Starting Chemo March 2016

Nancy I'm so sorry you are feeling bad. I hope you are better soon.

MFPM, If you find that the person administering your chemotherapy is not a RN please report this doctor to the board of health. It is not enough for the Dr to supervise a LPN, medical technician or medical assistant. Contact your original doctor's office for a new referral if necessary. If this Dr is supervising they will lose their license to practice medicine.

Just checking in with everyone today! I survived my first AC yesterday. Felt ok when I left there, it was a bit over 3 hours due to all the initial set up but should be less than 3 hours from here out I hit a wall about 3:00 pm though where I just got super tired and weak. The complete opposite of what I was expecting from that darn steroid! HAHA! So I managed to just lay around most of the afternoon/evening and keep myself up until the girls were in bed and I could get away with going to bed. I wasn't nauseous or anything, just had no appetite. I kept up on the zofran round the clock as they suggested. So I took my first ativan to help sleep and slept great. Got up at 1 am to pee (180 ounces of water will do that to ya) and it was time for another zofran anyway. Woke up feeling great today. Ate breakfast and had my one cup of coffee today as usual. Still feeling good. However, I feel like I'm on the edge of my seat just waiting for the bomb to drop for the next couple of days. Just got back from my neulasta shot so we'll see if that is an issue. But I took a claritan last night and the nurse told me to take it the next 3 nights. Funny story - she went to put it in my belly and said that's not going to work, there's just not enough fat. Thank you very much, I worked hard on that. And then she grabbed the back of my arms and said this will work much better. Wah wah!

Hope you all are feeling great today! Would love to hear some check ins from others Thinking about you all daily! Wishing you good health and little to no side effects!

Okay, limited to private messages on here, so I'm blocked out for now.  I'm helping Loretta and page says can find or add by e-mail, so if you could send it to us privately, we can try it that way.  Here's the link again, though doesn't seem to work but can be added the other way if interested.  We're trying.  Support Sisters - 2016
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1380615368631224/

seashine, I'm so sorry you are having a terrible day! I don't blame you at all for being upset and angry, that is totally understandable! Are you taking Claritin for the bone pain with zarxio? And for the mouth problems, definitely try to rinse often (every 2 hours or more often) with baking soda and water. If your SEs are not well managed, please call your nurse navigator or MO and let them know you need better control. Make sure you are keeping an agenda and tracking your SEs because I was told that it should be fairly consistent each treatment so you will know what to expect on which days. I am thinking of you and hoping you get some relief.

Loretta, I will Pm you. I cannot find the group, I think it must be set to secret

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1380615368631224/  This should work due to settings now.

I normally take zyrtec for allergies, but swap them for claritan for 5 days with the neulasta.

oh man sorry you're so sick.That totally sucks:( I hope you're better like tomorrow!

I've been up all night with my son puking and pooping (buckets worth, both in the bathroom AND on his floor!!) after my hospital visit I'm terrified of catching something!! I hate all this fear:(

My second round was Tuesday and I am happy to say that the SEs have been better so far. I exercised 45 minutes per day and have managed the big C much better. My skin seems better than last time so far and although I feel weak/tired and a bit agitated, I feel generally quite well. Chemo fog is quite noticeable this treatment. Comes with tiredness I think. My hands and feet are a bit tender but not too bad. Can't complain. Totally manageable. And I am half done now with 2/4 in the books.

Gentle hugs. Hope you are all well.

Cand

I spent 2 nights in the hospital after reporting a 100.5 fever to the on-call oncologist. Results: UTI, some dehydration, slightly low potassium & high wbc. I had lots of tests because Drs were concerned about a secondary infection - I was even seen by an infectious disease specialist. My wounds didn't heal well from reconstruction with mastectomy surgery in January. I had skin grafting done 2 weeks prior to 1st chemo & still have 2 open areas. Everyone wanted to make sure those open areas weren't infected - they're not - I did lots of show & tell!

I've struggled a lot with side effects of taxotere. I seem to add a new one every other day! This is supposed to be my feel good time!! An adjustment may need to be made for my 4/11 treatment.

Has anyone had to switch from taxotere to taxol?

Any advice for hand/foot syndrome?

had chemo on Tuesday and feeling the worst today? Is this normal? When does one start to feel better

Nina - yes it's normal! For me so far day three and four are the worst. Had my treatment Monday and finally feeling better today! Hope you feel better too

Hugs to ev

for everyone on TC chemo what day would you say was your hair loss day?? Is it generally the same across the board?

I'm going to get my port put in next week and start taxol and herceptin the week afterward. Here is my problem. I had lumpectomy 2/1/16, then a week later radiation for one week through a balloon catheter. My trouble was determining my her2 status. The FISH was equivocal at1.6 and so my dr ordered a different fish test that is supposed to help determine equivocal fish scores by comparing her2 to tp53. by this method it says I'm positive. I got a second opinion and she says im negative. Got a third opinion and she says i'm positive. So, it has taken awhile to get to the point of getting started on treatment! DR#1 said originally that I needed to start treatment within 90 days for it to be effective. He didn't say anything about diminishing returns based on how long before i began treatment. Dr#3 said she likes to start patients within 4 to 6 weeks after surgery. So now it looks like i will be finally getting on taxol by somewhere around day 70 to 73?! i'm so upset it has all taken so long and if it's not going to be as much help because of the length of time that has passed, should i even bother with taxol and it's side effects!!! I'm soooo stressed out and frustrated. Has anyone else had to wait so long to start treatment or been told time to begin taxol was so important?

Thanks Fowlertee, that is reassuring. I'm up one minute and down the next. I'm not having a good night emotionally. Frustrated cause one day dr says taxol 12 weeks and herceptin with it every 3 weeks and then continue with the herceptin every 3 weeks for a year. Now today he says taxol weekly 12 weeks but the herceptin will be weekly for a year instead of evey three weeks, according to his nurse. I just dont know what difference it makes or why he changed his mind. I will get the double mx and ovaries out within the year as I tested positive for brca2. Got to take one thing at a time i suppose.