Taxol and Herceptin only for stage 1 HER 2 positive?
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Mary,
One more Taxol/Herceptin next Thursday and then done with Taxol. Yeah!
I get my treatments on Thursday, Friday and Saturday or my best days. Goes downhill from there with fatigue and shakiness and I start to feel better on Wednesday most of the time. Low level of fatigue is with me all the time. Some is from the fibromyalgia.
Yesterday my nurse said I would not start the Herceptin only treatments until the third week after last Taxol. So I will have three weeks without treatment. Sounds good to me. She told me no more Decradon or benadryl either.
Wow, making so many typos this morning. I wonder if it is from the neuropathy or too much benadryl needed to sleep last night. Decradon insomnia!
Having lunch with friends today and it will be a good day.
Dee
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Hi Dee,
So happy that you are almost done with the Taxol. You will be amazed at how much better you feel after you are done. That blah, tired, foggy feeling it causes goes away pretty quickly. I was about 12 days out from the last treatment when I finally felt like myself again and it just keeps getting better and better!! : )
There IS a light at the end of the tunnel! : )
I had my first triple dose of herceptin a week after my last taxol and I didn't really notice any side effects. My next one is this coming Monday hoping for the same.
Have a great weekend.
Michelle
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Hi Codi,
Thanks for checking in! I love to hear that you are over five years out and doing so well! : ). Makes me so glad I opted for the taxol/herceptin only.
Have a great weekend!
Michelle
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Hi, Michelle -
Thanks for your well wishes 😊 ... There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
I have 2 friends who have just received a bc diagnosis & beginning their personal journey. And they, too, will get through this 👍.
Enjoy your weekend, too!
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Laura,
My vacation is a week in a beach house with my husband and daughter and my husband's mom, sister and uncle. We have done this trip to North Carolina with differing versions of my family and my husband's for about ten years now. We will be flying and I'm hoping that I feel well enough to go. We are already missing a camping trip to Hershey with several families that we had scheduled for the fourth of July weekend, so I just do NOT want to miss this. It's going to be an odd summer for us, not much traveling like we usually do. My daughter is very disappointed, as am I. I'm glad to hear they're going to do your exchange while you're on the Herceptin. A year seems like a long time to wait for new ones
Dee, so glad for you that you have only one more to go! Can't wait til that's me
Jhodro, enjoy that cruise!!!!!
Codi, I'm doing my treatments at MGH also.
It is interesting to me that everyone feels fatigue at different times after their infusions. I've only had two, on Mondays, but Wednesday feels like my crappiest day both weeks. Mary, I think you said Thursday is your tired day. Yesterday and today I felt fine, just a little depressed today for some reason. Thinking maybe it's because school gets out on Tuesday and it's the beginning of summer, but it just doesn't feel like a fun summer. BUT, it's a beautiful day here, gonna force myself to go for a walk when my husband gets home, and I'm sure I will feel better just being outside!
Need to be thankful for what I have
Enjoy your weekend ladies!
~Lynn
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Hi Lynn- sounds like a perfect vacation. Lots of family around to help & I totally get how important it is to maintain that tradition for your daughter. Only a few more weeks & you'll be there!
Dee- sounds like you had a great Disney vacation. Experiences not things...I keep trying to teach my kids that is the good stuff.
We are at the tail end of a week at our summer place in Palm Desert. The kids are 14, 14 & 11, so it was nice to have everyone together (although I think initially, the twins would have been happy to stay home with their friends!). Headed back to work & reality but wow, I can't believe how much stronger & healthier I feel at 10 wks PFC than I did even a few weeks back. Wishing everyone the same! It goes fast, hang in there! Laura
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Hi All,
For those of you who are going on vacation - enjoy! You earned it well.
