Cytoxan Taxotere Chemo Ladies- February/March 2013
Comments
-
Update:
Today got one of my insurance benefit statements. The Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) was charged out at $20,963.50 per injection. Perhaps for coverage percentage reasons but surprising.0 -
mine was about 8,200 I've never heard of one that expensive!
0 -
The billed amt for mine was $17,000 and after the insurance network discount, it was $9K. Thank goodness it was totally covered by my insurance!!!
0 -
I am so happy to have checked in today! I go in for my 2nd treatment Friday . I have had the thought about 4 or 6 treatments over and over in my head. My MO told me 4 but I did not question him. After doing more research my brain is worrying. I am going to talk to him Friday and try to get back here with an answer! Also I am having the issue with summer travel and being around so many people. My family always has a huge thing around July 4, there are 7 children all with children. That is about6 days after my last treatment. My sister in law was also just diagnosed a month ago with BC. We are going to try and do it.... after reading these posts I think I will think a little more about it! Thank you for being here ladies!
0 -
Mamy, your diagnosis is very similar to mine. I had no doubt that doing chemo was the best decision for me, but my MO would have done six as long as I tolerated them well encough and didn't object. But after four, he had no arguement at all when I said I was ready to stop. It was a hard call but I'm very comfortable with it. Take some time on your good days to do your own research and remember that you don't have to make a decision until after your fourth treatment.
If I'd had any lymph node involvement or if my tumor was triple negative I think six would have been justified.
I was shocked recently to find information on this website about a 2009 study that found that Taxotere may not even be effective in preventing recurrence of ER+/PR+/HER2- breast cancer.
I also felt that it was more important to avoid any further delay in starting radiation than it was to do 2 more chemo treatments.
0 -
I had my 3rd TC today. The blood work shows elevated liver enzyme, AST went from 21(3wks ago) to 42 and ALT from 21 to 44. My MO says it is a SE of taxotere. Has any one else experienced this? I understand liver cleanse and probiotic can help. Any suggestions?
0 -
ud45- You may want to have a further discussion with your oncologist about what you can do about the liver enzyme situation before you do any liver cleanse and probiotic. It is always advisable to get the approval of the your doctor prior to taking any supplements because of the possible side effects that may occur from doing a cleanese. If your oncologist expressed a concern today and said immediate action was warranted, I would hope that he/she gave you a plan of action to help the situation. If your doctor did not, you may want to contact the doctor tomorrow and ask what you should do. Hope you have minimal side effects with this round.
0 -
ud45, I agree, check with your MO before doing/taking anything on your own.
0 -
Melrosemelrose and Annie Lane, thanks for the advice, I will call my MO tomorrow. according to the infusion nurse, he said it was slightly elevated and okay to continue with chemo. it is just terrifying because 3wks ago AST and ALT were 21IU/L but today AST is 42 and ALT 44IU/L. I hope this is treatable and not metastasis
0 -
Ud46 I have heard that it's common for liver enzymes to go up during chemo. Probably something to do with your liver trying to process all those chemo toxins and all the meds! Don't panic & jump to mets, I don't think most bloodwork for mets is reliable during chemo anyway (even the tumor marker tests tend to come back higher during chemo & it doesn't mean mets).
0 -
Mamy- Hope this next round of chemo will be easy on you. I know how much you want to be at the July 4th family gathering. Really need to do the wait and see as to how you feel by then. There are plenty of precautions you can take while at the family gather if you are able to go. Minimal hugging and elbow bumps inside of handshakes, and lots of hand washing will help. If you will be having communal/buffet meals, you may want to consider getting your food first before it leaves the kitchen. If you get tired, rest or go take a nap. Your family will understand if you don't participate with everything. Wishing you the best on Friday!!!
0 -
Ud46 - my alt and ast also trended up with chemo. I finished my last treatment and my MO was not worried and expects them to go back down. I will find out in a few weeks but my counts before my 4th treatment were 115 alt and 52 ast so very high.
