Halaven - Day 1
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Sheri:
I am glad you have incredible improvement from Halaven. keep up with it!
Yesterday my Onc pulled me off Halaven after 7 cycles. I did not get progression on Halaven, but apparently it did not improve my condition at all. She offered to move to other chemo or a new drug trial. In order to be able to join any trial I have to be off any drug for 30 days. So I am off Halaven. Don’t know exactly what trial I will be on, but happy to be off chemo for 30 days!!
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Cling, I'm so sorry you are leaving us! Praying that you have incredible joy these next 30 days off chemo and your MO finds the perfect trial for you.
To clarify, I'm assuming you had a scan that showed you were stable on Halaven and your MO was not happy with that? I am always curious as to the thoughts of other womens' MOs as I know I can learn from their experiences. Also, I'm thinking my MO would be OK with stability on Halaven but not 100% sure about that. I was stable on Ibrance for awhile with little to no improvement but then we changed to Halaven when I had progression. I'm wondering if your MO thoughts are to be proactive to get a jump on it sooner rather than later. Very interesting to me and something I would like to talk to my MO about.
Please keep us updated on your treatment, and of course, would always love to have you post here to tell us how you are doing.
Take care, Cling - sending prayers your way! ❤0 -
Sheri -
My wife will start Halaven 3rd cycle tomorrow. After 1st cycle TM (27.29) dropped 45%. Scans scheduled right after 3rd cycle is over. We shall see how it goes. Great to hear that you continue to get awesome results from this drug. Are you planning to talk to your MO about giving a break to Halaven and trying out hormonals / targeted therapy if scans show some great progress / NED (assuming you are ER+)?
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letmywifelive,
Congrats on your wife's TMs - so glad Halaven is working! My TMs are still very high, so no plans for a break from Halaven or change in treatment any time soon, unless I have issues, such as neuropathy. No scans scheduled at this time. My TMs have always been quite accurate (and I had scans in June that showed progression with Ibrance,) so I don't think my MO thinks scans are necessary at this time. Also, right now I only have belly mets (no liver, bone, lungs,etc.) so the scans don't always show a whole lot anyway.
THanks for sharing your good news and keep us updated!
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Hi all. This is only my second time posting. I am about to have my second infusion of my third cycle on Monday. So far I can pretty much pinpoint exactly how I will feel on a particular day post infusion. My question for those of you who have been on Eribulin for a while is, did you find your SE's have been the same all the way through or did they get worse?
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Hi Tennille,
I've just finished my 2nd infusion of my 5th cycle. I haven't noticed any worse side effects. Still don't feel the best on days 3 and 4 after an infusion, but actually find that I'm doing more on those bad days than I have in the past. (No rest for a weary Mom it seems for a lot of us!)
Hope you are receiving good results on this regimen. For me, I've had much worse IV chemo so pleased at how this is going so far. Look forward to keeping up with each other and sharing our experiences.
Take care, Sheri0 -
Sheri...that is wonderful news. So glad to hear it's working. Will you have scans soon? I have mine on the 7th. Seems like it is working for me too.
When did you lose brows and lashes? My hair is gone and I feel okay about that. Will happily be bald forever. Not sure what the adjustment process for me will be for brows. Wanted to get a family picture and some individuals with my girls before hairloss but missed it. New goal is to do before losing the rest. Began cycle 2 on Tuesday.
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Kaaborg. When I lost my brows I did micro blading. That really made me look and feel better!
Babs
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Hi Kaayborg,
No scans scheduled at the moment. I'm planning on asking my MO about scans at my next appointment on Nov 7th. I'm in no hurry though. My TMs are always a great indicator of what my cancer is doing, so will just track those for now.
I'm not sure exactly when I lost my eyebrows and eyelashes. Im thinking sometime during the 4th cycle They just have kind-of faded away. I don't wear make-up much and my eyes continue to water a lot - ever since I was on Xeloda, so I hadn't put on mascara lately. I tried to put some on one day and found my lashes were about gone!
My hair is another story. I shaved it at the end of the 1st cycle after it was just falling out like crazy. Now it's growing back but the problem is, not all my hair follicles are growing. Maybe 1/2 are growing back? (The ones that are growing are about 3/4 of an inch long now.) Don't have near enough to cover my head, so I may as well be bald. I'll probably have to shave it down again as the hair makes it harder for my wig to stay on without slipping.
Hope each of you are able to enjoy the weekend. The temp here dropped 30 degrees yesterday and now it's quite chilly. I'm bundled up in a blanket on the couch and looking forward to watching good college football 🏈 today!
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Sheri, I think that's interesting that your hair is growing back. With Taxol I eventually lost all the stubble for a nice smooth head and it didn't grow back til after stopping treatment. I don't like the stubble and have been shaving weekly. Expected that eventually it would all go. Glad to hear I've got some time yet. My hair loss timed about the same as yours. Shaved when it was coming out by the brush full and had left me with some bald patches.
Babs, I am going to look into that I think. A friend gave me a contact here who does microblading. Of course my worry is I won't like how it turns out and then what? Brows are good though. The things I forgot to be thankful for pre cancer. Hee.
