Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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I don't feel any heart effect yet. Even the steroids aren't making it pound. I was just curious about how often they do the test. Just futilely trying to plan my life.
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Bethany: Faux hawk - great! As soon as I can get my daughter to snap a pic, I'll post it.
Bluedasher: I was tested (MUGA) before chemo in April then again last month. I had only gone down 2%, so I don't know when he'll do it again. Plan your life - oh, you naive girl. No, actually, just plan on feeling like crap for a few days, then life goes on. I took 3 trips this summer and worried, "Oh, what if I can't go???" but it all worked out. And I haven't missed a day since school started, just a few times in late or out early for appointments. You'll do great!
Carolyn, so sorry you can't do the TCH this week. Like you said, it would be best to never have to do it, but you also want to just get it over with. Hope the counts improve. And I hope your family is doing well - boy, you all have really been hit, haven't you?
Brenda, glad you like the new onc. That's really important.
Hi to all - Sue
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My doc does MUGA every 3 months except she did one about 2 weeks after chemo ended even though it was less than 3 months. My MUGA score actually went up during chemo- I walked all the time and think that helped
3 more rads and I will be finished with radiation. Next step is a hysterectomy!
Kristy
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I use the eye drops that are in the vials. I had to use the thick ones once when I had a cut on my eye from my hair blowing in my face. that was back when I had hair and it was long. I did not realize your hair could cut your eye like that. They put a contact bandage on it and they almost did not get it off when it was time.3 days later. I have dry eyes from my autoimmune problems they said. I can't see out of one eye because it is a lazy eye and the other I guess is just age related. I had to start wearing glasses at age 40 and with working with close up stuff I had to go to trifocals eventually. I can see pretty good at a distance but still my sight has gotten worse with the chemo and right after the TCH it is really bad and I see see stuff. I think I see a mouse run across the floor or a bug and of course it is not. After about a week I quit doing that. the Carboplatin is the hardest chemical on me.When they hang that I start having difficulty breathing but I just try to breath slowly and it will finally get better. the doc said this med was hard on me and it is the one they kept lowering but I hope I do alright with the last one. I am going to get Herceptin this morning.My only side effect from it is I want to sleep a couple of hours after I get home and my husband always wants to go do something else and wants me to go.I am just tired I guess. he is off and wants to get stuff done so I have to go.When I get to a point I just tell him to take me home and he can do whatever he wants to after that!
I have not had a MUGA since before we started but I figure they will do that after the last chemo with some other tests he said we would do before we started radiation. I am going to have a mammogram since I have those lumps in my incision and another one just above it near the nipple. he said it is probably scar tissue but I want to know.
Well I need to eat and get ready to go.
Carolyn
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I'm not feeling very perky this morning. Maybe it is withdrawal from the steroid? My last dose was yesterday afternoon. I notice that they don't taper the dose - when I was on prednisone for breathing difficulty years ago there was always a taper 2 pills to 1 pill to maybe a half a pill before stopping but of course I was on it longer.
Anyway, I just feel kind of shaky especially my hands. It isn't terrible - more like they want to shake if I let them but I can mostly hold them steady except for one disobedient pinky.
And another symptom that I'm mostly curious about, not worried. My cancer breast is slightly flushed - just a touch of pink; not red, not hot, not tender or anything that would indicate infection. I called the advice chemo nurse about it and she asked if my cheeks are flushed - they and parts of my neck are a bit pink - my cheeks flush easily from warmth or exertion so I hadn't noticed that. She thinks it is the steroids. Did any of you notice flushing?
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Hey Blue;
Yeah, you will definitely feel a letdown after the steroid. And it does cause flushing in some people. You will probably not have much energy today, so take it easy if possible.
