Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
Comments
-
Amy,
I had that same experience, with the face break out after the first chemo. I get the breakouts here and there now, but not so much on the face, and the lower track suffers for a good 5-7 days after chemo, but for me, the most annoying side effects are the very sore nail beds, and the coated mouth, that can't taste anything, and barely starts to taste again with the swish & swallow meds, right before the next chemo
0 -
Can't thank you all enough for responding. It is a great help. I am making my list to make sure I have everything I need. Did any of you try to stay away from large groups of people to keep from getting sick? I am starting mine at the beginning of cold season I suppose. I have chosen to take an unpaid leave from work because I teach music to 600 kids a week (K-5) and I fear I would easily catch something from someone even if I was careful. Wouldn't it be nice if you could go to sleep and wake up when it is over???
Hugs!0 -
musicalmom - I worked from home during chemo. The center where I work is located in a hospital and I didn't want to catch anything. I was very fortunate that I could work from home. Are you getting the neulasta shot?0
-
Acne was really bad for me on 9 and 10 after first treatment. After the second one I broke out on my head. We will see what round three brings. Both times it sprung on day 9 and 10 and then stayed for about a week. My Onc prescribed a topical antibiotic.
Day 6 after treatment has been the worst, two days after steroids are out of my system. That will be tomorrow, hopefully it won't be as bad as last time!
Musicalmom, I am going to start off the year going into my 4th treatment. I teach special ed and have the okay from the Onc to go back. She just said, practice a lot of handwashing. Some of my kids are medically fragile, so we have to be careful with bugs anyway. Your situation is different, and I worry about just being at school as well. Fortunately I will be done with it before it gets really cold. You were diagnosed about the same time as I was. Have you had surgery? I am having chemo first, and my tumor is gone! I see the surgeon tomorrow.
0 -
Musicalmom I started chemo on 2/15 and was working full-time in a hospital ER (where you don't always know what the patients bring in) and on inpatient medical units. My MO told me it was absolutely fine but that I should be even more vigilent about handwashing/universal precautions. She told me that with the neulasta shot I would be protected and just needed to use common sense and stay away from people who were obviously sick during flu seaon. I worked the whole time and never even caught a cold. I certainly did avoid really crowded places like the shopping mall but otherwise went about life as normal...
0 -
question: if I had emend in my IV today, how long should i wait to take zofran or my phenergen gel prophylactically? anyone know how long the emend stays in your system?? TIA.
0 -
Hi Anafoefana,
Your name reminds me of my Hannah Banana (daughter). I already had surgery and radiation. I love Special Ed teachers. I have a son with autism. You are in a little smaller environment I imagine. I wish you the best. Best of luck with the surgeon!0 -
OMAZ,
Working from home sounds like a good alternative. Everybody seems to be getting Neulasta. I just sent an e-mail to my onc asking if I am getting it.0 -
musicalmom - I wish my onc did email!0
-
Dragonfly,
That is amazing. I can't believe you had the energy to work in the ER. Wow. What were you eating. : ) I am going to check out your video soon.0 -
Ladies,
I've been offline for a couple of days. I had my second TCH today. Feeling fine so far with all the steroids. I go for my neulasta shot tomorrow. Will make sure to take the claritin; I didn't last time and really suffered for it.
I want to think all of you who responded to my 4 versus 6 TCH question. I was going through a 'feeling sorry for myself' moment after all the SE's from the first TCH and really questioning if I could do this 5 more times. You have motivated me to look at the bigger picture and to remain grateful that there is this amazing treatment out there for all of us Her+ ladies. I feel so immensly grateful to all the ladies in the trials from years past who've paved the way for today.
Lilylady, thank you so much for sharing your story. I'll pray that your amazing response to the Herceptin continues and that the surgery can go ahead successfully. There was a lady in my infusion center today receiving an enhanced form of Herceptin which is part of a study currently being done. It think it's called DM1 so something similar (Omaz, you are the expert among us, have you heard of it?). Anyway, my nurse explained to me that this new treatment was thought to boost the Herceptin and direct it faster to the cancer cells....
