Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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Oops almost forgot...for me Lotsofaith going to church and having people pray for me, spending time in worship and letting my church fam bring us meals did so much to encourage me as did my caringbridge site. I was amazed at the kindness of others.
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Oops almost forgot...for me Lotsofaith going to church and having people pray for me, spending time in worship and letting my church fam bring us meals did so much to encourage me as did my caringbridge site. I was amazed at the kindness of others.
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musicalmom - glad things are on the upswing! That starts pretty much as you are leaving from getting that last tx!
relda - wow! I am thinking you are anti-port right about now. And maybe anti-anybody who has anything to do with ports!
Judy - my hair hung on until day 24, through the second chemo. Everybody was amazed at the onc office. Of course, I washed it and blow-dried it right after that and the hairbrush looked like a long-haired guinea pig. Went outside, sat in a chair with a shower curtain liner around my shoulders, and DH shaved it all off. The good news - now it is back! I look like a 10-year old boy but who cares, right?
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My daughter is starting on the taxotere, carboplatin, and herceptin regimine this week. She was diagnosed with stg 3 breast cancer 7 and a half yrs ago, has been on and off chemo of some sort during that time. She was 27 when diagnosed, was breast feeding her youngest when she found the lumps. Her recent pet scan showed mets to Liver, which is why they are doing a new regimine. If anyone has any input to help get us thru this, will be greatly appreciative. We are keeping our faith, her girls are now 10 1/2 and 8, they are young and scared of losing their mom. thanks
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KatiesMom, Your daughter and family will be in my prayers.
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katiesmom, the only input i can give to you is to stay close to the women on these boards. they are very helpful and kind.
a lot of us iced our fingernails and toenails while getting taxotere. it supposedly helps with nail problems and it seems to have worked for me. also, if she gets a neulasta shot the day after treatment, claritin (not claritin D) should be taken an hour before the shot and once a day a few days after the shot. there are other suggestions that you will find in this thread, but if you have specific questions, please ask them. someone is always around to answer almost any question. my thoughts are with you, your daughter, and your grand-daughters.
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Hi ladies, I posted this on another thread and I thought I would repeated it here, to give you an update.
I had a really bad day yesterday with this tinnitus. Went to onc.s office, Oncs not there this week, so saw his PA. She was trying to reassure me that this might be temporary, but she wasn't very convincing. She said I have 3 things other than the carboplatin, that might be causing it. I had the very large dose of steroids, low potassium and I'm anemic. She thinks once these things resolve, my tinnitus may go away. She wasn't very convincing, because in the next breathe she said Onc will take me off the carboplatin. She said she had been working there 10 years and saw only two cases that were permenant and they had been on carbo for 6 -12 mos., but I got the feeling that she was just trying to make me feel better. She gave me a script for ativan and I started taking that last night and it has calmed me and I was able to sleep last night. I don't relish getting addicted to ativan, but I have to have something to help me cope with this noise. I'm also listening to white noise (static). I have a CD going all the time and it masks the sounds in my head. Its a little better today, I can at least function, and enjoy my dog and other little things that make life worth living. I go in for herceptin tomorrow and see my Onc. on Monday. I will talk to him about it then, and see what can be done. I will not take any more steroids, so if they can't do the tx without it, I'm done with chemo. I can't take a chance that the noise will get worse. I couldn't live with that.
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Omaz,
Do you have Tinnitus?
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I do, especially on the left side. I have had it a long time and it isn't too bad, I mostly notice it at night. It did get worse at times during chemo I thought but then went back to it's previous level. It's a real high pitched whine. My right side isn't very noticeable.
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My noises are mostly from the left side too. Today they're not too bad. But yesterday, it was pretty loud. I feel for you. Mine are too many sounds to count. Some sound far off and others up close. Reminds me of a hot summer night in the country with all the bugs, crickets and frogs, with a couple of whines thrown in.
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GrandmaV - I read a book by William Shatner (Captain Kirk) and he talked about his tinnitus. It was interesting. I sincerely hope yours goes away completely.0
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SpecialK - would love for my hair to hold out that long. At least I'd get to wear my new haircut to Church this weekend. My next chemo tx is this Wednesday.
Katiesmom - I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter. What a scary thing for all of you. I'll keep Katie and your family in my prayers. There are some discussion threads for women with mets and there are some amazing women on these threads who can probably give you better advice than I can.
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GrandmaV, I am sorry you are going through this. I used Ativan throughout chemo and only used it for about a week after each treatment. I did not get addicted and niether will you. It is nice because it does help you sleep and it will help with your nausea as well.
Katiesmom, your daughter and family are in my prayers. Going through this disease is hard, but I cannot imagine my daughter going through it. That must be very hard for you as well! There is a lot of support here and you will get a lot of valuable information.
Amelie, I start radiation on Monday. I am as ready as I can be, not nervous or anything. I think after what I have already been through, this will be the easier part of the treatment. I bought some Emu oil, have aquaphor and Cetaphil and someone mentioned Calendula cream. Has anyone here heard or used that? The radiation onc swears by aquaphor, but I am not crazy about it because it is so greasy. I have been using Cetaphil nightly for a couple of weeks.
I am off for a MUGA scan today. This will be my third since I started and I am hoping my numbers are the same. They remained the same for the second one. Herceptin has not given me any mentionable side effects.
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Well, I got my head shaved. It wasn't bad. Had my 2nd TCH on Wednesday. Had a reaction to the Herceptin. rash, BP went sky high. They gave me benadryl and ativan. So far my extreme bone pain has been kept down to a level of 2-3 which is so much better than last time when it was 8-9 for days. I am even flying solo today. The anti nausea patch is doing its job as well.
