Weekly Taxol group
Comments
-
CM- I usually have heartbeat goes faster on the end, so they are going to slow down the drip so I hope it should work tomorrow.
0 -
Hello, chemo buddies. I am new here, a sort of. I have been reading through many of the posts on this web site not long after I started my chemo. The site has been a tremendous help in coping with my side effects from chemo. I have chemo before my surgery. I have finished my standard AC treatment. I have completed 5 rounds of weekly paclitaxel treatment and 7 more to go. After my 4th taxol treatment, I have to skip two treatments because of low counts of neutrophils (0.94, 0.87). When I had my 5th treatment yesterday, the count is 1.13. my oncologist decided to reduce my chemo dosage by 15%. I had a ct scan after the 4th taxol treatment. My oc is "brilliantly happy" with the result. The lump is "significantly smaller". Thank you for sharing your experiences here .
0 -
Hello, chemo buddies. I am new here, a sort of. I have been reading through many of the posts on this web site not long after I started my chemo. The site has been a tremendous help in coping with my side effects from chemo. I have chemo before my surgery. I have finished my standard AC treatment. I have completed 5 rounds of weekly paclitaxel treatment and 7 more to go. After my 4th taxol treatment, I have to skip two treatments because of low counts of neutrophils (0.94, 0.87). When I had my 5th treatment yesterday, the count is 1.13. my oncologist decided to reduce my chemo dosage by 15%. I had a ct scan after the 4th taxol treatment. My oc is "brilliantly happy" with the result. The lump is "significantly smaller". Thank you for sharing your experiences here .
0 -
Hi beauz, welcome to our taxol group, I’m going to have my taxol #5 tomorrow and I hope my white and red blood counts are good, white was 7.3,and HGB was 9.9 last week so I hope tomorrow will be fine. How’s your SE? Do have any joint or muscle pains? What about neuropathy?
0 -
msrobin58, thank you, I have some thinking to do. It is not exactly AC, it is epirubicin since I am in Europe and that is what they use here. I am very torn and met my rehab nurse today for a therapy session and brought it up to her how difficult it is to make a decision and she promised to talk to my oncologist and ask her to take all pro and cons for both treatments with me. I am handling Taxol relatively well, it gave me a rush in my face and I lost almost all my hear, I had an allergic reaction and am tired especially the days after infusion, also had swelling in my feet once and had some mild neroupathy that came and went but other than that I was doing fine, no nausea or vomiting, no meds either rather than occasional ibuprofen or paracetamol. And I have only four infusions to go, doing three epirubicin three weeks apart means that I will be done first in December and have to wait until epirubicin is out of my system before I can resume Herceptin and it means discontinuing it for three months which is the longest you can discontinue Herceptin if I understand it right. So I hope to be able to discuss it with my oncologist next week.
0 -
hey Cherry: you and I have more or less the same dx ... can you say why you were offered AC at this point of treatment? My MO never even mrntioned AC to me so I’m kinda curious .....
0 -
salasila - I just realized you have two different Dx, one is HER + and one is HER -, I didn't know this can happen. I thought either we are HER +or -
0 -
Had DD #3 this week, until last night neuropathy was negligible, then I got up and noticed my feet are much more tingly and my calves feel odd, heavyish. Hoping this all fades like the previous two infusions.
No pains to speak of this infusion, but fatigue hit this morning. My sister is coming next weekend for a Pre celebration as my last infusion will be the Monday after she leaves, hoping this fatigue fades so we can have some fun. Had a wonderful time this past weekend with my daughter home from school, though.
I too, can't wait to get my teeth cleaned and I had it done just before I started Chemo, but I swear I have more tartare build up then ever, I think it's because I started using a reg toothbrush instead of the Sonic for fear the Sonic would be to harsh on my gums. I can't wait to use the Sonic again
Im going to drag myself to the dreadmill for at least 30 min, ugh, I don't want to today. :-/
Hugs and prayers,
Theresa
0 -
Paulette, like salasila, I also have two diagnoses because I had two tumors. First tumor was HER negative (yeah!, I was told I'd 'just' be getting a lumpectomy and radiation). Two days later, my MRI found a second tumor which was HER positive (crap! Now I was told I'd need a mastectomy and chemo. Double or nothing, I made it bilateral mastectomy).