0 -
Well Hello Out There Sister Warriors,
Just as I put my fourth and LAST Chemo treatment behind me, I foolishly and accidentally tripped while gardening last week and broke my left foot at the fifth metatarsal. This event has been worse than all the Chemo put together. I had an ultrasound which found a blood clot so I was sent home on Coumadin and IV antibiotics. Of course I drive a new Jetta, stick shift, so relying on my Mom (who is visiting, Thanks Goodness) to revive her driving skills has been quite a hoot (bump, stall, jump, stall, bump, beep, beep, bump, jump, stall). Now I am anemic, have 2 blood transfusions to look forward to today and then a chest x-ray and bone density study next week. And the orthopedist told me that this is one of the toughest bones to heal so 3 months in a boot and schlepping rides to Radiation therapy next month I guess.
Please do your magic out there Sister Warriors and send some good Karma and prayers my way. Who would think that the simple act of helping my Sister plant flowers would end up so crazy!!!!Peace an minimal SE's to you all. I'll keep you posted.
0 -
Sending good vibes your way Carolyn! Congradulations on being finished chemo! I only have one down!
0 -
I also have completed one and have my second one on Monday. Anyone else up next week?
0 -
Yea Carolyn! So nice to have that in the rearview mirror- eh?
0 -
We decided to proceed with chemo for Mom (who had the stroke last year), knowing we can stop at any point if it is too much. The dr. said he will be aggressive with the anti-nausea meds and will give Neulesta from the start. He was not familiar with using Claritin with it (which worried me a little since so many on this site seem to use it to prevent bone pain). He suggested I take her temp 2 times per day to look for any signs of infection. Infection is what I am worried about. But with Neulesta it should be OK, right?
Nausea my mom understands, fatigue will be obvious, she knows "hurt" but hopefully she won't need to communicate it by pointing to something. I go back and forth with feeling OK about the decision and dreading the moments when I will be deciphering if something is wrong or if it's just me freaking out.
She is only getting TC, not ACT so hopefully that will make things smoother too. She will start next week!!!
0 -
Regbeach, your Mom has a great advocate in you, I can tell! Many people get thru TC with minimal and truly tolerable side effects. I am hoping that is the case for your Mom who has already been through so much.
0 -
Goldie, I'm going for round 3 on Wednesday. I don't feel ready, I didn't have a chance to feel good this go-around!!
Regbeach, good luck to you & your mom! Hoping she has an easy time of it. Like you said, you can always stop if it seems too difficult -- physically or emotionally.
0 -
Goldie1431 I have my third round next Monday so will be thinking about you and hoping it goes well. Next week is a killer for me. Chemo Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday I have to oversee a tent install and all deliveries for an outdoor wedding. Saturday is decor set, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner and Sunday the wedding. I have added extra staff to help me out as I will be at my worse starting Thursday. Please I hope SE are minimal.
0 -
regbeach- Wishing your Mom and you the best with her chemo. I used to take my temperature a few times a day even while I was on the Neulasta shot. It is a means to check to see that the shot helping to boost the bone marrow for the production of the white blood cells and to see if any infection occurs. The chemo can decrease the white blood cell counts. With that being said, her temperature could go up but not reach the point that you need to contact the doctor. I used to write my temperature down on a calendar so I could keep track of it. I also had a food diary and daily drug diary that really helped. I also used a blank calendar to mark how I felt every day and when my chemos were. If you need this forms, you can send me a private message with your email address. I can email you the forms.
I also had this book-- Eating Well Through Cancer by Holly Clegg and Gerald Miletello, MD. The book had sections of how to handle certain side effects as well as recipes, shopping lists, tips. You can probably order it on Amazon. I found this book helpful in its description of side effects and what to do. I know the same info is available on the BCO.org website and other places on the internet (chemocare.com) but having a book handy to look up things was very helpful.
You may also be able to hedge off the constipation that may occur because of her anti-nausea meds. I took Zofran which has a tendency to cause constipation. I ate those Sunsweet Ones which are individually packaged prunes which are really sweet and moist. I also drank apple juice which helped.
For the nausea feeling, I drank ginger ale for a few days after I had received the chemo.
