Starting Chemo in December 2013

day 2 after taxol. I was up very hour last night but think that was the decadrom and the fact I slept 3 hours in the afternoon. Amazing how clear my head is today. Even my dry mouth feels so much better. Waiting to see what the lower GI tract will do today, so far nothing.  Feels like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop as far as side effects. 

I started my B6 a few days ago and started l-glutamine yesterday. I am titrating it up 5 mg Last evening and today then will go to 10 mg twice a day tomorrow, 15 mg twice a day the next day.  

Hope everyone has a good valentine!so day and a SE free weekend. 

Barbara

Sunny and 80 here today. Made me so happy and I wore flip flops but my feet were hurting and I looked and the soles of my feet are cracked and peeling. Also I'm getting muscle fatigue. Ex.- I will park in a parking lot and by the time I walk into the store by legs feel like I've been on the treadmill for an hour. Anyone else having this? 

My heels go from being fine one day to having deep cracks the next.  Foot filing after a shower and Aquaphor lotion are doing the trick for them. Chemo does weird things to my skin.  I got a rash from Taxol too.  Day 8 just like a/c.  Fortunately, I took Benadryl and it only lasted one day.  I found that my taste buds were way different with Taxol.  During a/c the taste got progressively worse each day with day #5 being the worst, then everything tasted normal.  With Taxol, every day was the same.  My tongue felt burnt and tasted like when you're a kid and you test the 9 v battery on your tongue.  It's been 11 days and my taste buds are still altered.  Also, my sense of smell is way off with Taxol which I didn't notice with a/c.  And, I got a horrible cold 3 days ago.  Coughing non stop for 2 days, blowing my nose every 5 minutes etc.  It's much better today. Last but not least, 2 days ago I was chopping onions and my thumb got in the way.  I'm pretty sure I needed stitches, but managed to stop the bleeding several hours later with a very tight bandage.  It's been quite a week.

Just popped in to say hi, I got my first Taxol today.  Yeah!  1 down, 11 more to go.  My liver tests were still up a bit, but improved over the last 2 weeks.  They say I have Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease cause unknown at this time, although they suspect chemo induced.  It is reversable if we are careful, as I haven't developed cirrhosis yet.  I am thinking I should maybe talk to a nutritionist, as diet is the only known treatment right now,  Hopefully the Taxol won't aggrevate it.  

So far so good with the taxol.  I am on a lower dose weekly.  Much easier to handle than FEC so far, no nausea.  Still having hot flashes, but doc confirmed I also have chemo induced menopause....yeah!!!  The side effect I was hoping for!  He says it is likely permanent...double yeah.  Although these hot flashes are uncomfortable & frequent!  I am getting at least 10 - 15 per day.  But they are tolerable since I now know what they are...in the beginning I thought I was getting a fever...but temp would always register within normal limits.

Hope everyone is having a goiod Valentine's Day! 

happy valentines day! Just report the 1st taxol today was pretty easy. I took decadron and zofran 2h before chemo, then got iv Pepcid/benedryl before taxol. I also iced my hands and feet, which was a bit of pain- I kept running to the bathroom partially because the cold feet! Right now I feel pretty normal, except sleepy. No nausea and so much better than AC. The nurse told me d2-4 may feel pan or flu like syndrome - fingers crossed.

Chausa, you are very brave and I was moved by your post. I have very similar diagnostic as you. I was going to go for BMX because TNBC is aggressive. I went to see a radiologist today. He told me lumpectomy + local whole breast radiation offers the same overall survival advantage as BMX and it's less aggressive. Now I am debating again. He recommended radiation to get rid of possible microscopic cancer cells even after lumpectomy with clear margin. You may want to discuss more with your doctor. 

Have a great night, everybody!

same for me - the weird taste during port flush. Maybe a little bit for cytoxan, but was not as obvious. 

About the wierd taste with port flushes...I was taught to prevent a lot of that by exhaling while the flushes are pushed, or using gum or hard candy at that moment in time.  Really works!

I had my last taxol treatment via IV today! Next week they are putting in my port for 10-12 and then on to FAC.  I still haven't gotten any mouth sores, numbness or fingernail pain/discoloration.  I just had taxol #9.  I showed my doctor my nails and she said she though I would make it.  One person Blog that I read said it was week 10 soreness and then discoloration. We shall see.  Really not fair to lose the hair, boobs and nails! For me at least because i had a BMX already. I feel like  one of those future seeing people on  that tom Cruise movie.  You know where they stop crimes before it happens.  I hate no being able to remember stuff lol!

