Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
Comments
-
I decided to stop at 4 tch.....all my friends and family are having a fit. One of my friends called in a favor and made me appointment with another prominent Onc. in St. Petersburg, FL. She lost a a dear friend to Breast cancer a few years ago and was not going to rest until I talked with a second onc. My appointment was today and after giving him all my test results and exrays...if I was his patient he would recomend 4 treatments of tch and a year of herceptin. Which I plan on doing. He also recommended that I get tested for the genetic gene. Because my aunt had breast cancer and my dad had colon cancer I am at a high risk for ovarian cancer. He said that if the genetic test came back positive that he would HIGHLY recomend that I have my ovaries removed. So..that is next on my list to have done! I do not want to go through Chemo again!! I am VERY comfortable with 4 tch! The last treatment just about did me in. No anti-nausea medicine has worked for me....not even POT! Yes I even tried that! I was desperate to try just about anything! So...please do not judge my decision...it is what I feel is best for me.
0 -
It looks like our thread was removed for some reason. I pulled up an old post and I am trying to reinstate the thread. Let's hope it works.
0 -
Smile: Are you ok?? I see you posted and then deleted.
Well, I go in for Chemo #5 today MAYBE. Depends on my blood counts. Last week my platelets were down to 42 and they have to be 100 for chemo to happen. Has anyone else's platelets increased that much in one week? I had the transfusion last week but that was just RBCs--no platelets.
It helps me to see that others have had their chemos delayed too. It's not the end of the world. I came into this knowing it could happen. I'll take a Xanex before I go and hope I don't have another meltdown.
I'd LOVE to get together with all of you! A cruise would be easy too. Let's talk about it some more.
0 -
It looks like whatever you did worked. I could not find our thread either this morning.
Strange. All seems to be fine now.
0 -
Smile - Are you OK? Looks like you have been up most of the night.
Denali, Yes, a cruise would be fun. I am open to just about anything.
0 -
I'm glad it worked.
If it happens again, all you need to do is go into your home page and pull up your recent activity. Click on one of your recent posts in this thread, type in a new post and submit it.
We don't want to lose our TCH thread. Our little camp chemo has been a real help to so many.
0 -
Thanks my2boys - I about went into a panic when I couldn't find us. That was really strange.
0 -
You're quite welcome Lisa.
Denali - Good luck today with TX #4. If they end up having to delay the chemo, they may just give you the herceptin alone. My counts always seemed to be on the brink of trouble, but they never stopped me from chemo. I was aware that if it were to happen, I would still continue with the herceptin until chemo could resume. Good idea to take the Xanax. I still take one each time I return to the treatment center for my herceptin treatments. I had a few meltdowns when I was there and I didn't want a repeat performance.
0 -
I deleted my post because I was not happy with the way I wrote it.
So...here it goes again.
I have decided to stop at TCH#4. My friends were going crazy with that idea, after my Onc. wanted me to do 6. So...one of my friends arranged an consultation appointment with a well known Onc. in St. Petersburgh, FL. Since she went through soooo much trouble to get me an appointment the very next day...I went for her with my pathology reports and exrays in hand. As it turns out, he would have prescibed 4 TCH with the Herceptin for a year with my diagnosis. I was very comfortable with my descision....and now everyone else can be too. I have not talked with my Onc. as of yet. My appt is at 11 a.m. today. I asked about my legs swelling and he said it was from the Taxotere and would subside as time went on. I am scheduled for another ECHO sonogram today at 1:30 and that is custom too. That should be done every 12 weeks as long as I am on Herceptin. I plan on starting Radiation May 18.....going to try to get that appointment today : )
I want to thatnk each and every person on this thread!! I could not have made it this far without you!! Big HUGS out to all of you! I will still be checking in on this thread to keep up with everyones progress.
LISA: Did you get my email??? I am not going to be able to make it to the beach. I have been talked into going to Lake Cumberland in KY! There are four other couples going and he pretty much begged me. I weighed out my options....I have been and can go the beach anytime....I have never been to Lake Cumberland and here it is absolutely beautiful. We will be staying on a five bedroom house boat...first too for me
!! Have fun at the beach and dont forget the sunscreen : )Shari
0 -
Shari, Lake Cumberland is gorgeous! Yes, you can go to the beach anytime. Also, I have you on the list for riding/camping this Fall in the Ocala area.
