November 2014 Starting Chemo Crew

lesliena, I had no idea what my dose was either until I got curious. It's indicated on the bags while your getting infused. I took a pic of it with my phone lol. No worries...just trying to figure out why my side effects are so hard on me is all. Dr said he had only one other patient that had side effects like me that he's ever treated in his office. So I just think the dose is too high. He reduced the strength this round so I am praying it's much tolerable.

Leslienva - soooo happy to hear you are done with TC. Congrats!! Hoping you feel well and you're on your way to bigger and better things. Thanks so much again for all your guidance. I start my TC x 4 tomorrow. fingers crossed for minimal SE and more importantly, keeping my HAIR Congrats again!! xo

Thank you Tallylasie for your info. I'm not on the other 2 that you are doing but Taxotere I'm at 112mg (after he already reduced the strength). I think the Taxotere is hardest on me. Usually the bad days start on day 4 for me. So I will know if reducing helps come Saturday. Hopefully your rash clears and not bad this round for you. Will say a prayer for you!! I also notice the more rounds I get the more fatigue sets in unfortunately. :-(

how often did you get the shot for low ANC neutrophil? Is it very painful? Any side effect for that? Thanks

Sheeba, that does seem like a lot of Taxotere. I'm sure all this is based on science, but it is curious to me how they decide on dosage and timing. Six rounds for me seems like a lot since they found my cancer very early, but I trust they know what they're doing and it is in my best interest. My second opinion doctor said to think of it as insurance. Rather be safe than sorry, I guess. This last round (3) was much easier than the first two. I hope that holds for my last three! I hope for the best for you.

The Neulasta shot has never really bothered me, thank goodness. I take claritin, too, and figure that must help. Everyone experiences all these things differently.

Good luck to everyone with your treatments.

knittingPT, I had my first taxol yesterday, after the four a/c treatments. It seems a little easier...I woke up with more energy today, and it seemed to last most of the day...or at least the hours I was at work. I hope that it is easy for you too. And, no more neulasta shots! Wooohoo!

BreatheInExhaleSlowly, we have similar profile (IIIB, ER+/PR+, HER2-). Did you feel your tumor shrink much with the A/C? Mine definitely got smaller and feels less dense. I'm hoping it will continue to shrink with the taxol. We still haven't figured out the exact plan for my surgery (i.e. lumpectomy vs mastectomy). It all depends on the tumor shrinkage. So, I'm trying to be patient waiting to figure that out. Good luck to you!

yes I know what you mean! I am healthy too and it sucks to put toxic chemicals inside myself!! I also wondered if I could skip Taxol and they told me the risk of recurrence would be higher if I did so here I am! The first taxol was not bad so I'm hoping the rest aren't either. May I ask whether you are doing unilateral or bilateral mastectomy? I'm still working through surgery options and appreciate hearing what others decide and how. So many things to consider

Oh, Breathein, you sound like me. The last round of AC knocked me flat for almost 10 days. I started taxol last Thursday, and I'm telling you, life will get better. I have almost zero side effects. Fatigue on day two, but it didn't last long. It is SO MUCH better than AC. Like you I used to be healthy, very careful about food, exercised almost every day, etc. The day of my diagnosis I went running. So being this sick and weak has been humbling and depressing. Now, on weekly taxol (and H and P), I feel like I am healing. Until surgery this spring, that is. Ugh! This sucks! I am still in shock that this is happening.

Don't despair, you are going to feel much better soon.

hey Minivan - I had the neulasta injection day after my first treatment (this past Friday) I've had a little bit of pain bit took Claritin & Tylenol and hasn't been too bad. Exhausted from treatment but injection wasn't too bad. Better to be safe than sorry good luck!

Thanks Metta, Janiner and knitting. I ate lots of calories and protein yesterday with the thought that would boost me out of fatigue. Instead of calling my onc today I called my boss and quit my job. I'm not sure which approach did it, or maybe the passage of time, but feel so much better today. Fatigue lasted 7 days and now I'm encouraged to continue down the Taxol path.

Knitting: I'm scheduled for a unilateral mastectomy but am going to ask the surgeon about bilateral. I don't want to go through this again, however, I understand the recovery from surgery is more difficult.

My internal medicine (primary care) doc has me on up to 30GM of glutamine per day, B6 and alpha lipoic acid for Neuropathy. She told me one of the doctors in her office is working on a glutamine injection?? She has several patients with Neuropathy.

Enjoying my day today. Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

Hi Breathin' , good luck with your decisions. I know how you feel with an already healthy lifestyle yet we are putting these chemicals in our bodies to undue all the good that we are trying to do with our lifestyles. Many here are still making surgery decisions. My surgery for two lumps was back in September. I am early stage so decided on partial mastectomy and breast reduction on both sides. They took a small area out of the right and two small (1cm or less) out the left. I was only out of work for two weeks which my employer totally covered. We eat organic food from a local farm (full diet CSA) that includes raw dairy and yogurt and goat cheese, eggs, organically raised pork, beef and chicken. No processed foods....I think the healthy diet and habits have helped to manage the SE's between chemo treatments. Keep up with your protein intake , avoid fried foods, drink water and start your day with a healthy breakfast.

