TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
Comments
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Dizzy and LizA, Congrats on finishing!
Nursenay, welcome. This is probably not the sisterhood you wanted to join, but this is a great group of ladies who will encourage and support you.
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Lago for some reason I always thought u had some chemo first. I don't know why-so if u had surgery first how long did it take to get chemo after (the healing) just wondering.
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Camillegal you probably thought that because they usually do seem to give people with big tumors chemo first. Chemo is best given between 3-8 weeks post surgery. I could have done mine at 4 but I waited excatly 5 weeks post surgery (port placemen the day before). Gave me a little more time to heal from the BMX.
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Did anyone have the Fec chemo? My onco said it will be harder than the herceptin and taxol. I literally have breezed through this first chemo. Just napped a lot. Will I feel like crap all 3 weeks?
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Nursenay I didn't do FEC but it really depends. Very few people are ill everyday doing chemo. Most have some bad days (4-7 days) but the other 2 weeks they are for the most part OK. Some chemos can really wipe you out. Chances are if you feel OK after the first one you'll probably do OK. The SE will increase in time and maybe in intensity but I know my first 3 tx I was in the gym the next day doing 70 minutes of intense aerobic exercise!
Just keep drinking water and exercise. You'll have a better chance of lessening the SE but no guarantees. From what I hear the nausea and flu tiredness is the worst. I had neither. Hope you are like me.
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dizzy and liza - yay for finishing!
nursenay - welcome! Are you outside the US? FEC seems to be more common if you are. For many of us it is usually TCH (Taxotere, Carboplatin (or Cytoxan) and Herceptin, or AC-TH (Adriamycin, Cytoxan, Taxol, Herceptin), and also TH (Taxol, Herceptin).
LeeA - Thanks for the pic compliment! I hope I am healthy, definitely not young, but I'll take it!
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I feel like I may have had very minimal SE. I too was work out, I walked for miles one day after treatment I think it was the sixth. I will drink more water. I am still working as a nurse but not with patients. I get treatment in the hospital I work at and I picked all my dr.s based on my experience with them and how they treated my patients. I'm a keep busy type of girl so this keeps me feeling good and productive. Onc dr. Said she may not want me to work during FEC but I told her I'm only working 4 hours 2 days a week in the office so I don't think that will be to much. My mind set is this will be a breeze and I'm sticking with it. That's how I approached this whole journey.
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I live in pa.
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Nursenay - there are a few of us on here that have had the FEC and I would agree that it was harder for me. Infusion itself fine but I did have more side effects to manage those first three days post infusion. There are great meds to manage them though, use them as you are directed and report any side effects to your MO. I found with FEC I was good after the first few days and actually felt better in the two weeks post FEC than I did when I was being given the Taxotere.
We are all different in how we experience chemo and chemo's are different, best strategy is to expect it will all go well, take your meds as instructed and report any difficulties.0 -
Hi DizzyMom - in terms of any cleanse of juice diet - sounds good to me after chemo. Green juices help build your blood. Things like wheatgrass are excellent. Things like chlorella and spirulina help detox heavy metals, so it would make sense to use after chemo. Lots of fluids and a plant-based diet probably would be good.
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Funny but I expected to get ever SE from chemo including the rare ones. Mostly scared of nausea… which I never got and taste change… which was minimal. Chemo is so unpredictable.
Happy dances for dizzy and liza
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Welcome to the newcomers, and a HUGE congrats to those of you who have finished chemo
!!Nursenay, FWIW, I began with three FEC treatments, found them very, very doable, then the last three involved Taxotere (docetaxel) and Herceptin. Just let's say I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE Taxotere. SEs, for me, were neuropathy in the feet, esp., (has since cleared as I finished chemo on Nov., 9, 2012), tearing of the eyes, mouth sores, fatigue. Herceptin was given on the same day as the Taxotere. I just finished my 12th of 17 Herceptin sessions yesterday. Herceptin, for me, is very, very doable, almost no SEs to speak of. Best of luck with your treatment. BTW, someone said FEC is more common outside the U.S.A., and I do reside in Canada. Finally, I drank copious amounts of mostly water during the entire treatment regimen, continue to do so, exercised throughout the first three rounds of chemo, then exercised once I could (usually Day 5 after chemo).
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Had my first bad day yesterday. Not awful, just punky. Threw up all over the bathroom Thursday night. That was fun! Better today, thank goodness. Guess we all have good and bad days. I think I can tolerate it if I just have a punky day here and there. Funny thing is my hair is already loosening. If I pull one it just slips out, no resistance. Got the wig ordered and will get hair cut next week. Yikes! Not looking forward to wigs and scarves in the Texas heat.
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Welcome nursenay!
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karen - I did the wig in FL heat and humdity - I feel ya! I couldn't pull off the scarf thing, wore bandanas at home, but wore the wig or my hairpiece (www.hatswithhair.com) made from my own pre-chemo hair. Even with a hat it was cooler and more comfortable than the wig. Did you take your anti-nausea stuff and throw up anyway, or had you not taken it? I found Zofran useless for me and had to switch to Compazine. Be careful with staying hydrated if you are vomiting, sometimes some IV fluids a day or two after chemo will help with nausea and hydration.
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I found the wig to be hot and I only work mine twice… in Chicago in December! I wore awesome scaves the entire time. Hats look strange on me
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My surgery is in October. I want to have the DIEP procedure. Any advice in nipples? Didn't know I had an option for tattoo, sounds interesting.
