Weekly Taxol for Stage 4

hi Aoibheann!! I want you to know I'm PRAYING FOR GOOD NEWS FOR YOUR SCANS! And congratulations on so many Taxols!!! You're my hero. I only finished #3 yesterday! I have a long way to go (indefinitely) and I'm hoping for the longgggggg way!! I mentioned I had brain radiation (whole brain) 3 weeks ago..so I'm having trouble deciding what symtoms are coming from what. The rad, the steroids, the chemo?? Ugh. But you inspire me Aoibhean 50 and Shazza!!! 67 that's empowering! I'm going on 4.

& let us know ASAP! How your scans read! If you would share that with us!

Good luck! Prayers and hugs!

Dana

Ps...I just reread all you and Diana's and springwatchs responses to me and advice and I JUST now realized what the "big D and big C" was referring to! Lol! I had a good giggle out of how that went right over my head!!! It's totally from the brain rads I read too fast and went into a whole "big depression" rant. I'm with Shazza on the C. Because of pain meds management. (I had to share since you guys did) 😊

Ok hope that made u smile if you even caught it in my reply. I have to re read the advice you gave a lot because my short term memory is way off since tx. Thanks for all the advice you guys gave me! It helps. And I got my onc to lower steroid in IV down to 8mg from 10mg. So it's a start!

Hugs!

Thanks for all the good wishes. I'm keeping everything crossed for stable, I wish they'd tell us on the day. As you all know so well it's the feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop and it's every time. There's no getting used to that feeling.

Getting scan results is a bit of a palaver. I'll phone the hospital on Thurs (onc said they'll be ready Thurs, but he's impossible to contact); the receptionist will pass my request to nurse manager and nurse to day-care onc. registrar. Nurses aren't allowed give scan results. The registrar will return my calls (when they've time - could be Fri or Mon) and tell me if I'm stable or not, no details. On my next visit I'll ask one of the nurses for a print-out - report is usually v. brief, just a four or five line paragraph.

I had a zometa infusion today which I wasn't expecting as I thought I had one in Dec. I hate when my brain is confused and I can't rely on my memory. Ds bought me a diary for Xmas so I must start making notes. I used a calendar last year but threw it out at the end of the year ha ha so no record.

Hope everyone is keeping well. Love to all. Hugs xx

Hi All,

just got my ct results - stable! Such a relief. Doc said the two compression fractures in my spine and the ones in my ribs are stable and that the scan shows no further change in my disease. I hope I am able to continue with taxol. I'm fumbling more with my right hand and my feet (esp the left) are feeling increasingly numb. The nurse said it's a matter of calling it in time as one could be left being unable to walk without falling/tripping and being unable to drive (we drive manual cars here). Also I struggle with fatigue and anxiety/depression BUT the main thing is that I am stable.

Very tired today. It was my son's birthday yesterday and I baked him a cake and the five of us went out for dinner together with his girlfriend. I really enjoyed it but I was glad to come home early. I just can't hack being out for long. We had the chocolate cake for dessert at home. I only bake this particular cake for their birthdays and I used to keep the recipe a secret but one of the things they said, jokingly, after my diagnosis was 'you'll have to give us that recipe, Mum'. So now they know where I keep the recipe but so far only I make it. Little traditions...

Aoibheann I'm so pleased to hear your news. stable is great. Hope the SEs don't get too much. So far the dose reduction has made a huge difference to mine.

Hows it going Taxol Peeps. Number 68 for me yesterday. Must admit it's all getting a bit old. But we do what we have to do.

Quick question. When you have a CT scan does the radiologist request your creatine levels checked a couple of days before? I never had too before but the recieved a lab form along with that lovely chalky drink for my scan on Monday.

Hope you are all having a great week with not too many SEs

thanks Diana. I only have bloods done 3 weekly which does include creatine etc. although this has been the case for my last 4 scans and the scan folk haven't required me to have an extra test. Guess I will ask them on the day.