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Sheri, I have my treatment on a Monday and I find its Thursday through to Saturday I feel a bit washed out. I get mouth sores too and my bones ache which is kind of funny really as although I have widespread bone mets they dont ache any other time. My hair has thinned out heaps which is frustrating as I am an all or nothing kind of girl. So far TM's are going down and LFT's improving but I can still feel significant tumours in my breast and neck. Hope they start to shrink too.
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Kaayborg. Before they do the micro landing they draw what they're going to do. We changed it slightly 2 times and then they started. Without my brows I felt as if I looked like an ill person They really did a great job on me!
Bab
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My wife's PET/CT results came back and things look better after 3 cycles of Halaven. Her liver mets are definitely smaller with decreased metabolic activity. Peritoneal nodule is smaller too with resolved metabolic activity. Bone is mixed. Mostly decreased activity but increased activity in T12.
MO is very pleased overall and want to continue on Halaven for some more time.
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Great news, LMWL! So happy for you and your wife.
Tennille, sounds like Halaven is working for you too. Hopefully you will also see reductions in your breast and neck tumors.
I'm doing my labs on Monday after completing cycle #5 - praying for good news too. Halaven has been a manageable chemo so far. I do think about neuropathy as I continue on this treatment, but so far I'm OK.0 -
llwl that is wonderful news! Hoping to hear even more great things from you on Monday southerner. I have scans Tues.
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llwl that is wonderful news! Hoping to hear even more great things from you on Monday southerner. I have scans Tues.
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Kaayborg - Thanks and praying for you. How are you feeling overall and do you check tumor markers ?
Thanks Southernsurvivor. Yes it is a sigh of relief for now.
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Thanks Southernsurvivor
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Thanks, Kaayborg - sounds like an upcoming busy week for us. Pray your scans look good - keep us updated
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Don't use markers but expect great scans based on reduced abdominal pressure. Currently in the hospital again though so it seems eribulin and I still have some things to work out. First it was tumor fevers that caused the infection prevention to- do. Now it's neutropenic fever. Not worried about anything. I have cold symptoms which had me feeling quite miserable but feeling a bit better tonight. Neulasta should have neutrophils up soon and we expect blood cultures to be negative. Just waiting it out.
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Kaayborg - Sending positive vibes towards you. Things will be all right. God bless.
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LMWL. So glad for the great results!
Southernsurvivor. Hope for the same for you
Kayborg hope you're out of there quickly!
Bab
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Just finished cycle 3 and have scans booked for 13th Nov. Feel very flat this time around and more bone pain than last 2 cycles. Im a little scared things are going backwards. Hate feeling so emotional.
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Wow! Sounds like a quick infusion. I start this drug this week. Wishing you all the best with it!
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Kaayborg - sorry to hear you are in the hospital and hope you break out of there quickly! Keep us updated on your status.
Tennille - I know how you feel. It's hard not to feel anxious about whether chemo is working or not. It takes a lot out of us physically and emotionally. Praying for some peace for you today.
Jeenee - welcome to the Halaven family! You are right - it is a quick infusion. The premeds for me are about 30 min, then the Halaven is about a 2-3 minute shot/infusion. I end with the rest of the bag of fluids just for hydrating purposes. It's about 1 hour total for me. Praying all goes well for you this week.
Thanks, Babs, for the check-in
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Hi all - wanted to update y'all. I got my results from yesterday's lab work. Another good decrease this cycle. Since starting Halaven, TMs have dropped 68%. Still a long ways to go though. My MO is pleased and side effects are still very manageable, so I'm continuing on. Interesting that the other CBC blood work looks good, including RBC, WBC, Hemoglobin - all normal or just barely under normal. My MO is quite surprised (yet happy) as he says usually these issues will start creeping up the longer you continue on this. I told him I've always been "unique" although certainly not always this lucky. Started cycle #6 today - very thankful. Finally, treatment #7 since being diagnosed Stage IV Is working on these crappy cancer cells! Thinking of what Kandy always says, "Enjoy the moment."
Take care all!0 -
Good news Southernsurvivor - My wife's blood work has also stabilized after 3 cycles of Halaven. Going through the 4th now.
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Yippee, LMWL! We will continue on this Halaven journeytogether. So glad to hear some of us are showing some success on this chemo!
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Just completed day 1 of cycle 4 on Halaven. I also had my scans today. Of 4 tumours on my liver 2 have shrunk and 2 are stable. Bone mets are also showing improvement. Surprising though is the 2 tumours in my remaining breast have shown some growth. Onc said probably do a mastectomy down the track. Bloods are good and tumour markers have decreased by 50% since starting Chemo. He was very happy and smiling a lot.
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Tennille, happy to hear good scan results! Sounds like Halaven is doing its job. I'm always happy when my MO is happy with my results.😀 MO will certainly be carefully watching those stubborn breast tumors. I will pray that those tumors "get with the program" and follow the lead of your liver tumors and shrink!
Enjoy your day
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