TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

Gretagirl -- I hated buzzing my hair off, too. Best of luck with your second infusion!

KateB79 -- My dosing was like Gretagirl's. MO's all have their preferences; calling in to the office was a smart move. Dexamethasone is a steroid, and often interferes with sleep. You might get some sleep aids ready if it keeps you up. (MO prescribed Ativan so I could get through the "steroid insomnia" nights.) Best wishes for your first infusion!

Kate, double-check with your MO, but I took one the night before, and then one pill morning and night the day of and the day after chemo. I had terrible crashes after stopping the steroids each time, and we made a plan (by round 5 or 6) to taper me off more slowly.

kate - I didn't have oral steroids for my first three infusions, as my MO likes to limit them if possible and I got them as a pre-med on the day of treatment with my infusion. I developed a rash after #3 so he then prescribed them in the before/during/after dosing for the remaining three infusions. I actually enjoyed the energy boost and was productive - I made sure I was caught up on laundry, bills paid, food cooked ahead, house clean - all courtesy of the steroids, lol! I figured I was going to be laying around a bit afterward so it didn't matter if I was tired from being awake for so long. Like Cassie, I did have issues with the crash from the after-infusion dosing, so I halved the pills and stretched them out for the after-infusion doses so I could ease off instead. If you experience the crash ask your MO if you can do that.

ElaineTherese thank you!

Lago the way I take the decade on is my paper work from chemo class. I also take two am mad pm the day following chemo then off of them. So far I haven't had sleep issue or crash feeling.

SpecialK I do bet an energy boost too! Cleaning house now!

MMay I saw we close to same schedule. Hope yoursecond goes smoothly

Ah the decadron rush. I started at 8mg (2- 4mg tabs twice daily) day before and day after, given 12 mg iv as part of premed. By 4th I was cut back to 2 mg twice daily. To avoid the crash, which is no energy, sleeping, opposite of the rush. :I did take 2mg daily for 2 more days. At the higher dose I had tachycardia with chest pain and high blood sugar with sweating along with shortness of breath (thought I was having a heart attack) I did go to ER. Dehydration. It was Memorial day so did not call MO.

Will do laundry when I get off from work at 11pm.

Birdysmom--we have very similar diagnoses, though my tumor was 5.5 cm. and I had it surgically removed with BMX prior to chemo. My doctors didn't realize how large my tumor was, nor did they anticipate I'd have so many affected nodes. As it turns out, surgery was a good call, because my tumor was not attached to the breast wall and was (relatively) easily removed. Like you, I was diagnosed with IDC in June, triple positive, stage 3c, no family history of BC...but I'm 45, not 44. I have a Jewish background on my dad's side, but my genetic testing turned up negative for any mutations, though I did have a variant of unknown significance in the CHEK2 gene.

TonLee--thanks for the encouraging words! Good luck with the move!

I had TCH, and white counts dropped a bit but had neulasta only two times later in the regimen (make sure the nurse warms the syringe, or gives it to you to warm in your hands a few minutes before injecting so it doesn't sting so bad going in). I volunteered at an elementary school with my kids at the time, and never got sick.

Thanks geewhiz and SpecialK! I'm not sure about the mid-cycle blood draws--I'll ask her that tomorrow. I got the impression that they favor Neupogen anyway, given the Neulasta side effects. We shall see.

Another thing added to my list of things I never planned to think about: will I need a shot to boost my white count? I've always had a crazy-healthy immune system that I guess I took for granted!

In other news, if one more person says something to me about apricot kernels or cottage cheese with flax oil (or anything along those lines) being curative, I may lose my mind. I get that cancer, and its treatment, is scary. But "not believing" in chemo in the abstract is much, much different than having high-grade BC and wanting to live to see 40 and beyond. A colleague of mine wants to chat today, via phone--we've never talked on the phone before--and I just have this feeling that she's going to tell me about some cure that's too good to be true. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. I've had it with well-meaning "you really don't need chemo" people. YES. I DO NEED CHEMO. And I also need to continue to eat healthy and exercise, which I've been doing for years. . . .

Sorry for the vent. But it had to come out.

kate

Kate,

My MO was a Neulasta fan, but only during the Adriamycin/Cytoxan phase of my chemo. Despite my germy students, I only got sick once (it was during the Taxol/Herceptin/Perjeta phase), and that was from a stomach virus my kids brought home from school.

Yes, everyone knows the cure for cancer, and it's not chemo! I was at my grandmother's funeral in November, and one of my Mom's friends lectured me for over 45 minutes about some miracle product she'd seen advertised on TV! Ugh.

MMay, I never had bone pain after Neulasta; it's a common side effect, but not everyone gets it.

MMay not everyone has the pain. Also the first one, if you do get pain is the worst. I had my shot on a Wednesday morning. Saturday and Sunday I couldn't even stand up straight because of the pain in my back. That was the first one. After that it wasn't so bad. I would take an Aleve to take the edge off. If you do decide to take something for it check with your oncologist. I didn't take narcotics because they make me nauseous. My MO OKed the Aleve.

Another suggestion I got about the neulasta shotwas to get it in the stomach. I'm not sure if that helped but I figured it couldn't hurt so why not.

I did not have bone pain from Neulasta, but did take Claritin (10mg loratidine) an hour prior to the injection and continued for several days at 24 hour intervals. I have a friend whose onc said to half the interval with Claritin and take it every 12 hours instead, but only do that if your onc advises it. I have seen and heard that taking Aleve, as lago said, is particularly helpful with this type of discomfort, more so than narcotics - which don't seem to work as well and can constipate. I did take some Tylenol and also took advantage of very warm bath/showers and found that this helped. One of the problems with Neulasta after a taxane chemo is that they both can cause bone pain, so it can be difficult to know which thing is causing it.

neulasta also let it sit out for about 15-20 minutes before you get it. If its cold it will sting a little. I got mine at home. Husband shot me up in my belly.

Home from second chemo TCH. Felt good when I got home so I jumped on my bike and took a ride. Energy level from steroid I am sure. I will go tomorrow for Neulasta I had bone pain time last time I took my Claritin and 2 Advil but had to take Aleve to stop pain. It was not anunbearable pain just dull ache. I took it for five days after neulasta shot.

Mmay I hope your infusion goes well tomorrow.

The most advice I have gotten from well wishers about cancer treatment was to check out info on keeping my ph in balance. Thank goodness no one has told me what you have been told Mommato3.

Wpmoon glad you did so well with your treatments!