TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

greta - you now have the Big D?

Sorry to hear about the D gretagirl. My mag citrate is a 500mg cap which is equivalent to a tablespoon (15ml) of the liquid. It i . Fine balancing act. If I get too overzealous I add calcium carbonate. I got hit hard by dose 4 of TCH. By day 2 I try to switch or add simethicone to help with the indigestion.

My first dx was ++ her2- and opted no chemo. With TP, I know H was in the cards even before final path was back. Had surgery scheduled before seeing MO due to dysfunctional uterine bleeding x 6 months. 4 yrs of T and being a DES daughter sent me to crazytown. Was surprised by the screening mammogram that went bad. (Thought the cysts were acting up again.) KB listen to your MO and ask questions. Get more than 1 opinion. I had initially said no chemo back in the day but with the help o all here it is doable, take 1 step at a time.

Well some "things" have finally subsided! Now I will search for that happy medium but I hope to never take that stuff again oh wow! Now I also know I lean toward the "drier side" so to speak. Have to switch to Aleve for the Neulasta pain Advil not cutting it. Still take my Claritin day three from shot. Had a scare with my German Shepard today vet thought she may have been bloated and would need surgery I fell apart! She is my baby I cried my eyes out. She is good turned out to be athritis but I have to get her on something soon. So I am headed to bed it's been a long day and I am wiped out. Have a great Sunday ladies and as always thanks for sharing and just being here to let me sound off!

Motrin and alive did not work for neulista, finally day before chemo, chemo day, and next 3-4 days the Claritin worked, see what is best for you. As for C and D in the same day, I think, we have all had that at some point. Now the neuropathy and hair issues are my two contentions. Feel better gals

TizzyLish I ate ice and drank cold water the whole time I was receiving treatment. With that and keeping the ice packs on my finger and toe nails I was pretty cold but it was with it.

kate - I did all of that - I iced with frozen peas (brought them in a cooler) and used a bag for each foot, laid across my toes, and held two bags on a towel on my lap and dug my fingers into the bags. I did that so I could use my right hand to get ice chips (brought from home in an insulated tumbler) to hold in my mouth. I started icing about 10 minutes prior to the start of Taxotere and continued to ice about 10 minutes past. You only need to ice during the Taxotere portion - I was infused in TCH order, so Taxotere started right after the pre-meds were finished. There are some ice mitts you can get but if you are worried about whether the peas will stay cold enough you could always bring extra peas on ice and swap out in the middle of infusion. I did take L-Glutamine, 30g a day in three 10g servings. I used powdered L-Glutamine, available at most health food stores, Whole Foods, or GNC, or online. It needs to be dissolved in cold non-acidic liquid, acidic or hot liquids will denature it. Don't mix it with food as it will taste chalky, I used tea or cold non-acidic fruit juice. For Neulasta related bone pain I took 10mg of Claritin (or generic loratadine) and it should be taken an hour prior to the injection at the minimum. You can even start it the night before. Take it for at least several days at 24 hour intervals. I used the one that dissolves on the tongue and carried it in my purse in case I forgot to take it at home and didn't have any water with me. It did make a difference for me to take it prior to the injection, the one time I took it 30 minutes after I had the most bone pain, that was infusion #3. Claritin is thought to reduce the edema that forms in the marrow as a result of the rapid expansion in the process of making new white cells. Good luck and ask any more questions you have now and as you go along - that is why we are here!

Mmay, sorry treatment is being unkind to you. It wasn't nice to me either. While I know many are able to work, I was pretty much stuck to the couch from days 4-1O and it got worse each round. Ask your MO about going back to the infusion center for extra fluids, it really helps. I turned them down rounds 1&2 thinking I could drink enough on my own, but ended up in the ER round 3. The doctor explained that although I was drinking plently, it wasn't being absorbed by my cells (or something like that). Plus all the water I was drinking was flushing the sodium out of my body.  Bottom line I was dehydrated and needed IV fluids after every round. I would go back around day 4. The infusion really picked me up. I probably should have asked to go back day 6 too.

