Anyone on just Taxotere and Cytoxan?
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By the way, Her2+ does not lead to a year of chemo (as we refer to chemo); it has 4-6 cycles of regular chemo usually (as with the Her2-), but then you are on a monoclonal antibody called Herceptin given once every three weeks (for many of us) by IV (takes 30 minutes) for a year. There are many fewer side effects from Herceptin, and not the usual ones we get from chemo (hair loss, GI disturbances, mouth sores, etc.).
Gina
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Unique and Birdsong --I didn't find the article you mentioned, Birdsong -- for some reason, none of the URLs for their articles work when you paste them in This recent article from the breast oncology symposium calls for stopping the use of adriamycin. The article title, which you can find by searching on the main page www.medpagetoday.com, is "A Call to Scrap Anthracyclines for Breast Cancer."
Agnes, I hope it goes better for you this time. Not for everyone, but for me each treatment was easier on me.
Welcome, Katie. The fear before treatment is worse than the treatment. Hang in there. --Lani
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Hi Lani,
I was soooo interested in the web site and the article. I found the web site but no article. I tried typing in the title and no luck. How do you find it after you are on the home page. Thanks, Let me write that web site again in case I made a mistake. It is www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/sabmeeting/tb/7689 Hope it is still there. Birdsong0 -
I have my 3rd tx tomorrow. Last week when I went for my blood work my wbc counts were high. Does that mean I don't have to have the neulasta injection this time? I'm hoping that's true because I'm not looking forward to the pain, but was wondering if any of you have been in the same situation and if so, did the onc still make you get the neulasta???
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Birdsong, the nav is medpagetoday.com -- See all meetings (link on left) -- scroll to Hematology/Oncology, click San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. It's on page 2, along with the article that taxotere outdoes adriamycin in recurrence and mortality.
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Joyce ~ My WBC 10 days post tx #2 was 49.9! My local onc's nurses said I would probably get Neulasta again the next time anyway, so I decided to check in with UCLA. (I am having chemo tx's with a local onc because UCLA is 120 miles from home, and both oncs have been great about working together.) Anyway, somewhat to my surprise, my UCLA onc said she would also give me the Neulasta again. But I don't think any of these decisions are set in stone. If you are more comfortable not getting the Neulasta and risking a low WBC, see if your onc will let you skip it this time. I've thought about asking for less Neulasta this time because I've also wondered if an excessively high WBC caused by Neulasta is ever dangerous to your health... Deanna
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Birdsong and Joyce ~
I found it, very compelling video by Dr. Slamon too - he is the statistician who separated out our HER2+ sisters from the rest of our pack? I think. Birdsong, I would give you my phone number but I'm often not home, have a varying schedule. If you're comfortable, I would *LOVE* an email at unique@downtoearthweb.com.
The Medpage site seems reviewed by U of Pennsylvania folks - does anyone know if they are starting to do TC there? Maybe I should check? I am running a little short on time for my 2nd opinions, have one in two weeks with a local onc and next Wednesday at Fox Chase (altho my onco already had an email convo with Lori Goldstein head of dept there and she is also hesitant to do TC because there's still a tad of research short to abandon the Adria. My lovable onco is willing to do TC if I would be more comfortable with it. He would choose the Adria I think, but thinks the TC is prolly where it is going, just not *quite* there yet.
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Shari1232,
I had the mammosite radiation the last week of June. I hope it works out for you. Five days is really doable.
The statistics that I was given for distant recurrence was 13% with just the Tamoxifen and 6% for chemo and then Tamoxifen. That was decided mainly from my Oncotype score of 20. I decided I liked the 6% more, and had my first treatment yesterday. So far, so good.
Best of luck,
Chris
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Unique, I'm not sure what they're waiting for. The peer-reviewed study published in 2005 showed less recurrence with TC than with AC. The followup study (7 years of data) published last year showed, in addition, less mortality with TC than with AC. Plus, no heart complications with AC. So I would ask why it's not "quite" there yet.
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Hi Unique...I am being treated at U of Penn...47 years old, premenopausal and ER/PR +. They are definitely doing TC and have been, according to my onc, since late 2006. My onc recommended TC x 4 treatments for me. I have had one treatment. SE's weren't bad and I am now on Day 9 and feel 100% myself. If you'd like the name of my onc I'd be happy to pass it along.
L
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Unique...I PM'd you the information about U of Penn. Good luck.
