Weekly Taxol group
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Wow congratulations, what a beautiful daughter and photo...
After falling again and being in A and E last week my oncologist finally took me a lot more seriously. She said she really wanted me to do another cycle of 3 sessions (cycle 2) so I said I could not do it with the side effects i had as the neuropathy made it dangerous for me to move around.....plus my legs and feet were so swollen I could not feel the ground anyway, she also acknowledged that my kidney IS being negatively affected by the chemo. She said she was reluctant fo reduce the Taxol as it would not be effective......I am not sure I agree but I suggested that we did not actually know what was affecting me and it may have been one of the pre meds, perhaps it was the steroids that affected me rather than the Taxol so she agreed to reduce the dosage of steroids........and apart from me being a LOT more tired and sleeping almost all day on some days, and having a lot more stomach pains, my legs are pretty much normal by comparison and I can feel the ground....I still get odd side effects in my hands and feet but nothing by comparison...........
However I am dreading the next two treatments if they are as bad as this one in terms of exhaustion.......as that is a lot worse......I have lost 6.6 pounds in weight most of which seems to have been fluid.....
Any hints on coping with the exhaustion bearing in mind i live alone but luckily had a family member staying with me this week?
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Lilly, thank you! She was a very happy girl yesterday. I'm only 3 down on taxol so I haven't experienced the fatigue yet but AC would knock me out. Nothing helped. I even tried a double espresso drink. I think you just need to listen to your body and rest.
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I had my 1sr taxol last Fryday. Saturday was not too bad but today I am tired and have all kinds of bone and muscle pains on and off in my legs. Some light numbness as well. This is not too early? I thought all this will be after a few treatments. Is there anything I can do to reduce se?
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Dawn what a beautiful daughter and I love her cap!! Glad you had a great time. When my 2nd son graduated from HS & then Marine Boot camp oh how I cried!! When my DD (the youngest) graduated in the top 10% in HS I was so proud of her the tears just flowed too!
Lily I don't understand why she won't let get your dosage reduced for the last few weeks. My last 2 doses were reduced 20% because of neuropathy as were several women here who had their doses reduced or cancelled!!
Margun...we all experience taxol a little differently but yes you can be experiencing the SE's this early. You may just be more in tune to your body. Tiredness a few days after infusion is the normal for most of us...sleep as you need to as it also helps with the pain..asleep you won't experience it as intensely.
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Margun, I have had 2 lumpectomies--(went back second time due to positive margin and positive lymph nodes). I was pretty good after 3-4 days for the first one, second one I had a drain due to taking more lymph nodes which made it tricky, but I did go to work 2 days with the drain in. Can't shower with the drain which is no fun. Most likely will do radiation if only lumpectomy. Erin--sending hugs....you can do this.....and feel free to vent away here, and have a tantrum if it helps. It's OK. This is HARD. But you can make it! Happy Mother's Day everyone.
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Nanette, thank you for asking. I really apreciate that. I' m so so, but trying to face it. I have a cervical problem and sometimes my spine twist and compress my nervs. Head pain is awfull. Lying in bed don't help. I've in bed for a while because of neuropathy so I'm now in a loop of pain.
Yes, I deleted a post in another thread. I'm not very good to express my though in english languaje and I was worry about a misandistending because the theme was very touching
Again, thank you for asking. I hope you are getting well. Kisses
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Hi Everyone,
Congratulations to everyone finishing their Taxol. And to those of you still going through it, hang in there. It will be over faster than it seems.
I reached 3 weeks post-chemo on Friday and went for my first herceptin only infusion. I had very few side effects on Taxol. The first few weeks, I had stomach pain. I also had a lot of bone pain at night. Mild neuropathy at the end, nose bleeds, hot flashes, and a skin rash, were my other SEs. I worked all the way through and never felt the heavy fatigue some others experience.
I have a new symptom that appeared about a week ago. My feet are swelling and painful and I feel stiff and sore all over I didn’t have this on chemo. Has anyone else experienced this?
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I was complaining about generalized body aches last onco visit, and the nurse suggested electrolyte-replenishing drinks. That was the problem.
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hi ladies. My mom is getting taxol #2 today. She’s has triple - tumor which was removed with lumpectomy. Had AC now taxol. She’s had An MRI after lumpectomy and showed another tumor in the same breast (1cm Er,pr+). After treatment she will get a mastectomy. Does anyone have something similar? Do you guys think she’s gonna need chemo after? Her BS said her MO will give her hormone blockers
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I have questions I'm hoping someone can answer. There's a lot I'm still not sure of and would welcome any input.
