August 2011 chemo, anyone w/ me?!

Hi - I'm over at the FB group too...I hope everyone is doing alright.

I start RADS today....Not looking forward to the drive to Philly, but I guess I better get used to it! for the next 6 weeks LOL

Ellen -- Congrats on your store opening!! That's awesome; a lot of work, but I'm sure it's worth it!

Congrats on the final Taxol, Jenn, I have my 5th tomorrow and I'm so not looking forward to it.  I have been really pretty good now for about 10 days and I don't wanna do it again!!  ((  Still almost onde, the last one Thanksgiving week and then on to Rads.

Congrats Jenn, on finishing!  YAY YOU!!!

I am going for my 2nd Taxol tomorrow.  My hands are still incredibly itchy and I am convinced it is from the Taxol, even though the MO's office originally thought it might be from the AC.  Not looking foward to it, but looking foward to being one step closer to being done.

I searched "Fighters" on Facebook, but nothing comes up.....HELP!  I wanna join the group.

I was checking in on the weekend and found things quiet. Lots of activity on Facebook though!

Good luck tomorrow Grimbol, allformy4 and jmull

Had my 3rd Taxol tx today. Unfortunately, I reacted to the Taxol again. It was short lived and they gave me extra meds and were able to get the Taxol into me. Only one more tx so hopefully I'll get through it.

My short-term disability benefits run out on December 28. At that point, I estimate I'll be 1-3 weeks into 6 weeks of rads. They sent me all the paperwork to apply for long-term disability but it seems such a waste of time when I expect to be done treatment and ready to return to work in late Jan/early Feb soon after finishing rads. As I expect they will do a gradual return to work anyway, I was wondering if I should suggest I return to work part-time during rads. Ellen, how are you finding things now that you've reopened your store? My job isn't physically demanding but it is very mentally demanding...lots of deadlines, need to make quick decisions that impact lots of $$ on short notice, etc. Not sure what I should do.

Lizardbeth6, welcome to our group! I'm triple negative as well and my regimen is similar to yours but I'm doing dose dense (every two weeks). I had my 3rd of 4 Taxol today. I've had sleep issues since my dx in June. I'm not the world's best sleeper to start with and this hasn't helped. So far, I've resisted taking any meds to help me sleep.

Hi Lizardbeth68,



I'm willing to bet the reason that you are having more trouble sleeping since starting Taxol is the steroids (usually dexamethasone) that they administer as a premed along with the Benadryl in your IV. I know it has caused problems for me but at this point I don't want to take another medication. I try to take advantage of the bit of energy that it gives me the first day or so, but the inability to sleep is frustrating. It usually lasts 3 or 4 nights and then it's almost time for the next tx. I've used melatonin and chamomile tea with some success. I hope it gets easier for you soon.

Lizardbeth68  Hi Liz --I get the sleepless nights and the sweating too -could be the whole "going into menopause" thing too.  Did your Dr give you ativan?  that seems to work for me -I hate taking those drugs too, but I always wait until last minute and by then I've made it worse!  Is it still warm in KS?  My head gets so cold now that the weather is cold!

I don't know the rhyme or reason b/t the 4x taxol or 12xtaxol -the 1st doc I went to sd they would do 12x, this doc is doing 4x -she sd there are no stats stating one is better than the other -I just look at it as getting it done quicker! 

Michelleo -doesn't LTD pay more that STD?  It may be worth it --my job (who I havent worked for in 5 years) asked me to help them out for their busy season -I did it last year @this time, but I wasn't sure if I could do it.  Well they came back and sd I can work 2-3 days from home!  Hopefully it'll work out, I can certainly use the money for xmas.  How you feeling so far!  I have a terrible cold but they still went ahead -I am OK w/that --1 more to go!!!!!

Hi everyone. Nice to read through the notes and catch up with everyone's updates. I've been hunkering down and impatiently waiting for the end of this chemo ride. Last Friday was my 2nd Taxotere/Herceptin dose.  Two more to go.  The bad-mouth-feeling and awful taste is the worst of the side-effects. Though today I really messed up and didn't pay attention to some building nausea before it took over...