0 -
Hi salasila, what is the exact size of your tumor and your Ki67%. Mine is 1,5 cm and I have Ki67 50%. According to national guidelines we have here weekly Taxol+Herceptin is a baseline treatment for me, confirmed by four different oncologists from two clinics. I have though raised my concern to my current oncologist about me being borderline and probably not receiving enough treatment for my tumor so she went back to her colleagues and now if I want I can choose to do three epirubicin three weeks apart after 9 Taxol, but it menas I would have to discontinue Herceptin and resume after and I do not know what to do. Has your oncologist possible mentioned any other treatment than weekly Taxol to you?
0 -
Jen I am going for my LAST taxol DD next Thurs. Looking forward to it and not ( the pain and fatigue). #3 pain lasted longer but better controlled than#1 but fatigue is horrendous and last few days have had terrible migraine. Don't know if that's the taxol, weather ( rainy here) or anemia.
Thanks Teese
Have a great weekend everyone!
0 -
Paulettek, thank you for your message. I hope your 5th infusion went smoothly. My se include fatigue , annoying constant sweet taste in my mouth and mild numb feeling in my feet. I haven't had much bone or muscle pain so far, touch wood. By the way, I started my chemo in June and my stage is locally advanced. I am still trying to work out how to post everything properly. Best wishes to everyone!
0 -
Tpralph - hope your se go away soon, I just did my mild dose #5,I can feel the fatigue even I got the steroid. I have rashes issue they are playing hide and seek with me hopefully dermatologist can give me some cream to make the red spots go away.
Beauz - make sure to select public then we can see your info, we will walk this journey together, let’s look forward for the end of the path.
0 -
hi guys...been awhile but finished ac and just finished 7 of 12 taxol. Se for taxol so far are rash on hands which resolved itself with steroid cream. Appetite is great, a little dehydrated, aches and pains get worse after each treatment, still have eyebrows, tiny bit of hair on head left, went into menopause so night sweats/flashes.
Walking as much as possible. It's all gone quickly but I'm zinged a bit more after each one.
I don't take any steroids after second round or benadryl.
Looking at surgery double in dec.
Thank you fior all your posts.
0 -
she1212--how did taxol compare to AC for you? I have DD AC and number 3 coming up on Tuesday. AC has been dreadful on my body and I'm sick for like 10 days each time, but I'm in my last semester of nursing school and determined to graduate this December. Anywho, I am REALLLLLY hoping taxol is easier to tolerate.
0 -
She , I have rashes on arms also, I'm on #5/12, so I'm glad I made appointment to see dermatologist so I can get some steroid cream. Mine doesn't itch, what about yours? hope your surgery goes smoothly, many of us had surgery before chemo, so we can answer some of your questions
0 -
Taxol is easier in some ways but it still have its own se. I have fatigue, stomach gas, lose appetite for couple days, rashes, and neuropathy.
0 -
paulettek are you able to function with the taxol SE?
0 -
CIW, I can, I’m much older person in my 60, I still can do things I like during taxol. The last couple AC were tough, I had more down days and emotionally got me down also. Don’t under estimate emotional roller coasters.
0 -
I'm doing taxol for 10 weeks (MO said I could stop at 10 so I'm done before thanksgiving) and herceptin every third week for a year. I found week one and four (both herceptin weeks) to be hard. It was as if I had the flu. I felt miserable and achy and tired and I cried constantly, but now this week, after round 5 I feel okay.
I walk a lot and drink a ton of water, which I think helps. I try to eat healthy, but for some reason since starting chemo I want carbs and meat, neither of which were a big part of my diet before. I could just eat a plate of various potato dishes sometimes! Luckily it's not like that every day so I'm not gaining weight, but it is odd.
