Weekly Taxol group
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Notdefined, my youngest is 8. My other two are in their teens. I get it. We have to keep up with them. This summer hasn't been very fun. We do the best we can. Thank you for keeping me posted. I appreciate you!
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notdefined- I think you should ask about reducing as it sounds like it's only getting worse!! I was told that decreasing the last 2 infusions wouldn't really impact the overall chemo results. My chemo nurse, the one who primarily assisted me, said over 80%of the women she's worked with have had to have a reduced dose alot sooner than the 10th treatment. I hope your doctor listens to you, fight for what you think is right for you!!
Keep kicking cancer's ass ladies!!🥊🥊🥊
~Katie💗
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Made it through #10 today. Only 2 Taxols left! I had a huge meltdown this morning though. I woke not wanting to go to treatment. No rational thought process going just not wanting to sit there for over 3 hrs because today is my long day. I get H&P with my Taxol. I couldn't find something I was looking for in the fridge and just threw a container of cream cheese across the room. My poor DH looked scared and confused.
Just a miserable day. Still don't know why I lost it. I don't normally have a temper. I just want this over and it feels like it's never going to end. Taxol ends, then surgery, then radiation, then either Kadcyla or H&P till May 2020. That's almost a year from now😩😩
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Sending hugs Dawn! I had the doom and gloom feeling today, and when I saw your post, I could totally relate. I just feel frustrated, and sad. I haven't left the house today, and I think that makes things worse. I hope that the feeling doesn't last for you. Take it one day at a time. Easier said then done for sure.
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HappyAnyway-I love your name btw! I'm trying to give my kids some summer fun, but it takes all I got some days. My mom has helped me with house cleaning and shopping. DH helps a lot too, but he is the introvert in our relationship. My daughter is super social and wants friends over all the time.
ipenelope-thank you for the advice. I have an appt with my ON during my next treatment. He had been on vacation for the last 3 weeks. I will discuss with him then, but being triple negative really has me wanting to finish the chemo at full dose. Quality of life is important of course, so I'm really hoping the neuropathy subsides. I am so close!
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Had my second Taxol today and was nervous because of my severe reaction to the first. I'm happy to say it was an uneventful day. They started my drip at 10 drops per minute, which is super slow. At that rate, it was going to take 7 more hours to finish that one bag. Luckily, after 2 hours, they increased it some and eventually we got to the max of 300 drops per minute for the last few minutes. It still was a long day, 6 1/2 hours, but I had that steroid buzz to keep me moving after I got home. Cooked dinner and took a 2 mile walk. No side effects for now and hoping for the best.
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Hey ladies. Just popping in to say I feel your pain. Unexpected meltdowns are okay. Impatience is okay. Feeling like your treatment will never end is okay. It’s all okay.
Just to remind you of the platitudes—time marches on and this too shall pass. You *will* get out the other side and your brain will start to turn to other things. Hang in there. And treasure the support you get here and the safe place to vent. Nobody gets it like your BCO pals.
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Dawn - you are entitled to a melt down every now and then. Good grief, you're putting toxic chemicals into your bloodstream with all kinds of SE. I'm surprised quite frankly that we are all as sane as we seem to be. I have my freak out moments on my drives to and from work. But yay only 2 more!
notdefined and HappyAnyway - I don't know how you two do it with young kids. Anyone who has to be a mom through this has my admiration.
BAMR - glad the second one went well
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DawnS1962, we've all been there. I threw my phone. Oops. Thank goodness my girls weren't around and it wasn't damaged. You're so close!
Notdefined, we're having our daughter's 16th birthday party here on Friday. We're working hard to get the house in shape.
BAMR, you sure did have a long day! I'm glad that it went well.
Ingerp and DogMomRunner, thanks for the encouragement and kind words.
My second Taxol went well. I didn't even need to take Zofran yesterday. The steroids are my only complaint. I have a difficult time falling asleep. I finally drifted off around 5:00 am. Four hours of sleep. I'll find time for a nap later. My MO is adding carboplatin to my Taxol. I will need Neulasta again on the carbo days. Just when I thought my WBC was on the rise. Just like you said Ingerp, this too shall pass.
Alright, time to adjust my attitude, crawl out of bed, shower and slay the day!
Blessings to all!
Edited to add, I'm not a violent, aggressive person. I, too, was feeling frustrated with my current medical issues and lost it.
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happyanyway— I am wondering, did your MO mention why she’s adding carbo
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Ucfknights, he said it would increase the odds in my favor by 9%. I have just started to read studies on it. I must admit that much of it goes right over my head. I know it's often given when a BRCA mutation is evident. I don't have any gene mutations, though.
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Dawn,
Been there just last week, almost same everything. Except in front of my daughter. Felt awful for the rest of the day. Forgive yourself and move on, this is hard!
Lauren
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Happy—I always took Zofran the day of and after treatment, not because I needed it for nausea but because it helped me sleep at night.
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Hi Happyanyway!! I read that there have been 2 studies on carbo. The one from Germany was more a tad larger. It did show a 10-12% improvement in achieving cPR. Nat does have TN and the Brac2 mutation. I think our MO PA didn’t think there was enough studies yet but what is out there looks promising. We’ll discuss more when we we do AC # 4. Nat is a tad nauseous today which seems to be the norm on day #
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Ingerp, thank you. I will take it!
Hey jrominger. Glad to see you over here! Nat is so close to moving onto Taxol. I really believe she will feel much better on it. I hope the nausea passes quickly.
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You ladies are all amazing. Yesterday was just a bad day. I've had several over the past 5 months and I'm sure I'll have several more. I don't know what I would do without BCO Ingerp. I don't have anyone close to me who had breast cancer. I'm that one in my group of friends. Everyone has been supportive but none can relate the way those going through it can.