Wish me luck for a minimal SE week. I am drinking lots of fluids and taking all my pre-meds, watching my protein intake, exercising and resting. If I've forgotten anything from this list, let me know. Musicalmom, best of luck to you Wednesday. You'll be happy to finally get started. That was the hardest part for me.
Hugs to all,
Amelie
0 -
musicalmom,
After I caught a bug after chemo, and ended up in the hospital for two days, I get the nuelasta shot now the day after each chemo, and it has really helped keep my white blood counts up. Mine were almost at 0 when I was hospitalized. I have chemo number 5 next week, and nuelasta number 4. The slower they give the shot the less it hurts, and I take claritin for bone pain, at least 5-7 days after and it seems to really help
0 -
Question. I just had my first TCH today. Now, I can't sleep. I think it's the steroids. I know I need to rest. Did any of you have insomnia due to the steroids your first round. Any advice?
0 -
Hi Jendon,
I take steroids as well. It does cause insomia. I take sleeping pills and that really helps a lot otherwise I would be staying up for 3 days. I get irriatable on them as well. I also have experienced swelling and bloating from the steroids. So my Dr. prescribed me a diuretic for all my water retention. The thing that bothers me the most is that they cause you to gain weight. My Dr. told me as soon as I get off them that the weight will fall off. I sure hope that is true. So far I have been on them for a month and have not gained. So I am really doing my best to stay away from a lot of carbs which you crave the most from steroids. I am just doing my best to eat 5 small meals a day. So far so good. Hope this helps. Probably more information than what you wanted to know.
0 -
jendon - it most likely is the steroids. Do you have any Ativan? It may have been prescribed for anti-nausea. If so, it may help you to sleep. Also, Xanax (which you may have been prescribed for anxiety) helps some people fall asleep. Otherwise, just clean your whole house, do all your laundry, wash your car, organize your underwear drawer, watch everything on your DVR, and then knit some socks!
0 -
My steroids are IV, they said they are supposed to counter act the taxotere which can cause fluid retention.
No Ativan. I did try benadryl. The only nausea med I was given was compazine. I think I'm going to have to ask for something. This no sleep is crazy.0 -
YaYa-I take emend in the pill form the day of and two days after tx. I wad told that I could take Zofran and Promethazine even on the days I take emend. Hope this helps!
0 -
I got the neulasta shot in my belly just to the side of my belly button. Didn't have any problem with that location. I have padding there (c:0
-
jendon - Compazine also makes me sleepy so you might try that, if you haven't yet. My steroids for the first couple of tx were IV only too, just day of chemo. I didn't have too much trouble with it until I had to start with the before, during and after steroids. There is an anti-nausea component to the steroids and they control inflammation. As far as swelling it is a mixed bag. They are given with Taxotere to control the swelling from it but can cause swelling of their own! This sometimes happens in the last couple of tx. I finally had to start a diuretic at tx#5 and continue until a couple of months after chemo was done. I had a rapid and noticeable weight gain between #4 and #5 and when I started the diuretic I immediately dropped 10 lbs., over the weekend.
0 -
Well- I think I am crazy. I don't exactly know what is wrong with me, but I am just not myself the last couple of days. I am so emotional, crying, unstable, depressed, kranky and just plain pitifiul. What is wrong with me? I am a very strong person- and right now I do not feel strong. I feel like I have the worst PMS ever. Is this normal? Is this what chemo induced menopause feels like? I have been taking my ativan because I've been so anxious but I don't want to keep taking it all the time. Is this a combo of the stress, chemo, hormones, surgery, etc that is finally hitting me? Has anyone else felt like this?
0 -
Hi musicalmom, I don't post on here to much but came down to read it today. I have a daughter, Hannah Bannana too, it is spelled like that as her brother signed her up for email etc. spelling it wrong so it stuck! She is actually 23 and married though.
