Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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lexyloohoo I still have some marks on my neck from the tape and round marks on my body from those monitor things. My port was installed at the beginning of October. They are getting lighter but slowly. Chemo messes up how fast things heel. I even still have the mark on my foot from the IV.
Hair is usually day 14-15 after first treatment. You won't go instantly bald. It will start to shed then speed up.I had a lot of hair so it took a while for most of it to fall out. I even still have some but not much. I wear scarves.
Colds: get plenty of rest, eat right, wash your hands a lot and stay away from people with colds. So far the only person I was around that had a cold was my onc (today). She was wearing a mask.
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lago thanks so much for your experience and info. Worried about the port and had my onco nurse look at it since it looked really red and itchy. She told me same thing just to have the nurses use a guaze the next time and you just heal slower. I have very thin hair so expecting it to start falling out soon. Noticing more strands at each wash and brush. Regarding colds have been staying out of my daughter's school and actually wear a mask to her appts and out at the grocery store, post office, and places. Glad I did my christmas shopping before starting chemo. Thanks again for the insight and crazy with the sanitizer and hand washing. Wearing gloves for picking up after the dogs and guinea pig. Even have my daughter extra hand washing. I know there are germs everywhere just trying to be proactive. My daughter has oral surgery this Friday and waiting in the car while it is being done. Really nice weather in CO lately.
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lexy are you getting the nuelasta shot after chemo? I do and it's kept my white counts normal. I do go to the gym. I even eat sushi. Be sure to wash fresh veggies well. Also be careful of over washing with sanitizers. My hands/fingers became so dry the started to peel and crack. I can't use that stuff more than 1-2 times a day. I never wear a mask but it does make sense when being around kids. You know one of them must be sick. I don't have kids.0
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Took my first treatment today, came home and rode the cross trainer for 60 minutes, and plan to repeat that first thing in the am since I may be down 3-6 days if I am like others posting here.
So far I feel fantastic, but this is my second day of steroids (pill) and a big ol bag of steroids by IV. I have one more day then off. I gained 7 pounds and kept my caloric intake at 1100 even with working out. I'm pretty sure it is all fluid, and what I gain every month with Aunt Flo., She made the trip with me today...ain't she sweet?
I don't really care about constipation, it falls pretty low on my list because I can always resolve it with persistence.
My PS put me on 50,000 IUs of Vitamin A for 4 days while on the TCH cocktail to keep the steroids from killing the healing process. I also (thank you LAGO) asked for Ambien..I didn't sleep at all last night...I'm still so wired I may have to have an ambien and glass of wine...lol, but that'd put me over 1100 calories darn it!
I've never taken a sleeping aid, but with alcohol, the moment it finished metabolizing I wake up and can never get back to sleep. Which is why I make sure I go to bed sober...lol.
I dread the steroid crash...dread dread dread it.
My Onc tests me 10 days out, if my WBC are low, I get Neulasta then. (Which will be nice because I will know exactly what is Neulasta side effects and what is chemo. I think it's a great plan.)
My feet are getting sore, in the joints. I take B6 so hope I don't have to fight neuropathy from the get go.
Also Onc Nurse okayed Ibuprophen for me, just no asprin.
That's it for me tonight...sure I will not be feeling too well come Thursday, but right now..woot woot, all good!
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hi all, my wife starts TCH today, she took Dexamethasone yesterday and is instructed to take it tomorrow as well (two times a day on the day before and day after treatment). So far it has made her completely wired, she was up most of the night as if she had 10 cups of coffee. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
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imatthew - Yes, the steroids can make you wired. My onc nurse called it 'roid rage', but not in a bad way, just that taking them was associated with a lot of energy! Best wishes today.0
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Imatthew I think I am the only on one in this entire thread who has not had that experience. I actually feel better on the steroids since it keeps my fluid retention down. Caffeine doesn't affect me much either. Yes I sleep like a baby on steroids. Go figure.
Wish you wife good luck. I just had my 4th tx Tuesday. I'm thinking about going to the gym or just for an hour power walk outside. Yes I'm doing OK. Hope you wife minimal SE.
