Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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Ddgm - My only SEs are mild headache & achy leg joints. I followed Special's advice and make them run the Herceptin over 90 minutes. That works best for me. I also get an extra liter of fluid with the infusion since I have problems drinking enough.
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nope. Super easy after everything else!!
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Thanks, SpecialK, that gives me permission to order take-out I guess. Can't cut myself on the credit card ...
I had a Herceptin only yesterday, and no SE, except for achy body (but I have had that before)
Alexandra
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Special K is awesome!
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slow - lol! Thanks!
Never felt yucky on H only, just achy until I slowed down the infusion, and mild headache that went away with Tylenol by the last few.
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Hello to the new folks who are joining the club that no one wants to be in. In terms of platelets - yes, I had a treatment postponed due to low platelets. I also had low red blood cells and hemoglobin - and a year later, I still am borderline anemic. My blood pressure is and has been low - usually is it 100/50 or 60. I get lightheaded nowadays. I'm a gardener and used to be able to bend over for hours at a time - and these days after a little while I straighten up and get faint. my 5th and 6th treatments had reduced dosages of T and C. 80%. I had an episode of fainting and dehydration and went to the ER for fluids, and had extra fluids when I got my neulasta shot most times. I also had a hard time drinking enough. Everything tasted bad. I wish I had made myself drink more. My scenario was that I would start vomiting, often that same night. Vomiting might have lasted 2 or 3 days. After that, would have a stomach ache constantly which Prilosec helped. And the alternating diarrhea and constipation. It really was 10 days before I felt like I could function again. And by the 3 week mark, I'd be starting to feel almost normal. My last TCH was in October, my last Herceptin will be June 19th. Yay. My doc says I should have a "bounce" in my energy when I am done. I sure hope so. I ended up retiring from work early - college professor. I turned 60 this year, had hoped to work until 66. I just knew I didn't have it in me to give 100% to my students any more. And, I'm taking care of my 94 year old mother as a full-time caregiver, and just this past month she had a fall which has left her no longer walking. She fell - more frequently this past year - because she was getting very unsteady and wobbly with her walker.... anyway.... what a tangent.... so, life one year later is very different. I am working part-time teaching online classes from home. My hair is growing back. More white than grey now - and baby fine. I used to have curly hair, now it is straight. And I almost am ready to get a little trim because it is getting a little raggedy around the edges.
I had a little scare. Found a pea sized lump. Nurse practitioner sent me for an ultrasound. Recently had a clear mammogram. Still, scared the shit out of me. Ultrasound pretty conclusively said it was a benign cyst. whew. But, even though I'm finishing up the treatment and am "cancer free" - it is like there is a sword hanging over my head waiting to fall......
sorry for this weird post.
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thank you everyone for your comments about H. Helped my anxiety a lot.
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FR. Good to see you again. I had a scare a year ago turned out to be a fatty node. But of course it takes us straight back there! I am almost 2 years PFC - my last TCH was June 9, 2012. And things are different too. I am on disability. Too many things added up and especially my knee. But i am having sx for that in 2 weeks. Think looking forward to a 8th sx in 3 years is weird but I am! LOL.
Much love to all.
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FlaviaRose - I really appreciated your post. Not weird at all. Been there, done that. Glad there are others.
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Dgdm, from what I have heard, Herceptin only should not result in the nasty SEs that the chemo drugs give you. But each person may. Be different. The main side effect for Herceptin that worries me is weakening of the heart. Ask if you will be getting a regular echocardiogram to check your heart health.
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Thank you FlaviaRose for sharing.. it's such experiences of the ups and downs that helps me understand and accept the treatment better.
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Thank you, Flavia Rose. The whole blood platelet thing is freaking me out a bit, and I have to be careful not to consult Dr. Google.
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summer - hopefully they will just time your next two infusion around your platelet count. If there is too much of a delay they can always give you a platelet transfusion - it is easy and quick - does not contain red cells, so if your blood type is confirmed they do not have to cross-match you for platelets. Takes about 20 minutes to transfuse. It took about six months for me to see a return to normal of most of my labs post-chemo. I was very close to a red cell transfusion because my hemoglobin was nearing the critical number (usually 8 and below) but it would inch back up just before the CBC on the day of chemo. I was not symptomatic (confusion, dizziness, lethargy, shortness of breath) other than normal chemo-induced fatigue. Don't be too alarmed if things are pretty low by the time you finish, and if it takes a bit of time for them to come up, that is pretty normal!
