Severity of FEC

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HardyG
HardyG Member Posts: 6
edited July 2016 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

Hi all. I am new to this forum. My mother, who is 70yrs old, was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple months ago. We don't have a name of the cancer just yet but she was told she needs chemo prior to surgery to stop it from spreading in the breast.

Her first drug is FEC and is on it once every 3 weeks for 4 cycles. She was informed she will lose her hair 7-10 days after her first treatment which was this past Thursday. She feels great so far and is making sure she takes every prescription they provided to her(which is a a lot!).

Has anyone else been on FEC and if so how sever of a drug is it? I'm concerned/fearful because she's losing her hair so quickly. If anyone could give me any insight on the drug and on their experience with FEC I would be thrilled!


Worried daughter.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited July 2016

    Hi Hardyg,

    Sending you a big warm welcome to the community!

    We're sorry to hear about your moms diagnosis, but we're super glad you found our community!

    Members should be along soon to offer their words of support.

    Sending big cyber hugs to you both

    The Mods

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  • HardyG
    HardyG Member Posts: 6
    edited July 2016

    Thank you!

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  • Hopefloatsinyyc
    Hopefloatsinyyc Member Posts: 211
    edited July 2016

    hi HardyG


    There is a great thread that may be helpful, it is FEC specific and while researching different regimes, I found it very useful.

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/69/topics...

    Good luck to you and your family.

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  • KarenInCanada
    KarenInCanada Member Posts: 271
    edited July 2016

    I was on FEC, was told my hair would fall out around day 14 so first I cut it to a pixie cut, then when it started to fall out I just buzzed it off. Seemed like the easiest way to deal with it instead of waiting for it to fall out and have patches all over.

    Wishing your mom the best. FEC was not too bad. Most important is to take all the nausea pills etc as recommended. Keep ahead of the nausea and drink lots and lots of water. I found FEC overall to be much easier than expected but I did everything that was recommended and I think that helped.

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  • HardyG
    HardyG Member Posts: 6
    edited July 2016

    hopefloatsinyyc thank you for your kind words. And thank you SO much for that link. I've been glued to it since last night! Very helpful info from everyone.

    Karendc1744 and thank you. My mom has been taking the pills exactly as prescribed. My father is keeping track of what is taken when and making sure she gets all her meds into her. I told my mom she may want to get her hair cut super short (she already has short hair) to avoid seeing chunks of hair on her pillows, etc. She said she will get that done before her 7 day mark since her first treatment (which will be Thursday). I think that's going to be hard to see. Dealing with all of this is very overwhelming and kind of numbs me - I think I need to find a way to cope

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  • HardyG
    HardyG Member Posts: 6
    edited July 2016

    My mother was just admitted into the hospital as she had a temperature of 38.2 and her white blood cells were way down.

    Is this normal? I remember hearing about going straight to the ER if they get a high temperature but I don't remember if it was said this is normal.

    Please any advice is needed. I'm terrified!

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  • cajunqueen15
    cajunqueen15 Member Posts: 794
    edited July 2016

    I'm much younger, but my ANC went down to .1 and my WBC hovered in the 1's and 2's during chemo. Are they giving her Neulasta or Neupogen? It sounds normal to me, but I'm sure they tread lightly as you age. I was never admitted, but was quarantined multiple times at home.

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  • HardyG
    HardyG Member Posts: 6
    edited July 2016

    thank you cajunqueen15 and kayb. She's only had one session of chemo not even 2 weeks ago. Is this something that will happen after every session??

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  • KarenInCanada
    KarenInCanada Member Posts: 271
    edited July 2016

    I have read about quite a few that end up going in. Usually get a lot of fluids put into them and they watch to make sure no infection. They may ask her to increase her fluids more before, during and after chemo or change her dose. Time will tell but it is normal for some

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