I find 3 weeks taxol and one week off harder the more I do. No appetite. Lost about 7 pounds and I am a good eater. Lol. Body aches and neuropathy the worst. Hair has stopped falling out but what I have is thin and white/gray. I get 20 mg of decodron prior to taxol. My scan in January was NED but tumor marker at 400. have taxol tomorrow and then next week. Then see onc. go from there. I would like to do the taxol on a different easier schedule. Kidney function ok. That was the big dump last July. Walking every day 30-45 minutes trying to maintain some level of fitness. My dose of taxol is 156. But I am also 6' tall and 155 pounds. Not sure why the TM is 400 but it was over 800 last August when cAncer was wrapped around ureters and kidneys. That has cleared up but cAncer is still living in my body. I wish cAncer would realize that if it kills me ....it kills itself.

We are tough. Keep on. Even on the hard days. Sometimes I have to make an attitude adjustment b/c I get pissed off with this disease. I just try to live day by day and keep plugging along. Only best wishes to all.

️Hugs

Diana

Hi Mary, I used to get lots of nose bleeds when I first started but had thought they were caused by the chemo drying out the nasal passages and sinuses. I haven't heard of Taxol causing strokes but that doesn't mean it doesn't. Hope you get some answers soon.

diana50 good luck with your Onc appointment. I got my scan results back and taxol is still working at the lower dose so we will continue on. I had no 70 yesterday.

Hope everyone else is doing ok.

Shazza, Congrats on the scan results. Looks like the taxol is still doing it's job!

Diana, I hope the scans go well and you are able to do a reduced dose or get onto the anti-hormonals. You story has been a real success. I remember when you first started taxol and your doctors were talking about kidney shunts. You have come a long way since then.

Is 80 a small dose on taxol will I still lose my hair

Patti

patti

What Shazza says is correct. I am getting 156 mg but I am 6'1 and 155 pounds. Hair goes because the chemo kills hair folicals. Along with cAncer. The hair is weird. It falls out early but then kinda stops. It changes consistency and color. My hair is now thin and gray but has stopped falling out. Eye lashes and eye brows are gone. I did shave my head after 3 taxols. It comes back fluffy whit

Had my eighth Taxol today hair is very very thin, color is turning grey and the texture is pretty curly, but I still have a little more hair on my head than DH think he has more pubic hair than I do.. One can clearly see my scalp. Not sure what the Taxol dosage is but it is small. Every time I go in for an infusion I get weighed. My weight fluctuates somewhere between 115 and 120 height is 5' 1". The dexadron (steroid) was lowered and I miss the energy boost. Oh well maybe I will sleep well tonite. Got the results of my last CT scan.. Taxol did make the nodes in the lung smaller and the bone mets are stable, so I will continue the Taxol. I hope the Taxol works for a long time.

Hi all, Hope everyone is doing well. I had #51 on Thurs. Numbness in my fingers and toes continues to increase. My hair is delightfully thin and greyish white and my scalp is pinkly visible. I've done nothing with it and it must look appalling haha as my lovely cleaning lady offered to send her friend to the house to 'fix' my hair. A gf also gave me her stylists no. 'just in case'.

My last scan results were stable. I read the printout and they have ignored that it mentioned that my thyroid gland is swollen and that my right ureter is also swollen with no discernable cause. Also I have gallstones (I knew that). Has anyone else had any symptoms like this and if so, what was the diagnosis and treatment? I'm guessing possibly underactive thyroid but why would my ureter be enlarged - they'd surely see kidneystones on the scan? Or do they just not want to treat stage iv people? I remember when I originally heard that I had gallstones the doc said that they 'wouldn't touch' me. Are they afraid if they operate that the cancer will spread further?

Thanks, Diana. Glad to hear that taxol cleared the cancer from your ureters and that you're stable. I just looked at some old blood tests and my creatinine levels are low, they hover around 50/54. The scan also says that I have mild intra and extrahepatic duct dilatation, a distended gallbladder, gallstone in the gallbladder neck/proximal cystic duct. I wonder if all the problems relate back to the gallstone and should I have treatment for it or not? I do feel nauseous from time to time but I thought it was chemo related. Of course, I'm also worried that my cancer has spread to my kidneys or bile duct or something in there.

Hope everyone is doing well. We've had some lovely spring weather these past few days. It's great to see the days brightening and lengthening. Take care. Hugs xx