L
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Had Tx 3 yesterday. All went fine. Blood counts fine and for the 3rd time no shot today. Doctor confirmed that Oct 7 will be final tx. Yeah! Feeling good today, nothing to complain about. Did notice some eyelashes missing but can live with that. Still have quite a bit of hair left on my head, have not worn a wig yet, either wear a baseball cap or go without. I met Charles Shaughnessy from the Nanny on Sunday at a fundraiser and had my picture taken with him without my hat, Didn't bother him nor me. Also got a kiss and hug from him and good wishes!
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Hi:
I'm off to my first treatment to kick cancer's butt.
DX 6/20/08 IDC 1 cm, DCIs, 1 cm. 1/2 SN+, declined axillary dissection, ER+, PR-,HER2-,Onco20
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Peeps,
I like your attitude. We're all pulling for you, hope for few se's. I am on day 3 and not doing bad at all.
Chris
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Hi all, Here are two titles to enter on the web to hear interviews with 2 doctors that promote TC and advise against ACT. 1. "Docetaxel outdoes doxorubicin" and "A Call to Scrap Anthracyclines" Trying the med page was more confusing, but just typing the title got me both interviews on google.. They are fantastic. Also, I agree with the idea that taking the shot when your blood count is alright is just adding trama to your body. WE are not in flu season and if you can avoid public contact, let your body do the work.Who knows what they may find out about the shots down the road.
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Tomorrow is TX #2 for me. Sure was a rough first one - This time I'll spend some time getting them to adjust the pre-drugs to see if it can get better. No nausea - but really bad headaches, emotional ups & downs (mostly down) & everything tasted terrible. Now the hair is very, very thin - so why am I still shaving my legs???
Sandra - this will be #2 of 4. I'm wondering why some are getting 6 treatments and if I need 6 tx's with a grade 3? Sure are a lot of variations of treatments. And does the PR negative (ER+) matter in number of treatments?
When I recover from #2, I plan celebrate being halfway with a wave runner camping trip on the Colorado river. Thanks to everyone for sharing their courage. Love, Gail
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Hi Gail, I also had same stage and grade of cancer as you, I too only got 4 treatments. Today was my Last one! Hooray! I know I have to get through this week and maybe next week before I can celebrate
Hang in there everyone,,,We can get through this!0 -
Yay, Amann, you're almost there. I have my last one next Monday.
Gail, I hope this next one is better. I found I got better at managing the SEs each time. With the taste thing, I found sucking on ice better than not -- the taste still changes but not as much and recovers quicker. It helps to find foods and drinks that taste good -- there are some. I have headaches, more with tx 3. Ibuprofen helped more than naproxen, for me, on these headaches. Good luck! --Lani
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Gail, that's a beautiful horse in your avatar. But on your question of 4 vs 6, I'm one of the people who had 6 (note the past tense...today was the last one!!). I had a "footprint" of cancer cells in two nodes, and that's why I was told I had to have 6 treatments. Looks like our dx was almost the same, except you had nice, clean nodes, so that's great! And don't worry, that leg hair will settle down soon and you can skip shaving for a while.
Deanna, I too am worried about how all this Neulasta is affecting my body. I've had it every tx, and am supposed to have the last one tomorrow. It worries me to have 6 of these shots. Has anyone else here had 6 tx with Neulasta each time?? I guess I'm going to go ahead and do it, because I sure don't want to wind up in the crappy ER close to me and having my husband say, "I knew you should've had the shot".....but it's so scary to wonder if I've been doing something harmful to myself all along. Hell, chemo isn't exactly vitamins, is it. If I have to read something about weighing risk vs benefits one more time, I may scream.
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Hi Lani:Thanks for your kind words. I had my second TC chemo today and after receiving 21 cc taxotere I had a hypersensitivity reaction in which I turned bright red has shortness-of breath and some chest tighness. I do have allergies and asthma. I have to admit the nurses were fantastic. I called over one nurse who was just walking by she immediate assessed the situation and said in a calm but loud voice that she need help over here now Five nurses and my oncologist came over and worked as a high performing team to reverse the reaction by stopping the drug and giving me IV bendryl and IV steroids and IV fluids. The funny moment came when the reaction was gone, the taxotere was off and I asked my oncologist what was his plan -he told me he was going to take some Malox and a Valium and he would get back to me. He was kidding but it did lighten things up.They were able to challenge me at a slower rate and I was able to finish my treatment. Next time they will premedicate me with IV steroid and benadryl.I did take decadron as prescribe prior. Agnes
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Ammann
Congratulations on finishing your chemo.
