Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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Sewingnut - I am on track - 4 of 6 TCH done with no neulasta. Hoping to finish on time April 25th! I am hoping for a happy dance! I have not sees a WBC drop - in normal. I am having a RBC issue and am sitting at a hemoglobin of 9.
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I stayed on track and my white counts were normal each time with neulasta. I had 6 tx. I do think my RBC might have dropped a little but nothing to be alarmed about.
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My RBC is pretty low...and my WBC stays around 3-4 even on Neulasta, but nothing so bad I had to delay treatment.
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Sunflower-so exciting to be done. You started your journey in the fall, made it thru winter and how great to be done when spring is here. TonLee-I bet Tuesday can't get here quick enough.
I got my first blood draw today so i will have to learn to talk the talk. Disturbing part of the day was I got a CT and bone scan at 7am and the Onc office called at 4 to cancel my Muga on Tuesday because now they want a Pet scan. When I asked if it was because of what they saw on CT she was evasive-or my over active imagination thought so. No mention during any previous visits of doing the Pet.
I will be glad to get the port Monday. Got stuck 4 times this morning. I have my scrips for nausea and numbing cream. They are advising to take nothing ahead of time-just get the chemo and see what happens. Hoping for the best.
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Hi Ladies !
Is there anything I should be doing during the carboplatin infusion? I know Ice Fingers & Toes & Mouth during Taxotere. But is there any SE with Carboplatin I should be looking out for? Countdown is on....
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I don't do anything during Carboplatin.
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PejKug & Omaz - Thank you. I swear you ladies know more than most of the staff at my clinic!
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One of the SE's from Carboplatin to watch out for is ringing in the ears - a sign of neurotoxicity. If it is sudden or severe and doesn't go away tell your onc.
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Hi Special K thank you I have never heard that SE. I will Look for that.!!
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So it was carboplatin that screwed with my eyesight during chemo. Get this… Thursday went to the ophthalmologist. I no longer have astigmatism. I've been wearing glasses for that since I was 22. I can now get over the counter reading glasses.
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Sorry this is off-topic but I couldnt easily find the appropriate thread -- is there a list of dietary restrictions or suggestions while on chemo esp. TCH? I dont mean the tips on food/drink to address SEs, but more generally what to eat and what to avoid? In particular, my wife Liddy would like to know about nuts & seeds, pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds etc. Thanks for any advice or for pointers to the right place for this info
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samdobbs - On TCH I had neulasta and ate whatever I could tolerate. Onc nurse said acidic foods might bother me, like tomatos, and spicy foods might also be bothersome. I ate a lot of cottage cheese.0
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samdobbs I was told no restrictions. I was also on nuelasta so my white counts were good. I would discuss this with your onc. I have read we shouldn't be eating grapefruit when on Herceptin.
My NP basically said to eat healthy. There will be things you can and can't eat depending on your taste-bud changes, mouth sores, diarrhea or constipation. I tried to prepare beforehand but you really can't predict. I purchased plastic utensils thinking I would get metallic taste and never did.
My PS is a big pusher of antioxidant foods like blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Leafy vegetables too.
As far as what not to eat I would talk to your onc on that. I did eat walnuts when my taste-buds were good but when they were bad things like nuts tasted very bitter. Even peanut butter tasted weird.
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samdobbs-my nurse recommended a book called "Eating Your Way thru Cancer". I ordered it and it should get here Monday. Big bookstore had tons of books on the subject as did the library. I was told yesterday no restrictions-they don't care what you eat JUST EAT. You will find out soon enough what tastes good and what doesn't. Some of the TCH causes water rentention so I am thinking salt content is important. The big picture is keeping your blood counts up and staying hydrated. My onc even said protein powder, even if it has soy is a good way to keep nutrition level up. But I am not ER+ so I don't have the fear of soy.
They gave me a book at the onc office that looked like it was written for someone at the 5th grade level (and yes I hope I am smarter than a fith grader) and it just showed pictures of veggies, fruits and meat---DUH
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Haven't posted for awhile. Looking for a little encouragement. In between #3 and #4 of TCH and been sick with flu for 5 days with all flu side effects. Can't shake nausea no matter what. Tried Compazine, ginger ale..not working. Between the chemo rounds and now the flu that flattened me all week, I'm sick of being sick and feeling like how can I go through 3 more rounds and when will I ever feel better again. Please reassure me I will feel better soon? When does the bad taste in your mouth go away? No food is appealing.
