Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
Comments
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Thank you Amy for taking the time to tell me about the tumor growth...that is very interesting and good to know. We have the same er+ pr- HER2+. Good for you for passing by the HER2+ window...I bet that is a beautiful sight!
BC is teaching me to live day by day...it is one of the good things I am learning.
God bless you and all the brave, strong women here.
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Lovewins, the good thing about being ER +,PR + or HER2+ is that there are targeted therapies to fight these types of cancers that can reduce your risk of recurrence.
Your tx plan is standard. Best of luck to you as you start this journey. This is not fun, but you can do it. Just take one day at a time. You are stronger than you know.0 -
Lovewins my port hurt for a while. I eventually forgot I had it as the hurt did go away. I did keep it in for 2 years… wouldn't have done that if it hurt.
I too cried every time I thought about telling my mom. I think it was about 2 years PFC before I actually told my mom my tumor was 6.5cm (with the DCIS). I only cried once after the BMX. It was when I met with the port surgeon… he was like "Lets see if we can place your port in 2 days and have your chemo the same day! What! That soon! I wasn't prepared for that. Actually got to wait 5 days because they didn't have a chair in the chemo room that early. Crying is normal.
It's very common to be HER2+ and low hormone marker. I am 30%ER+ and 5%PR+. It just means less of the cells are stimulated to grow by hormones… but you can't be a little pregnant. That's why they treat us with hormone therapy.
I did 6TCH with a a full year of H.
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Thank you Marsha & lago for replying to my post. I appreciate the encouragement very much. The wisdom here is priceless. I honestly think it has kept me sane and made me believe I can do this.
lago...it is amazing how fast things go, my Oncologist said they do that sometimes give chemo same day as port. I couldn't even imagine! Glad that you at least got 5 days! My port surgery hurt more than my lumpectomy!
upward and onward we go ladies...M
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My port hurt A LOT more than my lumpectomy. I was very underwhelmed by the lumpectomy. but the port - ouch! It really shows how individualized every person's experience is with this disease. The wisdom here IS priceless. I had so many questions.
One of the best things anyone ever told me about this process is 'just keep putting one foot in front of the other and pretty soon you'll be walking out the door.' Whenever things got rough (or even still do), I just tell myself to keep moving forward and every step gets me closer to being done (with whatever the issue of the moment is).
You can make it through this, you WILL make it through. And we'll hold your hand each step of the way. This thread is invaluable.
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Amy...I felt exactly the same way about the lumpectomy.
For a while now I have been reminded of one of my favorite books I had forgotton about..."On hinds feet to High Places." It really struck a chord when you wrote:
"You can make it through this, you WILL make it through. And we'll hold your hand each step of the way."
Warm hugs and many thanks...M
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Lovewins, my port hurt for a bit, I had my first tx two days later, they left it accessed. I had TCH x 6 and six months of Herceptin, my EF went down, do I had to quit early. Good luck to you. Much love to all.
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lovewins I got to wait 5 days for port surgery… chemo was the next day less than 24 hours after port surgery… exactly 5 weeks post BMX.
Last Thursday I met a gal from this forum (not this thread though). We are both triple positive. She is from another part of the country. She came here for a 2nd opinion… and glad she did. Anyway I saw her after she saw a BS, Rad onc and Med onc. They gave her some news about treatment that was very different than where she was being treated. Real shocker but she knew they were right. About 1 hour after all this we met. She saw how healthy and normal I looked.I truly believe seeing me got her to realize that she would be able to do this.
Sometimes when your read all the troubles people have on these boards it can get discouraging. While not everyone has issues, no one has all the issues it does sound like the opposite when your read here. Everyone seems like just one person.
You will get through this. You will get back to living. Right now its survival mode.
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Lovewins, WHAT LAGO SAID!!!!
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Sorry lago I got that wrong
....Wow! That is a lot to go thru in a short amount of time. I am trying to remember that it may be like my job where I handle the very upset/angry customers at my job because that is the nature of my job. We have millions of customers...I just handle the ones with escalated situations. Kinda like that anyway. It's good to be reminded though because it is can be overwhelming.
Glad you and your friend got to connect...that is so cool to be able to encourage someone.
Thank you Moonflower....it is great that you take the time to reach out to us newbies.
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SpecialK... thanks for the giggle. When you mentioned firewood I glanced over to see where you are from, and giggled.
ChickaD... yes, i too get the tears. they say to use artifical tears. your eyes are dry and they are working overtime to moisten.
Anyone experiencing lymphedema at certain times in a round? I'm wondering if one of TCH's causes it to flare more? My hand got pudgy a few weeks ago and took some to come down last week finally. Today I had Herceptin and it's pudgy again. Ugh.
Thanks!!!
