Weekly Taxol group
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I have one big toe nail lifting but it’s still pretty attached at the base. Not sure if I’llose it. Probably eventually..
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RE: nails, I have some brownish/rough areas on most of my fingernails (especially thumbs) but healthy growth is at least half of the nail. I think I have one very dark big toenail but I've been keeping them polished so it's kinda hard to tell. I'm a little afraid to look!
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I didn't have nail pain or discoloration til the very end of Taxol, but it looks to me like some of my nails will lift in a week or two. First they got dark bands across the middle, and now everything between those bands and the tip is getting pale. At least the lower part looks healthy!
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I lost two toenails. I have had fake fingernails for years. I switched from acrylic to gel and all 10 were fine. I missed my eyebrows more than my hair and wish I had gotten permanent makeup before starting chemo. Oh, vanity.
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mLghtn,
I’m so glad not to be alone w these muscle aches! And my teeth hurt too! I mean, what is that about? Oof. Though each day I am feeling like myself more. I survived my first day back at work without napping afterward.
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My teeth hurt too. those that has been worked on in the last few years. One starts hurting, after an hour I think stg. like "is the filling getting loose?“ and then it stops. And later a different one starts (I think"hope the root canal is not starting again?) and then it stops.
3rd Taxol + H today
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Happy Tuesday ladies
Next Monday is my last chemo day yayyy, and reading through all the threads I am also experiencing the same but only in thumbs. My thumbs middle part are discolored and when i pressed it, it hurts. Its only the thumbs in fingers and toes that is seeing this difference. I cannot wait for my chemo to end but sadly I have to go to hospital till Friday to get the blood shots.
My 5 months chemo journey was little rough though. First 4 AC was horrible and when I started Taxol the tumor size in lymph node and LB increased instead of decrease. During PETSCAN they found something in my brain too. Thanks god when we did the MRI of my brain, it was normal and there was nothing to be worried about. They mixed the carboplatin with Taxol which helped to reduce the size of LB but not the size of lymph node. So prolly after surgery i might need to face the side effects of lymphedema :-(. However because of carboplatin it affected my blood count but thanks god I am able to save myself from the infection so far.
I am looking forward for my last chemo and then surgery. One day at a time.
Good luck you ladies. Though I do not post regularly but i do read the threads everyday and gives me courage to face this bad a.. cancer.
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Hi ladies! I’m in the starting chemo in July group and now I’m weekly Taxol, so I thought I’d make some new friends here!
I’m totally having the nail issues too. They hurt and have weird bumps and red and white spots. I hope that doesn’t mean they are going to fall off?!
Had Taxol #4 yesterday.
Hi JaBoo! Good to see you on this board too
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Taco, wish I had done the microblading for my eyebrows! Heard about it too close to the start of chemo.
Teeth are a little achy too but I thought that was from the crowns I had to have done in June. Hmmm.
But the one that is now driving me crazy is the eye twitch!!! Right eye, ALL DAY!
I do my own gel polish and was super nervous to take off my last mani on Sunday, but all 10 nails look okay. Toes are polished too, but haven't changed that polish yet.
My MO recommended taking a short vacation between the end of chemo and start of rads. Anyone do this? And if so, did you fly? The Nurse Practitioner said I could fly if I wear a mask. Just wondering about timing. I'd like to feel a little better than I do now, but don't know that I want to travel the week of Halloween. Last Tx is 10/18.
Kim
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So I had my 5th Taxol tx today.
Last week was my first week without steroids and benadryl and it went fine.
Today I had the start of an anaphylactic reaction. I got the full excitement of 6 nurses running over, pumping me full of steroids and benadryl and giving me a nebulizer treatment.
After 30-45 minutes I was able to continue without further reaction. But I'm now terrified of going back next week. My infusion nurse assured me that i would have steroids and benadryl for the rest of the run and that she'd monitor me but i'm still scared.
Have many of you had luck resuming taxol after a severe allergic reaction?
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I did! In 2007 when I was doing dose dense. They have me both after that and I never had another reaction. It's scary i know!!! I think probably a lot of us had that happen. Sounds like you have good nurses.
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I do! Thank you.
I've had mildly congested lungs at the end of the week each of the last two weeks and now i'm working myself into an anxiety attack that this is a delayed allergic reaction and thats why this happened.
