Weekly Taxol for Stage 4
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Brigadoon, The fields are wonderful, and I know what you mean by the sounds and sights of haying. Thanks so much for sharing these!
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Ohmygosh Ladies! Thank you so much for your advice! And, no, I've never heard of buffs, but I did google it. The UGGS are a great idea! And I've heard of the cold pack, is it working? And I wouldn't care either what anyone thought! ;-)
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Oh Brigadoon, heaven on earth! I can almost smell the freshness in those photos. If I could, I would love a weekend cabin in a place such as this. I honestly feel being this close to nature would be so healing on so many levels...
Question about flu shots and Taxol...I'm throwing this out to you all as I forgot to call my Onc this week...I'm assuming it's allowed but just want to be sure. Anyone know the answer? My Onc is two hours away and the VA hospital that I volunteer at about a mile away gives them away free. I was going to get one on Thursday but was getting chemo Friday and didn't want to mess anything up...
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Brigadoon, You have some amazing countryside on your door step. Please keep these photos coming. I am enjoying them so much.
benjinate,
I was wondering about flu shots just this morning. I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and there was a poster up saying they we doing shots from the 1st Oct. I am seeing my onc again on the 9th and will be asking him if it is alright to go ahead and have one with my current chemo.
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I spoke with my onc last week and he said yea to the flu shot. He has them coming in two weeks so I will get mine there. I got mine last year too along with pneumonia, whooping cough booster and shingles. I was on another protocol though.
I am glad you are enjoying the pictures. I hate to bore anyone but I am always in awe of the view from our house.
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Brigadoon, I had never heard of a shingles vaccine before so I had to look it up. It is only offered to those over 70 here and as I just now approaching 60 it isn't a surprise I was ignorant. Please keep the pictures coming. I am looking forward to seeing the autumn colours. Our trees here go green, yellow, brown. You don't see much red, scarlet and orange.
I should have had my taxol on Thurs but started Xeloda that evening, I don't need to take any premeds now and I feel much better for it.
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Brigadoon keep the pictures coming they are amazing.
Springwatch hope the Xeloda continues to go well for you, but keep on visiting in the Taxol thread. We'd miss you if you disappeared into the Xeloda thread completely
I think the horrible cough I've had for a month now is finally going away. I've just got back from a wonderful weekend away with some girlfriends. I ate and drank far to much but we had a great time lots of laughter. I'm blessed to have a great group of friends. Hope everyone is going well.
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Hope everyone had a good weekend!
I had a bit of a rough patch the last few days. On Thursday night, my feet starting swelling and became twice their normal size. When I touched them, it felt like a water balloon. I could literally feel the liquid moving. So after a trip to the ER and a ultrasound to rule out a blood clot, I was diagnosed with Edema. They showed me how to message the lymph fluid back up and told me to keep my feet elevated. They seem to be back to normal for now.
On Friday during my weekly Taxol, accessing my port was very painful and the nurse was unable to flush it on the first attempt. They iced it for a half hour and was able to get it to work on the second attempt. The nurse thinks there might be a mirco leak, so I am now waiting to hear back about scheduling something called a port study.
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Becs none of that sounds like much fun. I hope they can get your port sorted and the edema doesn't cause to many problems.
I have a CT booked for Thursday and should get the results on Monday keeping my fingers crossed for stable. I had taxol 51 today. Uneventful which is how I like it.
Hope everyone else is doing well.
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Hey Becs, I had edema on other treatments but not this one yet, even though it is driving my lymphedema crazy. Good luck with the edema, hope it gets better, along with your port issues.
Shazza - Good luck to you on your scans. My gut says you are going to get a great report, hope my gut is correct
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Becs, I developed lymphedema in my left leg. Probably from radiotherapy. I am seeing a lympedema specialist and getting weekly massage. I also have lymphedema stockings and something called Farrow Wraps. All of it has helped a lot. I have noticed that the swelling has gone down since I came off taxol. My last IV was about two weeks ago. Now that I am on Xeloda I don't get all the premeds, either so maybe that has helped too. As a start maybe you could enquire about the stockings. I put them on first thing in the morning and they do help. They come in various pressure grades and sizes so it is important to get measured. Mine are manufactured by a company called Sigvaris, who have a US website so they must sell them there. I hope you get your port issues cleared up soon.
Shazza, Pleases to hear that pesky cough is finally clearing up. Fingers crossed for great scan results.
