Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
Comments
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OMG lisa, what a heart break for your rider. You go girl on the exercise. I am just pooped all the time. I have a low WBC. I am sure it is getting better everyday. zzzzzzzzzzz sorry I just drifted off. Anyway the b vitamins have to do with hair growth. Maybe that is why you were a little slower than others. I wonder why I am. Tomorrow is another day maybe there will be some growth.
Hugs to all
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Bold...What kind of shampoo are you using? A co-worker of mine had breast cnacer a few years ago and she used Folicure Shampoo to help with her hair re-growth. I am going to use it after my chemo is done. You can get it at 'Sally's Beauty Supply' I don't know if you have one in your town, but check and see. It helps to clean out the hair follicles to help the new growth to come through. Hang in there!
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Thx ccbaby will do. Anything to help this growth. My last name is bold and sometimes people accidentally call me bald. When this happens now I get a visceral reaction. I hope that by Christmas I will have a nice style (with extensions).
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ccbaby: Honey, don't get too excited or spend too much money. There is no miracle hair grower. It all depends on our individual bodies. Just like some losing nails and others not.
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Well I just got back from TX # 4 and it was an all day thing, always is... This time they had to use a vein because I don't have the PICC line anymore, but it took them 5 tries to get a good enough vein. I was so stressed out that they gave me an ativan. There were 4 of us in this one room and all of our blood pressures were up. I think this room had a curse. Got there at 11am and home at 7pm. Its about a 1/2 hour away if theres no traffic. But coming home Friday night at rush hour..........oh please!
ccbaby.. doctor said I will get a port in my chest because I have no other available sites for it. But that will not happen until after TX # 5 because they have to give my blood clot more time to go away and I have to be off of the Coumadin(blood thinner) before they do a procedure like that. After all the trouble I had with the veins today, that is a good reason to get a port. I have bruises on my arms now. Hope you are still doing well.
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Cakelady...Are you going to get a 'power port' in your chest? That is what I have and I have not had problems at all with it.0
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4 Rads down 12 to go, Got home from Greeley this afternoon Spend weekend home and back for more, Compared to chemo rads are a walk in the park, Denali and I had a nice dinner She is A Beauty my bro was happy for me to get to meet her he knows how excited I was since we got to Greeley. Here Sheps are awesome so beautiful, Congrats to all who are 1/2 way done keep putting one foot in front of the other you are almost done.Congrats to the Finishers YOu know now how sweet it is to have that behind! Sailor Nice to hear from you again You shared some amazing thoughts,Thank you!! Cupcake We sure miss you Hope you are doing well WE LOVE YOU LOTS [[[[[[[[[[ BIG HUGS]]]]]]]]]] Hurry Back!0 -
Lisa1964 Hooray for short hair and no hat ,I am looking forward to the day I give up my bandanas I think when I am done with them I want to have a quilt made out of them I think that would be cool. Bold Monday I am 6 weeks out no hair growth in sight Thinking about you Keep on being strong You are my leader I am following right behind you!! Sending you Love & Hugs, 0
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Rock: Funny I was thinking about you today on the way home from Rads. I was hoping that you and Danali had a good time. How cool to meet a camper. We have been through so much together.I am 2 down on rads. So who's following whom.
Cakelady: I am sorry that things are so tough. I guess that is why they call it survivors. You doing great. Hang in there.
Lisa: I believe in miracles. Let me get my checkbook!
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Happy Saturday, Ladies! Had my blood work done yesterday (one week out of #5). My platelets are at an all-time low! But the neulesta kicks in this week, so I hope to rebound with better numbers by Friday. My last treatment is a week from Fri., so I'm praying for no delays! Are there any old-wives tales out there to get these platelets cooking? I can only rest so much! One of the nurses told me beet juice, but that has to be as gross as it sounds! Any suggestions? I have 13 days to get these #'s up!
Rock and Denali: that must have been a special mtg. I'm so glad you were able to spend time together.
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ccbaby. I don't know what choices my hospital has in ports yet, but iI will ask about that one in particular because all of you here seem to like it. I am not looking forward to getting that, the doc said it hurts a little........so that means a lot. I better get knocked out, at least partially. But I have a few weeks before that happens. I didn't get sick after treatment last night, I have been taking the Zofran. Hopefully things will be okay this round.