The way that this regimen hits varies from person to person. I had my chemo on Tuesdays, felt fine on Wednesday and Thursday and then Friday, I would start to not feel so well. I rested on Saturday and Sunday and felt okay on Monday. I hope that she has minimal side effects like I did. The steroids (Decadron) can cause one to not sleep at night. If she is prescribed this to take twice a day, try to make sure it has it no later than 7 am in the morning and 7 pm at night. She should also take these drugs with food because these drugs can cause nausea if taken on an empty tummy.
You keep coming back here for whatever support and help you need to help your Mom get through the chemo. Your fears are probably the same fears that I had before I started chemo--- am I doing the right thing, how will I know that I feel good or not and what do I do if I don't feel good. Sending you many HUGS.
0 -
Indenial I hope round 3 goes better for you. I assume that you are getting close to the end (4 rounds)? That is an accomplishment! I am only going for #2 of 6.
AmyQ also congratulations on #3. Your schedule next week sounds crazy. You may be so busy that you do not have time to even think about a side effect! I hope all goes well for you also!
Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow as well.0 -
Melrose, thank you for the advice! I like the elbow bump! Will have to use this now as I am a big hugger and really shouldn't be for now. And the hand washing... I have that down ! I have sanitizer on me all of the time!
AnnieLane , I don't know why the 4 or 6 is bothering me so. Thank you for the info! I will not be having radiation since I had my BMX in March, so maybe 6 would help?... Asking in the morning! Thank you!
So it is 11:30 here in Seattle, I am supposed to be up in 7 hours to get to my second chemotherapy tomorrow . They gave me a steroid called dextromethorphan to get through the side effects of the Taxotere. I take it the day before infusion for a total of 4 days. It gave me horrible insomnia the first round so they gave me a sleeping pill to help. It's not helping!! I took the max dose of the sleeping medicine tonight and still can't sleep! HELP, has anyone dealt with this? What did you take to help the insomnia?? I have to take this steroid twice a day through Sunday and each subsequent infusion. I want to sleep before then! If anyone can help before 10:30 am Seattle time I could then ask my MO? If you don't read this before then, I would still love advice! I can always call and talk to a nurse about it and get something changed.
A huge thank you and big hugs for all of discussion on this board! It helps every time!!0 -
mamy- Just saw your post about the insomnia from the Decadron ( steroid). This happened to me and I decided not to fret about not sleeping. it seemed like I was getting more upset that I wasn't falling asleep. I would get up and watch mindless tv ( ie Law and Order) and would catnap. I finally started takingBenedryl at night to help me sleep. My onco said it was okay to do that since the idea of getting any type of prescription sleep aid just didn't appeal to me. Hope this helps. Wishing the best with the chemo today and minimal side effects.
0 -
Mamy......I take Valium to sleep, its a God send. My MO said that anxiety keeps patients up more than the roids do! I have been sleeping about 6-7 hours a night.
0 -
Thank you everyone for your support and melrose for the details.
0 -
Mamy, one thing to ask the MO about is reducing your steroid dose. My MO has me taking only a half-dose once a day for 3 days. He actually is considering reducing it even further since I've gotten through the first 2 treatments without reaction. I've found that with such a small dose, it doesn't interfere much with my sleep (except the very first time but that may just have been anxiety!) I'm very happy to avoid many of the negative steroid effects because my dose is small.
Other than that, maybe try a different sleeping pill, or something for anxiety?
Goldie -- yes I'm halfway through!! Hurray!!!! Only 2 left! Round 2 was rough but some of my issues weren't actually related to chemo, so I think the last 2 will likely go more smoothly.
0 -
I had and have terrible anxiety and could not sleep. My doctor does not prescribe sleeping aids or pills but did prescribe antivan which is an anti anxiety drug. It might help. Please ask your doctor to see if it is a possibility for you.
0 -
Thank you so much for your help guys!! I will talk to him about it with those ideas in mind.Ended up with about 4 hours of sleep, but feeling good. Probably the anxiety! Thank you again!
0 -
Mamy, as regards the number of treatments, keep in mind that since your tumor was ER+/PR+ your five years worth of "anti-hormone" therapy is probably going to be a more important weapon in reducing your chance of recurrence than chemo is. We think of chemo as the "big gun" because it's so hard to endure, but for most of us it may not be.
0