Christean, I undersatnd exactly, I too thought I would be ok thru this and was really shocked at how low I got during the first tx. Wanting to give up, I couldn't do this etc. However, you WILL bounce back, I promise, aroung day 8/9 it was for me 1st time. My second is next week, not looking forward to it, but we have to kick this nasty disease.
0 -
christean, i am post-menopausal and have been for 15 years. i can tell you for a fact that you are experiencing some of those menopausal feelings. i never had the really bad hot flashes during menopause, but i had exactly the same feelings you are describing, and i wasn't on chemo. i think you're right that it's all just now hitting you, too. i promise you that the menopause emotions will get better. i hope you feel better very, very soon.0
-
Chistean- Thinking of you. I have been there too- definitely a roller coaster ride this whole breast cancer thing. I have always felt I was a strong person. This has knocked me to my knees at many points. When I think now of the year 2011- it's overwhelming- 3 visits to the OR- 6 rounds of TCH- still on Herceptin- not to mention the MD visits, tests, labs etc we all go through. It's a tough thing. Some days/weeks I am ok. Others it's sad and scary. One day at a time for me now- tough days one hour at a time.
I was already through menopause prior to chemo- still had emotions that were tough at times- and not due to any of us being crazy. It's a scary tough journey we face at times. Our lives revolve around breast cancer during many parts of this journey too. That to me was frustrating.
It does get better- I am still on herceptin- have had my reconstruction surgery done. And it's much easier overall now. It still is hard to think for a long time about this past year- it would scare anyone. We do make it through- you will too.
Hope tomorrow is a better day for you.
0 -
Christean that sounds like mood swings. I had that happen once just before I started chemo. It was a saturday night I was in tears. I said to my husband I have no idea why I'm so upset I'm really OK. I just assumed menopause was starting. Odd thing was I never had a mood swing once chemo put me into chemopause.
Granted like others have said you will have your down days but if this emotional stuff doesn't seem to make sense I bet it's mood swings… and they are not forever.
0 -
Hi everyone. Tough morning a lot of tears for a variety of reasons one being an intense headache. I am doing steroids with ativan at bedtime which helped. They put ativan in port this morning and it is making me pretty sleepy. Other drugs also kicked in for my intense headache. Herceptin went in with no problem and taxotere seems to be okay, Thanks for all the encouragement. Hope to go home in 2 hours.
0 -
musicalmom - Drink, drink, drink!! I also got a headache with the first round, but not so much with the others. Take care!0
-
Thanks for everyone's assurance that I am not going crazy! I am still pretty emotional and I finally called the nurse at the MO office and told her how I was feeling...she says I am not crazy but called in a prescription for prozac. I hope it helps. I worked all day today, and I am exhausted. I am typically able to be open with my patients when they ask how I am doing, but today...I just found myself crying as I would say "I'm doing really good, today is a good day." I am not sure what is with all these tears!! I am a control freak and I just don't know how to act when I can't control these tears that keep falling down my face. I keep wondering if this is a major episode of PMS and if I'm gonna start my period soon!! I am glad to hear that this isn't going to last forever. I am ready for it to go away.
I hope everyone is doing well and managing their SE's. I cannot express how much I value the advice from those who have experienced this before. How could we do this without each other? You guys make me so much stronger. (More tears !!??) I love you all!
0 -
musicalmom - remember to stay ahead of the nausea, it is easier to prevent than it is to treat. And like Omaz says - drink, drink, drink.
Christean - sorry you are feeling so up and down. This is difficult stuff for sure. We are here to help you feel stronger, just like those who helped us when we were where you are right now!
0 -
Christean, I hope you feel better soon. It must be so hard to have no control over your emotions. Just remember that you have been through a lot and that you are allowed to feel out of sorts. Remember that this time we are in is temporary and it too shall pass, as they say. Hang in there and come here to vent whenever you need to. Hugs.
Amelie
0 -
Christean-I have been the same way. Last week from Wednesday to Sunday that's all I did was be emotional. I also told my deao SO that I didn't know what was wrong and why al I was doing was crying. So far this week I have been fine. Get to feeling better.
Tina0