Taxol has been a breeze, so much that I am really scared of FAC coming up in a few weeks.  I know this will only be 4 rounds, but reading SE's has me nervous.  When I get there in March, I will probably bother y'all with questions since I am reversed on the chemo train here.  Hope I  encouraging you to not worry so much about Taxol! I only have 3 more to go and no more IV!!  Woo hoo!!

Side question- radiation: who is doing that?  I will start in June and end in July.  I hope  we can help each other through that as well!  A friend told me to start drinking  aloe Vera  gel. And to start putting aloe on my chest now to prepare it.  Anyone ever heard anything like this? I totally will start preparing externally as that is great advice.  I am going to ask dr about internal.  Don't want to block rays from doing their job.  

Re taxol neuropathy

sorry gals, I realized auto correct change L glutamine to glucosamine.  I am taking the Glutamine.  I edited my post to correct this. Did not mean to confuse any one. 

Day 3 post taxol- Sleep good last night with the Ativan. Finally GI tract moved, no problem with it being loose, at least yet.  Not too achy today. Hope the other taxol newbies are doing well. 

I was hoping to go out and walk but we have 2 inches of new snow on the ground and still coming down. I had to shovel a path off the deck to the grass 2 days ago for my dog to go out. The snow is a over her head otherwise. I am sick of winter and chemo, bad combination. 

Barbara

Mikesgirl so sorry about your week! Praying your thumb heals quickly!

Jodi- I have to have radiation as well, but lung surgery first to remove a carcinoid tumor. Depending on recovery time I will start.

Barbara - I have been struggling with the grey days here in Florida while on chemo. I always say I am solar powered; ) I cannot imagine what it is like where you are. Hoping you can get out today for a walk and some sunshine! Thanks for responding to my questions.

Sore throat/ nasal started last night, not chemo sore but like I am coming down with a bad cold or something. Not sure if I picked up a bug or it's from the taxol. Kept me up hurting last night. I am worried about my WBC. During the ac chemo and the nuelasta they would get as low as 1.2 1 week after but then back up in time for next dose. Is anyone else concerned that has had low WBC? 

People have asked about Taxol and pain.  In my case, days 3-5 felt very similar to Neulasta.  I took hydrocodone on those days and it wasn't bad at all.  Plus with the dense dose, my mo wanted me to have Neulasta, so who knows how much was Taxol and how much was Nuelasta.  When I went for my 7 day post chemo blood work, the nurse practitioner started laughing when she saw my WBC count.  It was 25.3.  The week before it was 11 and before that it averaged at 5.  She doesn't think my mo will recommend the shot next time because she doesn't think I'll need it.  I'll let you know.  My thumb is healing wonderfully.  Also, I had no numbness in my hands or feet with Taxol.  I hope this continues.  I did, however, wrap my feet and hands in soft ice packs for the whole infusion.  Not very comfortable, but worth it if it wards off neuropathy.

Hello ladies,

I slept well last night, as the steroids wore off.   Woke up with my legs feeling heavy and my jaw is really sore.  Maybe this will keep me from eating too much for the next few days, I gained 5 pounds from my last weight in.  My fault, I was eating crap for a couple of weeks.  I still have to take the Neulasta shot as my WBC was 11.5 last time. Mikesgirl, I bet they give you a break next time with the shot if your WBC remains high... 25.3 wow.

 Interesting thing happened when I went for my Neulasta shot yesterday.  The nurses couldn't decide where to take my bp, as I still have a little blood clot in my good arm.  They were taking it in my ankle, but the head nurse told them that taking it in my ankle can cause problems.  They wanted to take it in my left arm, the one without the lymph nodes, I told them no and refused vitals.  They took my bp the day before chemo and the day of chemo using my ankle.   I need this blood clot gone.... 

Kim

JODI -  I will be doing rads around the same time as you too. Been waiting to think much about it. Trying to focus on one treatment at a time. Still have one more AC before Taxol and I've already freaked myself out about the Taxol and how long it lasts. I have heard that after chemo, rads are a walk in the park. My girlfriend had rads only and she said she burned only the last week or so and she is very fair skinned (she's a red head and so they told her she probably would). She told me she used a cream that really help but it wasn't what the doc gave her. I'll have to ask her what it was. 

Holli

ugghhhh  I am getting nervous about taxol number 2 on Tuesday as I have the numbness and tingling in my hands and feet already .. I can live with it right now but praying it doesn't get any worse.  not the side effect I was looking for.  we just got dumped on again with snow, in the last 3 days we must have got about 50cm....

Kimie - I'd make a daily note of how that goes so you can review it with your MO over time.  On Taxotere mine hung around longer each time so for my last dose she decreased it by 25%.  I work on a computer and she wanted to make sure there were no long term SE.