I didn't sleep at all last night. The Benadryl through the IV seems to be delaying the steroid effect. I was wired last night and finally got out of bed at 430 this morning and went for a walk. It's too hot to walk later in the day so that worked out but I'm exhausted. I have no idea how you moms with small children do it. I'm in awe. You all deserve a medal.
Lauren, I don't know how old your daughter is but my 22 yr old has seen me lose it over the past few months more than once. I always apologize but the damage is done. A few weeks ago I was a complete bitch to my husband. He's the one who does the most for me and didn't deserve the way I spoke to him. Again I apologized and he was fine but the damage was done. I can't take back my words.
Cancer sucks and impacts so many more aspects of our lives than I ever anticipated. It's demoralizing. I know it will eventually end but the damage it does may be irreversible.
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Dawn
My daughter is 20 and I keep trying to be strong in front of her...until I was a screaming, crying mess that is. Like you said, damage done. Have done the same to my husband, damage done. This is just hard. It comes and goes. I guess we are all doing the best we can.
Lauren
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for neuropathy, in addition to icing ask your drs about supplementing with B6 and alpha-lipoic-acid
There's information on this thread about it. I used them in addition to icing to hold neuropathy at bay and continued taking them for the weeks after finishing until when the neuropathy dissipated.
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my mom is on l-Carntine, b complex and alpha- lipolic acid along with icing the entire taxol infusion and during pre meds. She has taxol #9 on Tuesday and she’s has no signal of neuropathy.
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ucfknights. Good info thank you. Our clinic will provide medical bags filled with ice for hands and feet. They think that works as well as purchased ice gloves etc. What does your mom use? Does she suck on ice as well. Thank you. AC #4 next Monday then 12 weeks of Taxol.
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Taxol #10 has so far been on course. Neuropathy is better than it was last week, so I'm grateful that has subsided. Fatigue is stronger, but thankfully not all encompassing. I have 10 days to go. Infusion will be on Wednesday due to the holiday, and then last one next Thursday. Eyebrows are struggling, and no eyelashes left. Hair fuzz still there, but not growing.
Hope you ladies are doing okay with SE. Hang in there!
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notdefined- Yay 10 days to go!!!
Jrominger- yay AC is just about done!! That by far was worse then T!! Hope your last AC and T go smoothly!!
Thoughts and long distance hugs to all you wonderful cancer ass kicking women!!!🥊🥊🥊
~Katie💗
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i had taxol 8 last Friday. Some numbness in toes and fingers and some on and off bone pain in the lower leg. I guess all se?
But what bothers me it is the blister rAt the back of my foot I had a few days prior the infusion. I was washing with soap and putting polisporine but it was not going away. I advised the nurse. She said do what are doing and it should be fine. Today it is more red and a bit swollen. I soaked in salty water, dried and put. Polisporin. I am worried rob get infection. Do you know anything else's more efficient? I left message to nurse but i will not get any answer until tomorrow
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HappyAnyway - I'm sorry that you are getting something else added in that might give more or different SE. I've seen here that you (well everyone here) are strong enough to get through it.
notdefined - Yay on #10! And yay on the countdown!
Margun - Yay on #8! And I hope the blister gets better.
My husband clipped my hair down to about an inch. He said that I had the old man combover starting and it needed to go. Today was my first day of the wig at work. Everyone was so nice about it but it was so weird. I think I'm only going to wear it at work otherwise it will be hats and bandannas. The good news is that I haven't had to shave the armpits in week!
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margun- are you covering the area with anything and if so what?? Sometimes applying antibacterial ointment and covering it with a non breathable dressing, like a plastic band aid can keep the moisture in increasing chances of infection. I would say keep washing with soap and water and drying really good and then covering wth a band aid and doing that at least 2-3 times daily. Im an RN that loves wounds and has a lot of experience with them. Good luck!!
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ipenelop- at home I am not covering it to allow to breath but when I go out I cover it with a band aid with little holes. I assumed they allow breathing
I have also eternal running nose and recently when I wipe it I note some blood . Not much and on and off but today was more noticeable.I hope it will not progress with taxol cycles. T
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Thanks, DogMomRunner.
My head is nearly shiny bald. I've adjusted for the most part. The difference in color between my scalp and the rest of my head bothers me. I have some self tanner, but I'm afraid to use it. If I try it, I'll let everyone know. It might be a fun experiment. One in which I may end up with an orange head.
Margun, my eternal weeping eyes are driving me crazy.
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4 more taxols!! I think I’m getting more nervous now that treatment is almost done bc of scans and path reports
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DogMomRunner-I still haven't completely gotten used to my wig. I take it off the moment I get home.
The runny nose is annoying.
I am kind of upset that my ON didn't put me on Carboplatin. I wish I would have paid more attention to everyone's regimen, because now with only 2 more to go, I'm not sure anything can be done about it. I am triple negative, and my tumor was slightly over 3 cm. I thought I was throwing everything in the book at this, and now finding that Carboplatin could have increased my odds by 9% is disappointing. I am having an email discussion with my ON, and he said "The addition of carboplatin for TNBC remains somewhat controversial; although there is consistent evidence of improvement in the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate, the effects on disease-free survival (DFS) are less certain, and there is added, primarily hematologic, toxicity." But what he didn't acknowledge was that those with a pCR have a lower risk of recurrence than those with residual disease.
I know I have to let it go, but really he is the expert and should be up to date on the latest studies.
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Notdefined, I'm sorry. This is a difficult situation to be in. Trust your instincts. If you feel that the carboplatin warrants further discussion, maybe you can talk face to face. If your MO isn't receptive, would you consider getting a second opinion?
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