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Ladies, I need some info on the chemo bad taste in mouth. Mine is horrid, but I also got thrush both rounds. Thought I caught it early this time, but the troche tablets aren't working, may need another round of diflucan. Anyway, what is the normal chemo mouth like? If I can somehow avoid thrush next round, is the normal bad taste managable or do you still have thoughts of cutting out your tongue so you stop gagging on it?
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Thanks SpecialK, I believe you are a nurse? It's so helpful to have someone with medical knowledge on here.
Chemo mouth: I don't think there is a "normal chemo mouth", everyone seems to be different. For me, the second week after is the week of no taste and bad, sore mouth with swollen, whitish tongue that has painful ridges on the edges. I use the Biotin mouthwash, not sure if that does a lot. I also eat Greek joghurt and leave it on my tongue for a minute or so before I swallow, and the whitish tongue went away after a few days (not sure whether that was related to the joghurt though). Also, red wine, coffee and some other things taste really yucky during that second week after treatment, and then it slowly gets better.
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summer - no not a nurse, I worked in the hospital's compatibility testing lab in transfusion services - the Blood Bank. I was responsible for i-dotting and t-crossing in the cross-match for transfusions, and preparation of units for blood, plasma & platelet transfusions. My FIL and BIL are doctors, MIL and 2 SILs are nurses, other BIL is a veterinarian. Also, my brother and dad were both stage IV cancer patients and my mom had a degenerative neuromuscular disease for 25 years, so have had my share of exposure to very serious disease processes. I have had 20 surgeries lifetime, so have seen it and done it, lol!
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Hey Debiann - I get the bad taste days. I never know how food is gonna taste until I try it - sometimes something that tastes good in the morning tastes like it is spoiled in the afternoon. I also use the biotin toothpaste and mouthwash. I haven't had thrush yet but my mouth is tender the first week after chemo until about the 10th day or so. I keep ice in my mouth during the taxotere - I just keep swishing it around to make sure I am keeping my mouth cold. I don't know if it helps or not. Also - i don't eat anything that is spicy or has lots of herbs in it or anything that is too warm. Melon tastes good to me all the time - peanut butter tastes normal to me all the time. And I can usually eat an egg and plain toast. Cooked veggies seem to be mostly ok as long as I don't over season them. Most meats don't taste good at all except for very plain chicken.
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Thanks Summerwheat and Linda, this sounds like so much fun, even without the thrush. Wish we could choose our se's, next round I'd prefer bone pain, haven't had that one yet. Yikes, now I've probably jinxed myself. Did you have the bad taste all the time or just when you ate? I don't even care about eating, I wish I could just drink a glass of water. Just looking at the water spigot turns my stomach, but I'm forcing myself to drink it anyway. Sprite goes down ok, but the sugar encourages the thrush to grow. My DH brought me a glass of soda with an ice cube in it, "ahhhh your contaminating it" I cried as I scooped it out. Last round I could eat peanut butter during the bad mouth time, but when the mouth was better, I had an adversion to it. Totally avoiding pb till this is over, its my favorite food and I don't want to connect it to any bad memories. Funny, but macdonalds still tastes ok, probably so over processed its not even real food, lol.
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Oh yeah - McDonald's french fries taste good lol. I haven't had a problem with water - ask your MO about some prescription mouthwash - I can't think of the name of it but SpecialK used it - I was given a sample of Mugard which I use for about 5 or 6 days right after chemo - It coats your mouth and protects it. I can't get a refill cause my insurance will not cover it but maybe you MO's office has a sample bottle. I am not sure but I think it may actually help with the taste sensation also - I used it more the first round and had very little strange taste issues - I didn't use it as much this round as I was trying to spread it out over a couple more treatments and I have more taste issues - not sure if it is related or not.
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linda - I used a prescription for mouth sores, but it was for treating them. It is called Caphosol - it is ampules you mix, then swish and spit. I never had thrush, but most use Nystatin for that - DD needed it when she had a tonsillectomy last summer for thrush from the antibiotics she was given. For taste changes I just had to ride it out, it usually improved right before the next treatment, natch. I also did not gargle with the salt/baking soda/water mixture, but here is the recipe for anyone who wants it. I did ice my mouth during Taxotere for treatments 2-6 (after numerous mouth sores after treatment #1) and never had an issue again.