Shelby
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Hi friends,
I guess it's time to be patient but I'm feeling pretty low -- it took 5 mos to get in this condition and it may take awhile to feel like ourselves again. I guess it's just hitting me that this is still going to be a reality for a long time: e.g. NBD, but I just noticed today that two of my toenails are dark at the cuticle....I'm 2-1/2 wks out from the last chemo. .....this has been a huge experience, right? I need a pep talk from someone besides me -- last night I was feeling sad and tired -- just running out of steam on this at times. I want my old body, my old soul, my old hair, my old everything to feel normal again.
Love you guys,
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Carolyn, I didn't notice any effect from the chemicals going in. Do they do your taxotere before the carboplatin - I thought that is the one that is suppose to be likely to trigger allergic reactions so maybe the breathing difficulty when they hang the carbo is a delayed effect. (sorry just being an engineer in trouble shooting mode - it is hard to turn off.)
Eye sight is so precious. I was born with terrible eye sight so I wore glasse from the time a doctor pointed out my eye problems to my oblivious parents when I was 4. You would think they might have noticed that I couldn't see but the child before me had some severe developmental problems so they were happy to have a relatively normal child and weren't well calibrated on "normal" I guess. So I had "lazy eye" (amblyopia) too because the vision in my two eyes was too different for the brain to be able to use them together. Fortunately I alternated eyes - it is more common for a person with amblyopia to use one eye all the time and not hardly use the other so the neural pathways don't develop for the bad eye and after 4 years or so of age they can't get them to develop (unless there are recent medical advances - this is pretty old information). Once a muscle imbalance was corrected in my teen years, I was able to learn to use the eyes together though I lose it if I get very tired or if my vision isn't corrected (that's one way I use to know when I needed a new prescription).
About 5 years ago, as my eyes stabilized after the changes that usually occur in middle age, it turned out that Lasik could handle my eyes. I was very far sighted with a lot of astigmatism and the started working on near sightedness which affects more people and is easier to correct (making the lens flatter by just taking a bit off the middle instead of having to make it more mounded by taking stuff off all around for far sightedness or having to correct something non-circular like astigmatism). I was actually close to the edge of what they could correct but it was getting so hard to get glasses - my reading correction was over 6 diopters. And a great research doctor in the field from UC Davis was convinced that he could do well by me. My uncorrected distance vision is now good - not quite perfect but better than 20/30 and my vision corrects better now - I expecially notice that when reading fine print or doing close work - I guess with the extreme prescription they weren't able to make my glasses accurate enough.
Anyway, I hope your vision gets better after chemo finishes.
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I am back from Neil Diamond and a short visit to my daughters. I had a great time but really over did it. I had my treatment on Thursday and my NewNasty on Friday before I left. I was exhausted by the time I got home Sunday and I am still dragging. I did feel less achey because I took the claritin so thank you to everyone that mentioned that to me. I actually cooked pancakes sunday morning which is unheard of for me after a treatment. I have been in bed all week but I know this too shall pass.
Welcome to all the new campers. Do not be discouraged. You will find that you can handle more than you think. I keep looking at those that are ahead of me on this road to wellness and healing and I know that I must keep moving forward. As the saying goes "If you are going through hell, keep going" So....keep going.
I am very excited some of you are moving on to different phases of your treatment. I have two more TCH treatments and then radiation. I never thought that would be something I would get excited about. haha I am happy to see everyone is in high siprits today. God bless...traci
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Ooh yeah, I do have a quick qeuestion. I get these three big red splotches on my left side (mastectomy side) for about three days after my treatment. I thought it was maybe the decadron but why always in the same spots on my left side?? My face gets flushed from the decadron but this seems odd to me. Any ideas??
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traci, I the red spots seem to be like what I just mentioned. My lumpectomy breast is flushed (more pink than red in my case) and my cheeks and part of my throat are flushed too. The nurse said it is the decadron, but I think it is odd too that it is only only the operated side. It is the third day after my first treatment and I noticed the flush yesterday.
Maybe the decadron sticks around on our operated sides longer because of the lymph system being disrupted by the nodes that were removed and that is why only that side flushes?