I am glad that you got a second opinion before making your decision. Now you can be comfortable with the change in plans.Lisa
0 -
I"M FINISHED LADIES! CHEMO IS NOW A BAD MEMORY!!
Took until today to feel like posting but here I am...on the upswing! All of you that are finished know exactly how I feel. Those of you in the midst of it, know this....your turn WILL come. I know it does not feel that it will ever end but it will. I cried many tears thinking I couldn't do it, but knowing that now makes this point ever so sweet. And a get together sounds GREAT to me if I can pull it off financially. That IS a big if.
Now, 2 things I need....to get through revision surgery on the 27th with no infections and to hear from Cupcake again! I'm praying hard that she'll be well enough to check in soon.
By the way, check out the thread I opened for Mothers Day greetings. You can type in a name and the person becomes part of the "news." It's rather funny! You Moms will love it.
Blessings to all
Ellen
0 -
my2boys, you are my hero, thanks for getting the thread back up
Denali, good luck today. I hope everything is able to go ahead as planned, I know how much you want chemo to be over. Hang in there girl.
Smile, I am glad that you got a 2nd opinion and that you are now comfortable with your decision. I know how hard chemo was for you so i'm glad it has all worked out. Have fun at Lake Cumberland and big hugs back to you.
lisa1964, When is your family reunion? Is it in Wayne County as I know the Maynard family has a big one every year. I would love to see you when you are here.
It looks like the TCH get together is an idea that might work. If those of you who are interested could give a heads up maybe we could get a better idea of where to try and have it. We have lots of Californians and Floridians then there are the westerners, midwesterners, northeasterners and southerners and Hong Kongers, Canadians.....
Cupcake, thinking about you, hope you are healing quickly.
maja0 -
Swampy, Thanks. I can relate about the issue of it being nice to be able to control something, even if it is your hair. I still have a lot of mine which is nothing but stubble, but I can tell that it is slowly coming out.
Monday I had my 2nd dose of chemo, and I had an allergic reaction to the Taxotere. I have never been so scared in my entire life! My face was "Scarlett" according to the nurses and I could feel it swelling as well as the rest of my body. My B/P was 150 over 88 when it is normally 120 over 70. So, no more Taxotere.
Anyone else have this happen and have to be changed to Abraxane?
Colette
0 -
Colette- I started and stayed on Abraxane rather then taxotere. No premeds! White counts stayed within range. Red and platlets tanked at the end. Mostly due to the carbo. From all accounts. Abraxane is easier to tolerate. And a much shorter infusion time!
Ellen
0 -
Chemo brain here--had to edit my post as it's Chemo # FIVE (not 4) I'm scheduled for today. Duh!
Thanks for all your positive thoughts for me today. I just took my Xanex and I think that's what I fear the most--another meltdown. I think I'll be ok though. I can't tell you how much help I get from this board!!! I really don't know what I'd have done without it!
Smile: I'm so glad you got that 2nd opinion. For your pathology (Stage 1, 1cm, no nodes) 4 tx certainly seems reasonable. But what about your graduation party?? You missed it! So promise us you'll go out and celebrate the end of chemo! No missing excuses for parties, k?
If it's a cruise, folks vote for it's cheapest to depart and return to the same port--somewhere that the flights are cheaper--California, Florida, NY, Seattle. Cruises are nice for groups because you don't have to decide where, when and how you're going to get to dinner. If we reserve the same table, we can do our own thing and/or meet during the day and then have dinner together every night. I saw some 7-day Princess cruises to Alaska for as cheap as $399, but they'll probably go quickly. Carribean cruises are always pretty reasonable. Who was it who volunteered to organize this? If you're still willing to organize, maybe those of us interested could PM her and contribute info.
