Anyone on just Taxotere and Cytoxan?
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Hello you brave and wonderful ladies. You have got me scared for sure! I had my 2nd round of TC on the 29th, and boy oh boy! I was so sick last week! I am just now beginning to feel a little more normal. I am now dreading #3!
I agree with those of you who have stated that this cancer business is a lucrative gig for pharmaceutical companies and oncologists. I just can't believe they haven't come up with a cure with all the millions of dollars raised to fund cancer research. I feel like a real boob (no pun intended) for falling for their line. And here we are getting poisoned. I am a little jaded also. If you haven't had a chance to check out Suzanne Sommers' book, Knockout, I recommend it. Shows a completely different viewpoint to treating cancer. Something to think about it.
I am half way through this now, so I'll complete it, but I hope I can get my body detoxified when I'm done. It saddens me that oncologists have dismissed some of you when you have shared the extent of your side-effects. I had an onco nurse tell me it was not my doctor's responsibilty to be "bothered" with my side effects or the cost of my meds. Her job was only to treat my cancer! Needless to say, that nurse is not allowed to come near me anymore. For the record, my onc said she is concerned about my SE, but she didn't mention if she was losing sleep about it.
I have seen some of you alluding to heart and lung problems associated with TC. WHen I was under general anaesthesia getting my port/cath placed, they xrayed me. I was told a week later that the xray showed that my heart is enlarged and that I have fluid on my lungs. I have never had these kinds of problems before. I had an echocardiogram on Friday and am awaiting results. Do any of you know if TC can cause heart/lung problems? If so, I am really pissed because I wasn't warned about this.
Hope you're all well. Have a blessed day!
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chynadollsmom: thanks for the hair update. Did you shave your head at all? I only cut mine to be ear length. I have lost about 90% of my hair, but still have a fine coating all over. I'm hoping to have a head start when it comes in again. I wonder how long it will be before I don't have to wear this dumb wig. I hate this thing. Looks like a dead cat on my head!0
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Hi Everyone,
I am a week and a half out from Round #3 and was wiped out for a whole week this time. I am feeling pretty good and back to a "normal" routine. I had heard that the third round may be worse than the other two and it was but I always try to think positive and when I feel good I am so blessed and thankful.
Sherri - I am thinking of you..... congrats on this being your final round!!!! Hang in there.
Suz6 - this is a really good forum to belong to with so many supportive ladies. We all understand your apprehensions, side effects and other questions. I have really benefitted from the advice on here look forward to hearing of everyone's progress. Feel free to ask anything and I wish you well. When will your chemo start?
Thank you Ladies!!!! Peace, Renee
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mslrg, I have been doing alot of reading of studies on T/C and it's side effects. For what it's worth, it all says that T/C has been found to have no effects on the heart.
suz6, I'm glad you found this string.
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I just finished up 4tx of TC, it was tough but doable! I didn't have any problems with low sodium or seziures. I did lose my hair but not all of it, shaved about 20 days after first tx. I had a lot of achy legs and weakness. As long as I used the nausea meds properly I did ok as far as that went. Nails are thin and break easy but haven't lost them. 4 tx really goes by quickly just follow doctors orders and get rest and eat when you feel like it. If you want to private msg me with any questions I would love to hear from you
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Ladies - I just got home from the hospital and I'm officially done chemo!!! I requested the same nurse I had for the first two rounds so I could avoid getting the one I had for Tx #3 (that one had too much trouble getting the IV inserted). The bruising from #3 was so bad and has just started clearing up in the last few days. Today went off without a hitch. I got to ring the ceremonial bell while all the nurses cheered. It felt good to ring the bell. Now I just have to get through this week and the yucky days 3-5. Mommaof2, all the best with your treatment on Wednesday.
Sherri
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CONGRATULATIONS Tiffany and Sherri......Soooooooo Happy for you both on completeing the chemo. What a great acomplishment. I hope you treat yourself ( both of you ) and do something extra special for yourself. You can be the mentors for the rest of us. I am having my last of 4 tx on Feb.18th and I am absolutely terrified. #3 was so horrible and slammed me so hard I am afraid of what 4 will be like. I will just be happy when it is over. I think it is nice they have a bell ringing ceremony Sherri. They don't do anything where I go. Maybe I will take a loud noise maker on my last day and scare the beejeebies out of them all LOL.
