How long is/was YOUR chemo for ILC?

i did almost six months. 4 of Ac that took two months. then 12 weekly taxols. I am higher stage than you. now that its over I am glad to have gotten so much chemo. yours probly wont be as long.

also a more advanced stage - 3A

6 months - 4 adriamycin (every other week), 4 taxol (every other week) and 4 cytoxan (every other week) ..... basically A/C and T but taken sequentially rather than as a cocktail ...

doable here too - no nausea, walked for 1-2 miles every night, but did take a medical leave as my job wasn't the kind that could work around all the medical appts, gained weight tho

I had stage 3 and I did 4 FEC before BMX, then 4 taxotere after. I had 3 weeks off to recover from chemo before the surgery, then 3 weeks after surgery before chemo resumed. Beginning to end, it was about 6 months.

It is not fun obviously, but it was not as bad as I had expected. I also took great pains to make myself as happy and comfortable as possible. Among other things, I built a pretty nice shoe collection during those months.

JN, we also took trips, saw friends and generally made time for things we don't usually do. As a result, I actually think back on the whole period as a nice time in my life, odd as that may sound. So spoil yourself, it really works .

The other thing that has now been solidly proved by several studies is that exercise helps against the fatigue and general malaise. Before surgery, but during chemo, I walked my dogs in the park early in the morning every day. It got me some fresh air, some pretty trees, a nice time with the doggies and a bit of exercise. After the surgery, I couldn't dog-walk for a while, but then I took a walk in the early evening (it was summer, so too hot and sunny in the middle of the day) all around the Acropolis (I live in Athens). Sometimes I had to go very slowly, but who cares really. The important thing is to get up, out and move.

Once a week for about four months with the chemo.

Hi JN. I am stage 2b and am having 8 chemo treatments spread out over 4 months, so every other week. There are 4 AC treatments and 4 Taxol treatments. So far so good with the 2 I've completed. No nausea. Hydration is KEY before, during and after treatments. Good luck, Honey, you got this.

well, the most obvious one was the hair loss.  I had my hair buzzed before I lost it, then bought two very expensive human hair wigs which I wore for about 7 months.  Am a senior executive and did not want to go public with my dx, so this was worth it for me as the hair looked almost identical to my own.  

I think the other major se was nauseau.  I never got sick because the meds are really quite good, but after the first infusion, I was really nauseous and we had to do an adjustment.... well, since I only had 4 treatments, by the time we figured it out, and it is very individual, it was over and I was onto radiaion.  I do recall some problems with my toenails....but in general, I was able to manage most of these impacts.  

Main SEs for me were hair loss and intestinal issues (both diarrhea and the opposite at various times).

I buzzed my hair off and bought a wig. In the end, I wore the wig exactly one time. It was uncomfortable and I thought it looked ridiculous, even though it was expensive and supposedly a good wig. I was told that I could only wear a special and ridiculously expensive "medical" wig. Later I found out that loads of people wear completely ordinary, cheap wigs with fine results. 

For the intestinal issues I started taking 3-4 capsules of probiotics a day (with onc's blessing). It made a huge difference and also helped keep the thrush away. In addition, I tried to stick to a regular meal schedule and madesure to eat lots of veggies.