Good luck with quitting your job. I hope you feel good about the decision and it will be a positive turning point for you.

Metta, my third A/C round put me into nadir where you have no white cells. It had me flat on my back from Friday thru noon Tuesday. The nurse today told me that my feeling better was a good sign my count rebounded. I will know in the next day or so when today's results are posted online. I wonder if my 4th AC (had today) will send me into nadir this time. Dr said this was the worst phase and that I would be home free when we start taxol. I am encouraged. You will do fine with surgery just as you are with chemo.

Have a good week to all!

bonnie

Sheeba: Back to the Taxotere dose....yesterday while having my infusion, I looked at the RX sheet with all my dosages. I'm actually getting 100 mg of Taxotere, rather than the 75 mg that I'd thought I was getting (from my online chart), so it looks like we're close in dose after all. I kept the infusion site iced during the Taxotere and last evening. Also, Dr. has me on steroid ointment 2x day on hands and taking oral steroids (40mg. today, 20 mg. tomorrow, then none if and until the rash comes next week). I'm worried about my bones since I already have osteoporosis, and he said that steroids weaken bones so will use those with caution and keep up my calcium and walking as I can. He told me that jumping jacks or similar are great for the bones, but not sure I'm up for that right now. BTW, my nurse confirmed to me that Taxol and Taxotere are indeed different drugs. I'd heard from some that they are the same. I guess both ultimately come from the Yew tree but not sure where the difference comes in. My Dr. said it was the suspension agent in the Taxotere that gives me my bad reaction.

Hope your labs look great, Sheeba, and hang in there!

To everyone, thanks so much for your posts, I enjoy reading every one, and good luck as we continue this journey together!

Hey, Knitting, I hear ya on the single vs. double. You'll come to it eventually. Such a personal decision. The doctors all talk about the risk of death, but I'm also considering the risk of having to do chemotherapy and antibodies for another whole year if it turns up in the other breast, even if my life is saved. You've got 20 years of more potential anxiety than I have (at 58). The fact that I can only get flap reconstruction on one side (according to my plastic surgeon) has moved me rapidly into the single camp, considering the risk of surgery in DIEP is pretty serious. Women I've communicated with on the DIEP Facebook page who only had one done are satisfied with their decision. In fact, studies show that most women are happy with whatever decision they've made once they come to it. My surgeon also gave me another lifeline to hang onto by telling me that my insurance company will pay for a second prophylactic mastectomy later if I decide the anxiety (or for that matter, appearance) isn't acceptable to me. That gives me some comfort. I'm now liking the idea of keeping part of me intact, but hope they can match the two. Good luck as you move forward with your decision. Sometimes too many choices make it harder!

My SEs are settling in here the day after chemo 4 of 6, neulasta shot yesterday and my aching joints are feeling it. Otherwise, not so bad now that I know what to expect. I'm over the halfway hump now! Yee ha!

As far as nutrition, my oncologist and plastic surgeon just said to eat as healthy and well rounded diet as I can with no specifics. I keep hearing that we need more protein, but no one seems to know how many grams per day we should aim for. 1 cup of greek yogurt in the morning gives me nearly half of the 50 grams they say I should get per day with a 2,000 calorie diet. My greatest challenge is fruits and veggies, as the nurse told me not to eat any raw fruits or veggies that you slice into due to possible bacteria on the surface, so bananas and oranges are OK but not apples or salad. Here in Florida, we grow our own lettuce and I'm eating that right out of the garden, and making smoothies with frozen fruit hoping they are safe. Lots of soups, stews are how I'm getting cooked veggies in. How I miss having a nice salad with tomatoes, carrots, onions, etc. Maybe it's overkill on the bacteria, but rather be safe than sorry.

Sorry here for the long ramble! I hope you're all doing well this week. See ya on Facebook!

hi ladies. I had my first round of taxol it was pretty uneventful accept for the fact that as usual they had a hard time getting the needle in the port. Once they did, they did the had to make sure it was completely in, so they spent 45 minutes trying to pull blood back out of the needle or the port to make sure that it was in correctly. After all that we finally got going on the taxol. Noballergic reactions for me so that is good and now we just wait and see on se. It's cumulative so the 9th and 10th week usually really sets in the fatigue. But then you're almost done. I will take glutamine 24 hrs after infusion for 4 days. Then start the routine again next Thursday.

http://m.clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/7/5/1192.full

This link is quite interesting on a study done regarding taxol and glutimine.

Happy night to all.