Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235543.php great news!!!!0
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Yay - they finally published BCIRG006!!!!! Thanks starella!!0
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Hi Paulamatti, mark a date on the calendar say Thanksgiving. When the sickness kicks in and you feel like you can't do anymore, look at the calendar and know on this day you will feel good and no more chemo. This feeling from chemo both physical and mental does have and ending date! Everyone here told me to set an ending goal and I did it was a trip, it signified that the painful part of this journey had come to an end. Good luck stay strong and we all know what it is like to endure sickness and sadness due to something you cannot control or cure.
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pualmati and izzy,
I just hat # 5 last week and had to stay home all week with SEs. I had an MRI and a MUGA test on Tuesday and I thought that maybe having the radiactive stuff in my system made it worse. I definitely think it is taking longer to feel better. I ended up with thrush also, which had not happened until now. I am not looking forward to another treatment, but at this stage in the game, what is one more time?
I hope both of you are feeling better and we can all do it one more time! Just think, by Thanksgiving we all will be able to taste our food!
On a positive note, my MRI is completely clear. There is no trace of my 4.5 cm mass. I meet with the surgeon on Monday and will have to decide what kind of surgery I am going to have. I go back and forth between a lumpectomy and a mastectomy. I think my odds will be about the same, and I am pretty sure my surgeon is going to recommend breast conservation. I will have rads and will continue on Herceptin until July of 2012 regardless of which way I go.
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Anafoefana Just curious. Why were you staged as stage IIIa? I have a larger tumor than you, no nodes as well but only staged at IIB. Is it because you are hormone negative or did it have something to do with the location?0
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Lago,
Not sure. I will have to ask. My husband wondered about that as well. At the time of my diagnosis I was so overwhelmed and I just took what they said without questioning it.
Did you have a mastectomy?
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I had a bilateral with 10 nodes on one side and 4 (SNB) on the other. There was a small amount of LCIS in the "good" breast. Didn't know that before because I didn't have it biopsied. Once the MRI showed some suspicious stuff my BS recommended BMX and I totally agreed. I just had nipple recon Thursday morning. I'm almost done! Just need tats.
I couldn't do a lumpecotmy with a tumor so big and my old breast being so small. I was never faced with your decision. It's a tough one to make. Personally I'm glad I did the BMX.
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Has anyone found a way to minimize the nasty taste of food during the week of chemo? It is a SE of Carboplatin. I have tried to find something to help, but all of the websites just state the SE, they don't suggest any ways to help with it. I have read about sucking on ice or popsicles during chemo to help with mouth sores, wonder if that would also help with the taste thing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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Laura5,
I read somewhere that if you don't eat 1 to 2 before and 3 after treatment helps. Nothing seems to make a difference for me, and after my 4th treatment, my taste buds never came back. I ended up with thrush also which made it even worse. I am 11 days after # 5 and am really struggling with eating. Even the things I could eat previously taste bad to me now.
I have been drinking Ensure because I continue to be anemic. They reduced my Carboplatin dose for the last treatment, but it didn't seem to make a difference.
Here is a link to where I found some suggestions: http://www.chemocare.com/managing/taste_changes.asp
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Laura my taste issue wan't too bad. Things just got bitter tasting for a week. I would aviod the foods that tasted funky. If you have the metalic issue try using plastic utensils.
I did ice my mouth for treaments 4-6. It really did help get rid of the sore tongue/sores but my taste issues still got worse with each treatment.
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I havent had too bad an issue with taste, but I am due for tx 4 on Wednesday and am feeling a little apprehensive reading how many people had trouble with no 4.or worse SEs from it. I get a few mouth sores but nothing terrible and I use Biotene regularly which seems to help too. I never had the metallic taste either. The only thing I really cant do is drink regular water now, weird but that does taste bad! I have gone over to Smart Water which is fine, but even better really cold.
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Grimbol try sucking on ice chips through the Taxotere infusion. It doesn't work for everyone but it did for me as far as mouth sores. I too used Biotene.0
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ok thanks, I will try that. I also take a fruit smoothie in with me, but then that got me in trouble last time as they couldn't get a temperature reading on me as my mouth was so cold, so I have to remember not to start on it until after the check in process!!
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Hey ladies, I met a woman the other day at a bus stop and she is on her 2 nd round of tax after just finishing 4 rounds of Andriamycin and her diagnosis was triple positive stage 2 A. I am curious, I was triple positive and 2 b and received TCH, she is getting AT + H. She has I BMX also. We both have no node involvement. Any idea what determines your chemo regimen?
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Chemo regimens vary from onc to onc and vary by where you live as well. The Mayo clinic recommended AC+TH for me and my local onc recommended TCH. I asked him why the different chemo regimen and he said either would be an acceptable protocol but he recommended TCH because of the cardiotoxicity of Adriamycin and the increased risk of leukemia. He said he would have given me the AC+TH and cited the slightly better effective rate. But I took his advice and went with the TCH.
