Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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Off to the airport, have a good week everyone!!
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Hi Everyone -
Safe travels Sue....so jealous. The weather here in the midwest has been frigid. Enjoy Florida!!!
I have my 2nd TCH on Jan 31. I am still queasy from the first one and am 14 days out. Given my leavel of queasiness, my onc has agreed to give me more drugs. Thank God! I will take the decadron pre and post infusion, will have the Emend, then i think the normal post infusion of Zofran, Compazinine, and Ativan. It seems like everyone on this thread has been getting this series of drugs.
Question - is anything missing? Any recommendations on more/less/other ideas? I do plan on icing during taxotere (with peas or the like).
Just looking for any tips as it has been kind of a miserable two weeks with the SEs.
Many, many thanks to all you wonderful women!
Annie
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Congrats to all you ladies that are finishing! Celebrate!!
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GK! Whoop, whoop, whoop!!!
All this is the best group...I love this board.Sunflower I love the pollyanna comment (I'm committing it to memory.
Had my re excision Friday at 2:30. I went in there feeling very dejected, creepy, sad, and felt like I deserved a giant pity party. My daughter (27) went with me and was so sweet. The BS came to see me in pre op. I guess everyone was anticipating the weekend so the entire staff was in a fun mood. I needed that. My BS stayed and talked to me for quite a while and by OR time I was in a much more positive mindset. Told everyone I felt like I was at a giant party, and my daughter said "Yeah and the prize is a lumpectomy". Anyway he feels confident that margins were achieved, but the path will tell the story. Left boob looks smaller this time.
neoadjuvant chemo. I totally love my oncologist: he is the one that treats the dr's wives with BC. but I was not understanding how he could say I had a good response to the chemo and there was still tumor left. My BS explained that with neoadjuvant chemo the tumor does not always shrink like a deflating balloon. Many times it sort of responds with a swiss cheese like effect. Also I knew that about 20% of lumpectomy peeps have re excisions. He also explained that with neoadjuvant chemo the re excision rate is about 40 %. He still says with the nodes and the HER2 I made the right decision to start the chemo asap.So that set my mind at ease.
True to form I went under anesthesia talking and woke up talking. The nurse said my first question was "do I still have my nipple?" My daughter said I talked so much the BS may want to take out a restraining order.
I did go by work briefly Thursday to sign my evaluation online and saw a few peeps.
So I am taking it easy this weekend. The soreness is much better. I go 31st for post op. lago black nail polish sounds good, however in your pic you look so proper, I can imagine. libray lil
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Here was/is my regiment:
Zyrtec daily starting the day before chemo
Prolosec, Protonix or Nexuim (heartburn) daily (started with the 1st then moved till one worked
(also take an addtional med for heart burn but this is not typical)
Decradon night before, morning of and evening of chemo ✓
Benadryl as part of my infusion before they infuse the chemo ✓
Neulasta day after chemo ✓
Emend day of and 2 days after chemo ✓
Metamucil starting day after till regular for constipation. (Not everyone gets this SE) ✓
Acetyl-L-Carnitine daily for prevention of neuropathy. Just have it in my left heel only.
(Not everyone gets this SE. My onc doesn't know I'm taking this but my NP didn't say I couldn't
and it did work for me. I did have some tingling in my left hand after TX2. Started taking this
never got it again, and my heel didn't get any worse)
Aleve night before Nuelasta and day of Nuelasta ✓
----------------------------I do take supplements of D4, Calcium as well as a multivitamin but those are forever. I also take a daily probiotic.
✓ denotes I am done and not longer taking this medication. Yay!
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It was recommended to take Imodium for diarrhea, Compazine for nausea and if that didn't work Lorazepam for nausea (or anxiety). I never experienced any of these SE so they stayed in the drawer.
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Ha I look proper. Looks can be deceiving. I'm a designer living in a major city! Guess you can't really see my cool jewelry in that photo. It was my nieces Bat Mitzvah so I had to look proper for synagogue. I usually wear jeans and boots.
One thing about looking "proper" is when you say stuff that's off the wall it takes people totally by surprise unless they know you. I am not that proper. Just have some left over influence from growing up outside of Boston. Damn Puritan ethics.
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GK, I still get pedicures...and am wearing acrylic nails right now...so far so good
(I'm just half way though). 0 -
Yay to pedis! The boyfriend says he will help me put it on this week. Next question for everyone who is finishing the T & C ... are you all going to take Tamox? If so, when? After Herceptin treatments are over or at the same time? Anyone worried about SEs? I would love to take a break from the strong meds. Also, I hear Tamox can cause hair thinning? Say it isn't so?!
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gk - My understanding is that after I finish rads I will start Tam while still taking herceptin. Certainly worried about SE's.0
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My Onc wants me to start Tam in a couple of weeks, so I'll be having it during Rads. Had my 1st Rad today. 18 to go..
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LuvmyLab - I have done 9 rads, have 21 to go - ouch!0
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Ouch Omaz! I'm not sure what to expect but most people tend to find it fairly easy - if you compare it to chemo that is..
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LuvmyLab - I am hoping for a relatively simple time. I use aloe and a couple different products recommended by others who have had good luck. My onc recommends miaderm, which I like too. So far my breast is just a bit pinker than the other and I have funny sensations in one area, but not too bad. On Thursday the computer was down so I didn't have a treatment. I was ok with that as it gave me a day to recover a bit. How are you doing? We have a starting rads in Jan thread that is really good if you haven't already been there (Jan 2011 rads).0
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Hi Lago - Thanks for the list of meds a few posts ago. I am bringing this to my onco appt!
