Cytoxan Taxotere Chemo Ladies- February/March 2013
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So far so good for me from yesterdays infusion. No nausea at all, no aches. They cut my benadryl in half and I am still so wired from the steroids on Saturday night I cant sleep. Had a huge argument with my daughter and son in law today that Im blaming on the steroid moodiness... Mouth is raw, brain is scrambled and going ninety to nothing. I know when I crash its going to be hard. I just hope the week doesnt bring any more side effects. Hope you continue to do well.
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Starynights - inspirational move. I will skip my Nuelasta "Nasty" shot on my upcoming third T/C tx. and just keep labs well-monitored. It saves about $4000 per episode if the shot can be successfully declined. Overwhelmingly GREAT idea and decision too BTW. Happy Happy, and Peace and Luv and Hugs
Happy Easter and a Blessed Sunday to ALL!
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Hello to all. I am 9 days out from first infusion. (4X CT every 3 weeks) I don't take neulasta, what is that? I do take the Dexa the day before, the day of and the day after infusion. I have felt tired and fatigued throughout, though I do have a great support system/network that help. Spiked a temp yesterday but it lowered right away and has stayed down. SEs have been: rash, pimples, cold sores on face, head, back of neck and now dry skin on hand that looks like a rash developing. I am continuing to drink as much water as I can. Thank you all for posting!
not sure how to get my stats to show up...
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btdemo- Welcome!!! If you go to your profile page, you can put your stats in there. The Neulasta shot is to help boost your bone marrow so it will keep producing plenty of white blood cells during chemo. The white cells are the infection fighting cells. Your onco may want to wait until after it is shown that you need a Neulasta shot after a round of chemo. The shot is expensive and insurance companies don't always want to approve the payment for them. Hope you are feeling better. Make sure you let your onco know of your side effects at your next infusion-- temperature spike and rashes. If you have a calendar handy, you may want to write down your side effects/temperature so you can keep track of it. Again.... welcome.....
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Ok, thank you Melrosemelrose, think I got the profile figured out. Will talk to my onco about the rashes and temps. Not sure if this will happen after each infusion or not. (hope not).
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I am also taking L-Glutamine powder - about 15 mg twice a day dissolved in juice. My oncologist didn't proactively recommend it, but when I asked him about it, he said it was fine. He had no objection.
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Oh Starynights, so sorry to hear about the arguement with your daughter and son-in-law. None of us need relationonal stress on top of everything else. Hope those fences are mended or will be soon.
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Hello Friends
Hope everyone is playing the fool today - or pranking someone, April fool style that is!
If I had even a tiny bit of energy, I'd be doing some hilarious stuff. But after a busy weekend I am totally wiped out today and feeling that my legs and body are just lead. Hard to walk upstairs, hard to do any light exercise, too tired to even eat. Of course I am drinking lot of fluids around the clock and shuffling along to the bathroom frequently. I bought some organic Agave juice and have been sipping on it over ice and hoping that its miracle properties are just about to hit. My sweet Sister just ran my taxes off to the post office and I am resigned to keeping my swollen legs and feet elevated and continuing with MY April Fool's pity party. I though this would be a higher energy week as I last had 2nd tx of chemo and shot 12 days ago but with just 9 days to go before the next, I am really not sure. What say my fellow Warriors?
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cmbernardi- HANG IN THERE, SISTER!!!!!! As you are discovering, the side effects are cumulative which translates to you will notice that you are moving just a little bit slower after each round of chemo and it takes just a little bit longer to recover after each round. I know how you are feeling and how much you want to feel better. Try to eat some food; you need that nutrition for energy and to help your body recover from the latest chemo. I know everything tastes blah and like cardboard. Keep that positive attitude of yours going--- I see it there!!!! Make sure you tell your onco about the the swelling in the legs and feet-- it is a side effect but it still needs to be monitered. Sending you lots of (((HUGS)))!!!!!
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I am also experiencing what you and several others have: that the fatigue has hit so much harder and quicker after the 2nd treatment than the first. I've spent most of today so far lying around in bed. Even sitting in the recliner seems to take too much effort. I hadn't missed any work yet, but I'm missing today. I hope I bounce back quicker than you have Carolyn - Yikes! And I hope you have at least a few good days before your next treatment. I do remember Monday and Tuesday being my worst days after my first Thursday infusion, but this is so much worse.
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I was told to switch from Clariton to zyrtek to see if it will help with the side effects from Neulasta.
