Neoadjuvant TCHP - Post Results Here
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Steph, I had to stop at 5 due to neuropathy. My MO said there is an ongoing trial that is showing 4 to be as effective as 6. I was uncomfortable about stopping, but she told me I got plenty of chemo.
Hugs, hope things resolve for you!
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I had my midway thru chemo breast MRI today and from the preliminary report it looks like TCHP regimen has been working. The tumor cannot be seen. Hopefully the final report will agree. At diagnoses I also had about 8-10cm of DCIS that has been shrinking. I was surprised to hear that. According to my breast surgeon it is the targeted therapies (Perjeta and Herceptin) that can get to the DCIS.
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Wahoo, SugarCakes! Great news for you and congratulations.
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Mye, congratulations! That's great news. I'm on the same regimen you are and will have my 2nd treatment on July 30. Hope I get as good a response as you once I reach midway. -Barbara
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Hi Barbara, I was so relieved and grateful. My BS told me she was not surprised. She has been seeing this type of response very frequently. I hope that you will have a great response and that it means good long term prognosis for all of us as well.
Hope TCHP is not being too hard on you. My first two rounds were pretty tough, the third and fourth no too bad. I think mostly because I started getting Emend with my premeds.
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hey ladies! I've been meaning to post on this board that I had a complete response to tchp at surgery a few weeks ago! Got the pathology back and the good news on my 38th birthday. Whoop whoop!
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Congratulations Raleighgirl! That is wonderful news!! Will you still need radiation
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did all of you guys do 6 treatments?? I finished 5 and I think I'm done. My body has had it.
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Alibeths, I felt the same way after 5 treatments and I talked to my MO about it. He gave me an extra week off and said he'd do a reduction round 6 and left it up to me. The break was wonderful and re-energized me enough to take on round 6. The slight dose reduction made it much more tolerable. I'm happy I was able to complete all 6 tx.
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I still have to have radiation. It's all based on the original diagnosis, not response. I'm ok with it. I'll do whatever I have to do to live a long life for my 14 month old and 2 year old.
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Raleighgirl, totally agree. If radiation will lower chance of recurrence even by a few percent I would want to do it. Being there for my now 6 year old is the only thing I am hoping and praying for since I was diagnosed. God bless you and your little ones.
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good luck mye! I am feeling so much better...four weeks post surgery, and 11 weeks post chemo. Hair and eyebrows/lashes are growing back and I feel good. You will too!
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Congratulations, raleighgirl! That is good news and so happy for you.
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StephMoen
I had good results with only 4 cycles. I chose this because of the SE, neuropathy and blurry vision. I think you will do well with 5. Some had complete response. Listen to your body! I got an infection after chemo in my sentinel node biopsy site and was septic too. I was hospitalized for 5 days in May. It has been a battle. Good luck!
PMR53
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Thanks for the info ladies part of me just want to be like suck it up do the last one so you don't have any regrets and the other part is like f$@k I can't do this anymore!! I will talk to my mo Friday see what she suggests congrats on all the good results everyone has posted sohappy this regimen is working so well!!!
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Had surgery (lumpectomy) 2 weeks ago and had complete response to TCHP, no remaining cancer found in breast or lymph nodes. Horray! Now on to radiation. Herceptin will continue until February 2016. I am triple positive and had two lymph nodes involved, so the chances were less for me to achieve PCR but I got there! I feel great and my hair is growing back. Good luck to all of you - you will get there too!
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TexasToast, congrats!!! I'm happy to read you had such a good response.
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Texastoast, thanks for sharing this fantastic news with us!! So happy for you :-
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so happy for you texastoast!!
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Congrats again, Raleighgirl, on your complete response! Do you know when you'll start radiation? I meet with my RO for the first time, tomorrow.
Got the drains out today after 16 days. Woohoo!!!
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Sugarcakes, drains out is certainly a day to celebrate. Congrats!
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sugarcakes,
So happy you got your drains out. They are so uncomfortable! I start radiation on August 17. I go in August 5 for X-rays, tattoos , etc. I'll have my exchange three to six months after radiation is over. I'm so surprised you have your exchange before radiation!
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the PS estimates I'll start radiation mid September. I can't wait to see what the RO says tomorrow. The RO and PS haven't talked to each other yet. I was thinking late August and was going to ask that it be put of until after Labor Day. My sister is getting married on St. Augustine's beach in FL and I'm in the wedding.
