October 2013 Chemotherapy

I'm doing my first Taxol treatment in a few hours.  I'm doing DD Taxol so only 4 treatments.  I did fairly well  in terms of SE's on AC but I'm very worried about Taxol.  About bone pain and the neuropathy.  Especially the neuropathy.  How long does it take for the SE's to show up?  Everyone says Taxol is much easier than AC but since it is a completely different chemo, one could concievably do well  on AC and terribly on Taxol.  I'm just scared I guess.  Times like these make me so upset about having BC and having to have poison pumped into my veins like this.  I'll report back later.

2timer

I go weekly for my Taxol but so far, #5 it has been much easier than the A&C. I got a weird tingling round my mouth #4, & #5 it stayed through next day. Asked MO if this was a type of neuropathy (my fingers & toes are fine) & it is. Hopefully will just last a day or so after treatment like it did this week.

My bone pain is primarily my knees, owie on the stairs. 

best of luck, I bet you'll do ok!

Hi Pam

 we're all different. I am just happy I am feeling so good lately. Anemia is history & the Neulasta shot & A&C SEs were bad for me. So Taxol time has been easier, for me!

 Not saying that there aren't other SEs popping up. LOL that list never ends! I do have concern over the face tingly & numbness.

Good for you, TeamKim! 

I agree ladies, none of this is easy. We just make it look easy for the people around us, because that is just what we do, trying to make others feel better.

Hang in there everyone. 

Going in this morning for my first herceptin only treatment, if the echo is clear. Have had some issues with palpitations and breathlessness.

Three weeks and three days after TC, beginning to find my soul again and the energy levels are better.

The throat is still sore though-bugger!!!

Good evening everyone.

I just had my 3rd cycle of cytoxan/Taxotere but this is the first that my feet has swollen up. It has been very painful to walk and even to put on shoes. my nurse told me it is a Taxotere SE. She only suggested to put aquaphor and to avoid hot shower. Have you guys experienced the same and have any suggestions on how to cope with it?

Appreciate it.

axg, if it gets really bad, make sure you keep in contact with MO, and also report any sudden weight gain.  occasionally they have to put people on a diuretic if it gets too bad.  hopefully drinking lots of water will help.

travelmom, DH made the mistake of using the word "only" only once.  He got an earful.  When people ask what they should and should not say to someone with cancer, that's the biggest thing I say...never use the word only when referring to the time left.

Axg,

 Hello there- I am using aquaphor as well as had allergice reaction to Taxol. Eczema/dermatitis whatever they want to call it. Hands/feet terribly itchy with blisters and some peeling as well.  I am doing better this round of taxol with the help of Benadryl at night.

2timer, one less to go! About the port: they didn't put one on me either. The MO told me it was better in my case to not to have it because it was only a treatment of 4 infusions and to cut me plus the pain of having the port was not necessary. I had the same issue with finding my veins before the chemo. The nurses told me to drink eight bottles of water of 18fl oz each the day before the infusion and two bottles the day of the infusion (I had it at 10am) and they didn't have a problem that way. I didn't look at the poke again, seems when I was getting nervous my veins got really thin. I didn't have issues with that again. But kept drinking water all the way through chemo.

My update: day 15 of TC4 and still feel tired. I have to say that every day I feel better, but the fatigue is still there. Hopefully it will be gone soon! 

I will start with Tamoxifen on Christmas day for five years.

I'm sittimg in the chemo chair Taxol#3, doing well so far. My hematocrit was down to 32! Last week it was 35! WTH! I thought I was on the up and up!

Kim so glad your done with the chemo!! Your holidays will be joyous!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm hoping mine is good with minimal SEs.

Reloc- I would do whatever we can to beat this crap! The taxol is ok , I'm on #3 and it is very doable. I do my chemo on Fridays, have the weekend to recover and take Mondays off but probably could go to work. Sunday is the day I feel the worse. I am doing all chemo first then surgery, so I know that the A/C has shrunk my tumor in half so far and nodes are now normal appearing. Taxol should finish it off!  I hope!! I want to finish this treatment and get on with my life but still have surgery, rads and reconstruction ahead. You will be finished before you know it! 

Reloc -- As someone who recently went through the decision to cut my chemo short by a half a treatment, I understand your fear and conflicted thoughts better than most.  Your Dx and pathology are very different from mine, but I can tell you the approach I took with my research and my discussion with the MO.  

First, I did a Google search and found the patient information booklet that the drug company put out on the new drug they wanted to give me (in my case, Gemzar -- you would look to find Taxol).  This contained the FDA approved uses for the drug and side effects, warnings, and precautions.  I looked for factual information, not so much the personal accounts we have on BCO (which for my drug were pretty nil anyway).  Once I collected that information, I wrote out a list of questions I had about it.

Secondly, I ran my situation past another doctor -- in my case my PCP -- just to get the viewpoint of a medical professional.  Since I am not in that profession, it helped to validate my research and answered some questions I had.

Finally, when I approached my MO, I asked him first to quantify and enumerate the benefits to me from the remaining scheduled treatment.  I asked him to explain that benefit within the context of the entire treatment -- including surgery, chemo, rads and hormone therapy.  Once I understood what he hoped to give me in terms of benefits. I asked him to list off what were the risks to me from the planned treatment.  I was prepared with a list of risks I felt existed, but I wanted to hear what he thought I was risking.  His list was remarkably similar to mine.  Finally, I told him that I felt the risks we had discussed outweighed the potential benefit by a substantial extent, and he agreed that I should stop.  If the benefits outweighed the risk, I would have been back in the big girl chair.

Your expertise is that you know your own body better than anyone and only you know yourself from the inside out.   The Taxane family or drugs are some of the most thoroughly researched and widely used chemo drugs, so your MO has a wealth of information to draw upon to personalize your treatment.  But since there is not, as you said, any research on partial chemo, there is nothing for him to draw on.  It would be pretty hard to generate a controllable sample for any research like that.

Think carefully through your reasons for anxiety and see if you can separate the emotion from the fact (I found this really difficult but I tried).  If you are bothered by the the potential SEs, then go through them with your MO and carefully discuss how each potential SE if you get it, will be addressed.  If it is the reactions you have had to the AC tx, realize this is a completely new medicine.  Until you have a tx with Taxol, you won't know how you will react to it.  After you know that, then you are in a better place to evaluate.

In the end, you want to wipe out any cancer cell that remains -- your MO is your partner in that search and destroy mission.  Plan the attack together, and trust his ability to select the most effective weapons. Sorry, this post is really long, but I hope it helps.  Keep us posted, and know we are all behind you!  Xoxo

kcat, I am sorry you had a bad day with your infusion. What helped me was sipping peach and ginger tea all day for the first days after infusion. Not hot, more on the warm to cold temperature. I guess ginger does help.

Kcat, sorry about your set back  You WILL feel better for Christmas, stay positive & keep going strong. We are in your pocket!