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I am finished!!! Woohoo, happy happy dance! I feel like wearing a big sign, I survived 6 rounds of TCH. I went back in on Friday and my counts went from a 2 to a 26.2! Whoa, that neupogen sure does work. Because my wbc counts are super high I got to skip the last neulasta. It will be interesting to see what that first week is like without the bone pain. I have been sleeping since Friday, but woke up early today feeling pretty good. I stopped getting the steroid high after round 4. Next stop ob c-train is my rads simulation next wednesday with the hope of starting rads the first week of April. They wanted me to take 3-4 weeks off in between, but unfortunately my Mom is getting remarried May 20th. I need to be done at least a week before. Hopefully it does not bite me in the ass. Are those that are now on just herceptin seeing the onco for each infusion? Or does the rad onc takeover?
mommydoxie- I understand how you are feeling. It was between round 3-5 that I wanted to throw in the towel. I was so tired and sick all the time. The neuropathy got so bad that they cut my dose of taxotere down. I researched and argued for stopping early. In the end, I got through. Now that it is all over I feel fantastic that I can put this part behind me and start to feel better day by day. The taste part hit me hard around #4. I found that it got better at the end of a cycle. I just kept searching for foods I could eat and if all else failed I made smoothies with yogurt or choclate boost and some frozen fruit and bananas. Are you getting emend during infusion? I was given that at round 3 due to severe nausea with no relief from zofran or compazine. It made a huge difference. Before that any smell sent me flying into the bathroom. Big hugs to you, I hope you start to feel better soon. You are almost there!
Sewingnut- My wbc counts stayed on track with neulasta until the last round. I was given only a half dose at round 5 to help me with the severe bone pain. At that time my wbc was a 6.5. Unfortunately I dropped to a 2 for my last one. My RBC have been low since round 3.
Tonlee- You are almost done! You will be in my thoughts on Tuesday! Happy, Happy Day!
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mommydoxie I was one of the strange ones that didn't have nausea (had other rare crappy SE instead) but my SIL, an MD said if the nausea drugs they give you don't work ask for others. There are others but not all MDs will recommend.
My taste buds started to noticeable get bad after tx3. First it was for 3-4 days. By tx6 it was about a week… but everyone is different. Mine were rather mild. Some things just tasted bitter. If you have the metallic taste use plastic utensils. I found artificial ingredients tasted awful as well as bitter things like pepper, nuts, peanut butter and vinegar. Sweet was usually pretty good… but everyone is different
Sunflower Happy Dance for you! Now starts the count down for hair growth and time to change back to you.
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sunflower - You DID IT!!!! Congratulations!!! With the herceptin every 3 weeks I still meet with either the onc nurse or onc beforehand. HAPPY DAY!!!0
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Yeahhhh Sunflower!
It feels great doesn't it!
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Omaz, you meet with the onc or nurse still! Wow I only see one of them every 3 months. My BS wants to see me every 6 months.0
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Lago - yes I do. I don't see my BS until July, so I think that's about an 8 month lag since I last saw him. Onc office checks blood counts with each herceptin, asks how I am feeling, about the neuropathy/hot flashes. ECHO every 3 months. Now the tamoxifen (which I have to start soon). I am going to a workshop on Tuesday put on by my onc and the survivorship coordinator at our center on life after treatment. Interested to see what they put together.0
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I meet with my onc on my first herceptin only treatment to touch bases with everything and discuss some questions I have. The other times it was the onc nurse practitioner. I really like her. I don't know what it will be like with herceptin only after this appointment, it's one of the questions on my list.
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They only check my blood for estrogen to make sure I am truly in meno/chemopause. I don't know if I will ever get another MUGA. Had one before chemo. But I am free to contact them at anytime with issues. My email gets answered usually within a few hours if I send it to the NP.
Anyone else have slight heartburn issues who's been off chemo for a while?