I have mild neuropathy in a few toes. So far it's not debilitating at all, just annoying. I have some digestive issues, but that's manageable too so far, so all in all, taxol seems doable. I'm thinking my issue may be with the herceptin, but we'll see. I'm just thankful I woke up feeling good today
I'm so glad I can just say what I need and want to say here and don't need to filter my words to make other people feel okay about me having breast cancer. You're such a blessing to me.
0 -
Hi Everyone,
I haven't posted in awhile. I had a few complications during Taxol treatment. I finished chemotherapy Friday (yeah!!). I had four AC every two weeks and 12 weeks of Taxol with four doses of Carboplatin. For me, AC was more tolerable than the Taxol/Carboplatin. For AC, I was nauseas for 2-3 days and had some bone pain with the Neulasta shot. After that, my energy was back and I was great until the next treatment. With Taxol, each infusion sapped my energy to the point that I would get exhausted walking from the couch to the bathroom and back. I had nausea for a few days after every infusion. The Carboplatin dropped my hemoglobin low enough that I had to have four blood transfusions. I also developed three blood clots in my left lung and I have to take a blood thinner for at least a year while that resolves. I was delayed for two weeks on Taxol because of low platelet counts. On a positive note, I had no neuropathy and so far, my nails are fine. I iced my hands and feet during each Taxol infusion and wore dark nail polish. I was able to complete all 12 of the Taxol and all 4 of the Carboplatin. Today I'm a little nauseas, but so happy to be done with chemotherapy! Next week I meet with a gynecologist about removing my uterus and ovaries (I tested positive for Lynch Syndrome when I did genetic testing) and the radiologist for radiation treatments. I will have 30 radiation treatments which I should be starting in the next few weeks depending on when I can get scheduled for my hysterectomy/oophorectomy. I have been reading all of your posts during treatment and it helped me tremendously. Thank you to all my pink sisters and good luck with your own treatments!!
0 -
Brney- thank you for sharing it seems to me Carboplatin is something we want to stay away. Glad you are done with the chemo I still have 7 more taxol to go 😓😓😓 I hope I can get that complete.
Brightness , I have some digestive problem so I'm careful what to eat also. My fingertips beginning to feel some pains will let my MO knows this week. I hope my MO let me stop on 10 then I only have 5 more to go and finished in end of November 😀😀
0 -
msrobin, Love your pic! We love to watch the birds! Yes, my MO ordered a cdiff, my DH ran it to the lab this morning. Ick 😵 My potassium was bad on Thurs so I had 2 bags dropped in. Took lotomil Thursday night as I started with the runs, was ok until this afternoon and started running to the bathroom again. I wonder if it's better to just get the taxol "out", let it run it's course? I had stomach pains for 2 days while I wasn't "going". I agree, terrible topic. Bleh
0 -
Cmac - so sorry that you got this major SE, talk to you MO maybe taxol is not good for you can they replace with other treatment??
0 -
Brneyegrl. Congrats on finishing chemo! But boy! have you been through the wringer. Am I reading that right, they took 40 lymph nodes?
I have been having numbness in my toes since #2. My MO told me this week that she decreased my dose then, and since the numbness has mildly increased, she decreased my dose again. I had #5 this week.
My hemoglobin had been dropping every week on the Taxol, then this week it stayed the same. My MO said she was surprised, and she said maybe the glutamine helped with that. I had been eating more red meat as well. She has me on a really high dose of glutamine, 60gm/day. And she reinforced that dose at our last visit. Our oncology department is hooked up with a research hospital, maybe this is a new concept.
My nails have been changing a lot. I clipped my fingernails short last night because one of them feels like it is lifting, and on inspection, I think one of my toenails is actually lifting. Anybody else?
MsRobin good call with the Cdiff. Glad to hear about the brows and lashes.
