Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
Comments
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Amy - thank you for that post - it really resonated with me...especially as I was sitting in the doc's office waiting over an hour and half to be seen today! Cannot wait til I have a day go by that I don't actually think about cancer...cannot wait!!!0
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That stinks Lago. I would not be comfortable getting draws from my SNB side. I don't understand why it is so hard to draw blood from the foot, but then again, I'm not a phlebotomist!
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The main issue with the foot is higher risk of infection and of course someone needs to be trained to do it. The veins tend to roll more. I've never had an issue (get my IVs in my foot all the time) but I have good veins in my foot.
Granted if I end up with LE in the other arm and then get an infection it would be much more serious!
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True Lago. You need to hire your own personal foot blood draw-er to go with you to appts. LOL Seriously, though, I wouldn't like being put in that position one bit.
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Okay update on new lump in other breast, sorry not completely related to TCH but update- saw onc today, did ultrasound mammo- looks like a cyst!
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Kfontaine - so happy for you. Yay! If I had energy, I would be jumping for joy! Maybe tomorrow.
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kfontaine - yay!
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yay kfontaine!!!!! Awesome news!!!
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Yay, for K!
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kfontaine great news!!!
I'm not surprised it's a benign issue. In the beginning it gets so scary but after some time you understand your body does "cysts" a lot. I refuse to let this stuff make me lose it until someone says it's something bad for sure.
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Thanks everyone! You are sOoo great!!!!
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Congrats kfontaine, that is such great news. What a relief and blessing.
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One of the lab techs at my cancer center told me that they sometimes have to do blood draws from a hand. She made it sound like they don't like doing it. I do miss using my left arm for blood draws; the veins in my right arm are wiggly and not as dependably easy to get on the first stick.
After this Friday, I have just 3 more Herceptin tx... By Labor Day, I'll be completely done with cancer treatment. Exciting, yet scary....
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My PCP suggested the hand but the issue isn't the stick (since I will insist they make sure all is sterile) as much as it is the compression band they wrap around your arm. I make them take blood pressure on my ankle.
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Does anyone know what type of chemo Robin Roberts had during her bc treatment??
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The most common regimen for triple negative BC is AC-T, but I don't know for sure if that is what she received. Because surgery, chemo and radiation are the only treatments for triple negative and I believe that she did have radiation, this condition could have been caused by that as well, or both chemo and radiation together.
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I saw an interview with her from several years ago, where she mentioned getting "the red devil"...which is Adriamycin. So that was at least part of her treatment.
According to this study comparing AC-TH to TCH, the 7 women who developed leukemia all had Adriamycin. That's not to say that TCH can't cause it (according to my onc, any chemo that disrupts DNA can cause leukemia later), but it does sound like it is less likely to do so. The risk with chemo is low, but it does happen.
Adjuvant Trastuzumab in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
Finally, acute leukemias developed in seven patients who were receiving anthracycline-based regimens and in one patient who was receiving TCH. However, in this patient, leukemia was diagnosed after the patient had received an anthracycline for the treatment of a B-cell lymphoma that occurred after her breast cancer.
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DanceT I too read that Adriamycin is the treatment results in more cases of leukemia but again it's a rare occurrence. Taxotere has lots of SE like neuropathy, nail issues etc. but most of us can live normal lives with these issues. I think that's why my onc prefers TCH to AC-TH. Although we can get more SE with TCH (like nueropathy) they aren't as serious as heart issues or a new cancer… but then again AC-TH seems a little more effective.
Basically more pick your crap. (Glass 1/2 full & 1/2 empty)
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Yep, so many crap choices out there! As DH says, "oh, we get to pick the prettiest turd in the bowl!" He always helps me laugh, which is the best medicine of all!
FYI, had my kidney function retested and GFR is back up to the normal range - yay! I must have been somewhat dehydrated the day they ran it last week. I made sure to drink lots of water before the retest.
So I'm on for my 4th and FINAL chemo tomorrow...YES!!!! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!
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dance - yay!
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DT - congrats on the last one...the finish line is in sight!
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DT - congrats on the last one...the finish line is in sight!
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Congrats Dance! Closer to the end and back to a normal life!
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Thanks guys! Oh, and I have additional good news!
1) my hemoglobin climbed up a whole point on it's own - now 9.8! Woo-hoo! Looks like I may get away without a transfusion after all!
2) Almost no heart burn symptoms at ALL for the last 5 to 6 days. Can you believe it? I stopped the Carafate and the pepcid, still doing proton pump inhibitor 2x daily to keep it under control. Switched to Nexium yesterday since I had better results with it in the past (insurance now approved it since I "failed" 2 other PPI's). Hoping with the Nexium and other drugs as needed round 4 heart burn will not be as bad...fingers crossed! At least it's the last one - wahoo!!!
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Yay DanceT all good news. BTW I was on Nexium for my last chemo because the new insurance wouldn't pay for generic Protonix. Both my NP and I just shook our heads.0
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Hi everyone....Had my last rad boost today . I actually cried in my face down tomography bowl. The first time I've had that reaction in public.
Thanks to all of you who went before me and all your good advice because despite my difficulty with rads because of claustrophobia...my skin is doing just fine. They are now using the "OMAZ" method in the Hudson River Valley of NY!
Just want to share an very informative albeit few year old overview of ten years of her 2 pos treatments. It is chock full of interesting information.
The HER-2 Receptor and Breast Cancer: Ten Years of Targeted Anti–HER-2 Therapy and Personalized Medicine
http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/14/4/320.full
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dance, YIPPEE!!!!!!
MizMarie, congrats and you are soooo close!
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Huge congrats Ashla!!! So happy your skin did so well. Gosh I remember how absolutely thrilled I was to be done with rads. Celebrating with you!0
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Ashla - Congrats on finishing rads! So nice to be done! Glad to hear that the skin care rountine was helpful - (c:0
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Figured I'd post it here, too....had my last TCH on Wednesday...only side effects so far: the typical increased pulsating tinnitus (which usually declines in intensity after a few days, but never goes away), slight nausea and loss of appetite last night, and being completely distractible from steroids the last 3 days. Oh and of course thrush which started AGAIN Sunday night, day 18 of third TCH cycle...thrush freakin' LOVES me...GO AWAY THRUSH! (yep, on Nystatin, practically live on that stuff) LOL Waiting for the worst of the SE still to come - but hey - I AM PFC in my mind!!!!0