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Those of you with red blotches and splotches should probably call your oncology offices before bouncing hypotheses off each other. Take it from me, the theories that come out of my brain are usually scarier than the actual stuff they'll tell you at the doctor's office!
Bethany;
Yes. There is a good chance you will lose your toenails, and I'm not sure there's a dang thing you can do about it. I thought I'd escaped with all my nails, but I'd been getting manicures and pedicures throughout treatment. But then I took off my polish and noticed some blackness, but mostly that all my finger and toenails were white down to the middle of the nail bed. Then the big toenails just peeled off, and a couple of the fingernails down to the middle of the nail bed. I finally clipped them all down to nothing to avoid painful tears. It's just like the hair--just happens later. Unfortunately.
Hope you don't have it as bad as I did. But if you do, I think it's the last thing.
Shelby
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I did call my onc office first. They said it was probably the steroids and not a problem but they didn't have an explanation for why it is happening only on the surgery breast. I'm not worried, just curious. I expect that on someone with more skin pigmentation it would be hardly noticable. As long as there are no infection symptoms I'm cool.
I've had a very mild ear ache most of today. Not really pain - just some pressure. I called the office and the nurse suggested warm compresses, which helped a little and sudafed (which is what I usually take for stuffy sinuses though I usually don't get the ear thing) or benedryl. I'm a little shaky today already so I don't want to do Sudafed. I think I'll take some Beneryl before bed.
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Blue your experiencing what we call the crash. It happens when the steroids stop. This is when the bad days begin on me. Drink lots of water to flush out the kidneys and bladder from the chemicals and have good bm to clean out the liver. I try and load up on the fluids while the steroids are still working cause when I crash I have a hard time getting liquid down for a couple of days. I do feel so for you. Mark the little faces happy or sad or bla on the calendar cause next time around it will help you. Thinking of you during this time...
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Blue, my breast gets really pink every time I have a Herceptin treatment so every week I have a really flushed breast and I am not on steroids except when I do the TCH treatment. If your face is flushed it probably is the steroids but not just one breast.That just does not make sense. I have taken a lot of steroids in my life and I no longer flush much in my face from them, I have had severe allergic reactions to things and I get steroids. they also give me steroids for arthritis,the pink is not near the incision site it is on the opposite side of the breast. I asked the nurse and doc about it and they don't know why. It is not hot like fever and not sore like a sunburn so I just live with it and hope it goes away before I start radiation. I know that will cause some pinkness and maybe some soreness towards the end.
Also it is the Carboplatin that causes the breathing problems because I have had to wait for the nurses to get to me to change the tax to carbo and it is no time when the carbo starts going it that I get the bad feeling. Carboplatin is what the doc has decreased 2 times so that I don't get so sick so apparently he thinks I am having reactions to it too. I have never told him about the breathing problems since it will go away in a little while. I have noticed it gets worse each time I take it though. I am hoping this last one will be okay and not worse.If it is they will have to stop it and get the doc.I see a different doc this next time since mine is gone but he will be back the next doc visit. I guess I will get a mammogram then or at least schedule it.I am afraid about the one lump but I am hoping it is just something from the surgery.
If you get anyone to tell you why this is happening let me know because I can't get any answers about it.
Carolyn
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Bethany, I am sorry you are feeling down again. I hope it is just temporary. treat yourself to something. I know we will never be the same now that we have had this stuff but maybe we will be better. I know I will be more aware of my body and I hope I will always be more sympathetic to others when they are having problems with illness or whatever it is. It won't be long and you will be complaining you can't do a thing with your hair or you need a haircut and just can't get time to do it. You know the every day things.
Shelby & Bethany I was hoping my nails would do okay since they have been so healthy. I don't polish them or anything. Do you think that has anything to do with losing them? I don't want to lose my nails but if I do I guess I do. they will grow back too I guess. My toenails I don't mind too much since I don't wear open toed shoes but when I go back to work then I have people looking at my hands all the time when I count their money out. I have even had to trim my nails 2 times since chemo because they grow so fast. I hope that does not mean the meds are not doing their job.