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lago - you are doing so well! My 3 and 4th were a bear to recover from, I am truely happy for you!0
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lmatthew, Dexamethasone is a steroid and it can make you very wired. Mine usually happens the day after chemo, I'm a ball of energy that day. Makes people think I'm ok, but they don't realize the steroids are doing it and that the side effects start on day 3 out of chemo not the day of or after. Ativan or the generic form is a good way to relax, I got a prescription for it after the first chemo because I needed something to calm my anxiety. It helps you sleep too. They may include it as part of your wife's premeds. If they do, ask the nurses to call your doc for a prescription. Doesn't hurt to have it on hand. I take a full pill the night before chemo (helps me sleep) and a 1/2 pill the morning of, plus every once in a while in between when I feel my anxiety rising. Good luck today. Also, for me, the first round of chemo was the worst for side effects. Keep that in mind as your wife feels the effects this weekend. Once you know what your side effects are, you can talk to the doc about how to control them. It actually does get better down the road. I've had 5 out of 6.
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imatthew - Also, don't forget to remind your wife to take the anti-nausea meds if she has nausea, it is better to stay on top of it than let it get bad and then try to regain control.0
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thanks to everyone for their comments, her first course of TCH is complete with no complications/SEs so far, and she didn't feel the needle going into the port. She is completely wired though, which the kids find incredibly amusing. Neulasta shot is tomorrow.
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imatthew - Glad it went smoothly! Feels good to get started and have one down. For me the day after chemo when I got the neulasta shot I was a bit tired but the next day I pretty much slept the whole day. I think it depends on the steroid dosing and of course on the person but that was my experience.
I got my neulasta in my stomach area and didn't have any pain. I also start taking the claritin the day of the neulasta shot and continue for several days.
Also, if your wife's face turns red tomorrow morning that can be another 'normal' side effect of steroids which for me went away in a day.
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imathew- the 1st 2 tx I couldn't sleep taking them they way they prescribed. After that I tweaked it for myself 1 the day before 8 am, chemo day 2,7 am and noon, then one at 8am next day, and 1 more the next day at 8. I just spread it out a little more and I still have the energy and it wears off so I can sleep. My ses have been pretty low, I have only missed one day of work and just finished TC Mon. I only took the nausea med. 1st tx because they caused bad diarrhea. I had more heartburn and I took prilasic for that and I also have learned to start that the day before, I take another med. for mouth sores, starts with a v? After I had my 1st tx I got a big cold sore, and I never get cold sores so onc. gave me this and I didn't get anymore. Good luck hope she feel good through it just fine.
She is probably feeling chemo fog. I worked all week that way LOL I hope there weren't too many mistakes in the admissions to the nursing home, I had 2 this week.
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I'm fascinated by those that work through this hell; I just finished tch3 and there is no way I could be working through this as the SE's (and there have been so many I couldn't even list them) have been awful through each one. I'm still out on disability but to those that are able to muster up the strength and courage to work through it, I tip my hat to you.
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Hey, I'm the same, could not imagine trying to work through this treatment. Remember everyone does react differently and perhaps we're all on different doses, who knows. I became aneamic after #4 so had to have the blood transfusion during #5, no wonder I could hardly move for 3 weeks. My Onc still insists I'm doing remarkably well throughout an extremely harsh treatment. BLAH! We just gotta keep our eye on the prize girls. 1 more to go for me. 0
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Hang in there, y'all. I'm six months' out from chemo, only two Herceptins/Avastins left. When I was in the middle of chemo and staring down the road ahead, it seemed miserable and endless. But now I look back and think, "I sure hope I never have to go through that again, but at least it went by fast!" My life is normal now, or as close to normal as is possible given the lurking cancer thing.
Take it easy. Be nice to yourselves. This too shall pass.
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writer - What is Avastin?0
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lexyloohoo my hair started seriously falling out exactly day 14. Very messy, plus if I grabbed a hunk and pulled it just came out, no pain at all. Very surreal. I never liked my hair so I waited till the weekend and went and got it buzzed off. I was not very sad about that. Others have left it so they have strands that can stick out under hats etc, but I just went straight to a wig. I was lucky to find one of those I actually like. I think it is personal preference there. I did get very itchy scalp with the stubble that was left so I think about a week or so later I got out shaving cream and shaved what was left.
On the claratin, it seemed to work for me as well. I suffered the first time feeling every individual bone. Next time I took it day of and it was better, but still sore. Next time I started a few days prior and took it a week, much much better.
