Dr was in a hurry to get Rid of us.i see posts on here ladies have a good repour with thier Dr's I dont what to do.

Thxs Misswim I did lose some weight. What is ovarian ablation ? i have a 3 and half cent cyst on my  left ovary which is causing pain.I have had a hysteractomy for cervical cancer 16 yaers ago but fear I may now need the ovaries removed.I think things are a little diff here in Canada the Dr dont like it to much when you ask for 2nd opinions.

sandy115, I had 2 giant tubes of the red stuff, I mean it was like horse syringes! I have gained almost exactly 10 lbs since chemo started but don't think the amounts changed much, the last FEC was a month ago and I had probably only gained 5-6 lbs at that time, for some reason the last few weeks, I've gained 1-2 lbs each week and to be honest, not eating much at all lately, weird, have I said how much chemo sucks lately? LOL

BC- I am highly anxious, so I totally understand the worry of ending up in stage 4. I have good stats, no nodes, no lymphovascular inasion, very clear margins, ER+/PR+ HER-2 Neg- sailed through surgery, then got an Oncotype of 33. Scared the crap out of me. If I did no chemo, my recurrence rate in the next 10 years was like 23%. The chemo gave me close to a 15% benefit, so with chemo and tamox, it's more like 10%. The onc told me oopharectomy will lower that number even more. Her idea was that I chemically shut down my ovaries, allow myself the benefit of tamox for a few years, (so take Tamox while on Lupron) then have the ooph and move on to an AI. As many years protection as possible. BRCA negative, but I am doing every possible thing to lower my risk of recurrance.

I had a scare as you guys remember with back pain (bone pain which is totally gone now that I have no Neulasta) and went through a very scary time. The stage 4 ladies were so supportive and full of information and really helped ease my fears. There are certain ladies who I have just come to adore. One woman is having a liver rescetion surgery because her mets are so solitary and small. I have a friend with colon cancer who just had the same surgery and I was able to hook them up. Made me feel good to help her like she helped me. The attitude is not always warm or fuzzy if you ask questions in that forum as an earlier stager, but from the folks who are kind enough to share, they really helped me. I know how hard it is to not compare yourself, believe me. My husband lost his mom to breast cancer. I just try to think that that was 38 years ago, and we are going to be OKAY.

You have a VERY favorable prognosis and you need to focus on that. I am trying really hard to the same. We'll all do it together. We are doing all we can to live and be healthy as long as we can. The support of this group has been and I hope will continue to help with the mental pieces of that for me.

Oh want to share my sweet moment

As I mentioned previously I am very involved in Cub Scouts, anyhow this last Wednesday was our Pack (Awards) Meeting. Well one of the young boys I have been working with for 2 years now comes up to me and instead of focusing on the awards he just received he tells me "It makes me so sad that you are sick and lost your hair". Kids are so honestly wonderful! 

Morning everyone I am having a rough time with the first docetaxel. Going to post in a thread I started about docetaxel vs. FEC here in a bit. The nail bed pain and bone pain is kicking my a$$! I am sleeping 4-5 hours max, spending 2-3 hours each night with severe chest pain, good news is I should lose the weight I gained if I keep up at this rate, within a week or two!

Hope everyone is doing ok, here's to a better day than yesterday!

xoxo 

Khs113, somewhere in the middle of tc #3 I noticed that my nail beds were inflamed and it hurt quite a bit if I put any pressure on my fingertips, but it eventually subsided without any special treatment. Hope this will be the same for you.

Hello all,

I'm late finding this group, but I started chemo in July. Like Cathy_C, my first Taxotere injection was 9/19 (it sounds like Rabbit's was recently too?). I did just fine through AC with fatigue and headaches, but managed it. But the past week has been bad, and I finally feel like I'm really sick. After my onco said I should "sail through" the Taxotere, I had thought I'd be okay for the remainder. Ugh, just not so.

My biggest fear has been the neuropathy and loss of fine motor detail from the Taxotere (I'm an artist). My onco changed my plan from Taxol, but I'm still finding that I'm getting some weird sensation in my hands in the past couple days.

On day 3-4, my joints started with aches, then moved into stabbing pain...mostly my hips, neck, back. I emailed my doctor, and his nurse wrote back that it was the nuelasta I had on Tuesday (it wasn't, have had it 4 other times and nothing like this). I wrote back on Friday saying that this was different, not likely from the neulasta, and got no response.

I'm back tomorrow for another Herceptin injection...I have to say I'm not too pleased at being ignored when I was in pain. I'm not good at standing up and insisting on pain killers, but I was hurting.

Cathy, have you gotten back to normal sleep? My GP did prescribe Ambien on Friday after I hadn't slept more than 3-4 hours at a time since Monday. It just sucks when you are hurting and exhausted and STILL can't sleep.

