Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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Hi Everyone,
I have a question that I hope someone could help me with. Have any of you travelled with a port and/or during radiation? My father's health is not great and I may need to fly over to see him before long and I was wondering if any of you have travelled while in active treatment. The nurse at the RO's office said there weren't any contraindications but I wanted to ask here as well. Thanks.
Amelie
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amelie - just flew in Dec. with a port and TE's, so three sources of trouble for the TSA screeners. I was also still getting Herceptin during the time that I flew. I asked at the first TSA person I encountered whether or not I needed a more thorough pat down and handed him my medical device cards (the ones you get from BS and PS) and they put me in the special x-ray thing. Aside from trying to give me someone else's little doggie when I got to the other side, it was a piece of cake. All the TSA people thought I was concerned about the amount of radiation I was getting, which I wasn't, I was more concerned about setting off the machines and them thinking I was there to bomb the airport.
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does anyone on TCH have eye fatigue?? I typically have had really good eyesight, but ever since I started chemo my eyes are all messed up by the end of the day. I wonder if some reading glasses would help??
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vanlex - I had bad eyesight to begin with but it seems to be worse now. My eye doctor called to schedule my yearly exam last month and when I told them I was doing chemo they said to wait for a while because it will mess with your vision.
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vanlex - some of us had vision issues during TCH that resolved afterward. I am going next week for my first eye exam (in a few years! oops!) so it will be interesting to talk to my eye doc.
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Thanks, SpecialK. I was especially worried about the port; mostly wondering whether altitude would affect it somehow. Glad to hear everything went well for you at the airport. I don't have anything from my doctors, but I have the pamphlet that came with the port together with the card of Intervential Radiologist who inserted it. Hoping that will be enough. Did you wear compression for your arm? I don't have LE but am wondering whether to wear one preventively....
Vanlex, I do have eye/vision issues (almost 2 months PFC). I am hoping they will resolve as they are pretty bothersome. I had absolutely no vision or eye problem before chemo.
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I flew with my port this summer… I did get pulled over. Note to self: Never wear a long skirt when flying. They have to physically pat you down if you do. Guess they think you can hide a bomb down there or something
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Rose,
I traveled (flew). No problems. I didn't tell anyone about my port and it didn't set off the sensors. Unless they go off I wouldn't worry about it.
I went from perfect vision to blurry close up, and floaters. My vision has never recovered. Seems like it just gets worse. ~Sucks
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My vision got distance got blurry on chemo. Several months later I went for a check up and distance was fine again… and my astigmatism I've had for decades was gone.
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I had horrible eye twitching during treatment. Started during treatment 3 of 6 and got progressively worse. It began in the left eye, and it would get so bad at times that I could not focus on an object. My onc advised that she had never seen this side effect before and blamed it on my bp meds that I started around that time. Sure enough, now that TCH is over, it went away totally now at 16 weeks PFC. My onc did tell me to start using a dab of neosporin each day to help with the creases of my eyes getting so sore from my eyes tearing so heavily. Doesn't work so well with mascara though!
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I had terrible eye twitching and watering (dry eye) on Taxotere. My onc confirmed that's what it was from.
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i had blurred vision bad for the first tch treatments, im not sure if it's gotten better of im just used to it, they did mri, found me clean0
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Yay for clean. I also found emmend made my eyesight very blurry when I was on it and a few days later.
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blurry vision... you know despite my non allergic life, i took the advice of specialk after getting clearance from my onc's nurse pract. and took claritin,
not sure if that was what got it under control, but it sure feels better
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amelie - whoever inserted your port should have the implanted medical device card that goes with it. They should have given you the card and kept a copy for their files. You should be able to have them make a copy of their copy and give it to you. Each implanted medical device has its own serial number, that is why a card accompanies it.
I got the watering and twitching eye thing too. It continued for a couple of months after chemo was done. My favorite was when both eyes twitched at differing rates - made me feel slightly crazy!
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Amelie, I traveled (flew) for at least 10 business trips with the port. I have a regular schedule of one business trip per month, but skipped one during chemo because it didn't fall during week 3 and would have been out of the country and one during the 6 weeks of rads in order to stay on schedule with treatment 5 days a week. There may have been other random trips after I finished rads - I don't recall.
One of the trips was from California to Italy so a lot of hours in the air.
I had no problems with the port. I had the card for it but no one asked to see it. The ports have very little or no metal so they don't set off the metal detector.
I asked my oncologist for a referral to the lymphadema physical therapist before the Italy trip. I was having a little tenderness in the upper arm at times. She okayed me for a sleeve and glove just in case I need it, but my arms are short so I can only use a custom one and that takes a couple of weeks or more so I didn't have it for the trip. More importantly, she showed me exercises to help drain lymph fluid from the arm. I used those regularly and on the flights.
I did try using the sleeve and glove on a later long flight. I found that if you don't use it regularly to get use to it, it is pretty uncomfortable to use for an 8 hour or longer flight - sort of like buying hiking boots and using them for the first time on a 10 mile hike. I found that the exercises were enough to keep my arm okay. Now 3 years post surgery, I don't even use them but I do try to keep from sitting long times with my arms imobile. On a long flight, I'll raise them over my head at times and pump the fists as well as moving them around generally.
