Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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That was weird, I ran out of room. (A sign I should quit whining!?)
I borrowed 3 wigs from the CCS today. I had a friend with me so that helped. None of them are my regular hair color but for some reason they look ok (just trying to convince myself here - it felt like I was dressing up for halloween!)
This was our May long weekend and yesterday we woke up to snow! The lake will have to wait a little while longer I guess.
One more thing I was wondering, the pre-chemo pills we have to take - is that what makes you constipated? And should I start taking the senokot etc at the same time as the pills? My head hurts and I have information overload. But it's only 2 more sleeps till the big day so need to be ready I guess.
Thanks for listening
Hope you are all having a 'good' day. Anji
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Imt041409 - Sorry that you had to join us, but you have found a great group. Please, get those acrylics off NOW! Make sure the tech soaks them off, do not let her pull them off!! Nail damage/loss is a possible side effect of TCH.
Lisa
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Welcome to the newbies. We used to call this camp chemo but not too many say that now. Funny what you remember. Anyway I hope this site can be a comfort to all of you and so many have came and gone since I first came here. I am doing a lot better now that my blood counts are getting normal again but the lack of exercise has taken a toll on me. I am back to being a commercial bank teller as of yesterday and boy was I tired. I am not sure I could have done any exercise while I was so sick but then I now wish I had done as much as possible. I did not just vegetate but I should have done more than I did. Several here has continued with their normal routine but I could barely do laundry and cook meals. some days I had to enlist the hubby to help with breakfast. I always just took my time getting stuff done since I was not working ( docs orders) I think I would forget to take my nausea meds and when my hubby helped me I did better. It is so over whelming. I have other health problems but I said I was not going to let them get me down and then came cancer. Boy did it get me down but I am up now! I went through having to postpone tx and have blood transfusions etc. I made it,all of you can too but you will need lots of strength, just tell yourself you are not alone and others have done it and they are well and happy.
This sounds like a sermon and I have been accused of preaching sometimes. I just want everyone starting to know people here have finished and are sticking around to help you. The ones finishing TCH still have surgery or Herceptin. Some of older ones will be finishing that but I intend to check in from time to time to encourage. I am on the band wagon to get the message out that early detection is KEY. Mine was spread to sentinal node and 3 other ones. I waited after I found the lump for a more convenient time. Please tell all the women you know to stay on top of this. Three others in the church where I go have found cancer since a friend and I first found ours. I think we got people to checking themselves. One is a young man who had testicular cancer so warn your boys and male friends to keep on top of this thing called cancer.
Okay, I am through. I hope every is doing well. I go today to see how my rbc are doing not taking Procrit. See some are still battling those nasty blood counts even after TC. Carboplatin was bad on me too!
gramma
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Anji... Neulasta and Neuopogen are two different drugs that basically do the same thing. They stimulate the bone marrow to generate blood cells and that will help you build your system back up after each treatment. The drugs are administered differently. Neuopogen is given in a series of several shots starting a day or so after chemo (often self injected) and the Neulasta is given in just one shot 24 hours after chemo.
I am on Neulasta. I live 125 miles from my treatment center and Medicare will pay for the drug, BUT ONLY if administered by the chemo center. (I'm told the drug is very expensive ...$1,500 per pop). Some insurances cover it and if they do you can self inject it at home. Since Medicare is paying for mine, I opt to spend the night in Tampa and wait the next day until time to get the Neulasta before I can come home. It's either that or make another round trip the next day.
Side effect of these drugs is usually achy joints and bones for a couple days. My experience has been that a couple Tylanol EX Strength work fine.
Hope this helps.
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Imt041409: I had a friend that kept her acrylic nails during chemo. She did taxol not taxotere though. My nails are not in good shape 5 weeks out form TCH. I would ask your onc. It is just so traumatizing to take off acrylic nails that they will be weak. I am sorry about the hair loss. It just sucks. When you talk to people about it they always say it will grow back and its true it will. But it still sucks. I just want to offer to you a word of advise. Drink a ton of water no matter how bad you think it tastes. Stay ahead of nausea with good meds. Take claritin if you get nurlasta injections the day after chemo infusion. Ask for help when you need it, from family friends and maid services. I wish you an uneventful healing road one step at a time.
