Starting Chemo May 2015

congrats Steflove!! I am so excited for you!!

Tjh, as peggy said on other thread everyone is different. First time around in 2010 a car accident stopped me from obsessing about bc in general. There is always the daily reminder. I was more concerned with what the tamoxifen would cause so always circling crazy town. This time not so much recurrance , just wondering when chemo fatigue will ease. It does fade.

Congratulations Steflove!!

tjh, I also worry all the time. Any little thing that comes up, like pain somewhere, I always think of recurrence or something has spread. I don't think we will every stop worrying. Hopefully it will just be less with time.

it is good not to be alone in this...I do have DH and he is fantastic but he doesn't totally understand....Rads is one treatment I get to skip. My Dr's all thought that with the family history of melenoma, radiating my moles was not a good idea. So we did the mastectomy and chemo.

Shanann, almost there!!! does the numbness come and go or is it constant? I know they kept asking me that when I told them I had tingling and/or numbness.

Yay Shanann! You are almost there! Will be counting down with you!

I also had numbness on my fingertips and on my tongue but it comes and goes. I told my MO about it prior to my last Taxol treatment and she told me that if it persists and gets worse, she will reduce the dose of Taxol. I am now two months PFC and still have some numbness on the fingertips that comes and goes but has improved a lot. I would say that it does take some time to go away. When I do feel it, (keep in mind that I haven't been really compliant with taking it), I do take 100mg vitamin B6. Not sure if it's just placebo effect but figured it can't hurt. It's supposed to help with the neuropathy. I honestly didn't take it during treatment but only took it when I felt the numbness so not sure if it really helped.

Stay strong ladies

No wonder my B6 is not working. I checked, and I am actually taking B Complex. I'm going to the store!

How many milligrams of B-6? I bought 100 mg. My mother is going to give me the name of something her doctor recommended. Her doctor (V.A. Center) is undergoing radiation after going thru chemo for IDC, and she developed Neuropathy, and has suggested something, but I have to go look at the name and look it up, then ask if I can take while still doing chemo. This doctor swears by it, so if it's good, I'll share the name of it-

Here's what I've found out about this nasty side effect of Taxol (and, some other chemo drugs):

People are encouraging me with comments, like ' you're almost done!'

I have ONE more treatment. However, I have developed chemo-induced peripheral neuropathy, and there are a multitude of symptoms, but I'm only going to list MY symptoms- so far. I know that probably most women on Taxol have had to deal with this frightening side effect. I am looking into some natural remedies, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

My symptoms began in my toes after treatment #10. It didn't seem like a huge deal. My fingers and hands were numb, and my lip was a little numb as well. The feeling is like that of when you've had a shot of Novocaine at the dentist's office . I thought this to be something I just had to endure. Then, after treatment #11- I freaked out, because not only are my toes, fingers, and the palms of my hands numb, but my face is numb- the eye area, checks, lips, and throat are numb. Oy vey!

I am taking Vitamin B-6, and a Gabapentin. This is FREAK eee.

What is chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy or CIPN?
Peripheral neuropathy is a set of symptoms caused by damage to the nerves that are away from the brain and spinal cord. These distant nerves are called peripheral nerves. They carry sensations (feeling) to the brain and control the movement of our arms and legs. They also control the bladder and bowel.

Some of the chemotherapy and other drugs used to treat cancer can damage peripheral nerves. When this happens it is called chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). This can be a disabling side effect of cancer treatment.

The symptoms or signs of chemo-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) depend mostly on which nerves are involved. The most common symptoms are:

Loss of feeling (which can be numbness or just less ability to sense pressure, touch, heat, or cold)
Trouble using your fingers to pick up or hold things; dropping things
Balance problems
Trouble with tripping or stumbling while walking
Being more sensitive to cold or heat
Being more sensitive to touch or pressure
Constipation

CIPN can cause severe pain and can affect your ability to do things like walk, write, button your shirt, or pick up coins. If it gets very bad, it can cause more serious problems like changes in your heart rate and blood pressure, dangerous falls, trouble breathing, paralysis, or organ failure.