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Catori and all:number 3 was hardest physically, number 4 didn't seem as hard. You're almost done! I'm almost 3 mos out and it seems forever ago. Just waiting for surgery and brachy radiation scars to heal, anyone have any recommendations for magical healing creme? Have tried aquafor, biofine, a steroid creme, vitamin E. They are getting better nut not fast enough for me
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Mommaof2 and Vegas, as soon as my hair started falling out I made an appointment and had it buzzed down to probably a half inch. I didn't want to contend with hair falling out everywhere. My hair thinned all over, but only totally balded in sections. During chemo my hair grew some, so a couple times I got (don't laugh!) my dog shears out and trimmed it back up. I didn't want long spots and short spots. Around my last chemo I trimmed it up again, and that was the last time. I had debated doing it one more time, but decided to experiment and just leave it. The bald spots seem to be fairly close to the length of the other hair now, so I'm glad I didn't give it another buzz. You can still see my scalp, I think that has more to do with length than fullness? But time will tell. I was actually just admiring it in the mirror. In front it's starting to look kind of cute. I'm still covering it, though. Don't like that my scalp is still showing. I'm hoping by March that maybe I'll have enough for my hair stylist to trim up into a short do! Momma if you haven't trimmed yours since the first cut, you may want to give yours another buzz so it can grow in fairly even.
Momma, a few weeks after my final chemo my eyelashes really thinned, but never totally fell out. About then I nearly lost all my eyebrows. They are starting to grow back in, but I still have to be a little creative with the brow brush.
Vegas, the "dead cat" syndrome is why I decided to stick to hats and scarves. I've gotten pretty good at tying attractive looking scarf combinations.
Tiffany and Sherri, congratulations on completing your final chemo! Hopefully you'll get through the hard side effects quickly and can begin to feel better daily! You'll get there!
Dogsaver, I'm dealing with a pretty significant burn right now myself. This would have been my final week of radiation, but my doctor said I needed to heal before he could continue with me. He has me soaking with Domeboro followed with an application of a combination of neosporin and cortaid. Don't know if they are a miracle cure yet, but hoping I do heal quickly. I'm not very patient either. It hurts!
Catori, I don't think #4 was much harder than #3, so don't fret. You'll soon be done!
Prayers for all! Anne
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Tifany & Sugar 77--what a great day for you to be done w/ chemo. IN about a week from now when you're through the tough part, you should have a real celebration. Can't wait to be where you are!0
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Sherri- I'm so glad to hear everything went so well for you yesterday! What a sense of relief you must have knowing that you are all through with your treatments.
I have such mixed feelings about my treatment tomorrow...I'm so glad for it to be my last, BUT I am so dreading the actual treatment. I've been fortunate to have very few side effects other than the taste issue and being so tired this round, but my treatments have been really difficult for me. If anyone is debating getting a port or not, my advice would be GET THE PORT! How fun to get to ring a bell to signify your last treatment! All chemo centers should have that....maybe I'll just do my own little happy dance!
Chynasdollmom - Thanks for all the information on hair loss - I think I will have my husband shave it all off, so it can all come back at once.
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Mommaof2 -- I'll be thinking of your tomorrow. I had the exact same feelings leading up to Monday's treatment. Normally I feel pretty good until days 3, 4 and 5 with three not being too bad. However, this time I'm not feeling all that great right now. For the first time ever, I had some hot flashes last night so I'm wondering if what I'm feeling has to do with my period that would be due in the next week and potential "chemopause." On a positive note, the nurse had to trouble whatsoever getting the IV in yesterday and no bruising. Do your happy dance for sure!!!!!
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Suggar77--if it's any consolation, I had hot flashes every night for a week after my second T/C last week. They were awful , and my sweat didn't even smell like mine!
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I didn't read all this thread so I may have missed this..going to see my onc in 2 weeks..had 4 dd ac and 4 dd taxol...this past summer...is taxotere better? Should I ask my onc about maybe having some...I dread it..but if it will help I will do it..I will ask him but I wanted your opinion.
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Sugar77 - Sorry you aren't feeling so well today...hopefully it will get better with a good nights sleep. AND I'm so glad to hear you didn't have problems with your IV this round. I'm going to make a little changes to my morning (no coffee and I'm going to skip working out before my treatment) to see if that might help the nurses get a vein easier. As fas as I'm concerned almost anything is worth trying. I'm not having hot flashes but I have a few other symptoms that make me wonder about chemopause too. Do you know if it goes away after chemo or are we thrown into full blown menopause? BLAH!
Hope you feel better in the morning, I'll try to post how my day went.
Liz
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Sherri, my nurse poked me 4 times trying to find a vein, then she was so discouraged she had to call for help. The next nurse did it in one shot. They were very hard on themselves, but I told them it was my body's way of revolting and rejecting all the infusions.