I met with the surgeon today to plan and strategize for the BMX, and will talk with a plastic surgeon in a couple of weeks.  I was thinking that waiting for until the spring might be possible, but she's saying it needs to be within 4-5 weeks after chemo ends. I guess that's my plan for January now, but my head is still going to have a hard time dealing with it all...      

JUMLL -- I had itchy hands and feet, but that happened when they switched me over to A/C. With the T/C; I had bone pain, flu-ish symptoms and weak legs. Now that I look back; the T/C was a breeze compared to the A/C. I could eat and somewhat function on T/C. The A/C was horrendous. I'm still dealing with the after-effects. I'm seeing an ENT today.

Hi ladies,

I have not posted in awhile.  I've been busy helping a friend with her recent bc diagnosis/lumpectomy/AND.  She will probably start chemo in 3 weeks.

My MO and I have not decided if I will switch to Taxotare from the Taxol that I am on.  I have 6 weeks left of a 12 week course, but the neuropathy in my toes/feet are present.  I am taking B6, L-Glutamine and L-Carnitine.  I might do 2 (3 week apart) doses of Taxotare. 

Congrats to all of you that have finished, or are very close to finishing your chemo treatments!  We all started this 'chemo ride' in August and it's November already!  A lot of it is a blur to me.

Hey all--it feels like many of us are kind of hunkering down and toughing out these last couple of rounds.  I'm on day 7 of round 5 (of 6), and I'm pretty much just on autopilot, trying to get through the next few weeks without thinking or feeling too much. YaYa5--if you're out there--round 5 (touch wood) has been a little kinder to me than round 4.  I hope the same is still holding true for you. Does anyone out there know anything about 3DCRT partial breast radiation?  You have it twice a day for one week instead of everyday for 6 weeks.  That sounds good to me.

Blessings and low SEs to all!

Summergirl- I wanted a double mx from the beginning but my BS said she wouldnt advise it just in case my non cancer side gets an infection and then chemo would be delayed. I should have insisted on having them both done in July!! Now I have to wait till Jan. or Feb. I wasnt given that option either it's my choice bec I never want to have to worry about another mmamo again and I never want to have to go through this again!!

Taylor777 -   the way it's been explained to me is that chemo only gives you protection for a relatively short amount of time.  It's like lice shampoo, poison that is designed to kill all cancer cells that are active then (like lice shampoo kills live lice), but its effects only last a relatively short time.  And after you've used lice shampoo, if you also don't go through and manually remove any remaining eggs/nits (that aren't affected by the shampoo), then more lice can hatch and grow.  So if I have the type of breast tissue cells that show their tendency to turn cancerous and grow tumors, they still need to remove that tissue.  

So she said that 4-5 weeks is this window of time when you've recovered enough from the side-effects of chemo and your strength may be recovering, but you haven't given cells very much time to start changing again.  I think too that they're being extra aggressive because of how quickly my tumor grew in the 2 months I waited between biopsy and lumpectomy in the spring (it more than doubled in size).  

Hello ladies,

I saw that several of us are having trouble with rough and burning tongues - I have found that if I rinse my mouth out with a combination of water and baking soda (swish and spit) after each meal, that I get great relief from the burning sensation. It has also kept the mouth sores at bay.

Hope this helps!

MaryJRN, glad to hear they were able to switch you over. I haven't found the Neuropathy on Taxol to be too bad so far. I feel it in my feet some days but so far my hands have been okay.

I didn't find the S/E for Taxol #3 to be as bad as Taxol #2. With #2, I could barely move on Day 5 because I was in so much pain. This time, it wasn't bad. I'm wondering if it's because I received the study drug (or placebo but I'm thinking it's the actual drug) with tx #2 and not with tx #3. I'll have to see what happens with #4.

TSB1, congrats on the return to work! I miss my co-workers a lot. I go in for a visit every couple of weeks and go out for lunch with the girls. It helps me stay connected with what's going on there.

I weighed myself this morning and have lost 5 pounds since last week. That's very strange since I've been eating quite well.

For those with burning tongues, if it turns into mouth sores, ask your ONC for a prescription for Magic Mouthwash. I had mouth sores after my 3rd AC tx and it cleared them up within a day.