Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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lilylady--I'd love to hear what Joan has to say about whatever that was that Princess Beatrice had tacked to her forehead.
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Just getting to fell better on day 10 after TX3 - SEs hit a little harder this time in the form of nausea and fatigue but today I think I have turned the corner and best of all this is the time that my miserable rsh has appeared after TXs 1 and 2 and so far no sign of it coming on. Fingers croosed because that kept me home for an additional week diving me only about 5 or 6 good days out of every 3 weeks.
I am only scheduled for 4 TCHs - anyone else only getting 4 and not 6? I am also neoadjuvant so don't know if that makes a difference. My last TX is May 11 and on May 16 will have mammo, us and MRI. Even if I later get more TCH scheduled at least I can now live in the fantasy that I am almost finished.
Next step for me will be surgery. I know most of you have gone throught it already and I have also convinced mysself that the chemo is the worst part of this treatment. What you you think?
Wishing you all all great weekend free from SEs and beautiful weather. I see that I am not the only one from Northern CA here.
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Me too...up all night....forgot to take my precious ativan for sleep (addicted) so I awoke at 2 am only to have to wait til 5am for the wedding. It was worth it!
Lady Ingaborg Spunky Madison.....need to head to court for a name change too!
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Chrissyw: hailing from Willits, sitting with my Herceptin in Ukiah. Small town, USA.
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anniemomofthree - your royal name is too funny!
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speciak - i know...did that wedding wipe you out? it is 8pm and I am laying in bed!!!!
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anniemomofthree - that is where I am headed! I had a CBC today and an appointment with the local YMCA Livestrong exercise program today too. I ran a couple of errands and I am ready to cuddle in the blankie - I didn't get any sleep last night but I so enjoyed watching all the wedding hoopla! It was a nice diversion and I have to wave the union jack for my family who is not here anymore!
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jackifp - I am in the Napa Valley and just moved here from NY 3 years ago.
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hi all, my wife finished the "TC" portion of TCH a bit over 4 weeks ago, she is continuing with Herceptin for the rest of the year. She hasn't seen any new hair grow back as of yet, at what point have those of you who have finished TC started to see new hair?
Thanks in advance!
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imatthew - How are you and your wife feeling now?0
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Hi Omaz, she's doing pretty well, still very tired, skin under nails is back, and still having numbness in feet/hands. We actually noticed some "fuzz" last night in her head (after I posted), so she's pretty happy about it.
Next up is DIEP stage 2.
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imatthew - Best wishes with stage 2! I finished last Dec and still have numbness too.0
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Hi all! I have been lurking here for several weeks now. I am so thankful for all your posts. I start TCH this Thursday 5/5. So, instead of having a margarita on Cinco de Mayo-I'll be getting a chemo cocktail!
I guess right now the hardest thing for me is not knowing what to expect. The anxiety leading up is probably much worse than what I will experience. And of course I am worried about losing my hair. I was fine to lose my breast-I was like go ahead and take it! And my new frankenboob isn't that bad either, but the thought of going bald is really what is bothering me the most. Please keep up all the wonderful posts, and if you have any advice before I hit the chair-please let me know!
Hugs, Cara
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Carabear - You may want to consider icing your fingers and toes during the taxotere. I think it has been described a few times if you search. I used elastogel cold caps to reduce hair loss and there is a thread here about penguin cold caps, lots of knowledgable women there! Advice? Drink lots, eat lots of protein, write down any side effects that you may have. If you are very nervous before chemo (I was) you can ask them to put some ativan in the pre-meds drip, it is calming. Best wishes, come back and update as you go along.
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Carabear-
You'll do fine! We all know it's scary to start. It does feel good to get the first one behind you. I agree with writing down your side effects. That will help you in the next treatments and when you visit your oncologist after your first treatment.
Good mouth care- rinsing w/ baking soda/salt water and using biotene toothpaste and mouthwash helped me based on recommendations of folks on this board.
Side effects vary from person to person- we will all be thinking of you & wishing you well for your first treatment. Lots of help and support from folks here- it's helping me every day!
Lisa
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Carabear: Love "frankenboob"! I've become Frankenmom since lumpectomy and port...it started with DHs new knee and grown sons calling him Frankendad, and now we're the Frankenparents, teehee. Some people are put off by the weird humor, but this is how our family gets through wicked times.
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Thank you so much for your quick responses!! Knowing that you all are there for me and know what I am going through means so much to me! I hate that we are all going through this, but thankful we are going through it together.