Today is not so good either. It is hitting me a bit earlier. Right now I have the flu like symptoms, and I have a feeling they will linger...
Onc said it will take me up to April to feel normal again. Then we will talk about Aromatase Inhibitors.
I have to go to bed now. It's 2 A,M, aNb The Xanax is finally giving me some relief from the steroid madness.
Love,
Brenda
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Mommaof2 - good luck today. Let me know how it goes.
Brenda - sorry to hear they had so much trouble finding a vein. That's what happened to me during the previous treatment. Had a better nurse this time who got it on the first try with no bruising. I'm not feeling all that great either and usually I don't start feeling icky until days 3-5 (with 4 being the worst). This time I've had these weird chills and hot flashes since Monday night. No fever at all. My older sister, who went through natural menopause in her mid-to-late forties is at my house this week to help out and says based on her experience this looks to be hormonal. I'm tapering the steroids again so today I get the final full pill at breakfast and the 1/2 pill remaining at dinner. I was hoping to feel normal by next week or the week after but I think that's wishful thinking. I have runny eyes that keep twitching and it keeps getting worse. I have to go out this morning and we had snow last night so the drive might be tricky.
Here's to hoping today will be good for all of us.
Sherri
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Just popping in to say CONGRATULATIONS Sherri and Tiffany! So happy you're done with chemo!
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Sugar ~ I hope you are feeling better. I have the same type of hot flashes you speak of and also the eye twitching and tearing. The eye thing seems to be getting worse.
It is amazing what a toll this stuff takes on our bodies. I wish you the best in your recovery now that you have finished chemo. Hopefully alot of these SE will diminish in time.
Tomorrow morning my cowrker/friend is going into surgery for a double mastectomy ( she is the 5th daughter in her family to be dx with BC ) She is using the same surgeon I used and I have a Dr. appt 40 minutes after her surgery time so I am going to stay with her as long as they allow me before they take her in.
My final chemo is the 18th and although I will be thrilled to be done... I am so afraid of this last round, knowing how bad the last one is I am really scared of this one. But onward and upward... I will get through it. I am soooo looking forward to Spring.
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Sugar77 - Well, I'm officially through with my chemo treatments! YEAH! I have to say that today was by far my easiest treatment of all. I sure wish all the others had gone so smoothly, but at least I am all done.
I'm feeling pretty good this afternoon, a little tired but that is it about it for now. My nurse did have some bad news for me though, she said the fatigue will most likely be worse with this round. I sure hope she's wrong
Are you feeling better today? Good luck this week...I hope you don't have to many bad SE's.
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Sugar77 and catori,
I read on a thread (maybe earlier on this one?) that a SE of Taxotere is collapse of tear ducts, or something like that. A couple of women went as soon as possible to see an opthamologist and had tiny glass tubes put in the ducts so they wouldn't permanently be damaged. I'm not sure how to search for it but wanted to let you know, the eye doctors said the longer it goes, the more difficult it is to fix.
Best to everyone.
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Ladies:
I had my first day of chemo today, and went in equipped with the all the stuff on the chemo lists. I was very optimistic, expecting my 9:15 appt to be over by 12:30 latest. It did not go well, and I have to confess my positive spirit took a nose dive. Everything went well until the Taxotere started. Within 15 minutes I was having super hot flashes, my face, neck and arms were red, and I was seriously nauseated. They stopped the Tax immediately and switched to saline, took temp, gave an anti-nausea pill, etc. This helped and I settled down just thinking I had had a mini-reaction. They re-started the Taxotere very slowly, and within 20 minutes I was sweating and my lungs felts as if they were thickening or something. I couldn't draw a full breath. They became very concerned and stopped the Tax again. This time they gave me another steroid IV, another benadryl, and saline. They restarted the Tax and we took it very slowly. I felt like such a wuss. We made it through the remaining Tax, but breathing was still short and I felt so sick. We didn't leave until 4:15. I don't feel great now, but not as bad as while that was being pumped into me. Is this just how it is? If it is, I can accept that and prepare myself for it. I just didn't expect it. I've gone back to work this week and am planning to move to full-time soon. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Magister - wow, your first experience is a doosy. Don't have an explanation. That happened to me on my 2nd TC but the first went fine. Just glad they were responsive and able to get it under control. You just never know what your reaction will be to chemo and everyone is different. That doesn't make what you went through any easier - I know. Chemo is poison and our bodies don't like poison so take all the drugs they give you to help with the SE's. If you are an exerciser, I recommend getting moving the next day after infusion or as soon as you feel like you can - sweating is good. Are you prepping with steroids and anti nausea drugs? You have found the right place to get advice, tips and help. take care
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Sherri, you are done. Sorry I did get to congratulate you yesterday, but I guess I didn't finish reading all the threads. WoooooHooooo, hope you have mild SEs.