Welcome ElizabethinPA and fellow triple positive. I'm sorry you have been having such pain. Why did your onc switch you from Taxol? I'm on Taxol and Herceptin and seem to be doing okay. I get the deep pains and take a couple of Alleve. That seems to help. Fatigue has been a problem, but I have plenty of leave at work and very understanding bosses. At this point, they're surprised to see me when I do show up. lol.

Frances I was told this is a new procedure where they want to radiate the breast underam and clavicale.I was told I will get this in radation yet I had clean margins and chemo Its all precaustionary.

Rabit hope your feeling better from the pain from Taxatore I was told by the oncol bad bone pain and to ask for pain meds.Started my steroids tonight its 3.09 am still cant sleep and in the Chair @ 8 am.Aww love Chemo and Steroid S/E cant wait to be done.Good luck to everyone in the Chair this Week,Thank You bcisnofun misswim and Rabbit on you insight on how much we should get of the red devil i feel a little better now.Hugs Everyone.

Thanks Sandy! I feel so much better now. Will update what rad onco says tomorrow.

Hi Rabbit, hope With each taxo you get better. Perhaps your body is adjusting now and will get used to this soon. For me I didn't get any taxo pain unti chemo 4 and my fingers are a little stiff but I can feel it's going away.

Had 2nd Taxol on Friday. Two more heart rate episodes during premeds, but not quite as bad as last time. I felt so icky from the premeds again that they gave me some Ativan so I slept through most of tx. Good ole Neulasta pain sat/sun, now transitioning into the Taxol pains. Had high heart rate for a while yesterday. So far this has been the most unnerving of s/e's.



Khs--that totally stinks that you are done and still having to suffer new side effects. I'm sure you just want it to all go away. Now! I know I'll be that way.



Welcome ElizabethinPa--your pains sound just like my taxol ones, and yes, they are different from the neulasta ones. Sorry you weren't getting much help. I know how frustrating it is when you are suffering and it seems they're not listening to you.



Rabbit--I so hope you are feeling better today. The chest pains sound miserable. Well, everything sounds miserable, but that especially. Isn't that the way it is with chemo? There are always several issues to deal with at once--it's rarely just one.



Frances & Sandy--thanks for the heads up on the radiation. With you guys going before we'll know better what to expect.



My labs were all good on Fri except my liver enzymes were slightly elevated. Don't know what that means. They said if counts stay good I may be able to forego neulasta the last two times. Hoping.

Wel, I almost didn't get my Herceptin injection today! Yooper, my liver enzymes were up too, though high enough that they considered waiting until next week.

And as much as I don't want to go, I certainly don't want to go, get my port accessed, and then get sent home without the injection! An older gentleman near me did get sent home, as he wasn't drinking enough water to flush the chemo out, and his tests were off (not sure which tests, trying not to listen)

The doctor decided the elevated liver enzymes was likely from all the Tylenol I had taken this weekend for the joint pain, or maybe the little bit of rum and OJ I had last night. So no more of either until after I get my next bloodwork for the next Herceptin injection next Monday.

On a good note, I stopped by GNC this afternoon and got Glutamine and Alpha-Lipoic Acid. Any feedback on using them? Also, does anyone know the dose for Alpha-Lipoic Acid and when/how long it should be taken in reference to when chemo is given?

Thanks!

Hi everyone. I have been trying to keep up too!

Tina, so sorry! I hope you are feeling better!

Frances, I just starting reading the radiation threads to get my questions ready. I think they mentioned a few time the RO made adjusts the first time or two. I doubt very much they would have found something suspicious and not told you. But worthy of a question.

Miss swim, I am so sorry for your anxiety. I too think about it, but my motto has always been "it's not something until it IS something" meaning, I cant worry about every possibility because much of it is out of our control. Yes, following doctor advice, doing our own research is within our control, but peace can only come when I let go of what I can't control. My Oncotype score was 67/ 34% chance of recurrence. My MO says chemo will drop it "not quite 1/2" but the exact number is unknown... Maybe 20%. I have two young children too. Scary stuff.

Rabbit, sorry it's been so rough. I have to say taxotere has been unpleasant for me too. I was also very sensitive to the GI SE. I had thrush with the first few tx. Just watch for the white film on your tongue. I found once I started the anti fungal pill for the thrush, a lot of my GI problems improved greatly within 8 to 12 hours of my first dose. I get the mouth sores to but manageable thus far, just annoying. Hugs to all trying to feel better this week.

Rabbit - i was rinsing and gargling with salt water after every meal, big or small and it helped. As for those doing rads soon, please remember to drink lots of water and also don't take antioxidants during rads as it will reduce the effectiveness of rads.