0 -
Good for you, REKoz! That has to be a good feeling to be done with chemo! I am half-way there myself!0
-
Hooray Ellen! Whoo hoo from WV (lol) so glad that you are finished.
Denali, 5 sounds way better than 4. Good luck.
Swampy, sorry to hear about you experience with taxotere. Glad that they got it under control and that you can have abrxane instead. Your experience is similar to what happened to me with the 3 week herceptin the last time.
Denali votes for a cruise. what does everyone else think?
maja0 -
Majanumbal... "Monday I had my 2nd dose of chemo, and I had an allergic reaction to the Taxotere."
That was Collette not me, but no problem. :-)
0 -
Duh, Sorry about that. residual chemo brain?
0 -
Majanumba...I hear you there! Chemo brain sucks. I am there quite heavily right now.
Colette
0 -
I called Cupcake and got an update on her status for all the campers.
The surgery was successful but it has a difficult recovery period. She had to go back into the hospital because of a reaction to a post surgery medication and has just gotten back home. She is still in pain and on bed rest with the reconnected plumbing figuring out how to do its job again. She isn't up to posting yet.
Cupcake was pleased to hear that the group was thinking about her and would appreciate your prayers.
0 -
Thanks for the update, Bluedasher! Glad to know she is recooperating!
0 -
Glad to hear that cupcake is recovering. It sounded like a difficult surgery.
Shari~ I have to say it was very nice of you to go to that meeting for your family and friends. Now you need to celebrate. You did it !
Ellen~ Congratulations!! Now you need to concentrate on your upcoming surgery
0 -
REKoz: WHOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!! There is a God! You did it! Congrats!
Denali You are almost there. Delays happen but its still almost over.
Smile: Celebrate!!!!!!!!!! Life is good. You can join or May Rad group.
Collette:Sorry your having trouble. You will figure it out. I am glad that they stopped the taxotere. That stuff is mean.
Thank you My2boys. You saved the day!
Lisa: How are you feeling? Hair getting thicker everyday? You sound great.
I ask this before but I was wondering does anyone else feel the herceptin in there effected breast after infusion?
0 -
ccBaby... I am sure my next TX will be on the 26th too, but I have to wait until I see the onc because he has to be the one to say yes or no. Anyway, the only drug I have for nausea is Compazine. This is the first time since I started that I have actually thrown up and it was a bad night Monday night. When I started this whole thing I asked about Emend, and my doctor said that was not for me, and that it was for worse cancers like leukemia etc. but I know all you ladies get it and you have the same thing I have, so what's up with that. He did say he would give me something stronger when I need it , but never said I could get Emend.. I will see what else i can get for next time. And about radiation,,, I don't think I have to have it, but I don't know. Originally I was going to have it for sure because I started with just a lumpectomy, but now with the mastectomy , they said I would only need radiation if the margins were close to the chest wall, which they did not expect to be the case for me. My plastic surgeon says he won't do implants on radiated breast tissue, so I hope I don't need it. I have not done any reconstruction at all yet. Thanks for keeping me up to date on you.
Wendy
REKoz..congratulations, you brought tears to my eyes literally, reading your bold typed IM FINISHED!!!!! yeah.
0 -
Denali, for both of my last two chemo sessions, my platelets were two low for chemo in the test I took 2 days before chemo. Not quite as low as yours - my readings were 81 and 89 - but I think it is likely that they had gone lower in the week before when I didn't have blood tests. In each case, my onc suggested delaying chemo (actually the second time she even suggested that I just stop at 5 and not do the last chemo). She let me retest on the day of chemo to see if it had come back up enough.
The first time it came up to 136 and the second time 111. So over two days it went up 55 points one time and 22 the other. In each case, I also had a follow-up blood test about a week later and platlets were around 275 then so they can come up fast.
It seems possible that your platelets will come up enough to allow chemo. But if it is delayed, that happens and shouldn't be a big problem either.
Camp chemo trip, I'd be interested if the dates work out. A cruise would probably make organizing easy and I think if you have a group they will often make a function room available for a get together during the cruise in addition to making it easy to have meals together.