I also had awful breakouts sometime after first chemo, like hard zits very painful actually on my nose and chin, found that on a thread somewhere to be normal. Now I have no zits at all which is unusual for me, I always have at least one driving me nuts. I'm hoping Its like when you get your house treated for termites and suddenly you have no bugs at all, chemo is killing all zits, hopefully forever!
I also found out the hard way that constipation from something? was the worst SE. I now take colace starting day of treatment for several days. I thought I could do same with prunes etc, but it was bigger than that and once it had gone days was very difficult to get going if you know what I mean... Better to stay ahead of it...
Finally, I agree with Lago, the nulasta should make it so you do not have to worry more than normal about getting sick. I have been working, going to the mall, movies etc and so far so good (3 of 6 done)
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elaineg I agree that the constipation is the biggest thing to keep in check. My first round I ate dried apricots, salads, probiotic everyday and finally Milk of Magnesia. Didn't work. Ended up with hemorrhoids too. I had to go the Metamucil route. I pretty much do the same thing now except no Milk of Magnesia and start the Metamucil the night after chemo.
Now my fingernails are hurting. I wish it would stop. The same thing happened with a few toe nails and it eventually stopped. It took a while though.
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I have not had the painful fingernails, but a few of my toenails are getting dark. They still don't hurt though, that does not sound like fun.
I do have something that I can't tell if its real or imaginary. Seems like when I climb stairs my heart starts beating harder than normal. Doesn't seem to do that if I go for a walk or something, but the extra exertion of the stairs maybe? Anyone have a similar thing?
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elaineg you should report that heart beating harder to you doctor. This could be nothing to worry about but they should know before the weekend is up:
Yes you do exert more on your heart when walking up the stairs but this could be a bit more than that. Remember that not only can Herceptin have congestive heart failure (you heart doesn't fail that's just what the call it) as a rare SE but Taxotere can have you fill up with fluid too which can also cause heart issues.
How much water weight have you gained in the last few days?
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Yes I have a few blackened toe nails. They hurt for a while too but not as bad as my fingers if I remember correctly.
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Did you all hear about putting black polish on your nails before chemo?
I did it each time before TCH and my nails did not hurt or turn black...
Not sure where it originated from - my neighbor told me about it.
My onc. was ok with me doing it...
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Lago, of course you are correct, I have a call in to them. I would rather pretend nothing is wrong
I don't weigh daily but I should, I weighed this morning and its a new world record for me so I guess I should be doing that more often...
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Thanks so much for all the info. Have to admit I do believe I have been a bit paranoid about the germs and bugs thing. Even the MA that took my blood yesterday that if I should just watch the first few days after a treatment and with the Nuelasta shot should be ok. Have been wearing a mask out to big public places. My daughter had oral surgery today and sat in the car. They were really understanding and called me when she was done. She also has to get her tonsils out less than a week after a treatment so nervous about being in a surgery center waiting room for up to 5 hours. Going to discuss it with my onc. and get her opinion on it. My counts were really good after the blood work yesterday so think I can take it a bit easier on worring. Thanks for all the info and have to agree constipation not fun. I take miralex everyday so helps alittle.
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elaineg-glad you put a call in. I am like you hate to bother people. My oncol has a great nurse that I call when I have questions. I have discovered through this that they want to know if things are off and that no questions are stupid mainly due to the fact that everyone reacts to the same thing so differently.
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After my 4th treatment, I had the racing pulse whenever I moved, it was awful, I felt so bad. When I went in for treatment 5 the Onc looked at my bloods and sure enough I was anaemic which was causing the rapid pulse. Perhaps get your bloods checked. I needed a transfusion.
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Just three days post 3rd chemo, nausea is present even with zopran, emailed the onc and he suggested ativan 1.0mg any thoughts
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Starella, ask your onc for Emend. If your insurance will pay for it, it works WONDERS for nausea! I took it all throughout my 6 rounds of TCH and never had a day of nausea! FIGHT for it! You deserve it! There is no need to suffer from nausea EVER on chemo!
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Alaina i am on Emend...ugh
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starella - I don't know if this will help but I had promethazine and I just took it every 4 hours regardless of whether I had nausea for the first few days. I also ate a little cottage cheese and toast or something every hour just about to keep something in my stomach. I found if it got empty I would feel worse. Hope you feel better soon!0