suz6, sorry to hear that you are having to do chemo. It is tough, but you can do it, we will be here to cheer you on.
magister, I am so sorry you had a reaction to the Tax. My only advice would be to make sure you are well hydrated before the tx and I am not sure that would make a difference. Hope the SEs are easy on you.
anne, hope all is going well for you. Good to hear that you are about finished. I have had 16 rads and am still not seeing any SEs. I am just waiting.
mommyof2, congrats for finishing. It is such a great accomplishment to finally be finished.
I am way behind on my reading and trying to catch up.
Sending everyone a hug and hope all goes well this week for everyone.
Juannelle
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I wonder if that might be part of today's difficulty - my onc had forgotten to give me the steroid prep prescription, so I didn't take anything going in. But they gave it to me in an IV before starting anything else. I don't know if that contributed or not. He's a great onc in every other way. I forgot to mention that my entire torso was itching like crazy during the Tax, too! I didn't care how it looked -- I just kept scratching!!
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The steroid prep is so important - ask for it next time. It will save you so much discomfort.
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Sugar,
I had extremely watery eye (right only - weird, huh?) I had Claritin left over from when I had taken it during chemo for joint pain---didn't help with that, by the way. I started taking the Claritin every morning and within about 10 days my eye is totally not watering. It just gradually got better, it was so bad water would run down my face before I could blot my eye. Probably could have just been time making it get better, but I'm more inclined to think it was the Claritin. My last chemo was Jan 7th and I have gone back to work this week, 3 half days so far. I am amazed at how fast I lost stamina & strength....I didn't exercise during chemo, just gave in to the fatigue when it hit and then would do some minor stuff around the house when I felt better. I wish I had given it a try and exercised even a little, I have a feeling I wouldn't be so stiff & sore now.
Titan....I never had a reaction to my chemo like so many ladies here have...as far as recommending taxotere, I think it is responsible for my neuropathy in feet and hands both. I only had 4 treatments and it progressively became worse, can't imagine what even 2 more treatments would have done. We do what we must, I had chemo because I am 45 & wanted to fight bc with everything I could, so I certainly understand your desire to fight as well. Best wishes to you as you fight, heal, and recover.
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Hello All,
I did 4 rounds of Cytoxan and Taxotere, and except from fatigue and hair loss, I did not experience any other major side effects. I did get a few red rashes on my neck after the first chemo so they gave me more steroids to take on day 1,2,3 and 4 and this took care of it.
My eyes were a lot more watery during chemo than before. I also gained weight during chemo, I think mainly because the steroids made me hungry all the time.
I did lose my hair around day 15. I never lost my eyelashes/eyebrows during chemo. They fell off 8 weeks after chemo was over! I am now 11 weeks from the last chemo and my hair has grown back a little, but not as much as I had expected. It used to be light brown, and it is growing back all grey!
All in all, I did pretty well on cytoxan and taxotere. The only thing that bothers me about chemo is that it induces menopause. I am only 33 and I am hoping I am not menopaused for good, that my periods will be back. Anyone has any stories about that? When did your periods come back after being on cytoxan/taxotere?
Marion.
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Hi Urbie,
I noticed you were diagnosed in 7/07 like me. I was IDC stage one, 1.9 CM, ER+ PR+ HER-; I completed 4 rounds TC, radiation therapy, two years of Tamoxifen, now on Femara. I still feel fatigued everyday and need to nap. I don't sleep well due to menopause, hot flashes, etc. Are you still fatigued? It is very discouraging to me!!
Elliegurl
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Congrats to those finishing up, I am sure it feels like a weight has been lifted!! Way to go!!
Magister - The nurses had told me that 50% of those given Tax have mild to severe reactions to it, thus the steroids, Benedryl drip, are so important. Hopefully your second will go easier with adding the steroids before and increasing other meds the day of. 1 down!!
Teemee - Thanks for the tear duck info, good to know there is a way to fix it should it happen!! So far my tears are still streaming down, like this morning when my husband shaved my head, it feels so much better, but I still shed a few tears.
Tomorrow is #2 for me, hoping the roads will cooperate with all the snow, need to be there at 9am!! I exercised every day these last few days, getting my body ready and bobcat, I totally agree about sweating, exercising has really helped me and I wasn't as vigilant before I was diagnosed, but now, it will be part of my routine!!
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