Carolyn
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Hi, I'm new to this group but not to TCH ( I started on Taxotere/Carboplatin/Herceptin on September 8th of this year). My question is: How many of you had or will only have FOUR cycles of TCH (with H obviously continuing on for a year). Do you know why, since the NCCN Practice Guidelines and the BCIRG 006 study both use SIX cycles??
My oncologist is going with just four (with my fourth -- and final???--- treatment coming up November 10th). Wondering if I should really push for six, or if a decent number of reputable oncologists are occasionally / frequently recommending FOUR now for node-negative, relatively small tumors (1.1 cm)?
I'll certainly be discussing this with my oncologist again to discuss this, but I'd love the input of this group, particularly those who will have or have had only FOUR cycles. (I've cross-posted this question on another forum since I'm desparate for info, so sorry if you've seen a post on this topic elsewhere!)
Thanks!
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I don't know why some do 4 and some do 6. When they do a first study like BCIRG 006, I think they want to give the chemo they are testing the best chance of showing its effectiveness. So they are going to use the longer course. BCIRG was on node positive and larger node negative tumors so that was another reason for them to take the more conservative course of treatment.
For some of us that are on the border of needing chemo, it seems that some of the oncologists go with a more minimal chemo so they can do a chemo with Herceptin without doing the full thing. My doctor has me on 6 cycles and I wonder if 4 would be enough. My IDC was around 0.8 cm.
cupcake, I thought that was what it might be. I did have a harder time drinking enough water on day 3. I was about a cup short of the 8 that they recommend. But I had plenty the first two days so I hope I'm okay. It looks like days 3 and 4 will be my rough days - at least I'm hoping it feels better after that.
Carolyn, Thanks for the information about the flushing and Herceptin. I get the Herceptin once every three weeks along with the TC so I won't see its effect alone until I finish TCH.
I've been told and read many times that the amount of side effects doesn't indicate how effective the drug is being against the cancer so try not to worry about keeping your nails. I sure hope I keep mine.
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DLL,
Thanks for posting that question about 4 vs 6 treatments. I have very similiar disease to you and am contemplating stopping after 4. When I went for my 2nd opinion at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, the oncologist there gave me the impression that 4 was enough. It is true that the studies were all based on 6 treatments but there is some thought that women with small, node negative disease are getting over treated. I plan to discuss this on Weds. with my oncologist. I'm not sure that she will have any answers for me and she will probably put the final decision in my hands. I am a little nervous to stop after 4. I don't want to look back someday and say "what if". I believe one of the women on this board (Shelby?) was given only 4. Maybe she has some insight here. Have you asked your oncologist why he or she is recommending 4? Rose
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DLL;
I had four, as well. I finished up on August 7. Other than your hormone positive status, your dx is similar to mine: small tumor, node negative, clean margins, right? What you're getting is what many oncologists consider the best treatment. My oncologist is one of the top ten (voted by peers) in San Diego--so this is no back-water-used-to-be-a-vet-but-got-sicka-mules-kicking-me-in-the-face physician! There were two major clinical trials that the doctors are extrapolating from when they decide to prescribe either four or six. Neither of them involved 4 treatments of TCH. My husband, who is a pharmaceutical chemist, and I have slogged through the comparisons of these trials several times, and they are very confusing. Suffice it to say that, first, the combination of Taxotere and Carboplatin is less toxic than Adriamycin and, second, adding Herceptin to the treatment dramatically increases its effectiveness. Your doctor has reason to believe that four treatments is enough for you. This regimen is becoming more common, especially with the addition of Herceptin.
By the way, according to my husband, there are many clinical trials going on right now. For details, visit www.bcirg.org to see what clinical trials they are sponsoring. I hope this helps some.
