July 2020 chemo club

For those of us continuing with a year of Herceptin infusions after the Taxotere and Carboplatin are finished, what have been the side effects of the Herceptin by itself and how long do the side effects last after the infusions? I was told fatigue, nausea, runny nose and achiness are the most common. I am hoping the fatigue and nausea are milder and for a shorter duration without the Taxotere and Carboplatin. (I have become sick during Herceptin infusions so I know I will still need an anti-emetic before infusions.)

blusteryday...congrats on finishing!

Iamloved...sorry about your magnesium. Just think you’re almost done!

Today: I finished! A week late, but I’m really hoping that extra week of recovery will help and I won’t be so run down this time! My infusion center didn’t have a bell...but I’m glad, I might have cried. Instead I walked out of there like it was any other day. I’m quite tired, I’m going to try and take a nap before I need to take my steroids. I still don’t have an appointment with my surgeon to do a consult. My infusion nurse called to check in as there was a note in my file that he wasn’t doing breast surgery anymore and they had me scheduled with another surgeon. Since I had already consulted with my original surgeon and he installed my port, I am able to meet with him. They are coordinating with the plastic surgeon and getting an appointment set up. I’m ready to move onto the next step. I would like to wait until after thanksgiving...and hopefully be able to get it done right after, so I can still somewhat enjoy Christmas. At any rate, my 39th bday (dec 14) will probably not be much fun!

I hope you all have a great week!!!

Nottoday— I asked in the Kadclya forum about the percentages of getting complete pathological response with chemo before surgery and someone said complete pathological response happened about 60% of the time. Maybe that’s the number the nurse meant? (I asked the kadclya forum since that will most likely be my next treatment option if I don’t get complete response.

I meet my new oncologist tomorrow and I have a lot of questions about future treatments as I try to set up my health savings for next year. I’m on an FSA plan which means only $500 rolls over from year to year, so you have to estimate pretty closely or lose money. It makes me mad every time I think about it, but I’m still grateful I have it as an option.

Chemo #5 is Friday. I’m jealous of all of you who are finished or almost finished. I meet with the surgeon on November 18th and they expect my surgery will be the week of Christmas or the week after.

Nottoday, sorry to read you have had a rough few weeks. I hope you have someone to talk to and the face rash is clearing. In answer to your question: The medical oncologist I go to said that if the surgical pathology report indicates remaining cancer cells, then the Herceptin infusions will be replaced with Kadcyla, a Herceptin/chemo combo. I was hoping if the chemo reduced the tumor and the breast MRI showed nothing, there would be no surgery. However, the oncologist said there will still be surgery for a sentinel node biopsy and to remove tissue from the area where the titanium marker was placed during the core biopsy. Hopefully, we will get a good report and not need the Kadcyla!

good luck iamloved!

I asked my new oncologist today what the statistics are for complete response to chemo - he said the literature says 50-60% of patients have a complete response. However, he also said that since they started using perjeta all but one of his patients have had a complete response, so he expects those statistics will start improving.

I'm a little late in joining this conversation... congratulations to all of you making it through your last round! Chemo is such a hurdle! I had to stop after Round 5 due to back-to-back GI infections. A little anticlimactic but I'm relieved to be done with the chemo part of treatment.

Quick question... I'm 4 weeks out from my 5th last chemo and my ANC levels are still below 1500 (they've always bounced back to normal after a couple of weeks). And my leg and arm muscles are really sore. Has anyone experienced this? I thought it might be magnesium deficiency, but my electrolytes are all normal.

Evergreenman, I’ve heard of proton rads and checked into it as traditional rads scares me, and I thought it would be safer with left sided BC. MDA told me, however, I wouldn’t be a candidate. I would have gone wherever I needed to go to do protons, though, if that had been an option for me.

Yeah, the pCR odds I'm talking about are for HER2+ cancers being treated with the TCHP chemo regime. They will know whether we have a pCR when they do surgery -- scans can help them see if tumors have shrunk, but only the surgery will show whether we're pCR or not. For most of us on TCHP if we're not pCR after this round of chemo they will switch us to a drug called Kadclya, which is a combination of herceptin and a targeted chemo. If we are lucky enough to be pCR we will just continue with infusions of herceptin and perjeta (if you were on perjeta to begin with) until we reach a year of that treatment.

I go in for chemo #5 this morning and I'm not looking forward to it. The infusions will be fine I'm sure, but I'm definitely not looking forward to how I will feel next week. Hoping for that pCR is one of the things that helps me face the next several weeks with anything that resembles optimism.

hi ladies, popping in to ask a question. I just had my first infusion AC on 10/27. I have had zero side effects so far, is this normal? Makes me wonder if the drugs are working...today was the last day of the steroid pills, so kind of thinking I may feel yucky soon. Thank for any help/suggestions. Juli

Jujumartin, I had minimal side effect from AC. But the steroid kept me awake for a couple of nights

Brittonkb, great to read that you finished the 5th of 12 Taxol infusions and continue to feel good without significant side effects.

Melbo, I hope all goes well for you as you recover from infusion #5.

Evergreenman, the steroids keep me awake, too, for the first night or two.

Jujumartin, I hope you are continuing to feel well since your first infusion.

LilBeamer, yes, I had pain in my arms and legs. I hope you have relief from it soon.

KMom, sorry to read you have had a rough few weeks.

Susie, lumpectomy vs. mastectomy...yes, it is difficult to decide between the two!

Iamloved, I hope all goes well for you as you recover from infusion #6.

Wishing everyone the best possible outcome with infusions, hormone treatments, tests, surgery, etc., as you head into November and December.

iamloved: I meet with my surgeons and mo next week, starting Monday... I will let you know what they say. I figured I would be done with infusions until I was good and healed as well... I was looking forward to a few “normal” weeks...but maybe I won’t get that!

It does feel good to be done with chemo, but I still feel like crap. I have to keep telling myself, every day that goes by is one day closer to not feeling sick. My taste buds held on this time until day 6...today everything I tried to eat instantly gave me the shivers. Nauseous, but not throwing up or anything! I also had fluids today. Ready to be feeling good again, that’s for sure.

I have surgery scheduled for Dec 3. I need to continue on both herceptin and Perjeta between ending #6 and my surgery date. I also thought I was going to have a November “vacation” to get stronger but no such luck! My MO has told me getting just these two is so much easier, but I will believe it when I see it! Iam also scheduled with MO just one week out from surgery and depending on results will get just herceptin or combo.