Repost: please help

I had the same 4 ac 4 taxol and now tamoxifen.    The other chemo was never mentioned.  

I'm so sorry Diana, I know it's not the best news.  I can't offer any help on the new cocktail but just wanted to lend my support.  I don't understand how all this BC stuff works and I know this is weird but there is a part of me that wishes they would have done that to me.  That was the original plan, it was changed and then it left me wondering "was that enough".  You're already in it now so why not, does that make sense...better to get chemo all over with than have to go back when the hair is already coming in and you're feeling better.  I understand your frustration, it feels like you're not moving on but you are and it sounds like your also getting that extra dose of "kickin the poo out of BC".  I hope you feel better about this soon, sending you hugs and prayers.

Diana,

I'm so sorry for this news!  It really surprised me that your onc came back with the decision of more chemo.  Did he explain why or provide his concerns?  Since you showed a 50% reduction in tumor size it demonstrated the chemo was effective so it should have gotten the rogue cells (if there were any).

I mentioned in my other post that I had a trial onc and my regular onc.  I noticed a distinct difference between the two when it came to aggressiveness.  The trial onc seemed to want to go full tilt on treatment but she never talked about how it would impact my quality of life.  My regular onc seemed much more concerned that we didn't want to win the cancer battle just to have me loose my quality of life.  This may not be a concern for you but I had a long chemo treatment and didn't do especially well.  It was weekly, was suppose to be 27 infusions (I made it to 26), and I had to have 7 transfusions because of the effect it was having on my RBCs.  So my regular onc was pretty concerned about more chemo.  He did change his mind, though, after I was feeling better and he felt I could handle it. 

I don't know anything Gemcitabine.  And as I mentioned in my other post the carbo that I had was low dose.  It was supposed to be 3 weeks, off a week, for 4 cycles.  Other than tanking my blood counts I really didn't have any SEs.

I did AC and taxotere before surgery, mx, rads and more chemo.  My onc. decided on more chemo because my deep margin was so close and the tumor invaded the muscle and my response to chemo wasn't very good.  originally 8ish cm to 4.5 cm multifocal.  All nodes were negative but were all mushed up, so they suspected that most of the nodes were involved.  At the start of this and even at the time of my last taxotere, I was told 99% chance I won't need more chemo... But being triple negative, I think it was a good call.  I am glad I did it.  I was supposed to get Gem/Carb, but it wasn't funded by insurance, so I did Vino/Cis instead.  Apparently those 2 regimes are very similar.  But, Gem/Carb is more gentle and has fewer side effects.  I didn't lose my hair.  But, I had crazy bad nausea from the Cisplatin.

I had four doses of TAC neo-adjuvantly. I wasn't sure going in to surgery whether I would have adjuvant chemo, but I knew it was a possibility. As it turned out, my onc recommended two more doses after surgery. I think if I had had a complete response he would have backed off, but as it was, there was still some activity in my tumor and nodes, albeit reduced greatly. It was a bit of a disappointment as my hair had started to grow back. But as I think about it nowI am grateful that I had those extra doses as "insurance".

I am in a similiar situation. Did 1 round of taxotere, had allergic reaction then switched to 4 doses of A/C. Was suppose to do 3 more doses of Taxol but I was afraid I might have a reaction to the Taxol and opted to do surgery. Onc told me if my nodes were positive I would need to do Taxol. Had my surgery Nov 2 and Nov 9. BS went back in on Nov 9 to remove axillary nodes. I have an appt on Dec 12 on onc to see what the next course is. I am still nervous about doing Taxol. I don't want another reaction like I had and I type for a living and play the panio at church so I don't want any neuropathy. I cannot believe my nodes came back positive. I am bummed just like you are. I thought for sure my path report was going to be clean. Now I am trying to do as much reading on Taxol as I can.



Is there anyone that had an easy time of Taxol?

Capinva, Not sure what reaction you had, but i understand your fear! ask your onco about abraxane. I had 4 doses of ac, then was scheduled for 12 rounds of taxol. 8 minutes into the taxol ( even with the pre meds) I went into anaphalactic shock and had to have an epi shot and be rushed to the er. My dr told me i could stop treatment or try abraxane. abraxane is more expensive which is why drs look to see who can tolerate taxol or taxotere first.Taxol has a compontent in it called kremaphor which causes 37% of patients to have reaction. Which is why all of the pre meds are required. ( not sure about the taxotere) Abraxane is just taxol mixed with human blood protein instead. ( hence the increase in price) It was a tough decision for me as i never wanted to feel something like that again! With being stage 3 though, I decided to go ahead with it. The first treatment, we did a very slow drip,had the epi pen ready, and did the pre meds ( which arent usully required) I just finished my 7th dose of abraxane with 5 more to go. So far se are not great, but doable. The best part is pre meds are not required and it is only a half hour drip. good luck to you!

I too did 4 rounds of AC then 4 rounds of Taxol.I had bone pain with the Taxol on the first and third treatment. yes it was bad but i kept telling myself that it is killing the cancer and that is what i hung on to. cancer sucks!!!!