Omaz~ Thanks for all the great tips! I will definitely be icing the nails and have already started to drink my weight in water! Lol
LisaGH~ It is scary, but having all these great women on here like you is really helping me so much. Thanks for the advice on the mouthcare. I have never had mouth sores before and really would not like to start now!
jackifp~ A little humor couldn't hurt, right? Lol. I love that you are the Frankenparents! That is awesome!!!
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carabear Welcome! You are in the right place and we will all help you as much as possible as you go through TCH. Everyone has already given you great suggestions. I would say that it's really important to stay ahead of the side effects before they can get too bad. You won't know until the first TCH exactly what your prominent SEs will be so writing them down is really important. If you are going to have neulasta shots, be sure to take claritin and have alleve on hand for the bone pain-very helpful tip I learned here. Otherwise, just keep us all posted and ask lots of questions-we're here for you!0
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dragonfly - Hi my triplet!
carabear - I have done 4 out of 6 TCH (with dragonfly1 and LisaGH) and I had mouth sores on tx#1. I now realize that I ate and drank way too many acidic things. Stay away from lemon and other citrus, tomato, vinegar, etc. I had no further problems after I did that, but on that first tx Italian Lemon Soda was the only thing that tasted good to me so I overdid it. Be careful also to wait and see if you will be prone to constipation or diarrhea, and then try to fix whichever (hopefully neither!!!) one you may end up with. Don't pre-medicate until you figure that out, a laxative prior to diarrhea is a very bad idea. Get very clear instructions on your anti-nausea meds from the onc nurses and don't wait for that to show up - take the meds the way they tell you even if you don't have any nausea yet. Drink, drink, drink to flush the chemo out of your system. Cut your nails short and ice during the Taxotere portion of your chemo - I use bags of frozen peas on feet and hands as my center does not have mitts. About once a week I put cocoa butter on my hands and feet and wear gloves and socks to bed to try to keep some moisture and prevent cracking.
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SpecialK Hello again-hope you are enjoying the good days of this cycle before we face TCH#5. I'm feeling pretty good overall except that my HGB dropped a little bit more so the fatigue is a constant now.
Carabear SpecialK is right about the hands and nails. Mine were getting to be a mess by the third TCH and I started using Eucerin at night and sleeping in cotton gloves which quickly helped the dryness/cracking (of course my DH started calling me Mickey Mouse:) The icing is a must! My nail beds became discolored and extremely painful at one point and still seem to be cycling but using the frozen peas during the infusion seems to have limited the damage. As far as losing your hair, we've all been there and it was a shock. My hair started falling out in clumps and shedding terribly on day 16 to the point that I couldn't stand the mess and made the decision to buzz my hair off and take control of it. By the way, I convinced myself that my hair might not fall out because my hair seemed absolutely fine for 15 days but then came out in handfuls the next day when I washed it. Other people just let their hair go for a lot longer...It's a personal decision. At any rate we are all here when you need to vent or ask questions! Hope everything goes smoothly for your first TCH tomorrow...
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dragonfly - Hi! The car I normally drive doesn't really have good radio reception because of a problem with the antenna - nobody can figure out how to fix it - so I usually just don't listen to music in the car. Yesterday I was driving our other car with a radio and I cranked it up and was singing and seat-dancing while I was driving. I was having a blast and suddenly realized how happy I was just tooling along and singing - so, yes I am enjoying the good days before the next lethal injection! Next week there will be no singing...
Carabear - I thought of something else. My first line of anti-nausea meds was Zofran. It, along with the chemo drugs, gave me a brutal headache which lasted for days. Read your med SE's also, but I should say as well that I did not have that same severity of headache on subsequent tx. A number of other ladies also said the same thing - bad headache on the 1st tx, normal kind of headache on later ones. I also stock up on food/drink that I like to have prior to chemo, and do any household chores, errands or bill-paying, etc. so that IF I feel bad I have eliminated the pressure to do those things. I know that sounds like common sense, but my DH is often not around to take care of those things due to work commitments.
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SpecialK Speaking of DH being away...I was fortunate to have my DH home for the past two days while I was home for my weekend. He was looking at his flight log and realized that since I started chemo on 2/15 he has only been home a total of 17 days! He's also scheduled for a flight training all week next week in Phoenix so it doesn't look like it's going to improve. We both laughed because we figure that his "slow" time will come as soon as chemo ends...
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dragonfly - Maybe the "slow time" coming when you are out of chemo is good though because you will be feeling better and more able to enjoy his company! Silver lining is what I say! My DH has just decided that he needs to start coming home earlier from work - not to see me, but to ride his bike!!! When he retired from the military the federal government got the best deal - he works a LOT of hours for free! He does the same exact job and I could never figure out how if he worked 12 hours days when he was active duty he was going to be able to fit the same amount of work into an 8 hour day when civil service! Silly rabbit!