Soda and Salt Mouth Rinse 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup of warm waterMix well until salt dissolves. Rinse your mouth gently, being careful not to swallow the mixture. Follow this with a plain water rinse to clean out any remaining salt or soda.
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the bad taste in my mouth was something that I could not get away from when I was doing chemo. It would get better towards the end of the three weeks but it was still there. Everything tasted bad, even water. I remember trying food after food just looking for anything that was palatable. I finally sucked on ice chips the last 2tx's and that helped with the mouth sores. It was just hard to suck on ice chips when my hands were buried in insulated lunch bags with frozen peas! I had to have someone constantly feeding them to me. Lol.
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I craved pancakes with real maple syrup and campbells chicken noodle soup worked best for me. Also milk chocolate ensure on really bad days. Hang in there ladies....take it minute by minute and it does get better.0 -
It does feel like minute by minute, never realized how long a day could be. I iced my mouth, I didn't get sores, just this thrush. I have the magic mouthwash, doesn't help. Started with nystatin, then the troche, getting worse instead of better. Gonna do the diflucan again.
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debian, if your thrush is not going away, I hate to bring it up, but are you having vaginal issues with yeast? Are you perhaps having it elsewhere and that keeps it in your body? And has your sugar been tested. Just two other thoughts for why it's not going away. I'm hoping it's not, but maybe check it out? Sometimes we concentrate on BC and forget the day to day annoyances are still there! LOL. Hoping it gets better for you.
BTW, McDonald's fries DID taste the best! I could eat them any time during chemo. Very weird. But normally I love ketchup on them. But not during chemo. LOL
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No yeast in the vajayjay area, but I'm surprised its not. I always get a yeast infection when on antibiotics, my dr says my body's flora and.fauna gets knocked off balance easy. But I was just sitting here wondering the same thing, was it truly gone after round one or hiding out somewhere?
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Important to note that decadron messes with blood sugar, could be exacerbating the thrush.
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my taste issues are so bad it's not funny. Today they decided to test mouth sores and see if they're actually the herpes virus. Awesome.
I do get cold sores, so maybe that's it. I can hardly eat a damn thing. And some things that are ok Monday morning are NOT ok Monday afternoon. Sucks. So. Much. My issues are progressive from day 2 until about day 12, then they ease a bit, but not enough for anything to be 'good', I just eat so I don't end up with a feeding tube. I have 4 treatments left and it's just so overwhelming to think I really won't eat right until prob early September. And that's only if I don't have any chemos delayed. I have magic mouthwash (useless) saltwater rinse, mugard, some tums looking tablet I dissolve on my tongue and Biotene. I did ice chips last treatment. Nothing helps at all.
I'm an emotional wreck too. If one more of my friends or family members says 'it'll be over with before you know it' I'll punch them in the face. It's one thing for someone who's done this to say that to me, it's comforting. But for people who have never done chemo, I just want to scream FU!& YOU! YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE! I know they mean well, but I'm emotionally broken right now. And miserable.
I just want the summer to be over already. And it's just begun.
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Wyomama, when I went thru this treatment my mouth was awful too, I lived on wonton soup and mashed potatoes and ate out of necessity this went on for first 3 treatments.
Then one of my onc nurses told me to not eat anything from metal, so I switched to plastic utensils, carried them with me in my bag, used them everywhere and it helped enough to get me to get food down.
I rinsed my mouth with Biotene at least 5 to 7 times a day, carried it with me everywhere and actually had a spit water bottle in the car so I could rinse as I drove if I was going to be out for extended periods of time. I used biotene tootpaste.
Wish I had been told earlier about plastic.
I hope this helps
Sue
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thanks sue! It's worth a try! I do spend long times in the car, so I'll try a spit cup too I think lol. I'll try literally anything at this point.
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I had my final Herceptin infusion last Friday. You are almost there----certainly done with the tough stuff! I found that I was perfectly unaffected by Herceptin, perhaps a little sleepy directly after the infusion but would go to work right after and be fine. I hope you are similarly unaffected. Good luck!
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