Starting Chemo in JAN 2007

Oh and Lynn, or anyone else who has been taking Taxotere for a while...have any of you experienced leg weakness? I am finding that my legs are very weak and wobbly, and that they fatigue very fast. I can not walk very fast, or stand for very long without having to sit. scary.

Caya - your not the last, my last tx is scheduled for May 11 so we will finish together.

Here is an article that came out today. I thought it was veryinteresting.
updated:2007-03-28 09:51:14
Cancer Society Recommends Breast MRIs
By MIKE STOBBE
AP
ATLANTA (March 28) - Up to 1.4 million U.S. women -- those with an unusually high risk of developing breast cancer -- should get annual MRIs as well as mammograms, the American Cancer Society advises in new guidelines.

And a new medical study suggests that all women newly diagnosed with breast cancer should get MRIs, too. The scans revealed cancers in the opposite breast that were missed by ordinary mammograms in 3 percent of these cancer survivors.

The study came out after the cancer society developed its guidelines, which are the first to recommend MRI for screening women who show no signs of cancer.

The guidelines are directed at symptomless women age 30 and older who have a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes; those who were treated for Hodgkin's disease; or those with a strong family history of the disease, such as women with two or more close relatives who had breast or ovarian cancer or who have a close relative who developed breast cancer before age 50.

As many as 1.4 million women fall into the affected group, according to an American Cancer Society estimate.

Doctors usually screen for breast cancer using mammography, an X-ray technique that can spot dense masses like tumors.

MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, makes more detailed images with a magnet and radio waves -- but without radiation. MRIs are better at showing increased or abnormal blood flow in the breast, a sign of early cancers not visible on a mammogram. They also are better than mammograms at detecting cancer in women with dense, non-fatty breasts.

But MRI screening is not being recommended for most women. One reason is the test's error rate, which can lead to unnecessary biopsies.

Another is the high cost. While a mammogram costs roughly $100 to $150, an MRI can cost $2,000 or more at some medical centers, experts said.

"It's very, very expensive," said Robert Smith, the cancer society's director of cancer screening. Many insurers cover MRI screenings, but not all do, Smith and others said.

Insurers generally follow government guidelines, but the cancer society guidelines could prove influential, according to experts.

The new guidelines were being announced Wednesday, the same time the New England Journal of Medicine was releasing a national study that suggests women who have cancer diagnosed in one breast should get an MRI in the other.

The study, led by Dr. Constance Lehman of the University of Washington Medical Center, looked at nearly 1,000 women recently diagnosed with cancer in one breast but who had no detected cancer in the second breast.

MRIs of the second breast found possible tumors in 121 of the women. Biopsies confirmed cancer in 30 of them.

"It's a pretty striking effect," said Dr. Carl Jaffe of the National Cancer Institute, which sponsored the study.

But it does not suggest MRIs should replace mammograms, which spot calcium deposits better than MRIs do, said Dr. Etta Pisano of the University of North Carolina, one of the study's authors.

"The take-home message of our paper is not, 'Don't get mammography.' It's 'Get MRI and mammography,'" she said.

Cancer society officials urged women to carefully choose the clinic that does the MRI. They noted that some facilities that offer MRI lack the expertise and equipment to do an MRI-guided biopsy, meaning the MRI will have to be repeated elsewhere if a possible tumor is found. Breast MRIs should be done at places that do biopsies as well, they said.

This year, the American College of Radiology is expected to start a voluntary accreditation program to help ensure the quality of breast MRI testing, cancer society officials said.

For women at high risk for breast cancer, the test is definitely worthwhile, said Courtney From Hirsch, 26, of Raleigh, N.C. She feels that way despite MRI errors that led to two unnecessary biopsies.

Hirsch's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, and Hirsch and her younger sister both tested positive for the BRCA1 mutation. They are among an estimated 22,000 women in the United States who have tested positive in the 10 years since the test became available.

Hirsch said she also has the kind of dense breasts that are problematic for mammograms.

She's had four breast MRIs in the past two years, two of them done as part of biopsies, but fortunately nothing has been found.

There are downsides, she said: Lying in an MRI scanner for an hour or more can be uncomfortable. Her family has paid $10,000 out-of-pocket for uncovered costs from mammograms, MRIs and biopsies in the last two years. It can be difficult to schedule "magnet time" at the busy UNC cancer center where she gets her screenings. False positives can be frightening, and one of the biopsies left scarring that she said was visible at her February wedding.