Talk to your doctor or nurse right away about any symptoms of CIPN that you have. They'll want to watch you closely to see if the problems get worse. They may need to change your treatment plan.

Chemo drugs spread through the whole body, and certain types of chemo can damage different nerves. Symptoms tend to start farthest away from the head, but move closer over time. In most cases, people will notice chemo-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) symptoms in the feet, then later on in the hands. Symptoms may start in the toes, but move on to the ankles and legs. Likewise, symptoms can move up from the fingers to the hands and arms.

CIPN most often affects both sides of the body in the same way. When it affects both hands and both feet, doctors may call it a stocking-glove distribution.

CIPN can begin any time after treatment starts. It often gets worse as treatments go on.

Oh that is VERY encouraging! The face numbing is so freaky. I will ask about that with my last treatment on Wednesday. Thank you so much!

Congratulations!

glad to hear no more chemo Shannan!!! And being deported in a week woo hoo

Hello All!

I've been off the boards for a while since my kids school year finally kicked into gear. They have so many days off in September with the Jewish holidays and staff in service days that I always said that school starts in October. First off:

Steflove and Shanann- Congrats for completing your chemo!! Yay!!! I was like you StefLove, very emotional but excited on the last treatment. I finished on 9/8 and I too am experiencing neuropathy in my toes and fingertips which my oncology nurses said that that was the biggest side effect of most patients. I am hoping in time that it gets better. I am also getting hot flashes at least 3-4 times a day which I am still not use too but dealing with them.

MySunshine48 & CatRus - I have about 2 eyelash on my left eye and about 6 on my right. During chemo I had them all but when I stopped they started to fall out. I wish they would grow back faster but for now my girlfriend is going to show me how to apply false ones. My eyebrows are slowing coming back in but I still use a pencil because they are very sparse.

Magnolia83 - I wish you all the best on reaching the finish line...the end of chemo...yay!!

As for me, I met with my BS on 9/30 - my tumor shrunk a great deal but still not a candidate for a lumpectomy because she still wasn't confident that she could get clean negative margins. That wasn't shocking news for me since I had already decided on the double mastectomy given all my issues with dense tissue and a gazillion cysts, I didn't want to always be wondering what would come about in my left breast years from now and if I had to go under for the right you might as well do the left. I am a very tiny person (barely a 34A) and my breasts don't define who I am as a person so I am okay with letting them go. I had a sentinel node biopsy done this past Monday and today got crappy news that there is cancer present so during my mastectomy surgery on 10/27, she's got to go in and take out more tissue. I was really, really hoping that with me doing chemo before surgery it would kill the cancer but it didn't. I was having reconstruction at the same time but now I am wondering since I will have to do radiation if that is a good idea? I've heard from a friend who had to go through this and didn't have a good outcome, so I am struggling on what to do. "Do I just do the mastectomy with no reconstruction now " or "Do I do the reconstruction and hope the radiation doesn't affect the tissue expanders." It sucks that I have to make a decision pretty quick because surgery is in 5 days.

Thanks for letting me vent - it's been a lousy day but I'm hoping tomorrow gets better.

Have a good night everyone!

Sharapril...I knew going in that I would have a mastectomy even though lumpectomy was recommended. I didn't have to do rads and my lymph nodes were clear. Talk to surgeons....Maybe focus on getting rid of cancer first? Sending hugs and prayers your way.

Hi Everyone!

My surgery went extremely well on 10/27. I opted to not do reconstruction at the time of surgery because I spoke with several friends who had similar procedures and had complications with radiation and the tissue expanders. I stayed in the hospital for 2 days and then came home which the only hard part is that I can't get comfortable sleeping straight up with the 3 drains but tomorrow they will all come out...YAY!! My BS is out of the office this week so her colleague, will be taking them out as well as sharing the path news with me. As of yesterday they did not have the results yet. I will share my news tomorrow after my appointment.

StefLove- my BS took out additional nodes but she said they didn't look enlarged or indifferent from the first 3 she moved at the time of the biopsy and was completely shocked the initial path report came back positive. I am keeping my fingers crossed and staying positive that this report will come back negative.

Sharapril...Stay strong and postive...will keep you in thoughts and prayers.