I had the jaw pain the first week....but I used to get it with my RA. If you keep getting it try a night guard it will help. If you are clenching from pain that may contribute to the symptoms.
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Had my first infusion today and forgot to ask the nurse, are the anti-nausea medications you get from the infusion enough for the first day or should I be taking the Zofran and Compazine pills too? I want to keep the nausea at bay.
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cmbernardi & Gailann I too have had an awful time with fatigue after #2 on March 20, I didn't start feeling better until last Friday (by better I mean able to function) now I'm going in for #3 on Wed and I'm dreading the leg and joint pain but especially the spaced out brain and fatigue! Jen987 The iv meds i get for nausea during treatment have been enough for me but if you feel even a little nausea take something right away to stay on top of it.
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Jen987- I took Zofran for 3 days starting the day after I had a chemo round. I also had Phenergan as a back up in case I felt nauseous. However, I never needed to take the Phenergan. If you aren't sure what you should take tonight, call your onco. There should be an onco on-call to answer your questions so don't be afraid to call. Just remember, it is the onco's job to help you get through treatment. Keep drinking the fluids to help flush the chemo through your body. When you determine when you are supposed to take the post-chemo anti-nausea drugs, make sure you take them with food. Those drugs have a tendency to make one nauseous if taken on an empty tummy. Wishing you the best.....
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Jen987, the IV anti-nausea drugs seem to have worked very well for me for my first two infusions. I've also taken ginger capsules as needed, but haven't need any prescription for nausea. Ginger ale with a couple saltine crackers has also worked well for the occaisional mild nausea I've had.
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Thanks ladies. I've drank so much water today I feel like I'm gonna float away. Good thing I love water. I've learned so much from all of you these past couple of weeks. I don't know what I would have done without all this knowledge I've obtained.
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Jen987: my first treatment was on a Thursday and the nurse said that the nauseau meds that were given in the IV would wear off Saturday evening. She was right, and I had to take the RX that my MO had written. With the 2nd treatment, I didn't have any nauseau.
I go for # 3 on Thursday. I'm hoping its not too rough this time. I'm already exhausted. I can't believe how tired I am. Maybe it's the time change?0 -
Jen987 if the water starts to taste funny in the next few days, you might try adding a lime or lemon wedge to each glass. That has helped me when I started getting the off taste in my mouth.
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GailAnn... I have been hit hard after the steroids wore off with SE. EXTREME fatique, ache all over, headache, diarrhea, raw mouth you name it. Girl you must be superwoman...I have no idea how you have worked through this. Im down almost a week before I can go back to taking care of my grandkids. BUT two down two to go and Ill be done. Only thing that keeps me going.
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Hi >I wrote when I first found out I was triple HER 2 negative and getting all different info from 4 different mo....even though i had a small tumor (1.2), no nodal involvement and clear margins. I opted for tc and cold cap therapy. The adventure ( one treatment down, second one tomorrow... Then I'm HALFWAY there !! ) has so far been an adventure .
i am grateful for my "team"...daughters, staff and fabulous girlfriend who are making this such an event and adventure. It truly does "take a village"
The chemo day one was so chaotic, distracting and other worldly with the cold cap activities thatwent in through the infusions, we were all hysterically laughing most of the day.. 50 min pre-meds, two hrs chemo , one hour infused hydration and then the highway race home ( trying not to get stopped for speeding in the two cars) so we could get the next cap on before 30 minutes passed... Then four more hours of cold caps changed for proper coldness every 30 min..it was an incredible day...friends cooked.. family, EX husband iced and strapped on the "hats"..it was a party from another planet and now, until I'm reminded again when i start tomorrow and we try to replicate the first session exactly, it was all good ...now how likely is that to get reproduced
..hair is shedding a little but spirits are great
Taxotare - I did have terrible stomach cramps either from the dexamethesone or th e taxotere ; or maybe I caught a stomach bug and that wasNot fun. I have grown up with canker sores so a few of them wasn't a complete surprise...but the Angelique Jolie LIPS were a painful,and a very disruptive addition..A frightening and painful event and NOT remotely the fully thoughtful, sexy addition they should have been to wretched those canker sores! Not at all what i thought I'd look like with Botoxed lips .... How delusional am I. That's off the bucket list for
The good news..well not ALL good nrews......... No nausea and I wonder if the cold caps helped with that. I DID faint the fifth day after chemo... Was in the bathroom and woke up staring at the ceiling with the cold tiles cooling my body down two rooms away from where i thought I was ...and flat on my back in the kitchen....no idea how I got there... Doc said maybe low potassium and low electrolytes... Maybe too much water.. Hoping that doesn't happen again ..bananas and gatorade maybe.
