Can I delay Chemo/Herceptin for 7 months?

Hi Annie!

Your cancer was HER2+ and Grade 3. Grade 3 cancers involve rapidly dividing cancer cells, and the over-expression of the HER2+ protein may very well be the culprit. Why the rush? Well, just because your lymph nodes are clear doesn't mean that you don't have cancer cells in your bloodstream and in your lymphatic system, moving all around your body, looking for a new home. Yes, it is true that such cells often initially make a new home in the axillary lymph nodes, but they can land anywhere and begin to form new tumors. Chemo + Herceptin is considered to be a systemic treatment, as it travels throughout the bloodstream and lymphatic system, killing the cancer cells therein.

I, personally, would not wait 7 months to get treatment. HER2+ cancer used to produce some of the worst outcomes. With Herceptin, it does not. Waiting 7 months might just allow the cancer cells in your system the time to set up shop elsewhere.

Have you considered trying to work through chemo? I did. I had my infusions on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, I'd be OK because of the "steroid high." I'd crash on Saturday and have a blah weekend. But, by Monday, I was feeling well enough to go back to work. Some ladies will save some of their sick days and plan to take them on the days they feel the worst.

Good luck!

Being HER2+ also, I would not have been comfortable waiting 7 months for chemo. They knew I was HER2+ from the getgo, so I did chemo first and started 9 days after diagnosis. Was your HER2+ status determined only after surgery? If so, that is likely why you weren't hearing chemo beforehand but are now. I hope you can find a way to make it all work.

anniekaja11, I'll check back in next week to see your update. For me, there were difficult days every three weeks due to chemo, but there were also days that felt nearly normal, or at least normal enough. I started chemo late August and finished mid-December, and then I did Herceptin only every three weeks through the following August.

Whew…I am glad to read the excellent advice you've been given, and glad that the ladies seem to have changed your mind about waiting for your chemo treatment. I would not have been comfortable waiting at all and would not recommend that to any HER2+ person, just for the same reasons Elaine gave.

I had six round of TCHP (every three weeks) then continued with Herceptin only to total one year. I usually had my infusion on a Friday, then spent the weekends taking it easy, Monday's would go in for a Neulasta shot THEN would feel bad Monday night and the next couple of days. Usually by Wednesday I was back to normal or almost! Never once did I get nauseous or throw up. I do work from home, and I know it's not the same as having to get dressed and out of the house…but I continued working throughout treatment. A couple of my clients that I deal with several times a week (calls or texting) never even knew what I was going thru.

Herceptin is "the game changer" for us that are HER2+! I'll be checking on you Monday also! --Lorie

Hi there. I just finished my 3rd weekly Taxol and Herceptin. I'm working through and doing well. I do my treatments on Thursdays and that has worked well so far. The 1st 2x were Tuesdays and we're a little harder You can doit!.

The first day was the longest...I think I was there 8 hours! But I had blood work, saw the doctor, then got to the infusion room. Plus there is a little bit of a wait because they don't have your meds ordered until you get there. So the ACTUAL time getting infused (is that the word? LOL) was much less. After the first time, took about 5 hours.

The process itself...eh...nothing to it. Just bring stuff to keep yourself occupied. Laptop, phone, magazines...they will probably have TV's to watch. Bring snacks too. I usually felt fine after my appointments. Would always stop at Target on my way home since it was right by my center.

My husband dropped me off for my first appointment since I didn't know what to expect. But after that I always drove myself.

And no cold caps for me...it was all I could do to hold on to the frozen pea bags during Taxotere! (To possibly prevent neuropathy and damage to your nails) I hate the cold and that would have been unbearable for me! Plus my hair wasn't "all that"-- ha!

The infusion process was easy. I was able to be on conference calls and no one had any idea where I was! Take books, laptop, movies, etc. It does get boring. The total time with doctors and infusion treatment was 4-5 hours. I felt fine afterward and always drove myself. I scheduled my appointments for the afternoons so I could go home vs. going back to work. I usually couldn't get to sleep until ~ 2 am because of the steroids. I didn't use cold caps. I learned a lot about myself, my teenage boys, my co-workers, and strangers when I was bald and wore scarves. In general, everyone was amazing. Some people stared, but it taught me what disabled people go through every day. Your attitude makes a huge difference!

Sounds like you are on your way to the start of treatment. The injection is most likely the white cell booster Neulasta which is done 24 hours after chemo every three weeks. I received anti nausea meds intravenously just prior to infusion, but the anti-nausea meds post infusion were oral meds. There are a numbe of people who do cold caps - just type cold caps into the search box and you will get some threads. People who post there can fill you in on the details. There is less consensus regarding whether cold on your hands and feet has any effect on neuropathy - most of us have done it to preserve nails - Taxotere can cause nail loss. I took B6 and L-Glutamine to prevent neuropathy, with my oncologist's blessing. I did experience some tingling/numbness that resolved between infusions until the last couple, and then the numbness lasted until about 3-4 months post chemo, and it did go away.

I'm glad you're getting a plan in place. For me, chemo day and the day after were fine, really. The next 2-3 days weren't great. Rounds 3 - 5 were probably the hardest, but for some reason round 6 seemed easier. I had a lot of anxiety with the first round, not knowing what to expect, and I'm sure that helped trigger my migraine that time around. I didn't ice my nails, and while I didn't lose any or have any neuropathy, I did have some issues with some of my nails lifting toward the end, which hurt. You might want to talk to your MO/nursing staff about icing. I didn't cold cap either, but in hindsight I wish I would have learned more about it. It all happened very fast, and no one at my cancer center counseled me about ways to save my hair.

Chemo day (Wednesday), I felt good. I felt OK on Thursday and Friday. By Friday night, I would be feeling kind of shaky. I'd take it easy during Saturday and Sunday, and began feeling better on Monday. But everyone is different! I think I felt OK for a few days because of the steroids. (By the way, the steroids do keep you up, so you may want to think about sleep medication for just those two days. I took Ativan, but others do just fine on Melatonin or Benadryl.) I never iced anything, and I did get mild neuropathy in my fingertips. But, it went away after I stopped chemo.

I didn't cold-cap, but I was doing AC, not TCH. Cold-capping seems to work better for TCH than for AC. I did get a wig which looked better than my real hair. Many of my acquaintances just assumed that I'd gotten my hair colored (it was slightly darker than my real hair), and they were very complimentary. I told my boss and my colleagues about my cancer; I didn't care what they all thought. I'm a college professor, and I taught my two classes, as planned. But, I stepped down from some committees until I finished active treatment.