I only had an SNB so I still have most of the lymph nodes..
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I will get herceptin # 26 next week, I will be at the half way point. I get it every week, and it will be 52 all together. I can't tell if I have any side effects from the herceptin. I am just glad the super yucky chemo is over.
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zumba - if you can't tell if you have any SE I would say that is good!
amelie - sorry I forgot to answer the flying with sleeve(s) question - I did because I already have LE. I had a BMX with bi-lat SNB, full axillary dissection on the cancer side. I flew from FL to CA, but not too uncomfortable.
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amelie Wearing a sleeve when flying to prevent LE is controversial. Some say yes, some say no. I have LE in one arm (10 nodes) and undiagnosed in the other (4 sentinel) but it could be a stage 0. I did try not we arm the sleeve in my 4 nodes side last time I flew home. I did feel some slight heaviness… I will be wearing it in the future. I do wear it all the time in my LE arm side even when I do fly.0
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I wore sleeves on both the LE arm and the undiagnosed SNB arm.
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I flew, no sleeve, but I just had a SN dissection.
I was told if I didn't have LE and wear the sleeve on a plane, it can actually cause it. (Again tho, that was said to me by an LE Specialist with her knowing I only had 4 nodes removed. It may not apply to more nodes.)
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My own experience was that wearing a sleeve for flying when you don't wear it at other times can at least be really uncomfortable because you haven't been accustomed to it by starting out wearing for shorter times and then working up to longer times. Perhaps I have more problems with wearing something constricting than average - I've always been kind of fussy about that and rarely even wear long sleeves.
What isn't controversial is that the exercises can help. If you need a sleeve, you will also need the exercises and if you don't wear a sleeve, you can still use the exercises. When I was flying closer to my surgery, I sometimes felt that fullness or heaviness in my arm and using the exercises always cleared it up and, if I remembered to use them preventatively, it didn't occur at all. So whatever you decide about wearing a sleeve, it would help to have a visit with a lymphadema therapist and get taught the exercises.
It isn't just the altitude that can cause issues do to flying. The air in the plane is dry so you can get dehydrated. I try to carry a water bottle on the plane. You can either take an empty bottle through security and fill it after or you can buy a water bottle after going through security (at least in the US - not in some other countries). I put it in the seatback pocket so its handy to sip whenever I want. Also, with planes often running full, the tendency to leave your arm still for long periods can cause lymph build up. Moving the arm including doing the exercises helps especially on long flights. Some can't be done in the crowded space of your plane seat, but some can and at least do those. On long flights,you can do the whole thing while up waiting for the rest room.
I've passed the 50,000 mile mark with the airline I use most every year since my surgery and in 2012 year I flew more than 100,000 miles including 4 overseas trips.
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So true Blue.
I did rub my arm a lot on the plane (the small light touches starting at the shoulder and working toward the wrist). I wasn't taking any chances!
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Thank you everyone for all the flying tips. I won't worry about the port unless someone asks, in which case I will show them my card.
Blue, you are remarkable to have kept up with your travelling schedule even while doing chemo. Good for you. Thanks for the water and massage suggestions.
Like everyone here, I had heard conflicting reports about wearing a compression sleeve while flying if you don't have LE. I only had SN dissection and have no sign of LE so far. I did see a LE therapist after my second surgery and she suggested that I get fitted for a sleeve and taught me what to look out for. I like the suggestion to just do the massage and keep the arm moving but not wearing the sleeve for now.
Have a good weekend, everyone!
Amelie
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amelie - I would take the sleeve/hand protection with you to your destination as a precaution. That way if you encounter a problem you have it for the trip back.
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Good advice, SpecialK! Thanks, I'll do that. Better be safe than sorry.
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amelie - you betcha! I remember not too long ago a plea for help on the boards from someone who flew and had sudden swelling when she got to her destination. The advice was interesting - get into a swimming pool asap. I imagine that the pressure from the water displacement helps. Anyway, the girl scout in me says "be prepared"!
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That's a relief to read that my blurry vision and water eyes are probably from the chemo. Should have realized that. I was thinking the watery part was from allergies and that maybe my vision was getting bad because of age and because of going back to school and having to read and stay on computer more. The watery part is really irritating because the skin at the corners gets so sore and read and I can't keep eyeliner or makeup on in these areas.
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Zumbagirl,
That's interesting - our diagnoses are nearly identical - and I'm getting 17 infusions of Herceptin 1 X every 3 weeks for 52 weeks. I wonder why you're getting it weekly? Anyone else have 52 doses of Herceptin? Is my regimen unusual? Ugh! Hate this stuff!!!!
thanks,
Lucky
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Lago,
I just finished my final round of T/C 17 days ago. My eyes have been twitching like crazy this entire week - this didn't happen with the first three rounds of T/C - is this from the Taxotere? Will it go away soon? Thanks - Lucky
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