Several things have helped enormously ( let's hope it holds true this next time!! And helps some one there in this glorious comminity . If anyone else has fainted please let me know what you might have figured out. Thanks
My guiding formula
1. Hydration 64 to 80 oz of water everyday... From Now on I'll mix that with Gatorade for the electrolytes and have a banana for potassium ...send ideas if you have them
2. 48 oz green tea or ginger tea and before bed relaxation tea
3. I make myself stretch and do push ups and planks in th am and walk then for at least 20 min. Then when I don't feel like it later ...it's already done so im guilt free,. Most days I force myself later to walk 3 miles... Or an hour which ever comes first.....Often i have to con a friend into coming so i'll actually follow through ( not that virtuous in the snow and the rain)
4. Got a slow juicer and spend a lot of "down" time staring at the juicer slowly sucking down everything raw in my fridge. It's become my new meditation...or is that..addiction.? ..that and watching cut flowers live to their fullest in front of my peaceful eyes
5. I get up and go to work everyday for at least 6 hours ( my own biz and my daughters run it with me so suddenly no one cares that I'm there )... But I care and need the interaction, the phone, the excitement of customers and of being interactive and doing it somewhere away from home. Really makes a difference to me
6. i just started piano lessons..one finger at a time and I .can't play a thing but it's something to go to each week (before the brain goes) no matter how bad i am and it gives me something to do when the village has all gone home and left me alone with my thoughts
Good luck to everyone finding their own path . Please share... Move, drink water, laugh a lot. .. Just think: we KNOW what's going on inside ourselves and our bodies. In a way that makes us the lucky ones. .. We're on it full steam ahead. Yay for all our reading about it, acting on it, questioning it and for being brave. Love, indi. (I do take bit b complex. Co q ten, and a good probiotic
I' m a little on the high side age wise. .. 68 and feeling great hope the next three aren't cumulative
xo to you all. Indi0 -
One suggestion, remember to take probiotics during chemo to keep your flora balanced in your intestines and to ward off vaginal yeast infections. My OBGYN told me to take them after I ended up with a roaring yeast infection. I wish I had been told before starting chemo.
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Hello again,
I drink my probiotics everyday in the form of Kefir a milk-like beverage that comes in lots of goOd flavors but is 99% lactose-free. I buy Lifeway Kefir at Sprouts here in North TX. Check them out on-line for coupons. HAPPY DAY EVERYONE.
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Starynights, before you get too impressed with me, remember, I am a telecommuter, so I work from home. Don't think I'd be able to do it if I had to get dressed up and drive in. And using a public restroom right now? No way! So sorry you're having such a hard time this go round.
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I'm on day 4 post round 3. I can't believe the level of the weaknesses and fatigue this time. After I got past the steroid wiredness over the weekend, I've been pretty much on the couch or sleeping. I hate it since the weather is getting nice here in Pennsylvania and I can't even rally for a walk this week. Ah well, I know its temporary, but frustrating.
I do think my hair is making a comeback. I cut it short the day after my first treatment, and then shaved it off when it started coming out by the fist full on day 14 after the first treatment. Since then, I had some sharp stubble come back, which I shaved back again. But now, it seems to be coming in mostly evenly all over my head and is softer in texture. I think I will let it go for awhile and see what happens. Brows and lashes are thin, but still there.
Nails still look good and are growing. Hope it stays that way.
Indij1- yes, I fainted on the way to the bathroom one night. Be sure to get up slowly and dangle on the side of the bed before you get up if you can remind yourself to do it. Sorry that happened to you, I know it can be unnerving!
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Yes the steroid crash was horrible for me after round 1 and especially with all the side effects from the Neulasta. I just had 2nd chemo on Mon and neulasta today...I am working and don't want to have to leave early again this friday. Its bad enough I can't work days 7-11(the days I felt better). Oh well. My hair started to really clump worse than the day before in the shower that I had to run out and try to find a place to shave my head...it was gross. I hope everyone feels better!!! Whats worse the fatigue or nausea.....I say both can't figure it out.