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Something has been going through my brain a lot recently...how do they know I dont have metastasis to another location? I had one positive node. I did have a CT of the abdomen, a chest x-ray and an MRI on both breasts right before surgery. The CT scan was to see if I was a candidate for DIEP because of a prior hernia repair for mesh and the chest x-ray was for surgery as well. Should they have done something else? I dont know why this is consuming me so much lately! Actually I do....I had read about triple positive women with small tumors with only one or two affected nodes who were stage IV from the get go because of metastasis to the liver, brain or elsewhere.
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nora - My understanding is that the scans can't pick up tiny metastases. They have to be larger than a certain size, though I am not sure what that is. You are for sure not alone in worrying about it. I worry about it. Node negative doesn't mean it didn't get out. It could have gotten out by the blood. Hopefully for all of us chemo killed any stray cells, the herceptin will fatally wound any left over from chemo and if any survived all that the estrogen deprivation will keep them from growing until they die of old, estrogen deprived age. We were lucky in a sense that we get three systemic treatments, chemo, herceptin and anti-estrogen. Still though I worry too. I hope the workshop talks about this aspect on Tuesday.0
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Nora I agree totally with what Omaz says regarding scans and metastases. I had all the scans (except brain) before surgery and a 2nd scan on my liver after chemo (no change just small cysts). They did this to see if I was actually a stage IV given the size of my tumor (they thought 7cm) and how fast it was growing. I would have done chemo first if I was stage IV.
There are plenty of triple + with small tumors and no nodes that get metastases. I was just thinking the other day that getting all these different treatments (chemo/herceptin/hormone suppression) that there is an excellent chance I'm going to be OK. You need to focus on the positive side of your statistics. Seriously you don't worry about getting into a car accident everyday but you do wear your seat belt.
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Nora,
My Onc isn't giving me any scans despite the fact I had cancer in 4 nodes. (It is not "policy" to give additional scans to women who only have 4 nodes. I'm getting a second opinion when chemo is done from somewhere that doesn't have such a policy.)
I was told PET scans can't p/u anything smaller than 7mm, but an MRI tech told me that so I don't know if it's true. I still want one. For all I know I have massive Mets ... until they tell me otherwise, why shouldn't I believe I do? Don't I have an "aggressive" and "traveling" kind of cancer? (Their words when I was diagnosed.)
If I would have let them take 5 nodes, and it was in all 5, I'd have every test available, per policy. So this is sort of a punishment for taking my care into my own hands...I know this because everytime I mention a scan I get the same, "Well, you only let us take 4 nodes...."
And I say, "Ripping them out isn't the only way to check them."
Here's the truth of it. Even if PET scans can't p/u everything, I will have no peace until I get one. And I will get one.
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I seem to be on the other end of the spectrum for the scan thing and as nerve wracking as it is I guess i would rather know than not. Had CT and Bone scans Friday morning and got a 4:30 call from Onc office wanting to cancel my port install Mon to do the PET scan. I had been in their office 3 times last week and that scan was never brought up. I DO know my insurance will not pay for the PET unless :"further evidence of disease" is present. So how nice of them to call me on Fri after they close to schedule this test.
I refused to cancel the port install ( which they must have figured I would do) because their next move was to cancel my Muga on Tuesday. Of course everyone in the office had left for the weekend except for the poor girl who called me. She said it was regular business to schedule this-except for why didn't they mention it the 3 times they had seen me already. So I have spent all weekend thinking Brain? Liver? Lung? Pretty sure not bone beacuse they didn't ask for any further x-rays after the scan.
I am neo chemo starting weds with a lemon size tumour embedded in the chest wall-I am hanging onto stage III by the skin of my boob-so to speak. Without the actual tumour or any node info they are flying blind without the scans.I don't really want to know if I have mets at this point. it doesn't change the chemo but will really change my attitude. So really there are pros and cons either way I guess.
I have 6 rounds of TCH every 3 weeks with the herceptin on the in between weeks-is that normal? So really, chemo every week. After round 6 herceptin every 3 weeks.
Sunflower-we all join you in your happy dance. Every person who gets thru inspires me -I can do this.
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oh Lilylady,
I feel for you! That is very insenstive to get a call on a Friday afternoon when they know good and well that your mind is going to go crazy until Monday.
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