Brightness. On chemo day I want to cry on the way there, every time. I so get it. I feel sorry for my friends who are driving me. My MO told me the same thing about the 10 treatments vs 12. She said that weekly people will have gotten the same amount of drug after 10 treatments that the DD people get in total. I asked my MO what would make her stop early. She said if I couldn't button my shirts, or the neuropathy was causing significant pain.0 -
Paulette, I am determined to finish the taxol because I'm her2+. I have an appt with my MOM Thursday, and am repeating bloodwork Monday. I don't know if there are other treatments as good as the taxol/perjutta/herceptin. I'm hoping I can figure out how to handle this. Hope you are feeling ok after #5!
0 -
CM - I read someone mentioned in this website there is another drug replaces taxol. Talk to your MO he might has other option. If I find the thread I will let you know.
Travel - I’m going to watch closely on my fingertips, my right hand are starting the numbness and both pinky also. I’m doing glutamine same dosage as you but only three days, my hemoglobin dropped very little last week, so I’m still okay. I usually try to eat red meat on my good appetite days. But I think my body gets use to steroid now, even good days my appetite still small.
Sometime I think quality of life is important, I don’t have kid only husband and my little dog. I want to live more years so I can keep my dear husband happy. Also I do think God gave me this second chance of life, so I want to serve him.
0 -
Hi, all. I just finished my 6th Taxol. Yesterday, I had the most intense itching/prickly feeling on my hands & wrists. I took a couple doses of Benadryl and it seems better today. I'm wondering if anybody else has had this? I absolutely do not want Benadryl at my infusion but I'm wondering if this will get worse with the mynext treatments.
Bwneyegrl- I'm only halfway thru taxol & Carbo but I feel like I could have written your post! I've had one week off treatment and 2 transfusions so far. My platelets are down to 115 and I go on hold at 100 so I'm not optimistic that Wed will bring treatment #7. Carboplatin is just brutal on bloodcounts. Many congrats on making it through!
0 -
PauletteK: Yeah … that Her2+ on the first tumor and then Her2- on the second kinda threw me off too. But I think I started off as weak (equivocal) and they had to re-test the first tumor to get to HER2+; on the second tumor, it came out the same way but the re-test gave a HER2- result.
T-Sue: When I was first dx-ed, I was given the option of lumpectomy because of the small size of the tumor; I opted for a BMX. I guess it was a good thing they took out the entire left breast because the second tumor wasn't caught on 3D mammogram, US or at any other point until they actually went in to cut out the breast. As my BS said: SURPRISE
Cherry-sw: My first tumor was IDC, 8mm, ki67 20%, grade 3 (HER2 with low positive amplification by FISH); second tumor ILC, 1cm, ki67 18%, HER2 0 by IHC, HER2- by FISH. Oncotype DX 10.
Anyway, #10 was on Friday. VERY uneventful. My period is late this month – like, 10 days late. I wasn't worried but they tested me for pregnancy anyway
I attributed it to chemo --- anyone going thru the same? I'm 46, by the way and currently on IUD. Good news was that my MO talked with my dentist and she gave me permission to correct the broken cap/crown, under the condition that no other dental work involving gums occur. Also she gave me a script for antibiotics. Also going for my flu shot next Tuesday.
Update after treatment #10: I think the hair shedding may almost be coming to an end (crossing fingers here). Very little get caught in my fingers when I walk them through my hair. I think eyebrows are coming back very slowly and no change on eyelashes. Energy is coming back – I did 4 miles walk again every day since Friday and the emotional swing (feeling of sadness, etc) has gone away. Also, the eating is now under control; I'm starting on a low carb diet and hope to get this darn weight OFF me ASAP. I'm feeling more upbeat and back to planning vacations that go out 2-3 years away, more interested in completing tasks and am actually trying to plan ahead for a work-related group project for 2018. Looking forward to end this – two more to go!!
0 -
salasila, your tumor was smaller and had lower Ki than mine did, I am considering an anthracycline regimen in addition to a taxan because it is considered to be the best one in terms of survival. Your size of the tumor on the other hand is a borderline for not having any chemo, those less than .5 mm can be only treated with radiation according to our national standard care.
I had no period since the end of August and I cannot be pregnant do I think it is chemo causing it.
Cherry
0