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Has anyone had what feels like ovarian pain? I'm having sharp, stabbing pains low on one side about where the ovary should be. I had some of this last time, but it woke me up and is keeping me awake tonight. Otherwise I haven't had nearly as much trouble with the sharp stabbing nerve pain as I had last time.
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Hello Newbies,
I'm sorry that you are all here but with faith in God and all these ladies helping each other, you will get through this.
I was in your shoes one year ago this week taking the Cytoxan and Taxotere x 4 without a port. My veins did fine. My hair fell out 20 days later, but it's come back.
Every day, from the beginning of my diagnosis I spent literally hours reading the posts here online of all the women who have gone through breast cancer before me. Their posts of the details of their fears, faith, treatments, setbacks, real life questions, answers, helpful advice, humor, and pure sisterhood helped me get through my cancer, chemo and beyond.
My diagnosis, IDC grade1, 3cm, stage 2, ER+, PR+, Her-2- is a lot like some of yours. I had a skin sparing (lost my left nipple due to my cancer) mastectomy of my left breast.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy showed less than 200 cells were counted in the one lymph node out of five lymph nodes removed. My Dr suggested, and I decided, not to do a total axial lymph node biopsy of my left arm.
Current thinking is that if chemo is taken, a total axial biopsy is not needed. I guess we will see. I am 62 years old, right in the target age of many women diagnosed with bc but through this site see that it does affect women of all ages.
My PS placed a TE (tissue expander) in place of my left breast right after I had my mastectomy. It felt good to have "something" there afterwards. After my chemo was completed I started taking Femara. Six weeks of saline fills to expand my TE made me feel balanced but it also felt like I had a hockey puck in my breast.
Four months later my Plastic Surgeon placed a 535 Mentor gel implant in my left breast replacing the TE and did a breast lift and placed a Mentor 150 gel implant in my natural breast using a "lolly pop and anchor" incision. A large hematoma developed after my surgery on my natural right, lifted breast so I went right back into surgery the next day to have it successfully removed.
My reconstruction healed so slowly that my PS was concerned. I was on antibiotics for the whole month with not much healing. My oncologist had mentioned to me right after my diagnosis that she thought that I should stop taking any aromitase inhibitor a few days before and even for a little while afterwards during my breast reconstruction because these drugs might prevent the body from healing.
Once I finally remembered that, I consulted my doctors and stopped taking the Femara for two weeks. My breasts healed very quickly after that. I don't know if that was the reason I wasn't healing but my PS was impressed.
My hair came in black (!) just before Christmas so I was able to leave the house without my carefree Raquel Welch wigs, which I really loved because they were light, east to wash and wear and very natural looking. We live in Florida and I wore a wig to play tennis in the summer months under my visor. My natural hair is brown so I dyed it light brown.
After Christmas I had a dull pain in my left ribs that lasted a few weeks so my Oncologist sent me for a full bone scan that came back negative, Thank God!
My breasts have pink scars that are slowly lightening. I use cocoa butter on them because I don't trust any lotions on my breasts with a lot of ingredients. It softens my scars. My PS did a great job of matching my implanted breast with my lifted breast and gave me the same approximate 36C I've always worn. I'm wearing underwire bras that are comfortable.
The Femara makes me tired and thirsty with some aches and pains that could be just my arthritis. Compared with the side effects I have been reading about, this is all good. I started with the name brand Femara because my onc ordered it and my ins paid for it last year. I'm still on it, but paying for it myself at just under $500 a month (that includes my ins coverage) but I will have to get the generic Femara next month.
The CVS pharmacist told me that most of the "side effects" reported are from taking generic meds made with "fillers" used to mold the pills together. He told me that "currently there are no restrictions or FDA approval needed for the use of any fillers". My gyn tells me the TEVA brand from Israel is a good one. I'm hoping she is right.
So, like all of you, I'm reading all I can, laughing and crying at all of the posts that share the grief we are all going through. Keep posting and sharing ladies! Sometimes hope is all we have and are glad to have it. I am a survivor who hopes to have years ahead of her. If not, I live each day fully (hopefully) not looking over my shoulder.
Please private message me if you have any questions or comments. I hope I haven't written anything that would offend anybody. This is just my experience.
Hugs,
Mimi80 -
Thanks for sharing Mimi8- really nice to hear from a survivor who has made it through treatment!
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You are welcome
I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and have lots of family still there. What part are you from?
Mimi80 -
It is encouraging MIMi to hear froma survivor....sorry you still have to deal with the SE.
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