My husband and I had a summer home at the Jersey shore for 15 years. It was destroyed by the Sandy storm. We knocked down the house and was intending on rebuilding. We were going to sell our condo here in North Jersey and try moving down there full time for a few years. After the dx, we decided to pull out. Our summer home is 2 hours away. This dx put a lot in perspective for us. We don't want to be 2 hours from better doctors, hospitals, restaurants & especially family etc. We also thought about the stairs to climb. We all have to build above code. We were saved by the bell! They were going to drill the pilings in May. Now we have an empty lot (which is okay). We'll sell in a few years (after the rebuilding peaks). We thought, it's time for us to go on different vacations and be served! We were thinking of selling before the storm - so we are okay with it. Actually, we feel good about it.
After tomorrows treatment, I will be 1/4 of the way through with taxol - yay! The weeks seem to go pretty fast.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Mary
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Where is everyone?
After treatment #2, I broke out in a few pimples around my chin and mouth. After treatment #3, I noticed tiny red dots on my legs. My MO prescribed a different cream for each . Thankfully, it doesn't itch. Has this happened to anyone?
Mary
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Mary - are you getting steroids as a pre-med? They can cause the facial blemishes.
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Mary,
I have not had any breakouts.
Tomorrow is my last Taxol and I am so happy! I hope I will get back to myself on the Herceptin. Time will tell.
Almost all the hair on my head and body is gone. Great not to have to shave legs! Glad I bought the wig for going out.
Beautiful weather here all week. Spending time out on my deck watching the birds and other critters. We have a squirrel who come to us and takes nuts from our hand. So cute.
Take care all.
Dee
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Yes. They did say that the steroid would do that. My face seems to be clearing up. Hopefully, the cream clears up the red little dots on my legs.
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Dee, how wonderful! Yes, you will be back to yourself. Everyone seems to do beautifully once their off the taxol. I hope these little red dots are not from the Herceptin. I have a long way to go...........
Enjoy the outdoors. It is nice out. A little humid. Our condo complex is having it's pool bbq party tonight. They called for rain, but it seems like it's missing us.
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Mary - I have had nasty, what I call acne, on my head, face and chest ever since the first treatment. I tried a cream, it didn't work, tried an antibiotic and that annihilated my stomach. I have three treatments left, so I'm just going to deal. I say it's nasty, but it does come and go. It's probably more ugly and annoying than actually nasty.
Oh, and my MO says it's the steroid, but I also seem to get it on my H only week, with no steroids that week. I hope it is not the Herceptin since I'm going to have that for a year.Yay, Dee!!! I have 3 to go and I too am 98% hair free. Since I had to lose the hair on my head, it's a great side benefit not to have to worry about the rest!
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I'm going tomorrow for my 8th treatment! Still doing well! Hair continues to thin but covers my head! Have not shaved it. Also still seem to have hair elsewhere too! I don't know if I should expect to finish without losing it all! I have noticed some stiffness in one of my fingers hope it's not beginning of neuropathy! I see oncologist before chemo tomorrow so will ask! Terrible pict:(
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hello group! Somehow just saw this threadthread. I did the taxol weekly for 12 weeks with herceptin.
My side effects were minimal, and I went through a pseudomona infection through tout a good part of it, on lots of antibiotics trying to save the expanders.
For hair...mine thinned throughout and I didn't break into a wig until about 2/3rds of the way through. Kept my eyelashes and eyebrows. Three weeks after chemo....boom, everything left fell out. But new hairs were starting to grow, and little bitty eyelashes and brows were there, so it was short.
For this of you starting dose dense herceptin...I felt awful with it, like the flu. Mentioned it to my onc. He ran it over 90 minutes instead of 30. Helped a lot. Also said I could do it weekly or every two weeks if it helped. Didn't have to do that. Just some thong to keep in mind.
Sounds like you all are doing well. It is very tolerable in my opinion.
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I'm putting this cream on my legs 2x a day. Hope it works. I'm only at my 4th treatment Monday.
At what treatment did your hair start thinning? Sh...So far it doesn't seem like I'm losing any on my head. I just noticed, I don't have any on my arms!
Mary
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mine started at 17 days
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Fluffqueen,
Welcome to the thread! This thread has been so helpful and informative. A lot of nice ladies sharing and caring.
I am happy to hear from all that the effects of the treatment are minimal. Our MO's seem to work around the SE's to get us the the finish line!