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Anji... as Swampy explained, both are different but similar. I took both and opted for Neuopogen for Neulasta was too strong and painful for me. My first cycle I took Neulasta and the pain in my joints lasted about 3 days, very painful and the hydrocod prescribed left me feeling totally drugged which I did not enjoy the feeling, I needed to feel productive and hydrocod did not let me. My second cycle, I did take Neuopogen and it worked great, I took 3 shots / 3 days following my treatment and again... that was my best cycle. I decided to give Neulasta another try on my 3rd cycle and boy did I regret it. I too had heard from ladies at the treatment center to try Tylenol EX or Aleve..etc. so I figured I would give it try... didn't work. My pain was worse and lasted longer. I actually had pressure on my chest as if someone was sitting on it. Because I went in weekly for Herceptin, my next visit after taking Neulasta, I asked the nurse to please check my CBC's to see if what I was feeling was caused by the Neulasta or Chemo... her immediate response was "your counts will still be down since it's only been a week and I'm sure it's chemo, but I'll run them for you". Well... she came back running and said..."wow, it is high and I know you must have been in pain, you were right, you responded high and you must have been in pain". My counts doubled that of what I hit in my 1st and 2nd. I told her I knew it... for the pain was unbearable. Because of it, my 'onc' decided to skip giving me either shot on my 4th and instead prescribed an antibiotic taken 14 days until my next treatment. For my 5th and 6th, I took Neuopogen with no problems and when I asked my 'onc' the difference between Neulasta and Neuopogen, she said, "Neulasta is like 10 shots of Neuopogen". For my 5th, I took 3 Neuopogen shots and for my last 6th cylce I only needed 1 Neuopogen shot.
I hope this information helps you... my 'onc' simply explained I responded too well to the shots especially high to Neulasta.
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I am curious about something. I am on a 6x TCH regimen, every 3 weeks. The onc said that since I have 3 weeks in between to let my counts come back up, I don't need ANY shot. The first time, it went fine. Will have the 2nd test on Tues, and chemo scheduled for next Thurs.
But why do some women need the shot, even on the same drugs and same schedule, and I don't? Hey - I'm not complaining - just curious if anybody knows. Thanks.0 -
I am new and this is my first time to reading the posts here. I was diagnosed in January. Had a mastectomy in late March and begin chemo tomorrow (May 21). I will be on Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin. Taxotere & Carboplatin every 3 weeks for 6 sessions and Herceptin for one year. Weekly Herceptin while I receive the chemo drugs and then switching to every three weeks for the remainder of the one year. Your posts are helpful to us "newbies" who are just scared and not sure what to expect. I've bought two wigs, plenty of hats and scarves. I do have acryllic nails (just had them filled last night). I drink water like crazy, so concerned about all the posts that say water tastes gross... Bottom line, I'm scared. I cry at the drop of a hat (which is so NOT me) and want this to be over and take my life back... I will no doubt be on this site often and will post my journey through chemo to help those who follow. Thanks to all who post!
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Imto41409... I too hated the idea of losing my hair. I kept hearing what everyone can only say, "it will grow back and even more beautiful". I figured that's all they can really say to help comfort for I truly did have a hard time with it. My hair was a part of who I am... what do I mean? It just defined me. I enjoyed going almost every month to have it cut and styled. That was my get away time, my time to do something special that I truly enjoyed and looked forward to. When I found out about my cancer, I sadly went in to see my favorite and friend hairstylist and shared the news. She gave me my last hair cut. My hair started falling out after I took my 2nd cycle. It thinned out and when I would shower... I could feel it coming down my back.. horrible. I finally decided a few weeks after my 2nd cylce to shave it off. I figured it was more painful watching it go slowly and it would be much easier for me to deal with it much faster. So it went. It did take time for me to get used to me seeing myself in the mirror and to adjust. I struggled with what I was going to wear to work... I now have so many hats.. many and with time, like my hair, my hats took it's place. Like my hairstyles... my hats took place... STYLE and much easier than having to spend the time I would at times styling my hair. Now I wonder how I'm going to do going back to hair and folks ask me if I plan to wear hats since they too enjoyed them. I figure I am going to enjoy my first true haircut/style when that time comes around. I did get excited when a shade of hair came in a few weeks after my 6th cycle. Looking at my head, I do have hair... the hair on my legs is also growing. It was nice to see it come back.
So yes, it sucks to lose a part of your identity because I know the feeling of being looked at when out in public... I feel like an "alien" and folks will stare, boldly. But with time I got used to it. Now I know when I see a sister "alien", I will wink my eye at her to show her I know and understand, totally!! So be proud and walk tall... for there are many of us out there styling our beautiful heads for we are very strong women and being out there shows it!
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AmylsStrong... like you... maybe because your counts are good, you don't require the shot. I do believe I did not require the shot on my 3rd and thus the reason for the high count and pain endured. Like my last cycle... I only required 1 shot.
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Journey-Girl... I know.. I know... TC was not pleasant at all. I'm referring to it as "TC" for "H" I too will continue now every 3 weeks until December. I too was taking "H" weekly until I finished my 3 week cycle of TC. I highly recommend you drink something cold while taking "T" so to ease the after effects on your throat. Yes, I totally disliked drinking much of anything due to change in taste of most everything. I noticed a few days, 2 days before my next cycle I could taste food and drink, not to the extent as before chemo but better. But then I would get hit with my next cycle and I was back to not enjoying anything but fresh fruit and salads... fresh foods. Now 5 weeks out since my last cycle, I've enjoyed eating and drinking like normal. So it will come back... just take care of yourself and know you do have to eat and drink regardless of taste. You'll just find what works for you but know it will come to and end soon
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Thank you to everyone who responded to my question on what kinds of ports you have.