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mcgis - glad I made you giggle! Both chemo and the steroids can make you swell. For most people the steroids keep you from swelling - for others they make you swell - there is no winning, right? Watch the swelling though - I had a severe body-wide swelling event half way through chemo and this did trigger my lymphedema. Keep an eye on it and it might be wise to request a referral to a certified lymphedema specialist for an evaluation. True lymphedema is different from occasional swelling - it is a permanent condition.
love - I like the saying "you don't have to be brave, you just have to show up" and I think that is true for many of us. We knew that even though a lot of what we have to experience is scary, we know that we have to do it. Anticipation is often worse than the actual event - this was true for me with chemo. Even though there were some rough times, I still got through it - all of us have! We are here to offer you support and encouragement, and proof that you can do it too! I think it can be useful to frame you experience sometimes day by day, sometimes hour by hour, sometimes minute by minute. Do what you have to to make the next minute, hour or day. I also wanted to add to the discussion of ER+ percentage - what that percentage is measuring is how many positive receptors are present when the slide is examined in the lab. The percentage is calculated by counting how many positive receptors there are out of 100, so for you specifically, 10 out of 100 receptors were positive. My breast surgeon's comment was "positive is positive" and the good news is that you have hormonal therapy available to help control the fueling of receptors. If you had no positive receptors hormonal therapy would not be available to help you. I am sorry that you struggled as you told your parents - that has to be so hard. I did not have to do that as mine have passed on, but it was difficult to tell my college-age children and my in-laws. The good news - they all rallied and were supportive and helpful! I hope the same for you.
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Regarding the tearing, if the artificial tear don't help, see an opthalmologist. My MO referred me to one who had experience with chemo patients. I had scarring of the tearducts which could become permanent. I had to have my tearducts surgically opened and a plug put in. My eyes are also dry, so I'll keep the plugs because they help keep my eyes moist.
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mcgis Yup my LE started on chemo. It's can aggrivate it. PFC my arms (and legs/tummy) did eventually stop swelling but only one of my arms has LE.
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SpecialK...so true. I have used that line too and even told my best friend about it. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post, my Oncologist said that about HER2+, you either have it or you don't. I love your name...it makes me smile cause my Mom's name is K....never thouht about it that way til now! Just thought of the cereal.
Have a wonderful day...M
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Went to the ophthalmologist today for the excessive tearing .....I have an eyelash/eyelid infection probably from the constant tearing....some drops and salve..feels better already....thanks for all the advice and suggestions!
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ChickaD,glad its better! Much love. ,
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Lago -not before I was born !! thanks for the memories.
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Hi Ladies. for those who finished with TCH, did you have dental issues upon completion? Experiencing dental issues after the TCH completion... maybe coincidental but thought I would ask. ... geezzz... always something... Thank you diane
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dventi - what are your dental issues? I had some work done recently and my dentist commented that x-rays were not accurately reflecting the extent of what was really there - my dentist blamed chemo for this - his wife is a stage III ovarian cancer survivor, I know he has researched this. Nothing that really caused problems, he was just surprised.
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@specialK - thanks for sharing and the input from your dentist re chemotherapy ..have intermittent tooth pain - nosensitivity to cold or hot, gums arent swollen. . xrays taken - by general dentist and an endodontist. no one sees anything.. next step is 3D xrays -... will get throught this too!!
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Femara is hard on the bones - maybe it is affecting your teeth more than usual? Good luck and keep us posted.
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Yes chemo is hard on your gums. My dentist cleanned my teeth again just before I started chemo and told me how to care for them. I did fine but it's not unusual to have issues.
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Yes, chemo is hard on your teeth! I just finished my 3rd crown...and have one more to go! Grrrr....
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SpecialK, lago and bailey6760.. thanks for the sanity check on teeth/chemo and Femara.. such a wealth of info on this site....glad we keep each informed because the doctors dont give us all the details! I will call the MO and get his take on it.... should be interesting!
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Thanks for the song Lago!
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As it gets closer to my first treatment I find myself gettong more anxious by the day. I try to keep telling myself that it won't be as bad as I am imaging. I feel like I am driving people around me nuts because of my anxiety...took a nerve pill today just to take the edge off and decided to give myself a break. Did anyone take a Xanex the moring before treatment? I will call and ask the nurse Tuesday. That will also be my last day of work until the end of treatment. I have worked since I was 15 years old...very nervous about this also. Thanks for reading my post. You all are my inspiration here at BC.org, I speak you alls Praises everyday to the Lord.
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lovewins - I was offered Ativan as a pre-med, although I never took it. Definitely get approval for the Xanax ahead of time, or if they will offer you Ativan, I would just wait and take that as a pre-med. I definitely found that my anticipation of the tx was far worse than the reality.
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lovewins I remember this past winter this one gal (I met on BC.org but is somewhat local) was so scared of chemo. She got a 2nd opinion with my onc so I met her that day. Her DH was so happy I did because she just wouldn't talk to anyone. Scared to death of losing her hair etc. When she saw me (I look like I could be her much older sister) she started to think that she might do short hair like mine when it grows back.
She's all done now for several months. She had very few SE other than hair loss and some minor taste change.
While I can't promise the same will happen for you most of us do well. Seems many women do work through it too. I know I would have if I hadn't lost my job even with the SE I did get. I never puked or used any puke pills. Only time I got nausea was with the anesthesia… go figure.
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