Today is actually my 17th day. Just checked. I'm still okay as far as the hair goes.
This morning I noticed my face is clearing up from the cream. I'm not so sure about the legs yet. It's hard to tell. I think I'll need another day or so to see if the cream clears it. I still see the little red spots - maybe not as bad as yesterday, but they are still there.
Hugs
Mary
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Mary,
I noticed my hair coming out after Taxol/Herceptin #4. If I pulled on it gently it came out in my hand. It came out gradually not all at once. Not much left at this time. Like baby fuzz.
Dee
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Dee, it doesn't look bad at all. Well, treatment #4 is coming up for me. We'll see how it goes.
This is a great day for you! You must be so excited to be over with taxol.
Good luck on the Herceptin only journey!
Keep us posted.......
Mary
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Dee - Looking good! That's about when mine fell out. It grows on treatments one and two, but falls out on week four, the break, Herceptin only week. I just keep shaving it - it kind of comes in like a horseshoe, like what male baldness looks like. LOL.
Have a great weekend everyone!
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I was supposed to have #3 TH on Monday, but Sunday night I noticed swelling and redness in my right breast. So Monday, instead of #3 I got admitted to the hospital. Had my right tissue expander removed and am home now on a lot of heavy duty antibiotics. They won't do chemo while I'm on abx but I'm going in on Monday for herceptin only. I think I will do herceptin only for the next two weeks and then I will be back to TH. Disappointed to slow down my chemo. Disappointed to lose one of my tissue expanders. Disappointed too because my sister and her three year old flew in from cleveland to spend a week with me and I spent five of those days in the hospital.
Does anyone know if I will receive Benadryl with my infusion of only herceptin?
Happy to see all the good news on this thread!
Lynn
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lynn - sorry about the expander loss - been there, done that. I did not receive any pre-meds for Herceptin only infusions.
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Yes, I was told no premeds for Herceptin only. I had my last TH Thursday and start Herceptin only next Thursday. No more steroids or Benadryl. One made me hyper and the other made me sleepy.
dee
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Lynn, I am so sorry to hear what you had been going through. They'll have you back on track. Feel better soon.
Dee, Yay, you made it to the finish line with Taxol! What a nice relief.
I posted earlier and put a picture of myself. I don't understand why it didn't post. I'll try again.
Mary
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My first selfie!
Here is a picture after treatment #3. This may be a different story next week at this time.
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Good selfie! Mine always look awful. Your hair is about as short as mine was when I started.
What SEs are you having so far?
Dee
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Dee, you look great! We're never satisfied the way we look in pictures. My hair was always short, but before treatment, I went super short - and really liking it. I love the idea of not having to blow dry it. It will be interesting to see if after treatment #4, if my hair thins/falls out. I do see a few strands coming out. My wig is sitting on my dresser and waiting to take over.
So far, the only SE's I'm dealing with are a few pimples on my face from the steroids, a rash that appeared on my legs (not itchy). I don't know what drug that's from. And at times reflux which I take a pepcid. Other than that, I seem to be okay. My most tired day is Thursday - 3 days after treatment. The week goes by so fast. I can't believe it's Sunday tomorrow - and the next day is treatment day. I'm drinking lots of water and walking on my treadmill everyday. Well, almost everyday - not Mondays or Thursdays. I think every little bit helps.
Mary
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Good morning everyone!
Has this happened to anyone?
Last night, we had the a/c on in the bedroom. Went to bed and was freezing. Was concerned if I had a temperature. So I took my temperature and it read 96! I got concerned about it being low. This morning, I took the temp and it read 98. 2 hours later, took it and it read 97.7. I don't know if this is any concern or if it was caused by the a/c. I put a call into the MO. I'm sure the dr on call will call me back. I am holding off walking on the treadmill since I don't know what that issue is all about. Did anyone run a low temp??
Thanks.
Mary
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Yes, my temp was often below 98.6 at my treatments. I am usually cold anyway. Probably was the ac. My MO or nurse never said anything.
Dee
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