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I'm jumping in here:)
Congrats Texastoast! Great news.
Sugarcakes drains out is so freeing. I hated mine so much. I go for recon in October and am wondering about whether I get them again. Pretty sure I do...
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What kind of recon are you doing, jumbledbamboo?
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Hi, I am on my fifth round of 6 TCHP and this time it's been as bad if not worse than the first round. My main side effects complaints are nausea/vomiting, heartburn and other digestive issues. This is even with Emend, Zofran, Compazine. It feels like toxic overload, with the toxins not having any place to go anymore. Have any of you of you have tried to deal with the last rounds differently than the first to get rid off the cumulative toxicity. If so what helped? My acupuncturist is suggesting mung bean broth. I am sure there are different things to try to help the body get rid of some of the junk. It almost seems necessary at this point. I am really dreading the next round. Thanks so much.
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Mye - I agree, round 5 was a bitch. By that point I was insisting that I got an extra liter of fluid the day of chemo. Then another liter of fluid the next day when I went back for the Neulasta shot. Then another liter of fluid a week from the infusion. I couldn't get enough water down to hydrate properly & flush the toxins, so this is how I handled it. BTW - after round 5 is when I started serious neuropathy. If you have those symptoms, you doc can decrease the amount of taxotere for # 6.
But interestingly - # 6 wasn't as bad. Maybe I was just so ready to be done.
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Thanks MinusTwo. I don't have nerooathy as much, but muscle twitching. My eyelids and random twitches in my hands. I am definitely not drinking enough. I can't get it down or in for that matter, and water tastes yuck right now. That is fantastic that you got your onc to give you those extra fluids. I must have helped greatly. I tried to get my onc to give me fluids, but she only agreed to do it once, the first round, reluctantly. She didn't seem to think I needed it and told me there was a shortage. I didn't feel like arguing with her but was surprised and disappointed.
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Not much my doc could argue with since I lost 60 lbs with the Big D. It was fluids or the hospital. Yes, there really was (is?) a shortage, but it didn't kick in until later in the year when i was doing Herceptin only. But I did get extra fluid during most of those infusions also. You can do one more mye. Hang in there.
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I'm surprised hearing about a fluid shortage for post chemo sessions. I had 6 sessions of TCHP (2/3 - 5/19/15) with Neulasta shot the following day. Starting with the 2nd session I had 3 consecutive days of extra fluids along with Kytril (anti-nausea med), after each chemo session starting the day after the Neulasta shot. Looking back I think it made a huge difference in my ability to handle SEs. My MO said that drinking lots of water, even though it helps, isn't always utilized by the body as efficiently as when getting an IV infusion of fluids.
I am so glad to have that behind me, yet there were SEs after chemo that I was surprised by - like on-going fatigue, feet & ankles swelling up like balloons anytime I sat for a period of time or did much walking. I am almost 11 weeks out from last chemo now & that has improved a lot. I still have a lot of fatigue but I'm sure that also has to do with surgery for BMX & expander recon on 6/29. If I had required radiation post surgery, my PS also would have completed both recon with expanders & the exchange to implants first. He said there are less frequent complications when done that way & he has had most successful outcomes doing it in this order especially if radiation is to follow.Thankfully, I had a pCR and will not require radiation, confirmed by my RO. I was so relieved, because even though I heard this from 4 other physicians, I really wanted to know what the RO thought, because initially it was still discussed as a option.
Other things that have really helped me post surgery is requesting & getting a home health referral at time of surgery. This is one thing you may have to request your BS to order for you because they don't always think of it. I had a home health RN daily for 10 days - both for Lovenox injections & drain assessments (had 4). I also had PT from the very beginning & now that they have discharged, I will continue with outpatient PT.At this point I still have continuing herceptin infusions (through Jan,2016), have one more expander refill to go, exchange surgery for implants, ongoing PT 2xwk, and who knows what else is in my future?. I'm just glad I've gotten through this far on my journey, because at the beginning, everything was so overwhelming & I couldn't even imagine getting this far down the road. I'm even starting to grow some hair back on my head although it's still just fuzz.
So, everyone out there going through this now, just keep on going, take one day at a time, sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other, because this too shall pass. Love & hugs to all having to go through this process.
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