"I'd rather have as many scars as I need to on my body to prevent getting cancer," she said.


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2007-03-28 09:51:14

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Hi Ladies.
Well, I made it through my chemo. I just had number 4 today, and wanted to drop a line here to let you all know that I made it through, before it hits me. I know from last time that I will be sick for 2 weeks. I tried to get the onco to give me a lower dose, but that didn't work. Lol

Now I'm also set to start rads next month. Moving on, for better or worse.
I'm checking into the Herceptin, as the insurance co. doesn't want to cover the cost that I'm being charged for it, and I can't afford the difference.

Quote:

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I'm checking into the Herceptin, as the insurance co. doesn't want to cover the cost that I'm being charged for it, and I can't afford the difference.

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Yuck Brenda that really stinks! How do these company executives sleep at night? How on EARTH can they justfiy not covering a medication like Herceptin?!? It is absolutely inhuman and cruel. My heart goes out to you. Feel well.

Yes I have that slight ear thing but didn't know where it was coming from. Soon this will be over.

Hi all,

Melia, I might have you beat. I start my taxol/herceptin on April 19 for 12 weeks. That takes me until July 5. Aren't I lucky!! Then mastectomy, with herceptin continuing until April 19,2008.

Nancy,
I have ringing in my ears since I started A/C. Someone on another board said that ringing can be a s/e of A/C. Anyone else have that problem?
What about shaking hands as a s/e?

Jan, my BS put in my port.

Brenda,
Congrats on your last chemo. It is not right that your insurance will not pay for your herceptin. Can your oncologist write a "letter of necessity"?
I had to get a letter for the Emend.

Amera,
I am glad you are feeling better. Now onto rads.

I am going to my last A/C tomorrow. Yeh!!!! Looking forward to it and also not looking forward to it at the same time. My stomach in particular is dreading the next week. I just have to keep focusing on next Thursday- when hopefully the worst s/e will have passed. Right everyone?

I just skimmed the posts, so sorry if I missed anyone.
Catch you all later.

Viddie

Hi Viddie,
I don't have the ringing. You poor thing, if it's not one thing it's another. That would drive me crazy. The sticky feeling in the ears is irritating enough without the noise. I kept my eyelashes all through AC and now after 2 taxol I have none. My eyes hurts so that tells me that eyelashes are not only pretty but a very necessary thing. God knew what he was doing there! LOL ByE for now

Hi Ladies:
I just returned from Taxoter #2, (I'm doing dose dense, 4 A/C, followed by 4 Taxotere. Like most of you the fatigue is the killer for me.
I don't post too often, but I do read. You all are such a great support to me, and I appreciate all your insightful thoughts. You have made this "journey" easier to deal with. You are all in my prayers often.
Thanks for being there,

tlc
6 down, 2 to go!

I'm sorry to be stupid, but what is NED??

Thanks, Jen

Caya -
Thanks for the info! I knew it had to be something like that, but couldn't figure out what the initials stood for! Good luck with your treatment today - Jen

Funny you should mention Nioxin. Just yesterday the hair dresser at my nursing home pulled me aside and strongly encouraged me to try it. She said it helps clean the chemicals out of the pores, encourages blood flow to the scalp to help with the hair growth. I asked her if you were supposed to wait until chemo is done and she said no, start now.

She got permission from the administration to order some for me. I can get it at a cheaper price than if I went to a supply house.

I'm skeptical too but she was so certain.

Cindy - still doing a billiard ball impression

Hey guys,
I had my first Taxol treatment on Tuesday. They sure watch you like a hawk to make sure no nasty side effects happen, but it went smoothly and I slept a lot. Yesterday was an incredible day. I actually had energy and worked all day. Today I have a slight pain in my hips - kinds of like when you go camping. Well, that's nothing too painful, so this will the first post-chemo Thursday that I will be at work. Wow! So far I like this Taxol a lot better. I might start swimming next week.
I mentioned the $10,000 Neulasta shot to my onc. She had no idea the hospital charged so much, but she's going to look into it.

So are we all considered high risk? I was listening to something on NPR about it yesterday and I still cannot figure it out. My surgeon said I would get alternating MRIs with mammos every 6 months. My tumor never showed up on mammo. The oncologist said that they would probably just go with mammo. I'm not convinced this is the answer. I think I will push for MRI at least once a year. I think it's the surgeon who decides, right? They do the scans? I will have to ask.

Yippeee Dar1!!!!