If you don't mind, I will probably hang around here. The Xeloda thread is pretty quiet. I have done 5 days of Xeloda and am gradually getting used to it. I have had some mild headaches, a tiny bit of nausea but not always, some fatigue and joint and muscle pain. I was absolutely knocked out yesterday but have bounced back today. An unexpected bonus now that I am not gettng the steroid premed with taxol has been a 5lb weight loss. Every cloud has a silver lining.
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Hey Springwatch, Its good to hear that you are doing well on the Xeloda. It took me days and days to sort out the side effect meds so that I did not get nauseous and suffer from heartburn in bed at night. I think I have it down now. It will be good to hear how you fare on this stuff. In some ways its good to take it at home, but in other ways, the once a week visit to the chemo room was simpler and involved less time thinking about cancer. What I love, tho, is that my hair is coming back and it should not be threatened by the Xeloda at all.
Best of luck to you, Shazz, with the CT's upcoming.
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Springwatch and MameMe glad to hear everything seems to be going well on Xeloda. Keep us posted.
I've had my 2nd oh so tasty and very chalky contrast drink and will be heading of for my CT scan soon. A day off work for me. Wish I didn't have so many jobs to do.
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Shazza, When do you get the results? I hope it shows everything stable.
MameMe,
I have now been on Xeloda a week. So far minimal side effects. My nausea has disappeared which is a blessing but I don't much appetite. Still eating 3 meals a day but not with much enthusiasm. I am not getting the taste changes I got with taxol. Did you get peripheral neuropathy with the taxol? It has been 2 weeks since my last taxol IV and I am waiting to see how much of mine goes away. Already, I have noticed that it is marginally better.
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here I am, still in the hospital, and dropping behind the xeloda ladies. Chemo on hold, still getting high dose steroids and diuretics. Good luck everyone!
Anita
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Anita,
I had no idea you were in hospital! Just looked up your post on another thread to find out you have been poorly. I hope they get the breathing and oedema sorted out and you can start on the Xeloda soon.
Hugs, springwatch
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Anita - I'm sorry to hear. I feel like steroids mess me up more than anything, but hopefully your high doses are doing well for you. Don't worry about falling behind, things will fall back into place. Rest easy and get better!
Those on Xeloda - I was on it for a full year, if I was going to start it again, I would start taking vitamin B12 at least a few times a week for neuropathy, maybe even every day. I didn't know then that B12 helps with that. I don't even know if I had neuropathy, I just had the worst pain in my hands and feet ever...
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Benjnate, Did you mean neuropathy or did you mean hand foot syndrome? My reading suggests the latter is more of a problem with Xeloda.
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Springwatch - You're correct, it is HFS that is the main issue, but something else was going on like a general weakness/achiness to my feet that was more than just the bottom of my feet. And my hands too for that matter. That's why I would try B12 just to see if would take some of the general pain away. I never officially had neuropathy, but I sometimes wonder if I did and just didn't realize it. I hope you're feeling better nausea. After you get used to Xeloda, it is not a bad med to be on at all!
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benjnate,
I'm not sure if it's relevant but my onc has me take B6 for neuropathy. Seems like I have some googling to do!
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Anita. I too seem to have missed that you were in hospital. I hope they get that sorted soon. I had a friend who stopped taxol and had a terrible steroid crash and was laid low for several weeks. It seems that just halting these treatments and their various pre meds is not always that simple.
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Thank you, Shazza, I am still wondering how that will happen, noticed today's solumedrol dose is half that of yesterday's . Praying for wisdom from above.
Anita
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Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this board - found it by chance whilst trying to find information about Evonail! I have metastatic breast cancer in the peritoneum, with a small second site on two vertabrae. My original breast cancer was diagnosed and treated fourteen years ago, so this recurrence is a real bummer! It was the ILC form of BC, which does have the propensity to meastasise to the peritoneum, rare but not unknown.
I am being treated with Taxol and Avastin on a three week out of four cycle. Taxol & Avastin week one; Taxol week two and Taxol & Avastin week three with week four free. This is for 4 cycles. The Taxol was started first because the porthacath couldn't be inserted immediately, so I had five consecutive weeks of low dose Taxol. I understand that in the States Avastin is no longer given. Shame!