Bold, thank you for the nice comments.
Rock, I was thinking of doing something with my scarves too , because I have some really pretty cotton print ones that my mom made for me and she also knows how to make quilts.
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Magnola, beet juice sounds revolting - uck.
Rock and Denali - that is so great that you got to meet!! I am meeting a girl from the hair hair thread next saturday.
cakelady - I was knocked out cold for my port surgery with an anethisiologist and everything.
Lisa
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Bold I guess that would now making us walking side by side I like that!! I think you said you are doing 32 rads ??? I got 16! Cake Scarves would make a cool quilt also, I also was out for my port surgery like Lisa you will be so happy to have a port I appreciate and love mine it makes it so easy. Magnola You will be in my prayers that you get your last Tx 0
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Nice to meet you Bold & Cakelady - we're neighbors ! I'm here in Fullerton.. I have only had one chemo and one Herceptin-only treatment. Still have hair.. but know it will be (sadly) leaving me soon. I am getting a port put in on Tuesday (if my WBC goes up) and doc promised to knock me out for the procedure (yippee)! Who has any good bandanna tying tips - I haven't got a clue! Have a great Sunday everyone.. hoping to make it out to the OC Swapmeet (pickup some more scarves).
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I've just spent the last hour or so going through the last few pages of posts.. you girls are cracking me up - and giving me lots of useful insight. I'm one of those "newbies" and can't wait to be an "oldie". How awesome for those that have just finished chemo. Sailor said something about the low side of finishing and being prepared for it because of stuff she had read here.. Sailor, what is the downside ? As for hotflashes, holy crap - I've already been there - done that. Hope that doesn't start up again ! Again, I've only had one chemo infusion and all in all I thought it would be much worst. I was down (and did get sick) for two full days. The worst part is the horrible taste in my mouth ! And (I think it was Bold) said something about getting thrush in your mouth.. maybe that's what I have?! I have this wierd bumpy/filmy thing going on over the roof/sides of my mouth... could that be thrush? I have no clue. And food tastes very bland to me and some things I can't stand the taste of.. just taste really bad. Does that happen to others? I'm so glad I found all of you... I feel like someone has thrown me a life-line.
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Welcome Journey girl - Sometimes we crack ourselves up! I did not get thrush, but sounds to me like that is what you have. Most food for the first 10 to 14 days after a tx will taste horrible. Enjoy the weightloss now because when treatment is over you will gain it all back.
Glad you found us. If you have questions, someone here will have the answer.
Lisa
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Journey Girl, About the mouth sores. Ask your doc for a prescription for "Magic Mouthwash". It's a concoction that the pharmacist has to mix up, but it has helped me tremendously! Swish your mouth 3-4 times a day. Best kept refridgerated. There are several "recipes" and my onco wrote mine for #2 in the link below. She also added cherry flavoring to make it palatable.
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Journey Girl, I think pretty much everyone gets the food tasting bad thing. I'm not sure about the bumpy filmy mouth - that might be thrush.
As far as bandana or scarf tying, I found that it was easier once I didn't have hair to get tangled in the knot. I also found that it is easier to tie one that is a bit larger - a 30 to 36 inch square. My head is kind of large so a typical bandana doesn't leave much to tie the knot with and it is hard fiddling with those little ends. Once you have a scarf tied so that you like it, you can often take it off and slip it back on without untying it. There are some instructions on ways to tie scarves here:
http://www.tznius.com/cgi-bin/tying.pl
The downside of finishing chemo isn't physical. Some (many?) feel down or depressed after the period of intense treatment ends (after chemo and rads, if you need it). You are no longer seeing the onc every 3 weeks, getting your blood constantly tested, on the phone to the advice nurse, etc. After the main fight has ended, there can be some post traumatic stress, some fear that the cancer will come back. Some people in my rads group feel they stepped out of everyday life during treatment and they are having trouble connecting back with their former social life. I think that if you are able to still participate in some things during your treatment - seeing friends on your good weeks or working - it helps make the transition back easier.
