Whirlwind...

Chemotherapy is not a walk in the park, but it is not nearly as bad as the movies make it out to be. Some people actually have a pretty easy time of it - depends a lot on the individual person and also on exactly what chemotherapy agents you will be given. Some people even carry on working their regular jobs & keeping  up household duties! I worked part-time during chemo, but had very little energy. However, I think some of the newer chemo regimens might be easier (mine was nearly 10 years ago). I also had "does-dense" chemo protocol, which means that I had treatment every two weeks instead of three weeks - this is probably more difficult than every three weeks.

There are medications to reduce or eliminate nausea - these are often given as an IV alongside the chemo, plus tablets to be used as needed (or IF needed) in the weeks between treatments. So the intractable vomiting shown is movies just isn't current-day reality (if it ever was). And there are treatments for many of the other side effects you might experience. My MO's office told me to call if I had ANY problems (fever, pain, mouth sores, etc.) & at least talk to the call nurse. Usually, they had some medication available to help out.

I had NO side effects on Herceptin (weekly treatments for a year).

I started chemo in Oct. 2004. My MO went to the Breast Cancer Symposium in Dec. 2004 (he goes every year), when reports came out that the stage III trials of Herceptin for adjuvant treatment were stopped because researchers felt results indicated so strongly that Herceptin stopped the cancer in its tracks (my words) - that it would be unethical to withhold Herceptin from those in the control group who were getting placebo.  Prior to this, Herceptin was only used in cases of metastasic Her2+ BC. (I may be getting this a little wrong, but it's the gist of what he told me.) So, my MO said I would get Herceptin early on - starting at the tail end of Taxol. And my insurance paid for it!

While I would be most happy not to have had cancer at all, I'm so glad that it came along at this point in my life, not a few years earlier! I feel that Herceptin is likely what has saved me - I knew several women who were dx'd shortly before I was, and they died within 3-4 years of dx. 

I have been on Arimidex since about May 2005. No side effects from that, either - just another pill I have to take. My MO & I discussed it, and I will probably continue on it as long as my bone density is still OK when I get the Dexa in June.

You can do it, Terri 001. I will be praying that you'll find relief from your port site tonight, and I will especially be praying for you tomorrow. As we say here, "We'll all be in your pocket."

Take care.