Best of luck to you all lucky ladies to be done with your chemo! Enjoy!!!
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I fear that tamox is in my immediate future ... especially since I see my onc this Friday. We shall see
Have a great Monday everyone!0 -
Thanks Omaz, I've joined that thread. Will be great to get some advice along the way.
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I'll be taking generic Arimidex. My onc is monitoring my estrogen levels to be sure I stay in chemo pause, which at my age she pretty much assumes will happen. No rads for me so I should be taking it in about 3 weeks (4 weeks after last chemo). Yes I will continue with herceptin every 3 weeks for 11 more infusions.
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I started Tamox after rads. The rad onc said he would rather do rads alone (without Tamox) so he would know that any SEs were from rads, not Tamox. Turns out rads was easy for me. Then i started Tamox after rads was over. Had some SEs the first few months - hot flashes, vaginal discharge/dryness alternately (sorry if TMI), but it all settled out. I've been on it 16 months now and I don't notice much or give it a thought. Wouldn't mind a few hot flashes now that it is so cold out but no....now I'm back to being cold all the time.
GK1 - I may be noticing a little hair thinning, but it's hard to say. Certainly nothing in the beginning, back when I was worried about hair re-growth. But recently I've noticed that maybe a little bit..... My hairdresser says absolutely not, she says my hair is very thick and healthy. So who knows. But it's definitely nothing extreme or drastic.
I found that the whole Tamox question is the most hotly debated and controvesial element of treatment I've seen on this website. I read a lot of the posts and got myself pretty worked up and terrified of it. In fact, I made my husband go to the cancer psychologist with me to 'practice' how we were going to handle the terrible mood swings I was sure that I would have! (I think they BOTH thought I was nuts with that one, but went along with me.
) I didn't have any mood swings, turns out.My conclusion is this - I KNOW there is a lot of division about the helpfulness of Tamox. But after going through bc and all this treatment, I want to do ANYTHING I can to keep from EVER going through this again. And if the Tamox can be a small part of that, I am willing to take it. I know other women may come to a different conclusion, and that is fine. But that is what I decided.
I also take a lot of supplements and have made some lifestyle changes as well. Life feels so good and wonderful being back to normal - hardly any med appointments, no treatments. It is awesome. (And YOU will get there too - just hang in there!) Nothing matters to me as much as keeping my body cancer-free. (I sure hope it works!)
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Hi to all,
#5 for me tomorrow and my nails are so sore and brown I feel like they going to come off, is it possible? I also noticed burn-like patches on my wrists ans elbows they feel just like sunburn, its hard to cook or wash dishes it just burns! When is this going to end?
I wanted to know if any of you did any research on chemo and green tea , I love green tea but heard you not suppouse to drink it while on chemo, same goes for coffee.
I still drink coffee on my good days meaning about a week after infusion, that first couple of days is a nightmare, my stomach is just not up for anything but crackers lol
What should I use for the nails issue, I know vit B6 but I've been taking it and is not helping
Best to all of you
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Zlota, I drink green tea....lots of it...I haven't heard/read anything about skipping it.....it tastes so much better than water the 3 days following chemo...guess I'll have to check on it now...lol
Looks like it depends on what stage breast cancer (if you drink it to help reduce recurrence) and what type of chemo...
Here is an article about the helpful benefits, but I'm still looking for anything on TCH and green tea.
http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/4/1/153.short
Here it is recommended for people on Taxotere
The studies used for this are linked at the bottom of that page.
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Zlota -
My onc said specifically to drink green tea - that it is good for you and helps fight the chemo fatigue.
I see the onc today - we will discuss the game plan from here since TC part is DONE!!
Have a great, SE-free week, everyone!!
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zlota sorry you are experiencing the sore nails/discoloration/lifting/bleeding issue. It's rare but those of us who get it know that it really sucks. I got it really bad. I so far have lost 2 toenails (waiting for the other big one to go too). It looks like I might lose 6 of my fingernails too. They have all lifted and still hurt. It does limit what I can do. I can't even pick up a penny.
Try not to put pressure on them. Have people do things for you like zippers etc if possible. The more you use/put pressure on them the more likely they will fall off. So far only 2 fingernails and 1 toe nail oozed but I have to admit if felt better once they did. Also if you can ice your nails during taxotere. I brought some frozen peas. It might be too late but I did it after TX 5 & 6 and my nails didn't throb like they did after TX4.
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Clear Margins my BS just called me at home to tell me the margins were slim but clear. I'm glad I didn't have to wait until next Monday and my appt. libray lil0
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WOO HOO Libra....clear margins are cause for a mini-celebration!!
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Clear margins are fabulous Lib!
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Happy dance for Librylil!!! (BTW I had clear but close margin on one side too).0
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ALL Any of you ladies have extremely sensitive skin between your elbow and armpit after surgery? Almost like chapped skin or sunburn? Libray Lil0
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lil - mine is still pretty numb.0
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I do have very sensitive skin, it gets very dry and chap. I have been using Palmers Oil Gel. It really helps
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Mine felt sunburned for a while. That's the nerves trying to regenerate. I had my surgery Aug.31st so it wasn't dry like it is now. I highly recommend extra virgin coconut oil. I also wash with a mixture of 2/3 Dove body wash & 1/3 suave hair conditioner. It has kept my skin from drying out this winter. My 73 YO mom told me about that one.
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