Another factor is getting physically back after all this. After chemo, my legs were so weak that I could barely walk up steps. Fortunately, I found that the strength came back pretty quickly. And it can take longer than you might think for your hair to come back - it doesn't grow at the usual half inch per month for a while. It took about 3 months after chemo for me to have a good covering of 1/4 to 1/2 inch long hair.
But it's great to be done with treatment. I didn't have any PTS stuff. And I feel pretty much recovered physically even though I'm still a bit anemic. My red blood cells are almost back to normal levels so I'm hoping they will be there in the next month or two.
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Maggie, Neulasta and Neupogen only help stimulate white cell production. They don't help with red cells or platelets. Platelets can come back up pretty quickly. Mine sometimes went really low and, a couple of times, were too low for chemo in the blood test that I took a day or two before chemo, but I had another test done the day of chemo and they had come back up enough to allow it. Be careful when they are low because your blood won't clot well.
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ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TAMOXIFEN AND ANTI-DEPRESSANTS - BAD MIX!!!
According to an article by The Associated Press today, Anti-depressants such as Paxil, Zoloft, and Prosac are commonly prescribed to lessen hot flashes in woman taking tamoxifen. A new study has found that these anti-depressants totally negate the tamoxifen.
Ladies, please if you are taking tamoxifen and an anti-depressant, please call your doctor first thing in the morning.
Here is a link to the article
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_BREAST_CANCER?SITE=NJVIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Lisa
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Journey:Welcome to a So.Cal.Gal. So sorry that you have to be here. I never had thrush but I sure had the bad taste. To bad I never lost any weight. GRRRRR. I rinsed my mouth with salt and backing soda at least once a day. I also recommend that during treatment of taxotere you drink something very cold or suck on ice. Although it has not been proved I and others believe it can help with the mouth issues. Bluedasher sure gave you great info. I hope that the time flies for you. I pampered myself as much as possible.Watched allot of T.V. Just tried to focus on healing. I recommend a meditation everyday. Being on these boards saved my spirit. Nothing can beat the camaraderie of someone who had walked the road. You are in my prayers.
Rocky: I am so jealous of you abbreviated rads. But happy for you. You caught your cancer very early. I am glad. You have an excellent prognosis. Yippie!!!!!
Well tomorrow will be 7 weeks out and NO HAIR! I have been getting more and more Hot Flashes too. I guess it is going to be a Hot Sumer. Radiation and no swimming either.
Good catch Lisa. I am not on either but the chemistry is interesting. I wonder if being depressed
raises hormone levels. HMMMMMMMMM.
Magnolia: Good luck on the #s. I am hoping you recover. I know you will the body can be truly amazing.
We are going to Disney Concert Hall tonight for the L.A. Philharmonic playing Bruchner and Mozart. It will be wonderful.
I hope that we have all found reason to laugh, love and live this weekend.
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Journey-Girl..... Yes we are neighbors, you are the closest one to me so far on this site. I just had treatment # 4 last Friday. I have never had a bad reaction while getting chemo or the metal taste in my mouth, luckily. I have had other issues as Im sure you read about if you went back and read the last few pages. I have to get a port put in too, but have to wait a while due to a blood clot in my arm where the last port was. Anyway, I wear scarves too, but they are ones that my mom made for me out of nice calico print cotton material, they are 26 inch squares, a little bigger than the typical bandanna. I just fold them in half diagonally, then put it on my head, wide triangle at the back of my neck, bring the 2 sides around above my ears and tie the 2 ends over the top of the triangle at the back. then if anything is hanging down that bothers you, just tuck in in to the tie that you made. These work out well for me. Its the same with bandannas, its just they are a little smaller.0
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Thanks for all the responses !
Lisa - love that you are wearing your own hair, even if it is still really short. I bet it looks really cute and people love it !
Swampy - Magic Mouthwash.. really? sounds like something that you would buy off the internet to give to one of your kids as a joke (like really hot/spicy or something). I will most definetly be talking to my onc about it this Friday (I keep a list of questions/issues for her). Thanks for the tip!
Bluedasher - thank you thank you. Checking out the tying tips website soon as I finish up here. Interesting to hear about what I may or may not expect to experience once done with all of this. You also responded to another about Neulasta/Neupagen.. they stimulate white cell production. Let me tell you girls what I found on the internet on Friday. Because my white count is pretty low and I was given Cipro (antibiotic) and told to basically lay low, stay away from crowds etc.. so I search for ways that I can up my count on my own.. and this one site talks about neulasta but also that "sex and or masturbation" will help.. Hubby loved that !!