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dragonfly-Tomorrow will be day 16 for me, and like you I am feeling hopeful about the hair, but am waiting for the shed to begin. I feel ready, but I don't think anything can prepare a woman for losing something we spend so much time trying to make look good each day.
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Wow! Thank you so much Dragonfly1 and Special K!! Love all the great advice! Had a crazy day at work today and feel weird now that I am taking the 3 days of Dexamethasone. Not sure if sleep will be in my future tonight.
Dargonfly1~ Onc says we will wait on the Neulasta shots and see how my body responds to the chemo. He is hoping since I am young (32) that I can keep my WBC counts up. I am really hoping not to do those as they sound really painfull. But I will def have the Claritin on hand. I have started a little journal to note my SE. The hair I will just have to face when it comes along. I know its inevitable. I HAVE to start shopping for a wig. I have put it off for awhile now. But I also have a 9yr old daughter and I think the no hair thing is really going to freak her out!
SpecialK ~ Thanks for the advice on the mouth sores and the nails. (You too Dragonfly1!). I hate not knowing what my SE's will be because I wanna be prepared. But I think you are right on not taking meds (diarrha/the big C) until I know which one it is. I cut my nails short tonight to be ready. I also heard that applying nail strengthener will help as well? Luckily, I work in veterinary medicine and a lot of the meds we use are the same as the human drugs so I am familar with a lot of medications. But I will be asking everytime what I am getting so I can be prepared for the SE. I get migraine headaches anyway so I am not looking forward to any killer headaches. As far as food in the house...HA! Lol, I have been so busy working this week that I forgot to go to the store. No DH, I have been divorced for 3 years but I have great friends who I know will pick me up anything I need.
Thank you again for responding to my post and letting me know you care. It truly makes me feel so much better! Well, I am off to try and sleep! Hahaha. G'nite!
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Good luck tomorrow carabear!0
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Dragonfly, lisagh, and specialK: you are my heroes, as you've done 4 of 6 TCHs. I head into #2 on Friday, and find myself more than a bit nervous...I got thru #1 without trouble other than a headache, and it's too good to be true that it'll happen again. But you folks have made it, so I'm following y'all, thanks.
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Carabear--the neulasta shots don't have to be painful. I may be in the minority but I don't need anything to counter the neulasta because I feel nothing from them. I kinda' feel guilty because some of the ladies here report such awful side effects from the shot. Today is day 2 of my 3rd of 6 rounds and will give myself the shot this afternoon. My WBC has been high every time and I weathered a cold during Chemo 2 with no ill effects, so I think it's worth it.
The steroids can muck with your sleep. I find I'm either unable to fall asleep because my mind goes into overdrive, or I wake up and can't get back sleep. It's 4am and I here I am! On the plus side, I have the best gym workouts when I start the steroids and I get a lot done. I'm done with them today and I know that I have a short time left before the crash.
re: mouth sores... I had problems during Chemo 1 and took a more aggressive approach during Chemo 2. I alternated between salt/baking soda rinses and Biotene, which the dentist told me about. I also read about Manuka honey. Honey in general has antiseptic properties and Manuka is supposed to be especially powerful. The price is shocking; you get it at health food stores. But I've been gooshing a tiny amount around in my mouth at least once a day. I had much less trouble during Chemo 2.
re: nails...I ice my fingers during the taxotere. I also use the nail hardener. The Chemo Pharmacist also recommended no washing dishes, even with rubber gloves. That's going to be hard as a single mom. But anything you can do to reduce your time in a sink of hot water could help. Is it working? My nails have never looked so good. Go figure! I am keeping them short and trying to avoid hitting them. I don't presume they're invincible or that I'm off the hook. I still have 3 more rounds to get through.
Heed the advice about Big D and C. I assumed that I'd react to everything with Big C because I drift that direction any other time. But the taxotere is just carpet bombing my GI tract and Big D hits in a major way. I was on saline IVs for nearly a week during Chemo 1 and they cut the tax back to 80% for Chemo 2. I was able to avoid dehydration but still had to go to Lomotil to keep it under control. The onc said that it's fairly rare to experience Big D to that extreme so don't worry too much until you see how you react. You could be lucky and see nothing of great consequence.
I'm glad to have a 3 week cycle. I get enough normal time before the next hit which makes it easier to go back for more. I'm halfway done now!0 -
Carabear-I have had 3/6 treatments and haven't had a neulasta shot. My onc said same thing, since I am young (36) I should rebound well and I have. I just take extra precautions around days 10 thru 14 after treatment (which is when ur counts are at lowest!
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