Argh.
emailed my doc. I'm not thrilled with this. but really glad Gracie to hear that you were able to continue - it gives me hope!
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Welcome Misha13! It seems like your nails are just in time for Halloween. Hopefully not too scary though.
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kdrake, hellos I had eye twitching as well. Its from dry eyes add moisture drops daily and you should see a difference. Also if ur eye become teary or foggy its bcuz they are dry. I had to see my Ophthalmologists to understand meaning of dry eyes..
Hope that helps. Sending good vibes.
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KDRAKE - I got eye twitching in my normal life sometimes and that's when I know I have to take some magnesium. If I don't take it, calf cramps come soon.
Now with Taxol I have asked my MO right at the beginning, if I can take Mg throughout, since it's also good for the nerves. She said OK.
MISHA, good to see you too. Have you considered icing during your infusions for your nails? My nails are completelly normal, no changes, at least so far. I'm icing with gel packs - it's simple, inexpensive and no hassle with water that could be spilled. I don't know if it helps against neuropathy, but it might really help with the nails.
My 3rd Taxol was yesterday. I got terrible burning in the soles of my feet and also in the palms of my hands last time, after I push mowed the whole garden (quite large one). So this round I'm trying to avoid anything too hard for the feet and hands, incl. excessive walking. Sigh. I love walking
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I know some treatment centers dial back the pre-meds if it looks like you're doing okay on the Taxol but mine kept up the same regimen throughout (and I'm really glad they did). pcranky it sounds like you should continue to get the premeds as long as you're getting the Taxol?
And I didn't do any icing but did make a point to wear sandals to treatment and said no thanks to the blankets. I figured if the point of icing is to keep those body parts cooler to minimize damage from the chemo, then keeping my body on the cool side might not be a bad idea. My nails are not at all bad (a little discoloration/ridges on some fingernails but not all) and I only got a little bit of neuropathy in the bottoms of my feet toward the end--never any in my hands.
Although while we're on neuropathy--I know there is no general answer to this but anybody with a guess as to how long mild neuropathy hangs around? It isn't really interfering with my life but I'm looking forward to a time when it's not in my headspace any more.
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pcranky, I didn't have a big reaction in the unit. But I did end up having to manage a mild allergic reaction to the Taxol from the 5th week until the end, including a lot of snot and lung congestion. Benedryl at night and Zyrtec in the morning. (The 5th week also hosted my worst blood counts, and itchy Taxol rash -- it was just a bad week all around.) But that mild stuff never led to a bigger reaction; it just dwindled away. Maybe that's reassurring?
I am tapering off just in time to start taking Claritin for the AC & Neulasta: booooo!
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Hi. I don't know where to begin, so I'll try the beginning:
During the second half of rads, a local recurrence and mets to the liver were discovered. My rads onc felt something was off and a CT scan, then a PET scan agreed. Rads ended early. My med onc offered Halaven as a "time buying option," predicting it might get me 3-4 months of additional time. With a 6 months or less to live prognosis, I chose to live my remaining time with the highest quality of life possible.
That was just over 5 months ago. I entered in-home hospice in June. In July, my belly blew up like I had fluid there, but two ultrasounds found none. Hospice agreed to do a CT scan (not the norm, I'm told). I argued that we couldn't treat symptoms without knowing the cause.
The CT scan found some enlarged lymph nodes mostly near my liver. My two liver tumors have continued to grow.
Everything else looked normal. No new tumors. Healthy looking organs. My physician did a physical. Even my liver function panel was normal. Albumin was a little low.
My hospice nurse practitioner knew I was confused. She'd already told me that if I continued as is, she could see me living 6 months past my 6-month-mark. I'm wondering if my mets are TNBC. My liver biopsy was difficult and only got enough viable cells to test for breast cancer, not type of BC.
Fast forward: I've been accepted as a patient at the University of Michigan. My day of appointments is later this week. They want to do my first infusion that day too since I'll be commuting 3 hours each way.
We haven't even decided on a chemo drug yet. Less than a week ago, I didn't know if I'd even hear back from U of M. I was supposed to go yesterday but have a nasty cold.
I know the onc wants a chemo drug that needs no more than 1 infusion every 3 or 4 weeks due to the commute. He's suggested Taxol or Doxil. He favors Taxol. I've been reading and find several things that concern me about Taxol:
- Neuropathy: I'm a writer and have limited mobility. Losing my ability to type would almost end my contact with the outside world.