My protocole seems to be working well. The first full blood test with the CA15 markers showed them coming down. I can also get into clothes I couldn't wear in June because of the build up of ascites in the peritoneum. I am almost half-way through this initial treatment plan and so far the SE have been minimal. I count myself very lucky, especially after browsing the message board on the subject of nails. Mine have started to discolour and shred and I am finding my finger-tips getting a little sore, especially as I play the guitar. How long I shall be able to play remains to be seen... Hair is also thinning, but I have sufficient not to warrent the wig - yet! Instead I enjoy wearing my wonderful hat when I go out.
I look forward to discussing things with you through these various message boards.
Best wishes from sunny France.
Linda
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I have just started using Evonail. One of the oncology nurses gave me their demo bottle last week! My nails ren't too bad so far. They have discoloured and are weakening. They are shredding at the tips so I needed something to hold the layers together and stop them catching on clothes and things. I live in France, so sourcing the product is not too bad. I found an on-line pharmacy where I can get these products reasonably affordably. So we'll see how it goes. I have just tried removing the film with the Evoskin gentle cleanser as directed. That was not terriby successful. What do you use?
Before using the Evonail, I followed all the advice about base coats and varnishes with silicium, choosing a good dark colour. This may have helped limit the degradation. Unfortunately the splitting means that the varnishes just don't stay put for very long. These products are from the Ecrinal range. YOu might be able to source them on-line. The leaflet is multi-lingual. They are produced in Monaco.
Good luck
Linda
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Hello Linda, and welcome to Breastcancer.org. We see you've found a lively discussion forum in which to post. Thank you for sharing your experience; we're glad to hear your protocol is going well! Please do keep us posted as to how things go for you.
The Mods
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hi Linda
I also have mets to peritoneal and retro peritoneal areas. Weird for IBC. Escaped kidney stents as taxol starting working very quickly and cancer released its grip on my kidneys and ureters. My scans were all clear for a year and half but TM was going up. It wasn't until July when you could see the cancer. At any rate my TM's are dropping and kidneys are functioning. I have three more months of 3 weeks on 1 week off of taxol. Takes me to December.
Bald but no issues with nails. Yet. Neuropathy and legs ache at night. Otherwise not too bad. As long as taxol works I am good with that. Walking 30-40 minutes a day. I hope to get on my road bike once it cools off here in the desert.
Glad to hear your protocol is working for you. Taxol seems to be an effective chemo I got TAC back in 2002 and was cancer free until spinal met in 2012. I just keep plugging along. That is all I can do. Lol. Best.
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Linda - Welcome and thanks for sharing. It is going to be great to have another person from another country on here. There are so many different protocols and we all benefit from each other's experiences.
I am only on Taxol and have tolerated it very well. My hair fell out evenly so I never shaved it BUT after about three months it started growing back. Yesterday I went to a café with family to celebrate my SIL's birthday and went without hat or wig. It felt great. I hope that is what happens to you too but hope most of all that the chemo is a success.
I hope everyone who has been such a part of this thread and is moving on to something else still treats this like home. We are a small but caring group and I for one will miss anyone who leaves.
I had hand/foot syndrome with Xeloda and I can't caution anyone on it enough to follow the advise on moisturizing. After my feet peeled and I was down to my "baby" skin my feet were so sensitive I could hardly put them down.
Here are some pictures of the fog lifting on the field this morning.
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Minsterel welcome to our little group. I'm in New Zealand and have been receiving weekly Taxol for a year now. So far it's keeping me stable. My finger nails seem to have held up pretty well. I have them painted with a dark shellac every 2 weeks. My toenails are a whole other story though.
Brigadoon beautiful pictures again. We are going into spring here and after a wet wet winter are finally getting some fine days. Daylight saving starts tomorrow so I'm looking forward to some long light evenings. I work till after 7pm most days and hate leaving in the dark.
Diana so pleased Taxol is working for you and you avoided the kidney stents.
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Shazza -I am dreading winter. Hoping all of you down under keep my spirits up. I LOVE daylight savings. I wish we could stay on it all year.
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Welcome Minsterel, and I lovelovelove your hat. Great avatar. I'm not having any problems with my nails either; actually since getting off Afinitor after a year, they feel better than ever and I'm finally getting manicures again. I hope I didn't just jink myself since I just started Taxol in June...
Brigadoon, do you own all that land? Again, just wow. A lot of fog here this morning too, but it turned out to be a perfect fall day.
Best wishes to all this weekend!
Laura
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