Agnes
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You all have great conversations going on here! I just popped in, and have been captivated for the last hour. I've posted in a couple of different forums on the site - I don't match up here 100%, but I am starting Taxotere, Carboplatin, and Herceptin tomorrow. I'll have 6 treatments, 3 weeks apart. I feel that, thanks to this board, I am well prepared. At this stage in the process, I figure that's the best place I can be! Hoping for the best tomorrow, and in the coming months.
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Congrats Audrey, on the last one! I had my last infusion Monday. I had an allergic reaction as always to the Taxotere (similar to what you describe, Agnes) resolved as in the past by "rebooting". They turn the drip off, let me recover, turn it back on slowly, and I'm fine. Weird I know. This one is kicking me a little earlier and a little harder than the first 3 - I got tired about half a day earlier and slept a lot of today away. Nothing else too bad, but I've been having increasing numbers of hot flashes throughout the chemo. Me, who was always cold now throwing off all the covers...
Desertrider - it seems TCx6 is being used when there are positive nodes. I don't think I've seen anyone node neg getting 6 doses of Taxotere/Cytoxan, but maybe if HER2+?
Deanna, re Neulasta, I wonder if they'd let you wait and see what the counts do and then give you neupogen (the daily one) if they go too low? Neulasta is supposed to be more convenient since you just get it once, but if you're worried you don't need it at all maybe Neupogen would be an option.
It is really interesting how much variation there is with doctors/locations/etc with respect to the premedication/neulasta stuff. Having read this board I was expecting to be "in the chair" for 6+ hours and with all sorts of drugs. I'm being treated outside the U.S. and was sort of alarmed to learn I was just getting the chemo (plus saline before and after) in the drip! They did the cytoxan as a push, not a drip, so the whole thing never took as long as 2 hours, I don't think, even with my allergic incidents. I took the dexamethasone steroids orally in advance (and the day of/day after and morning of day after that) and Zofran, an anti-nausea med orally at the time of chemo and the next morning/night. That's it. (other than icy cold gloves to wear during the Taxotere.) I wonder how much of the initial side effects are due to the chemo and how much to all the other meds people are getting pumped up with. I'm not discounting the benefits of Neulasta - if it had been offered to me prophylactically I would have taken it. Instead it turned out my counts went so profoundly low (to zero for several days) that the oncologist said G-CSF wouldn't help sufficiently so he cut my dose instead. he would have given me Neupogen in the third cycle if my counts weren't rebounding quickly enough (it was a close call from cycle 2 to 3) but they were okay.
Sorry to ramble - hope everyone has a side-effect free day, and congrats to everyone else finishing this week. It feels good, even though I'm a bit tired!
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OMG ... So many great posts and new "faces" ... impossible to address everyone's good news and concerns individually, but you are each in my thoughts & prayers.
I had tx #3 today (HOORAY!), and it went sooo fast. The onco nurses must have wanted to get out of there (it was 4:30 when I finished), but they said I'd done well previously, so they really cranked it up this time, and I think it was actually easier. I feel pretty good tonight, but we all know how deceptive that can be! Hood (Joyce) had reminded me to hydrate extra well, and I have. My onc also said, "Push water!" I've also added the B6 (thanks Lani), and I've forced myself (it's still beastly hot here) to walk about 2.5 miles each a.m., which seems to help with the slight foot neuropathy I've been experiencing. Oh, I also iced my hands during the Taxotere drip, to see if it will make any difference with my aching fingers and a couple of nails that have some darkening in the nail bed. So, I feel that I've done all the stuff I learned here, and I'm hoping for a better weekend than last time. Just as an aside, when I asked my onc if it was okay with him if I iced my hands, he started to laugh and told me they used to fix people up with huge outer space-looking contraptions to ice their heads to prevent hair loss, which didn't work anyway! But what a hoot that must have been!
As far as the Neulasta, my WBC had dropped from 49.9 to 11.7 -- in 12 days. I thought that was strange that it dropped so drastically, but I'm not as worried now about getting Neulasta again tomorrow.
One more thing... my onc said I can schedule my 2nd stage Diep flap surgery (a short one mostly for asymmetry) 3 weeks from my last chemo, which I thought was great news! Although I will still need to do rads, I feel like things are moving along now, and that I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
So happy for those of you who have finished up and those of you about to finish up this week! And really nice to see some new names (Kimy, dcgirl) and some great input! So glad you joined this thread!
