Ladies in your 30's getting FEC-D protocol?

Hi :I am 37 years old, I did tc by 4 . Good luck,

S

FEC seems popular in Canada but not much mentioned by our friends to the south. I had 6 FEC in 2008, at age 61.

I'm 31 and was diagnosed in June. I had chemo prior to surgery and I too was able to achieve a complete pathological response. FEC-D eliminated all three tumours I had in my breast and the cancer that had traveled to my lymph nodes.

here is my experience with FEC-D: overall I found the FEC much harder than the D. I was nauseous and slept for about a week with FEC but only had to deal with bone and muscle aches with the D. I also react strongly to medication that causes sleepyness and nausea so I'm sure that is just part of what is normal for me, not everyone is as fatigued as I am. 

I would give the following advice based on my experience:

1. You might be sore after your port placement, if you have a port, it will go away in a couple of weeks. My neck and back were really stiff for a few days, then the soreness was just at the port site.

2. Emla cream is my friend! You can get it over the counter in Canada and it numbs the skin, put it on before going for a treatment and you won't feel the needle going in.

3. If you have your blood work done at a lab and not through your port, make sure to keep well hydrated and your arm and hand warm. It makes it easier to find a vein, my veins disappeared during chemo.

4. Take the anti-nausea meds and let your MO know if they don't work, I had to have mine constantly adjusted.

5. Take pain meds as prescribed when on the D. I was alternating between Advil and Tylenol every four hours and it worked great. I learned my lesson when I skipped a dose

6. Ask if they have hand and feet ice packs when on the D. I used them and it saved my nails. They are slightly more brittle than before but they look normal.

Hope you have little side effects with chemo.

Calmandstrong, thinking about you, hope everything went well. Be kind to yourself today, drink lots of water (I couldn't stomach water, but soda water was great), dont forget to take your nausea meds even if you don't think you need it-at least until you see how you feel. I found the FEC part quite easy, although it did give me chemo brain and I felt "cloudy" for a few days after. Rx kept nausea away and I was able to take 3 days off work each tx, so I slept quite a bit. Eat whatever appeals to you. A lot of women find white foods were craved-mashed potatoes, rice etc. I was the opposite and really craved spicy foods. I'm guessing just so I could  taste something. My taste buds gradually returned by the third week, just in time for next tx! Make sure you swish your mouth with warm water, salt and baking soda every time you think of it, this will help with mouth sores.

Keep smiling knowing you are being given strong effective chemo- it's your friend! 

Yoga 2 days after chemo... you go girl!! Hope the treatments are treating you ok! 

I'm starting the 27th so I'll keep my eye on your posts

I would love to join all of you as I will be getting the same treatment starting Jan 21.  I am in Ontario also

I had 12 weekly cycles of taxol (same as docetaxel) followed by 4 cycles, every 3 weeks, of FEC.  FEC was definitely the worse for me.  Taxol was easy in comparison.  However my hair started growing back after my 2nd round of FEC, which was a nice surprise.  At the time, it seemed horrible & time moved sooo slow, but looking back now (9 mos later) it feels like it wasn't too bad and was over with rather quickly.  It did take several mos to begin to feel "normal" again. 

I am also going to be starting this same Tx on Feb 11th. I am nervous of the unknown, like most of the women on here. It is the fear of the unknown, that is making me "sleepless" and making me think too much.  Can anyone help with the nerves.