When I was first diagnosed in January my BS had suggested a lumpectomy because the outcome would be pretty much the same as a mastectomy. When I completed AC he did an ultrasound and my tumor shrank close to 50% (3cm to 1.7cm). He is now talking about a nipple sparring mastectomy because I'm small breasted and there will be a good amount of tissue removed. MO said the 2 targeted drugs (H&P) should shrink the tumor more. I'll be on those post surgery though so that confused me. I finish Taxol 7/12 as long as there are no delays so I'm looking at surgery sometime in the beginning of Sept. I meet with PS 5/21. Will he have a better idea if it's going to be a mastectomy vs lumpectomy? I was really hoping for the latter.
Also I see nodes in many profiles (ex. 1/10). What does that mean? I have 1 node that is pronounced my BS found through an ultrasound that the radiologist missed.
Thank you in advance.
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Hi Dawn - no real input but I'm in a similar point in my treatment. My thought - let my oncology surgeon dictate how to handle the surgery from a cancer fighting perspective and let my PS take the lead on the reconstruction part. Let the experts in their respective fields exercise their expertise.
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Dawn, just before surgery, they inject a radioactive tracer into the tumor area. Any lymph nodes that light up are called sentinel nodes, and they are the most likely to have cancerous cells because of close circulatory links (both lymph and blood) to the cancerous area. They remove those nodes, and check them for cancer. I had five that lit up, but none of them had any cancer. So that is 0/5. Five is an unusually large number, so I am at a higher risk of developing lymphedema.
Your one node that is larger might or might not contain cancer. But the pre-surgery chemo is likely to take care of it, if it is not sentinel.
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Thank you kber. I will do whatever they recommend. I trust my BS. He's shown himself to be very compassionate and knowledgeable. I guess my nerves are just starting to kick in.
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McBaker, thank you. I had no idea. I've learned so much on this site but wasn't sure about the nodes.
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Dawn- My BS told me when first meeting with her that if the dye showed on any of the sentinel nodes she would remove and test and if cancer was found on any all the nodes would be removed. Talk with your BS on how they handle the nodes as everyone is different.
Best of luck. Hope everyone is doing good!!
~Katie 💗
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Thank you Katie!
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Ucfknights, there are two tipes of chemo, called adjuvant (after surgery) and neoadjuvant (before surgery) your mother is now in chemo wich will work like adjuvant (because of her lumpectomy) and neoadjuvant at the same time (because of her next mastectomy). I don't think she will need more chemo IV. Sometimes docs prescribs chemo pills after complete the treatment (like capecitabine) but not more IV chemo. I don't understand why the hormone blockers if she is TN, her CA is hormone negative. Good luck!
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With all apologies, dorian, knight's mother's newly discovered tumor is hormone receptor positive.
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I read that it will be radio after lumpectomy. There is no radio after mastectomy?
For bone or muscle pain there is anything can be done to reduce it? I had also sensitivity in ovaries or in that area, anyone experienced that on taxol
I take every day 250mg b12 and 100mg b6. Anyone took more and I felt difference?thanks
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Having a mastectomy does not mean you definitely will not have radiotherapy......I had both and many people I know had the same...a lot depends on the type of cancer it was...
I so admire those of you who got through this...I feel so awful on it I dont think I can, I have only had 4 sessions of Taxol and feel worse each time.....I dont even get to see the Doctor tomorrow even though she wrote on last weeks about reviewing if I dont tolerate well....thing is I dont know what IS tolerating it well....I am convinced I need a reduced dosage but she is not open to that
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Late to the conversation. I am 2 years post chemo. I was HR+++ . I chose the lumpectomy followed by radiation. My reasoning was, if it came back, I could take it off then, but if I do the single or double NOW, I can't put it back.
I was 6mm in right breast, 3 nodes removed all tested neg. No real lymphodema.
Post chemo I was VERY ACHY for a few months.. Apparently, that is very normal. But I still get the chest heaviness to this day that I got with my very first chemo.. (taxotere, projecta, herceptin & carboplatin).
Anyone else get that chest heaviness?? Like a stack of encyclopedias are sitting there... comes and goes. Onc says its stresss.. sigh...
On tamoxifen now going on 1 1/2 years. just started attending a "survivors' group.
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One family friend was diagnosed with bc. When I asked what type, the answer was a common type estrogen positive. Anyone knows what it is? I hope , given that ithey aret is common type, tit is not an invasive cancer
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Probably hormone positive Ductal cancer, as that is the most common
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MCBaker - you are right! She said it in the post. Of course hormone blockers will be the next. Thank you
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hi lily- that cancer is conciidered invasive like her2
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Only if it is invasive, it can be STage 1 and not invasive?
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If it is stage one, it is invasive. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobar carcinoma in situ (LCIS) are not invasive, and are staged at 0. Technically, they are not cancers, but are pre-cancerous because they are not invasive.
I was initially diagnosed with DCIS, er and pr negative. Only after surgery was it discovered that I had an invasive component, although it was likely from the beginning that I had invasive growth, because of the size of the DCIS. At that point, they determined that my cancer was HER2+.
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Hi Baker- this non invasive in-situ cancers do not require chimo then
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Margun: Right.
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No and a mastectomy is over treatment
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