I would slightly prefer an Alaska cruise to a Carribean one because I've never done the former and I've done the latter a couple of times. But the reunion is the main attraction so I would do Carib again if that's what works out.
If not a cruise, I'd rather not do Las Vegas - I have to go there at least once a year for business meetings and I find casinos annoying - the noise level and in some cases the smoking bother me and they always arrange the hotels so you have to go through the casino. I like Key West, but the distance from major airports may make travel difficult for some. New Orleans provides a fun atmosphere and is a bit more mid-way between the coasts.
But I don't particularly mind going to the east coast. If I use frequent flier miles, anywhere in the US costs the same miles and even with $, with advanced purchase one can often find a good price regardles of how far in the states.
What time frame? Weather considerations influence where would be good.
0 -
Wow, all I did was go to the beach for a couple of hours and you guys have been posting fools!
Ellen - congrats!!!! It is a great felling isn't it?
Wendy, ask for Zofran if you can't get emend
Bold, the hair is getting better every day, but not fast enough to please me. I won't go hatless until the bare spots are filled in. Only 8 days until me trip, so I guess I will still be my Nike cap. The herceptin gave me a punch this time. Don't know if it was my fault because I was really busy this week (and I have a head cold) or if it is another one of those "cummulative" things. But the muscle fatigue this week was incredible.
Blue - thanks so much for checking on Cupcake and keeping us updated. I have had 4 intestinal surgeries and the recovery is really slow and painful. Glad she is doing good. I hope she feels up to posting soon.
Maja, I will be in Elliot County KY (Ashland) just over the river from you in August. Don't have the exact date yet. I will make sure we get to see each other. I will be staying in Franklin Furnace, but I will also be visiting the other side of the family in Proctorville (literally over the river).
On the trip: Can I get some info on a couple of different options for people with time and/or budget constraints? I will go check the "Get Together" section and see what other BC reunions have done.
Swampy, glad we heard from you. Hope you are doing OK.
Lisa
0 -
CC Baby: Medicare denied my onco's request for Emend. I got Lorzopan(sp) instead and it, along with the other OTC meds for digestive se's seems to be doing the job. I did get a new script for diarrhea up from the OTC versions to a precsription version, and my doc raised the ant-acid from 75 mg to 150. Third day out from chemo and I'm feeling pretty good.No terrible se's this time so far. Just feel a little fatigued.
0 -
Thank you everyone for the hardy congrats. Yes, it is an incredible feeling..now just a few more days of se's and I should start feeling pretty good.
Bold- I have experienced wierd sensations in both my expanders after every infustion. The one week when I couldn't have chemo and just had Herceptin was no different. Now, I have now breast tissue so I don't know if it's phantom stuff tissue around that area is effected by infustion. I could see the right side because my port is right on top of the expander. Always wondered why I get wierdness of the left. Doesn't worry me though...it's too friggin soon for me to worry. I need to get through the reconstruction process and finish Herceptin. Then I will give myself permission to worry JUST a little about wierd things. At least I hope that's how I handle it. I have no intentions of letting this rule my life any longer then it obviously has to.
I vote for a cruise if I could swing it. Alaska is on my bucket list but I'd be willing to go anywhere. There are alot going out of Fla for less then a week. I probably won't be finished up until October at the earliest. Don't think Alaska in Nov. would be good!
I love you gals and truly feel like we've shared some deep parts of ourselves that even those closest to us may not see. Gives me the warm fuzzies!
xoEllen
0 -
I'm on TCH (since Dec 08) where the T is taxol. I've had diarrhea for what seems like forever from the Carbo. I've been very dizzy -- sometimes when I stand up the room swims and my hands have tremors, so much so that my arms wave around. Twice I collapsed to the floor. I've had a brain scan to see if I had mets there, but it's clear. My cats are getting better -- should have only 2 more infusions.
Has anyone else had such extreme dizziness? Usually it is "regular" dizziness, this extreme stuff is about once or twice a week.
Other than this, it's the poops and acid reflux that are tormenting me. Oh yeah, chemo brain has been making it a real joy as I go on job interviews!
Elizabeth
0