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My situation was similar. My MO wanted me to have adriamyacin because it is more "potent" but in the end decided on taxotere because my Muga baseline was low end of normal. Then add Herceptin Cardio toxic effect.... leaned her to taxotere instead. Taxotere also has some potential Cardiotoxic effects but not as much. I think some docs lean toward adriamycin because it's been around longer.
Has anyone noticed the muscle twitching? I read that some get the restless leg issue but oddly my muscle twitches are mostly in my abdomen or low back. Not painful but irritating like the eye twitch. Just curious.0 -
My situation was the same, two oncs, one recommended ACTH and the other TCH, I liked the doc and practice that offered the TCH the best.
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Izzy, I have the muscle twiching too. So glad you mentioned it. I've had it on and off for the past couple of weeks and was worried. I have it up and down my sides. There sometimes in an accompanying 'gurgling' sensation with it.... Also, my left eye is not draining properly; I have read from this site that this might be due to blocked tear ducts. Hope it goes away soon after treatment. I am now 10 days after TCH #4, I have felt sick longer this round and also considerably more tired. After reading the recent postings about TX#5, I am starting to feel rather discouraged.
Laura5, I've tried sucking on ice chips during both the Taxotere and the Carboplatin infusions after my nurse told me that Carboplatin was responsible for the taste changes. I had horrible taste changes with TX#2, but they haven't been as bad since. I think the ice chips help with both taste and mouth sores. Good luck.
Grimbol, good luck this week. Let us know how you are doing.
Amelie
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amelie, i've been wondering about you. i've had the same experience after tch #4 .. long, extreme tiredness. i'm really dreading #5 and #6. i hope you feel better soon.0
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I have the muscle twitching as well. It's irritating but I've learned to live with it. The new thing for me is leg cramps. But I suppose those are from the Tamoxifen.
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Thanks, YaYa. I feel like I am coming out of a long fog... feeling a bit more myself today, but not completely yet. It's definitely taking longer this time. How are you?
Interesting that so many have the muscle twitching. What's causing it; anyone knows?
Also, I have a question to those of you who've used the drug Zofran? How did you like it? I will probably switch take-home nausea med for my next TX as the Compazine no longer seems to be working. However, I am a bit worried about SE's for Zofran. Will welcome anyone's experience. Thanks.
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Amelie - I took Zofran and loved it!! Nausea stopped within 5 minutes. They said some of the anti-nausea meds give headaches, but I didn't find that. I have to admit though that I only got nauseous twice during my treatments.
I did have headaches and dizzy spells after my second treatment, and my onc ran a CT scan on my request. Come to find out I was just dehydrated, and switched to drinking diluted sports drinks--which made all my head problems go away.
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amelie, i've taken zofran without any problems. i get two anti-nausea meds with chemo so i haven't had much nausea, but i take zofran just in case. what has really helped with the little nausea i've experienced is phenergen (sp?) in gel form. i rub it on my wrist. it's compounded at the pharmacy at the cancer clinic. i love that stuff! i don't think you'll have any problems with zofran.0
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I take Zofran too alternated with Compazine and don't have too much trouble. I do find my nausea can last up to a week or more, so I have to keep it handy in case I need it. Last time they put Emend in my drip, that helped a lot too.
Off to no 4 today, not looking forward to this at all! Talk to you all later, when I resurface again!
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Pejkug, I had leg cramps. Hormone negative so no tamoxifen and past menopause so not from the hormone shifts of chemopause either. It might be due to electrolites being out of balance. Low potassium for instance. I think low magnesium can do it too.
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I also have the muscle twitching in my legs and abdomen, its pretty annoying but nothing else. Day 14 after number 5 andfinally feeling my self again,the taste still bothers me little bit...getting ready for the last one next week.
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I also get bad leg and feet cramps, I am hormone negative and past menopause. I am drinking Smart water which has electrolytes in it, that might be helping some.
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Paulamati--I am relieved you are feeling better and I think all of the women who posted were irght on. I am doing no. 3 tomorrow and no. 6 seems like an eternity away but it will feel great to finally be through it.
Amy--congrats on doing well and your perspective is great. Very encouraging when time moves forward and these events and experiences though painful now start to fade.
Tiger--hoping all is well.
Wishing everyone a great weekend whereever you are in this process. Today I am enjoying the warm sun-filled day!
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Hi guys!
The scans came back positive for mets along the spine. My doc is thinking that the chemo did not work, not sure how because it shrank my breast tumor to nothing. I am now going to MD Anderson to get this sorted out. I am so sad.0 -
I'm off Herceptin for at least 3 months. My MUGA came back today and it was less than 49% EF which means I dropped aout 20 points since starting in December. Chest X-Ray also showed my heart is enlarged ... still within "normal" but barely.
I KNEW something wasn't right.
Is it bad I'm just glad it's not a cancer?
I thought being tired and my legs started swelling again just like when on TCH...was SE from the chemo. Onc said most of my complaints can be caused by poor heart function, including some I've attributed to Tamoxifen.
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