Amy - I am on the TCH every 3 weeks too and I never got any shots either, until about a week after my 3rd treatment, then they said I needed Neupogen, so I got 2 shots of that. But I am thinking they only checked me because they put me in the hospital for a blood clot, and since I was only about 10 days out from my chemo my counts must have been low, where normally I would have had 3 weeks to build back up ,like you .
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Anji...I'm not sure why some take Neulasta/Neupogen and others don't. Speaking personally, it could be, for me, age. At 67 I doubt that my body has the recooperative powers of a 30's or 40's something so the drug may give the old bones a boost.
Journey Girl...Welcome to the sisterhood. Being scared is part of the deal. Also being angry. You are stepping into a whole new world that even has its own language. You will find support here, but hopefully you also have a great support team in family and friends.
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Amy....My onco never even mentioned the Neulasta shot to me before starting chemo, but after my first treatment, my WBC got very low and I ended up getting 2 infections. After that happened, then he suggested the shot and I received it after my last 2 treatments and it has really helped a lot.0
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Amy~ I never received neulasta or any other shots after my chemo BUT I did get a blood transfusion after #5 because my RBC where low.
I am 3 days out and I am feeling decent. I am still up and running as much as possible. Mouth yuck is here but I am drinking like a fool to stay up on the taste. Now I just want food to taste normal again. I know that from my past I will be crashing tomorrow so I am enjoying whatever time I have left before I get a couple of bad days. The best part is my MIL is here and has been a huge help taking care of my babies and me. It's been wonderful.
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Amy ~ I'm also on TCH 6x. I get the shot every Monday after my Friday chemo. I was curious about a few things. #1, was the shot supposed to be exactly 24 hours after the end of your chemo session? I was told no, it could be administered anywhere from 24 hours to 72 hours, so getting it on Monday morning was ok.
After my 1st chemo, I had the shot on a Monday and was due back in Friday for follow-up bloodwork to see what my numbers were 1 week from chemo. They were low, but not in an alarming range, so I was told I didn't need to have any more bloodwork until my next chemo day.
After my 2nd chemo, I got the shot the following Monday and was told I didn't need interim bloodwork and they would see me at my 3rd chemo session. That was also curious to me.
This scares me a little because what if my numbers are too low...I have no time to bring them back up AND stay on schedule.
My feeling is that some of us probably CAN do without the Nuelasta shot and given the right amount of time (ie: 3 weeks), get our numbers back to where they need to be. I suppose it just depends on the doctor and his/her general standard of care as to whether they give they shot in a preventive way (get those numbers up no matter what), or in a reactive way (only give the shot if your numbers plummet).
I'm all for doing whatever is necessary to stay on schedule. It may be that some insurances won't cover the shot unless it is for getting numbers BACK up as opposed to encouraging those numbers to STAY up.
Those are my only guesses. Have you asked your onc why you are not getting the shot? What have your numbers looked like? Are they dropping but still ok, or are they in the same range as they were pre-any-chemo?
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Thanks so much for all the info, everyone. When I was at my appointment yesterday I asked about the 'ice gloves' and they (reluctantly, seemed like) said they have some. Didn't know there were things for your feet too. I'm going to try and remember to grab a slushy on the way. Whatever helps
. Are there certain things (re: TCH) that we're not supposed to have/take? When I was at the teaching class they said no green tea. And then there is so much conflicting information. Oh ya, did/do any of you track your temperature at all? That was mentioned too.Good luck to everyone starting treatments and those in between - to all, hope your SE's are few.
Love Anji
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Alaina....You can get the shot between 24-72 hours after your chemo session. I don't get blood work until right before my next treatment each time unless I have a problem. (I had to get blood work one week after the fist time because of my infections and my counts were very low)
Anji...The most thing they stressed to me about was no anti-oxidants because they can protect the cancer cells from the chemo. I can take a multi-vitamin like Centrum, but avoid products advertised as 'anti-oxidant' formulas like Vit A, C and E. Also, no aspirin containing products , no sugar and yes, check your temp and report to your onco if it is above 101.
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Hi there, I think generally they don't want to give you expensive shots unless you need it (like on a dose-dense schedule). In may case though, after just the first round my neutrophil counts were down to 200 a week later (under 500 is dangerously low) and I got neupogen shots right away and will get shots going forward the day after chemo. When I had my second neupogen shot in a row I got bad bone pain and fever so I wonder if neulasta will be overkill...
