Carboplatin

SCVA - I am not TN, I am TP but did get Carboplatin with Taxotere, and I am thinking you could add the Carboplatin on with your Taxol after your DD AC - I have done some reading about how Carboplatin can benefit TN patients and if you are doing well after your 4 AC it might be worth pressing your MO about it. The reason for my post is that I worked in Transfusion Services when I was diagnosed, so wanted to respond to the comment about platelets.  Virtually all chemotherapeutic agent affects platelets - how have your held up doing AC?  Platelets are the most mercurial and short lived of the blood cells - they can be high one day, down the next.  A platelet transfusion does not contain red cells, only takes about 20 minutes.  For cancer patients the platelets should be single donor and irradiated - should you need an infusion.  Good luck!

SCVA- The carbo is given with my Taxol so I have had one Taxol/Carbo and then this last Friday I just had Taxol. I have a team of ONC's because at Mayo you have several follow your case but they did give me the option of weekly Taxol or Taxol every two weeks but I was to get 6 doses or 12 doses weekly. Also the Carbo they want me to have 4 doses over my 12 weekly doses of Taxol. We asked what the difference of weekly Taxol vs. double dose and our ONC said that we get a little more advantage with the weekly for the Taxol because over the 12 weeks I would get a little more dosage. The first time I got the combo hit on Thursday I slept all day Saturday and Sunday. One of Carbo's SE's is fatigue and nausea. I also had some nausea but my meds took care of that. I have had some numbness and tingling in my hands and legs but I was getting that even from my last treatment of AC/CY. Carbo SE are decreased white blood cells, red blood cells and platelet counts but my ONC said no worries that if we need to I will have my transfusions and try not to miss any treatments.

I had an awesome response to the AC and my lumps in my breast and armpits cannot be felt. My last ONC visit all he could feel under my arms was muscle. We won't know the complete response until I have surgery in March but we are hopeful. I tested negative also for BRCA. After surgery I am to have 5 days of rads for 12 weeks. All I was told that they want to be aggressive plus it could be the way I found out about my cancer so they throwing the kitchen sink at me.

My journey started August 2013 when I found a lump in my right breast. It was not time for my mammogram but my MD said let's schedule it so I had a mammo and ultrasound. Radiologist said it was a cyst and recheck in 6 months. I was back in January 2014 because I found another lump. Same thing.....mammo, ultrasound, just a cyst, let's recheck in 6 months. June 2014 lumps under my right armpit. Did a mammo and ultrasound, just cysts, he said we could aspirate them but they will come back. My MD said I could remove them and they won't come back. I finally decided to have them removed September 10th because they were painful. Surgeon said it would be routine. It was not. They did not remove all the cysts because they found cancer. So they closed me up and my local doctors could not even tell me what I had or where the cancer was coming from. I was in Mayo September 24th for every test we could get to stage it and a port put in. By October 7th I was getting my first chemo.

Good luck with everything and I would ask for Carbo. I want to do everything I can the first go around because of it being TN!

posij3, welcome to BCO and thank you for sharing all the information. So glad to hear that you are 7 years out! Bravo! Thanks for sharing with us!