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I look goofy in hats , too. Tried on a scarf, but it got hot after a while. And it's only May! I think I'll try the sleep cap for around the house.
Threw up even though I took nausea med, but I was having gastro troubles in general. Have GERD and throw up easily. Trying to keep ahead of it today, though I don't feel nearly as bad as yesterday. I'm not a big water drinker, so I'm not real hydrated. But I'm trying...
Thanks everyone for the encouraging words...
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karen - it is possible that your anti-nausea med is not working. I was given three different ones and told to take them consecutively if the initial one did not work. You need at least 100 oz. of fluids daily - fluids can be water, juice, soup, tea, etc. It seems counterintuitive, but if you can stay hydrated you may have less nausea. I also have GERD but had reflux surgery (Nissen fundoplication) in '95 - stay away from acidic foods, caffeine, mint, etc. I am not a hat girl but I did get a couple of those fedora type hats. I got a lot of compliments from total strangers who had no idea I was bald under the hairpiece/hat.
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I hope you get the nausea under control Karen. I rarely wear my wig in Texas heat. I don't know if I look good in caps, but I don't care. I wear them all the time outside the house unless I really care what I look like. I am a stay at home mom, so I don't have to look good for my job
I probably wear my wig once or twice a week for a couple hours max.Definitely talk to your doctor about different anti-nausea meds. You don't want to go through that if you can prevent it.
Good luck!
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nursenay - take the anti-nausea meds for FEC. Ask for Emend! I had the same drugs as you but had FEC first. I found Taxol was the easiest but still not easy (it gave me pneumonitis and I only got 10 of the planned 12 weekly doses).
FEC left me with nausea, mouth ulcers, oral thrush, and constipation. It affected my blood counts, especially my liver. In fact for the third and last three weekly dose my MO left out the "C" because of my liver levels and I only got "FE".
I was 46 and still working. Would have the infusion on a Thursday aftnoon after work then take Friday and Monday off work, then worked from home for a few more days before going back to work in the office.
I will not lie - it was a hard drug combination for me. I hope it's better for you, but it's not likely to be as easy physically or mentally as Taxol.
Sorry you had to join our group. It's a great group of women though :-)
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karenrm I had issues with gerd/heartburn in the past so not long after my first TX I had problems. Prilosuc never worked for me. By the end of chemo I was on 2 different meds for those issues (Protonix, then Nexium, added Carafate). There are many anti-nausea drugs. If the combinations don't work ask for different drugs. The others are more $$ so they don't prescribe them upfront.
BTW my husband called me a hobit today because of my ear.
It sticks out more because of the cyst.0 -
Posted new pic to match my name --- what do you think?????
Nursenap -- I was born in Johnstown, PA
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Nursnay, welcome,I had TCH, and my se was diarrhea. Everyone is different. But I did throw up and needed compazine then. And, I just want to mention, my onc would not let me work on the med surge floor, and I was a HUC. Too much chance of infection. I worked for four days when I recovered from BMX, and ended up with an infection BEFORE I even started chemo, delayed it for a month. Chicadee, love the new pic. Lago, I have the curly hobbit hair, you have the ear! Oh, I also have the short round body too! LOL
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ChickaD, love your avatar!
Liz
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Nursnay,
I had the Abraxane/Carboplatin/herceptin tx..wasent fun people mention side affects I think I had most of them..definetly ask for the nausea meds like some of the women have suggested..I also had Adriamycin and a cytoxin after surgery..I made sure I was loaded up with the nausea meds ...Emend is good they also have Aloxie..but not much of that worked for me so I used Kytril /decatron Emend and a scopolamine patch ..I had no more vomiting just some quizzieness..but like many before have said everyone is different on how their bod tolerates certain meds..good luck..drink plenty of water...0 -
Dizzy, I just made sure to drink a lot of water when I finished and I also took a few days off of work so I could go immodium-free. I wanted all of that stuff out of my system too. And rads are a breeze. You'll do fine. I used a cream called Elta Light that my RO recommended and it is wonderful. It absorbs very fast. I got it at a medical supply store, but I bet you can find it on eBay. The only time I was really, really tired was during the last 5 days where they did the "boost". That's when they apply radiation to the actual tumor bed. Other than that, no biggie, but chemo didn't agree with me.
Lago, I hope you got some Keflex or one of those antibiotics that are so good with localized infections. Keep us posted. They might just drain it and not give you a scar. :-)
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No Keflex. It's not infected. I didn't think it was. It's not quite as painful as last week… or should I say consistently painful. I was medicating every 4-5 hours but now only 2X a day. First thing in the morning then again in the evening. I think last week it was growing so that's why it hurt. Tomorrow at 3 is my appointment but I'm sure I'll be waiting at least 1 hour if not 2. I know he's overbooked. As we know when you go at the end of the day these doctors get so backed up. The only doctor I have that's never late is my onc. I don't know how she does it.
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Thanks Pbrain. I am moving and had a consult with the new RO last week. I noticed in the literature that they ask you to use only aloe (100% gel or from the plant) and aquaphor during rads. I'm going to call and ask if there are things they specifically don't want used or what their reasons are for being so restrictive. I would really like to try some of the suggestions you ladies are giving. If you got through and saved your skin, that's what I want!
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DizzyMom,
I used pure aloe when i was finished with each tx and then the Aquaphor at night time and I had no skin issues at all...0