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Anji... yes, I tracked my temp on days I didn't feel too well to make sure I wasn't running a temp of 100.5 or higher. The only time I ran 100 was during a (one) time I was in pain from the shot. I hadn't taken any pain meds so I figured I was driving my temp up in response to the pain. I took the pain meds which of course managed pain and brought down my temp. It's good to monitor your temp. And yes... ask them for the 'ice booties' to protect your toes(nails) as well. It definitely helped prevent me from that of what others have experienced that did not. I did not learn about the slushie until midway... but it did help as well. Unless you have cancer in those areas, freezing them will help keep the Taxotere from going there and affecting them.
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Interesting hearing about "sugar" being a no no... this is the second time I hear that. I heard it on TV and now here. My 'onc' and staff never said anything about not eating 'sugary' stuff. She said I should eat anything I wish and can to keep my weight status-quo. And truly, my mouth-yuck was horrible. Nothing tasted good and I ate salads, fruit and an ice cream almost daily to give me the 'fat' I needed from my meals. Doing so, I managed to keep my weight in que. Of course now, 5 weeks out of chemo and tasting most everything with delight, I've gained 5lbs. So now I'm back to monitoring what I eat and looking forward to my regular exercise routine before surgery and chemo-3rd cycle. I'm going to have to look into what 'sugar' does. Please share...
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Jaimieh You are a Beauty!!Love your pic Congrats on the big finish!! Cupcake Glad to see you posted Can't wait for you to return to us as always Love, Hugs & Prayers!! Welcome all newbies, Congrats to all who have finished! I am now 3 weeks out had 1st Herceptin only on Monday no SEs so far, No hair growth yet still rockin my bandanas I have many now its been fun acquiring them, Im ebaying and have found some fun ones, Guy asked me the other day if I had one for every outfit I wear, I almost do! LOL!! On Ports I have a Cook Vital port I am so glad I have it it is so wonderful.On Rads I am starting on May 26 16 treatments my rad onc said you get the same end results from 32 or 16 The short term is higher dose so SEs are more probable and could be worse I chose the short term cuz I have to do it 2 1/2 hours away,Denali I will PM you to make a get together plan! 0 -
Lorena... I really should have said 'limit' your sugar instead of no sugar, (it is so hard to cut out all sugar), but here is a link to a website describing what sugar does..... I hope this is helpful.
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Hello everyone.....have been visiting your site for about two weeks now on my breaks at work. I was diagnoised 3/30/09 with HER2+ breast cancer and had my first treatment of HTC on 5/12/09. Mine seems to be a little rare, per my oncologist at Kaiser San Diego. They get one like me every 3-4 years-- No sign of cancer in my breast or anywhere else, just my lymph nodes/left armpit. Treatment to be chemo, radiation and removal of lymph nodes. Anyone here with the same????
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More Deep thoughts from me! I have not worried about my weight since this journey began Since Dx and Tx I have ate what tasted good to me in large amounts if it tasted real good, I never really lost my taste just was altered, I am really noticing that now that food tastes better again I have dranks lots of water the whole time and still do I can tell the difference I feel so much better when I am hydrated. We all know the chemo drugs going in our bodies are nasty for gosh sakes they killed our hair !! HaHa so I figure there can't be much worse for now to enjoy what we can! Now that I am done with chemo I will eat better and exercise. I look forward to growing old so I will be healthy! So indulge now Ladies We Deserve it Worry about the Bad things later,we have a Lifetime................ 0
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Hi, DeltaDawn. I'm just a couple days away from you. Dx'd 3/31/09 with inflammatory bc and started TCH 4/14. I wish you all the best.
Paula, great attitude.
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Thanks swampy, the best to you also.......all of you here.
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Lorena... I know we are supposed to limit sugar because sugar is fuel for cancer. I have a book called Beating Cancer with Nutrition. by Patrick Quillin...here is a quote from it....."Trying to beat cancer while eating a diet that constantly raises blood glucose is like trying to put out a forest fire while someone nearby is throwing gasoline on the trees." He also says to use cinnamon generously because it helps to stabilize blood glucose. And the scary thing that he says is " I have yet to see a cancer patient beat the disease who continued to load up on the average amounts of sugar in our diet, which is 140 pounds per year per person. wow..... I am mad at myself because I still eat way too much sugar!!!0
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ccBaby.. Remember that movie you told us to watch... Living out Loud... they said the same thing about sugar in that movie..that it's like throwing gas on the fire...0
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Cakelady... thank you and yes, the two places I heard it was here and on that movie, 'living out loud'. It struck a cord and since it's bothering me. I appreciate the insight you've shared and I will definitely look into it for I don't wish to feed this monster. I know it's difficult to shed all sugar but I definitely can try curving it. thank you
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