- Joint and muscle pain: I have a degenerative joint disorder. A day without pain is rare. Adding to it could be too much. Perspective: I'm 43. If I live another 5 years, I'll likely need a hip replacement, probably during those 5 years.
- Diarrhea: I have Gallbladder Syndrome. Aka chronic diarrhea.
I also would get the Taxol in a concentrated version to reduce the frequency of infusions. That likely would make side effects more severe.
To me, these are valid concerns. But I find that in "CancerLand," any health problem that's not cancer isn't a health problem at all.
With Doxil, Hand Foot Syndrome seems to be the biggest concern. I did 6 months of Xeloda with moderate HFS. It wasn't fun, but I managed. And yes, you really can lose your fingerprints. For mouth sores, I've had good luck with Magic Mouthwash. Diarrhea remains a concern. Honestly, it always will.
I hate feeling railroaded. I've spent the last few months preparing to die. And now this? A chance for another year or two? I don't know what to think.
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FelineMom, what a difficult time you’ve had! Wishing very good things for you.
I just wanted to note that I was told there are drugs that can stop or limit the neuropathy from Taxol. They don’t use them lightly because they come with yet more side effects. But your oncologist could tell you more.
Very best to you
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I felt very good after my first infusion of Taxol and Herceptin, that is until Sunday. Both knees and shin pain, a headache. So far manageable with Tylenol and Motrin. Now I’m having heartburn no matter what I eat. I normally take Prilosec and it helps but now not much. Today I just wanted to stay in the bed and sleep but I ‘m working from home so I couldn’t. I’m also notice I have some ankle swelling overall willl take it step by step.
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asknomore2, I may be the only one who experienced this resolution to Taxol heartburn, but I might as well mention it: it went away when I started taking probiotics for other digestive issues. I think that was cause and effect, but of course it was an experiment of 1! Get rest when you can, and I hope things smooth out for you!
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I had two days of numbness travelling up the inside of my calves, following my 3rd Taxol. It really got me worried.... Now it's gone, just some burning in the soles of my feet. I am scared stiif of the neuropathy getting worse and staying 🤨
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Thank you for that advice. My nurse says to use Tom’s to help combat the heartburn which hasn’t help. Icing helped with the neuropathy. I wished my Neurologist had suggested icing.But icing was tough. I started balling my hands in a fist when I had the mittens on LOL. So far I have made it to see two of my grandsons football games this weekend. I was humble to see the teams wearing pink socks for breast cancer awareness. The little leagues paid for the socks
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Does anyone have any lingering side effects after completing AC+T? My muscles ache and I’m not sure what to do about it. I’m a month out
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SItting in the chair for Taxol #5! Good luck to all this week!
I’ve got ice packs for my fingernails. I’ll let you know how that goes!
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I made it through the weekend after the second Taxol treatment but I definitely over did it with the activities. I’m exhausted, slight headache and muscle and bone pain, but now I have spasms in both my thighs and legs. Hopefully it’s because I’m exhausted and it will go away.
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Good evening ladies. I haven't written in awhile, but I have been reading all the taxol posts. This week will be week 10 of taxol. I have to say I have had minimal side effects. I think the main thing I do and it helps with a lot is drink a gallon of water a day. When I dont, a few times I was too busy or out a lot, I got the leg cramps, and numbness. Once I drank the water it was fine. I also eat a lot of greens and my blood counts have been excellent. Can't say how a/c will be like in 3 weeks but so far taxol is doable. Worse was hair loss. Now I notice my eye brows are going.
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All in all that's great news, Volleyballmom! Best wishes for your next couple of Taxols and the AC after that.
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I'm finally done. 16 infusions in 20 weeks. (4 AC and 12 T!). I'm doing pretty well, but holy moley do my feet tingle and feel numb. This neuropathy is for real! I soak them in epsom salt and warm water every few days. I've heard that biofreeze can help. But today I read that it might get worse before it gets better, which can be a long time. Oh well. I'm just glad the chemo is over. I have a month before surgery, so here's to hoping that my toes start to get better!
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Heather,
Congrats on finishing your chemo. I hope you did or will be doing something fun to celebrate. I hope that your feet start feeling better soon. I start my first treatment on Friday.
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