Bold - I will most definetly be sucking ice during the taxotere drip (which is 2.5 hours for me). I had a bad reaction, so going forward they will shoot me with a large steroid dose (in addition to the freaking pills that keep me up and going and eating and moving and ...) but sucking ice.. I'm all over it. I can't stand the mouth thing - it is the worst.
Cakelady - Congrats on being on treatment #4. It must feel SO GOOD to be on the downhill. I'm way jealous but so happy for you. And thanks for the scarf tying tips.
Let me give you girls just a little background on me.. (not that anyone has been sitting around waiting for me to finally spill) : ) I am 51 years young and have been blessed enough to work for the same company for 25 years (started as a customer service agent). I finished college and kept moving up. I currently am a Regional HR Manager, which I love and the job entails travel, which is a great perk (most of the time). I was diagnosed in January and my tumor was Grade III and HER2/neu positive - so was told that due to my (young) age and the Grade III status and the HER2/neu positive status they were going to do aggressive treatment. I have 6 rounds of TCH and 25 rounds of radiation. Oh yeah, my margins were positive after my left breast mascetomy. I have been put out of work by my onc until pretty much close to the end of the year. Both my onc's said they absolutely feel I shouldn't work, due to the weekly infusions.. The upside here is that because I've been with this company for so long I continue to receive full pay for 6 months (and 60% pay for the next 6 months if needed). I do miss my work terribly (I even dream about it a lot), so I can see where Bluedasher was talking about the problems with reconnecting back to our "old" lives... Hell, I don't even get out of bed now until 8:00 - LOVING IT !!
Thanks girls for having me into your circle. I promise to be short and sweet going forward, not so chatty as I am right now (and I'm not even on steroids at the moment) !
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Journey, chat all you want. We don't mind and we love hearing about each other's lives beyond BC and chemo.
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Journey..I have a bad reaction to Taxotere too. At first, they called it an allergic reaction, but then the onco changed that to 'drug' reaction. I have never been allergic to anything in my life before. The first and second treatments are when I had the reactions. My face turned bright red, my chest tightened up, dizzy and I was out of breath. Both times, they had to give me saline, more steroids and benedryl. My next two treatments were better becasue they knew what to do with me beforehand. I get extra steroid, benadryl and a pepcid drip. Then they run the Taxotere slower too. I am there all day from 8-5:30. I can't wait for my 2 more treatments to be over with, but when I think back to it, it has went by pretty fast.0
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For every treatment I have always gotten 2 Tylenol, Benedryl put in thru the IV, and Decadron drip and saline.......all as premeds,,,,,,,then they do the Herceptin, then Taxotere, and last Carboplatin. Maybe that is why I never got bad reaction, they give that to everyone I think, and don't wait until they have a reaction., or maybe I have just been lucky. I am feeling okay since my # 4 on Friday. Just a little stomach ache, and some abdominal issues., but not too bad. I made sure to take my Zofran regularly, I think that helped. Christy are you still feeling fine? Hope so. Will you still get Herceptin only, after the TCH is done?
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Had my second MUGA scan today and my first Herceptin only treatment tomorrow. Hopefully my heart is ok and the TX will go without problems--headed to the beach for a week after TX is finished. I did lose one toenail and I'm trying to hold on to my fingernails--4 are really loose. Have a great week.
Helen
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Hi everyone ... I hope I can join you. I had my first TCH treatment May 15, and my second is scheduled for this Friday. I've been doing a little lurking, but thought I would finally jump in and join you all. Those of you further into this than I am are giving me lots of hope!!!!
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Cakelady...I am just more tired with this last round. I will continue to take herceptin only after chemo is done. I won't be able to take Tamoxifen or anything like that because I am er- and pr-.
Welcome Mom2twins... sorry you had to meet us this way, but this board is very helpful.
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Welcome mom2twins.
I have a quick question. Has anyone post chemo (I am 7 weeks) still having oral issues? I have a very sensitive tongue and altered taste. It comes and goes. It almost like it has been burned.I would so appreciate any input.
Bald and beautiful!
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