Thinking of you all ~ Deanna
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HI Everyone:
Thanks for your input on the Neulasta vs. Neupogen. I had my first treatment of TC on Wednesday, September 17th. I was very scared at first. The pre meds were hung and went in slowly. Then the nurse started doing teaching which took about an hour or so. Meanwhile I had my feet packed in ice and my hands on and off of the ice which was on my lap. I was talking to the woman in the next recliner who was a big help with anxiety. As my nurse finished up with teaching, I said, "Ok, so are we going to start the treatment now?" She said, "honey, you're finished" I looked up at the bag and could not believe they were both empty. I had no effects during treatment. No numbnes or tingling yet. About 4 hours later I did develop a metallic taste in my mouth. I decided to do a bit of exercising (which is much needed). Did well on the bike, leg lifts but when I went to do a couple of rounds of sit ups (with bar support) my heart felt funny and I was throwing an extra heart beat here and there. This continued into the early part of the night. I took an 8 mg dose of Decadron the day before and morning of treatment and then when I got there I got an additional 16 mg intravenously,.... seems like alot to me. Heart arrhythmias (abnormal rhythms) are a side effect of Decadron. I have to call them this morning and ask if I should take the day after dose. As far as the Neulasta/Neupogen, I decided to ask for the Neupogen. They want to give me my first shot today, another one tomorrow, skip the weekend and the last three Monday-Wednesday of next week. I am waiting for a mail order supply and then will start to self administer. I am wondering if 5 doses is going to be enough each month? Someone else mentioned 12 doses total after each cycle of T/C.
Thanks again for all of your support. Katie
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Hooray for you, Deanna for number 3! I'm off now for #2. But last night, 3 weeks after Tx #1, my legs and feet swelled a lot! Anyone heard of this so late after chemo? Or does my body just know it's going in again today for more?
Thinking of all of you and willing to walk in again because you all are so brave,
Love,
Gail
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Hello Everyone, and Thanks for my Congrats! and Welcome to all the new comers! I feel alright today... but I know it usually hits me on the 3rd to 4th day.
I have been drinking tons of water this time. I think the water really does make a difference, It flushes everything out faster, I didn't get any nausea at all yet Agnes I had the same reaction you did after tx 2 It was soo scary. Almost the same scenerio the nurse called in the doc and another nurse they put the oxegen on me. Then they slowed it down and I felt better. But that week about the 12 th day I don't know if it was something I ate, but I broke out in severe hives. I never had hives, so that scared me. the doc told me to keep taking benadryl, it took about 4 days for it to clear up. I even had a fever of 101.4 and sore throat, the doc said it could be a virus. but the nurse told me it was probably a reaction to the Taxotere. I still have rash break outs here and there but nothing severe. It usually happens after I take a warm bath or shower. I told the Onc about it . and this time he put me on another chemo in the same family called Abraxane, its' suppose to cause less side effects as taxotere, but it cost a whole lot more, that's why they don't give it to everyone unless you can't tolerate taxotere. Just something to keep in mind if you feel like the taxotere isn't working for you. Katie, I think 5 nuepogen shots is about the average, that's what I got every 3 weeks. My counts stayed within range. I did get bone pains after the 3rd chemo tx. My onc said this last one I can cut it back to 2 or 3. I'll see how it does me this time. Well time to go drink more water talk to you later,God bless,
Audrey
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Oh one more thing, someone mentioned Hot flashes, I have been noticing more and more myself. expecially at night I wake up every 2 hours pushing the covers off me. I have always been a person that stays cold too. I feel like I am getting a workout through the night. Maybe that's why I am losing a little weight. I think I eat pretty good, and I have lost about 14 pounds.
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Amann... I had hot flashes when first dx'd and had to stop HRT cold turkey. Now, like you, I am constantly hot and cranking up the A/C -- which was never the case before. On the other hand, I am gaining weight -- in spite of no change in healthy eating habits and getting a good amount of exercise. Have been drinking extra H20 these past two days... got up multiple times last night because of it... yet I still weigh a whopping 3 lbs. more this a.m. than yesterday, which was already up 5 lbs. from normal. Anyone else experiencing this sort of annoying out-of-control weight gain??? Deanna
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Deanna and Gail, taxotere is known to cause water retention (see http://meeting.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/18_suppl/19635). I also feel bloated and overfed if I eat an amount that I normally would. I would wait at least a week after tx to see what your end weight is.
The hot flashes are definitely annoying the first week or 10 days after tx -- I wake up every 2 hrs or so, too.
Welcome, Kimy, and I hope it went well today. --Lani
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