Shelby
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I too am very interested in the 4 vs 6 treatments. My doc has said 6 for me. I am 2 nodes postitive, plus HER2+3.
I am going to the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa Fla tommorroww just for peace of mind. I have the upmost faith in my doc, but I only live 3 hours from Moffitt and I think it would be very irresponsible not to see what they have to say.
I opted for the double mastectomy and I am seriously considering getting the ovaries out when I have recovered from chemo.
I will pass on what the research docs at Moffitt have to say.
By the way; seems like day 3 was my worst. Yesterday I felt like I had been run over by a steamroller and I had to work hard to drink my water. I know part was steriod crash and part was Tuesday Neulasta shot. I finally got some sleep last night and today I feel much better.
Have a great day ladies.
Lisa
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One more day of rads and I have a hair lick!
Cant wait for Halloween Day this year - my last day of rads!
Kristy
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Kristy;
I am most interested in learning what, exactly, is a "HAIR LICK"? If your answer rates R or more, you can send me a Private Message. Seriously, it sounds interesting.
Is your avatar representative of the hair your currently possess? Numerous Halloween costumes come to mind, Uncle Fester from the Addams Family being topmost on my list to recommend to you. All you need is a baggy black coat and some heavy black makeup for under your eyes. A light bulb in your mouth when someone comes to the door would be an interesting touch, but you must be cautious not to break it! And lighting it up might be a problem, unless all those therapeutic gamma rays have indued you with powers that I, as a mere mortal, do not possess.
I made myself a "present" for Halloween. I took a dingy old green tee shirt that I never wear and painted a pale lavender "Scream" character on it with magenta hoop earrings (I always wear big earrings since becoming an official Camp Chemo Pirate). It has pink, blue and lavender short hairs flying everywhere off the head. Then in tints of blue, lavender, and pink I inscribed in pretty script:
"HAIR BY TAXOTERE"!
Happy Halloween, all!
Shelby
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I was given 6 treatments as it is in my Lymph Nodes and they rate that a higher cancer stage thus wants to hit it 6 times instead of 4. I am considered a stage 111. Looks like you with stage one are getting 4 treatments. Lisa I think I would look into the 6 also....If it is in the Lymph Nodes possibly some of the micrometastatic cancer cells could have escaped and floating around in the Lymph system and the 6 chemo treatments have more of a chance to get them all zapped.
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DLL, I have not posted on this board but thought I would let you know that I am also on 4tx of TCH plus hercepton every week during chemo and then every three weeks after chemo. I will also have radiation treatments when chemo is finished. Everyone in my area says my onc is the best so I just have to trust she knows what she is doing. She said if it were her mother or herself this is what she would do. And she keeps up with the latest. Hope this helps!!!! Pat
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MeMePat,Is there any way you can provide me with the name of your oncologist? I have talked to my doctor about doing only four treatments,he wants me to find more info and said he will seriously consider it,if he has evidence supporting the four rather than six.My diagnosis is similar to yours, my tumor was larger by a bit though.And I have no radiation as I had a mastectomy. Thanks!!! Jackie.
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ShelBaroni,can you help me find the trials you mentioned so I can give the info to my onc? Thanks! Jackie
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Pandazankar, I would have to get permission from my onc for a referral but I see why they might be saying six.If your tumor was larger and you had any nodes involvement (mine were all clear) or if your margins were'nt clean (mine were) and I am doing the radiation and Hercepton for a year. Does any of this help? I can honestly say I don;t think she will consult, she is just all business and would want you physically in her presence.
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Hey Jackie;
Go to www.bcirg.org. You'll be able to find everything you need there. Like the press release in May 2008 announcing the results of trials with women like us with early-stage cancer using the stuff for adjuvant therapy. Your onc probably knows it all though. Good luck!
Shelby
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Nodes were clean and so were margins.I did not want to speak with your doctor, wanted to give the name to my onc if he wanted to get in touch. Thanks!! Jackie
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