Perjeta/Herceptin/Taxotere

Welcome Carla and Veronica....so sorry you find yourselves here ...this board is so helpful and everyone on here is awesome and supportive...hoping for minimal side effects for Veronica....I go for tx 2 tomorrow and am praying for minimal se as well

Thanks, I'm glad you are tolerating this round better. I hope to be better prepared next time too with meals made, sons schedule planned out better, give house good cleaning and laundry done before second dose.



I made it out of house for an hour today!! Lomotil, Imodium, depends and nothing to eat or drink but was nice to get some sun. We bought mums and pumpkins. Major accomplishment since I started this.

Thanks for the replies. At least I'm learning what might be normal, the never ending BIG D was really starting to scare me.

kelly, don't give up on it.  i was the exact same way.  my first treatment was the worst i too ended up in the hosp for a week i had fluid in my left lung that turned to pnomina because imy resistance was so low.  they gave me anitbiotics and fluids.  but being in the hosp. for a week, i got c-diff.  lucky me.  i know i would be doing muich better if i never would have gotten the c diff.  I got scanned last week and my scans were great.  so i guess all of this is worth it.  I understand the mom thing too.  my kids see me laying on the couch all of the time.  They just asked me this past weekend, "how can you stand being in the house in this room"  I can't stand it.  i hate this so much!  I finally got to see my youngest son's football game this past saturday.  i was only there until half time but i made it.  i hope you start feeling better!!!

michele

Today is really Veronica's first day of SEs. Her first round of chemo was last Friday. She's feeling flu like today. No fever though, and no Big D. So far, so good.

I'm PANICKED as my assistant at work is on vacation, and I'm there solo. Praying no need to be seen from symptoms this week.

She has her first set of labs on Friday.

I want to thank you all again so much for sharing your experiences. I'm learning so much.

Funny... I'm the one feeling helpless, panicked and in tears all the time. SHE'S the one telling ME that it's going to be Ok.

The courage and optimism on this board is amazing. I'm proud to be posting/reading with each and every one of you.

Good luck on your upcoming infusions, and a HUGE hug to all of you.

ok girls, question for you - how many of us are on this site and taking this combo? 

michele

Hi ladies.  Just had my fifth treatment last week.  Honestly, it is getting better,  and I feel much better, but stil lthe big D.  It seems from about day 3 until about day 12 everytime I eat I have to be in close proximity to a bathroom for multiple visits.  The interesting thing is that I have gotten my appetite back and the food tastes much better, but the result is still the same.  After about day 12 the D seems to ease up somewhat and I can actually have a meal and not be in in the b-room within 10 minutes.  Just wondering if everyone has had a similar experience.  It's very annoying to be hungry and yet afraid to eat.  No matter how many anti D meds I take, the result is still the same until about day 12. 

Of course we all understand.  Listen Kingcour, everyone's situation is different.  You have to tell yourself that you are not that poor 39 year old woman that is not going to make it through the week.  You feel good and your scans are good.  Hers are not good.  Many people live with metastatic disease for many years and you will probably be one of them.  On the other hand, I'm sure we all know women with metastatic disease that haven't done as well as you are doing.  I have been Sage 1V since 2001 and still fighting the fight. 

tishy34 - I have to say I am not on this regimen.  I was interested in the new drug and found this site so I have been following it almost daily.  I take Xeloda and Taxotere combination, will get my 3rd Tax treatment tomorrow.  The first one was awful, the BigD, nausea, could only eat peanut butter, got dehydrated and had to have fluids two days so the 2nd treatment he cut the dose some and I handled it well.  He said if I handled it well he may increase it tomorrow.  I do not know how many treatments a person can get of Tax, I need to ask my onco.

kingcour - I know exactly what you mean about people saying, "I knew this person that had it but she died", I had breast cancer 20 years ago, I had just turned 40 and I had people say that to me, then I had a neighbor come over and she said she had had it 10 years before, well right there I had a different outlook, I thought to myself, some people do live a long time.  I was diagnosed over 3 years ago with Stage IV, I had my gallbladder out and there was breast cancer in the gallbladder then after scans they found it in the bones, ovary, skull, urethra, and other places in the stomach area, did the Femara for 2 years.  Did radiation on both hips.  A year ago it had spread to the lymph nodes in my stomach so started Xeloda, in September they found it in the Omentum and that is when I started Taxotere along with Xeloda.  I will have scans next month to see if it is working.  I asked my onco 3 years ago what my prognosis was and he said, the same as last time, I said you can get me 17 more years and he said yes, and probably even more.  Every year they come out with new drugs so he said every year we get, there will be something new to try.  I have had him as my onco for 20 years.  Try not to let people get to you, I think sometimes they do not even realize what they have said until it is to late.

I know I am not on this regimen but I hope everyone that is has great results.  I will continue to check in and see how things are going.  I have seen people talk about tax, is it taxotere or another drug like Taxol I do not know what drugs are given in this cocktail.  If it is Taxotere is that the one that gives you the most trouble or is it all of them together?  I am just curious and wondering, if I should have to take this at sometime, I like to know the options and side effects.  Thanks everyone.

I can't say it any better than you ladies already have, but I am so glad we have each other.... hugs and prayers to all of us

Kingcour it sounds as if you are doing well, so you have to be thankful for that and feel confident that you will be around to raise your kids..  Last year my onc told me that the good thing is that there are new drugs all the time .  When I was diagnosed with Stage 1V 11 years ago, there were not nearly as many as there are now.  Just think that each year we stay ahead of this monster, there are chances for new drugs.  Can you imagine if we all would have been diagnosed prior to hercepton???  Now with TDM1 in the near future, the outlook is brighter. 

Mom just came to do bloodwork today. Had a treatment a week ago. They are giving her iv fluids from the diarrhea. Longer trip to office than we thought....

kingcour - Thanks for the info.  I did not know you had to be her+, I just did not know much about this and thanks for letting me know that and it is taxotere you are referring to.  I still like to check on you ladies to see how you all are doing.  Hope it goes well for everyone.

Shays mom,

Sorry you feel so crappy with the big D. Please try and get the fluids as dehydration can be a real problem. I assume you are taking lomotil and it is not helping? That is what works for me. I took it regularly for a few days--4 times a day. My diarrhea was very bad with tx 1 but it has gotten better. With tx 1 because of diarrhea I did not eat much but just drank a lot of cocunut water and gate rode. I hope you can get some sleep tonight.

Shaysmom I know the difficulty with the big D.  I take limotil and immodium and neither one helps on a really bad day.  I was recently introduced to an all natural product by a pharmacist, called Esdifan.  I think you can buy it on the internet if you can't get it locally.  Like all natural supplments, you have to take continuously and it does take some time to kick in, but I think it has been helping.   Its not that cheap since you have to take 18 capsules a day, but anything is worth getting rid of this D.  The supplement contains Calcium, B12 and Zeolite.  Hope you can get some relief from this as it's really frustrating.