MMay, I strongly agree about the fluids! I went in for a liter on days #3 and #6 post-chemo day, and it helped. (Days 3-10 were the hardest for me too.)

I also suffered with awful nausea, and the oral meds weren't enough. I asked my MO to try IV Emend and/or Aloxi on my fluid days to see if that would help. Both drugs have a long halflife, and my insurance authorized the Emend for CINV on day 3. It didn't get me completely through the nausea, but it kept me from vomiting. There are many anti-emetics out there. If you aren't getting relief, don't be afraid to push for something different.

I also took a low dose of Ativan toward the end of chemo, and that helped with the nausea too. I wished I'd asked for it much sooner.

I set little reminders on my phone to show me when I hit the 1/3 point, when I had 30 days left until my last dose, etc. They went off throughout my entire chemo period. It's amazing how those little reminders boosted my spirits. They reminded me of how far I'd come and let me know that I was closer to the end.

It will end. I'm 7 weeks PFC. Every week gets easier now

MMay, we are sending you . Hang in there!!

MMay,

Sorry your not feeling well. I was so sick all the time I couldn't work. I had to take a medical leave. I to had many nausea meds that did not work . I to tried emend/Aloxie which did not work either. They finally gave me Kytril and Decatron. The fluids are a good idea.

Sherry

Specialk Thank you for all wonderful advice and knowledge you share with us. It is so helpful

KateB79 The ladies here are a great help! I am so happy I found this site.

MMay Sorry you are having to go through all this! Please be sure to report to your MO so your SE can be handled

Rosesrx I started with leg cramps last night never thought I was flushing the good out with the bad with all the water I drink! will pick up some more alternatives today

mmay, almost all of us here had some kind of side effects due to the poisons they give us. It does kill the good and the bad cells. Try not to push yourself. I beat myself up the first 2 months and the MOTold me to go with what makes you most comfortable, relax, fluids, rest, and we are all behind you. Just ask and we will help as best we can. And if you question something, call Dr or nurse right away, there is no wrong question.

MMay,

You've come to the right place, everyone here can be very helpful. I've done chemo twice, 25 yrs apart, two different types of chemo. I finished chemo this time in mid April, 12 wks of Taxol/ herceptin and now I'm doing herceptin alone. every 3 wks for the rest of the year.

Herceptin is a monoclonal antibody ( not chemo) so since you're HER2+ as am I you'll likely be doing some form of chemo along with herceptin.

Chemo effects everyone differently ( even the same chemo) but there are a lot of generally common side effects. Your MO can advise you and many MOs now work with a nurse navigator who can help you with nutrition needs, help with SEs etc. and of course there is all of us who are here to listen, and help if you need us.

MMay - you won't feel this horrible all the way through, I promise. No matter how bad some days are, there are better days as well for almost everyone. As everyone has said, be sure to tell your MO and your chemo nurses what you are feeling so they can help. Don't be afraid to call if something isn't right and you are miserable - it's really not supposed to be that way, there are so many things that can help. Some of them are meds your medical team can prescribe and others are little tricks the women here have learned the hard way and can help with. Things like taking probiotics to help with diarrhea and asking for extra IV fluids. If all else fails and you just feel horrible on TCH (your current chemo regimen), you may want to talk with your MO about doing Taxol/Herceptin instead. At your tumor size and stage it is a reasonable and less toxic regimen with excellent success rates. Both Suladog and I are on that regimen and have done very well. And as she says, don't be worried about the Herceptin alone part, that is almost always much much easier and often SE free. And lastly, never apologize for feeling wimpy - everyone of us had wimpy days, and I had a lot of them in the very beginning. It was all so scary and overwhelming. We lovingly call them pity parties and you deserve to have as many as you need to! The day will come naturally when you don't need them any more, but you can't force it! Hugs your way!

MMay,

I haven't had any major issues with herceptin, I'm back at work again and my full energy is back. They should do an Echo or MUGA test to check heart function. My Drs do that before starting people on herceptin and then my MO has me get one every three or four months, so far my heart is fine.