My only big complaint is the headache and ear ache. I don't have the ringing, just ear pain. I had that for a few days after my first treatment as well, oh and a sore throat.
Hope everyone else is feeling great!0 -
Anafoefana.....I used calendula during rads and was very pleased. Just some redness. Try it.
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AmlysStrong, Do you reccomend a particular one? I was looking and there are several kinds.
Thanks!
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I got the only kind they had in the drugstore. Actually I think I got it at the local coop. It was called Califlora and made by B&T and it was a gel. Again, not sure it was the best - it was the only! But it worked great.
You know, thinking back to the rads thread I was on back in 10/09, I think the way your skin responds has more to do with your coloring, tendency to burn, etc. I was not particularly diligent in applying the gel and nothing really happened. I did get some more pronounced redness/tan in the area of the 'boost' and I thought it would never go away. But guess what - after a year or so, you can't even tell.
I strongly recommend you joining a rads thread that starts when you are starting. It helps a lot to have ladies to go through it with together (just like this thread).
Amy
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Had my second tch on Tuesday and have not felt good sense nausea and general feeling of blah, no energy and achiness....hope it gets better soon.
Hope everyone else is doing well and continues to do better and better with each treatment.0 -
Omaz
What is the title of the book by William Shatner?
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Hi GrandmaV - It was 'Up till now : the autobiography / William Shatner ; with David Fisher'0
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Omaz, I ordered the CD you recommended. I'm getting tired of just static, even though it helps a lot. I doubt I could sleep without it.0
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Special K , yay!! I am so happy for you! Hey ladies Happy New Year, I just had Herceptin yesterday , 2 more and I am done! I was wondering a few things,I feel pretty awful after the TX of H. Burning headache,hip pain and cold sweats. just randomly I had very tolerable SE and then this round bam.I also wanted to know has anyone experienced weight gain or inability to lose weight while on Herceptin. In one years time since DX I have gained a total of 15 lbs and I have been exercising like crazy and cutting calories, but I am gaining weight instead of losing, so frustrating.I have a giant spare tire around my waist that I cannot get rid of.thanks , I know I shouldn't complain I am alive but I cannot help it, this weight thing is really making me sad.
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nmoss - Hi! I am with you on the weight - I have 15 unwanted pounds that started to come on in the middle of chemo. I know that I was not eating enough to gain actual weight (I believe TonLee said that to gain an actual pound you would have to eat 3500 calories, and not burn it off) - most of it is fluid. My MO put me on a diuretic during chemo but I weaned myself off of it - maybe too soon! I seem to have gained the longer I have been on Herceptin, and concurrent with the start of Femara. I know that AI's and Tamoxifen have a rep for making it hard to lose weight. I am sad too, nothing I have besides sweats will fit me. I have graduated from my normal "fat jeans" and had to buy 2 sizes larger! Not OK! I have started (since Jan. 1) to be super serious about what I am eating and have been exercising more. MO said I could start the diuretic again, but I am also curious as to whether or not the end of Herceptin will improve things. Time will fly for you and those last 2 H's will be a memory. How are you feeling otherwise?
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Hey SK, feeling good except the H headache. Remember the crazy joint pain? I started doing pilates reformer classes and guess what?? It is almost gone, in the AM I have Minot pain but it goes away after and hour or 2. I am not on an AI and the weight is still piling on. So it's for sure the H. I am opting not to take AI because I have a very strong history of Uterine Cancer.
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Couple of questions:
In the past few weeks I'm noticing pain on the BC side whenever I take a deep breath-doesn't hurt terribly but it's in a specific area and consistent. My best guess is ribs? It's a new pain and I finished Rads in early August. Is anyone else having a similar issue on the Rads side that started this long after Rads?
Did anyone go through the YMCA Livestrong program? What did you think? I've finally found a program relatively close and put myself on the list for the next 12 week class which will begin in April.
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dragonfly - Hi! I started the Livestrong program when I was mid-chemo. You can imagine how that went! Ha! I did want to make a point though - the way you are assessed is this: you go through and push as much weight as you can. This is your start point - they design a program for you and then do the assessment again at the 12 week point. Your progress is measured by how much more weight you can push after the program is done. BIG MISTAKE for me. I will never know for sure but I started to have problems with my arm after that first assessment - I should never have pushed as much as I could with my node arm. I now have mild LE in that arm. I really like the program and it is a wonderful thing for CA patients but it is not well designed for BC ladies who have had at minimum a SNB. I think you should do the program but ask them to modify the arm portion of the assessment for you, please!!! Do the lightest weight possible on your cancer side.
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nmoss - I need to get my Pilates on quick then! Looking forward to the end of the H headache - I get the too, sometimes for almost the whole 3 weeks between. Are you considering a hyst/ooph due to the uterine deal and not being able to take an estrogen supressor?
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My GYN said if the cysts change in size then I should get Ooph. But for now and they have not changed in size for over 5 years ( knock on wood) no need to have one. Plus my FSH levels are back to over 100. Not to much Estrogen there. So I'm post meno for now. I do have to get checked every 3 months by GYN. Funny thing is after chemo my hair grew like wild fire and in the last 4 weeks I have not had to shave at all. Looking like menopause is going to be permanent.
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PS I stop taking the diuretic for a week then I took 2 on Saturday and lost 4 lbs already. I hope this water retention thing stops after H is done.
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