January 2012 chemo

I am horrified for next one too, I have heard each one gets worst. Please god give me strength if u give me this. Xanax,zantac,nexium,lialda,prednisone,florastore.. so much

Miniwheat - I don't know what cocktail you are on but I go for #4 of TCH tomorrow.  I had lightheadedness with my first round and found it was due to the Compazine I was taking for nausea.  I switched to Zofran and that took care of it.  I hope round 2 goes well for you with minimal SE's this time!

I hope it works for you Miniwheat. The Zofran can cause headaches so if it is manageable, I usually take 1/2 and it works without a headache.  You can use Ativan also.  I would ask your MO before your next tx.  There are so many meds they can try.  The Compazine was wicked!!

Hang in there BelaT. When is your next one?

Miniwheat, after 3 rounds of T/C, my experience has been that I'm OK on days 1 and 2, start going downhill on day 3 and feel pretty miserable until day 10. Then for the next 10 days, until my next treatment, I feel almost normal. The only side effect that is cumulative, my MO said, is the fatigue.

I can vouch for that. The fatigue is overwhelming. 

I think you'll find everyone's experience may be a little different.... 

I guess I am realizing that everyone's experience IS different. I need to stop trying to find ways to plan ahead and just face the fact that some things are beyond my control. Thanks all for the feedback. Did I mention that Cancer sucks!

Praying that we all find strength to plow through these next few months.

Once again I'm here trying for find answers. To bring you all up to speed - mom was pronouced in good health ( except for the BC of course) before starting treatment. No outstanding health issues were found and Mom got through AC treatment #1 on Jan 19th. Two days later she developed severe abdominal pain and was hospitalized for four days with a weird SE which involved inflammation of the pancreas. ( after days of tests, no cause was determined and she does not drink alcohol at all so that was ruled out). She recovered from that and then landed back in the ER three days later for chemo related gastro intestinal problems which caused a section of bowel to swell and press on a spinal nerve. She got over that in 24 hrs and then was told her next chemo would be delayed a week to give her body time to recover ( she's on DD AC x 4 and T x 4 ). She was supposed to have chemo #2 tomorrow but her last blood tests done Tuesday show elevated pancreatic and liver enzymes and rising WBC again so chemo is now off until next Tuesday and she has to have yet another CT scan tomorrow. Her oncologist seems puzzled as to why the rare and weird problems are happening. She's felt quite good for the past two weeks so the blood test results were unexpected. Has anyone else here had anything like this happen? Poor mom just wants to get on with it and setback after setback keeps happening.

Is anyone out there dealing with unexplained weight gain?  I've gained 7 pounds in less than a week without any change in eating patterns?  Is this from the steroids?  I'm on day 14 from tx#2.  Anyone with insights?

My experience with weight is just like Joyce's and it does suck.  As far as the cumalative effects of chemo though, so far my SE's have been almost identical for each treatment and by day 8-9 I feel pretty normal again.  This last tx, the leg pain from the Neulasta was not as bad.  I started taking Claritin 2 days before tx and continued for a week.  Maybe that's what helped, who knows. 

TryingtoSaveMom - you are a wonderful daughter for helping her.  If she continues to have problems, maybe her MO will change her tx plan.  There are so many drugs to choose from I am sure they can find something she can tolerate. 

Joyce - I have weird weight isues too.  I work in a doctors office so I weigh myself frequently.  One day I was 6 pounds over my usual weight and I was pissed!  The very next day I went in for tx and had lost the entire 6 pounds. Go figure.  Part of the reason they give the steroids is that the drugs can make you retain water.  I usually have my most drastic weight fluctuations the during the last week, right before my next tx,

BelaT - You will be fine!  I had a bad reaction to the Taxotere on my 2nd tx...chest pain, tight chest, short of breath and severe back pain.  They were wonderful and stopped the infusion right away.  Gave me some extra Benadryl and Ativan and restarted after 10 minutes.  I was fine.  But I was terrified for my next infusion.  It went smooth with no problems, they gave me extras in my premeds again since I had reacted before.  If you know what your body usually does you can be proactive and that is the best advice I can give....be proactive.  And call your MO anytime...you should not suffer SE'sat all, there are so many things they can give to help.  HUGS!!

Curious how everyone counts the days following treatment, since we often gauge where we are in the cycle that way. For instance, is day 2 the day following the treatment, or the day after that, meaning your second day full day after treatment.



I had treatment yesterday, so here on my day 1 or 2 I'm doing pretty well. I woke up a bunch of times during the night with a bladder ready to burst, and then just got up for good at 4:30. Ran around and did errands as soon as things were open, got my neulesta shot, and now, back home, am starting to flag. But I got up at 4:30.



Annie

Annie: good question. I count treatment day as day1.

Peggy 

I had my first TC Chemo treatment on Jan. 24th.  4 rounds of TC 3 weeks apart. My next one is Valentine's day...woo!

I didn't have any side effects from the first treatment and I still have my hair although I'm just noticing that some strands are starting to fall out.  Oh well...at least it's an indication that the chemo is working right? I was starting to think that I might be immune to it.

I'm having some trouble with all the acronyms that are used here. 

Waitress169 the mouth irritation is one of the Side effects my onc said to call about. you are on day 7 going into your low WBC time it is important you let the onc know. mouth sores need to be treated right away during your nadir, poss with antibiotics. did you take the neulasta shot the day after your treatment.

Trying to save mom.   A few pages back, I described having elevated liver enzymes which also seemed to explain the numbness and tingling in my feet and legs.   This is a rare side effect.  I got it about 1 week after my first DD A/C treatment.   My MO almost delayed my 2nd treatment but by the second infusion, my enzymes were down a little so he went ahead.   He said he hadn't had a patient with this problem before.    I told him about how I researched and knew that Milk Thistle will help bring down the liver enzymes (I have been giving it to my 20 year old cat with elevated liver enzymes), so he okayed me taking it.  That should also help the pancreas since it works along side the liver.     You can see more information on the Triple Negative Foundation website forum.    Here is a link... I hope it works, if not, let me know.   I have only been taking it since Monday, but so far, I feel good.  They will retest my blood next Monday.   http://forum.tnbcfoundation.org/milk-thistle-and-elevated-liver-enzymes_topic7803.html

I found a great document on the American Cancer website to keep track of side effects.  I started using them yesterday and plan to take them with me when I see my MO at the next chemo so we can go over it together and talk about any of it.  It helps to write it down each day so you don't forget what happened/when.    You can find it at  http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@nho/documents/document/acsq-009502.pdf