Starting Chemo December 2019
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Good luck Marmotka! You can do this! 👍
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good luck Marmotka, we are here with you! I was told that the taxol is what can cause neuropathy but I am not sure about the icing-have heard of it in different posts but have not asked the doctors!
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Hi Marmotka...... I’m taking Taxotere which is in the Taxol family. Neuropathy is a side effect. So I took a big ice pack from former Physical Therapy and put it under my feet when they started the Taxotere and for my hands I took two small bags of frozen peas and held them thru the taxotere.... and ate ice chips to help prevent mouth sores. I have only had one treatment but I plan to continue this process through out(4 in all). I packed all that up in a cooler. I dunno if this helps answer your question.. so far I don’t feel any neuropathy going on at all
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Keeping you all in my thoughts and sending healing light.
Good luck on Friday Maryjv. For me it was a relief to get all the biopsies, tests, etc out of the way and treatment started. I do much better knowing what I'm dealing with.
Short of a slight headache have had no side effects from first infusion on Monday.
Haven't, however, come to terms with hair loss issue and try not to focus on it but it's difficult not to.0 -
Thanks Kat! It has been a nice day off from any apts...whew these last two months have been a whirlwind and I have not even started chemo! Looking forward to Friday-my 7 yr old daughter Annabel has a Christmas performance, can’t wait to see her ❤️ Sending my love and prayers to all of my family here🙏💜💖
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Hi all, AC #2 knocked me out again...nausea, headache, fatigue so far. I’m going back tomorrow for fluids and antinausea meds. Hopefully that will get me over the hump for Christmas.
Hair is shedding like crazy but I can’t being myself to shave it just yet. I am day 15.
Marmotka - I was told the same as someone else above - icing not needed during AC. I just ordered my booties and all that for my first Taxol/Herceptin that will be at the end of January
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Hi all. Day 3 of round 1 TC. I am not doing so well today. I feel very tired and I have body aches all over my back and back of my neck. At least I don’t have nausea. 😔.
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Hi everyone, I had my first AC I this afternoon which lasted less than an hour. It went well but I started being very dizzy by the end of it and by the time I got home I had to lie down. I slept for an hour. It's like I am under a steel roller. Like I'm being pressed down, same feeling as going under anesthesia. It's not painful but I definitely feel out if it.
Bejeweled, hope the extra fluids and meds will help. Hang in there!
Thanks everyone for responses on icing extremeties. I did not do it, but I did suck on some ice chips throughout. I took cinnamon sticks to smell while they flushed my PICC line and it helped.
Already some nausea but ginger lozenges and tea seem to work.
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Hi Ladies,
Glad to read about your experiences so far. I got a bonus at work today, so I’m going to give the cold caps a try. My port goes in tomorrow, hope it’s not too uncomfortable, but with weekly chemo coming up, it makes sense.
Best of luck to those that have started m I had a heck of a time with nausea on AC in the past, so I understand your pain. This time, the neuropathy seems like the major concern p, but I’ll try to stay positive since many advances have been made since 2007 and this time I’ll be getting a different cocktail: Taxol, Herceptin and Perjeta.
Thinking good thoughts and praying for all the women here!
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Oh my friends🙏❤️ Wishing you all lots of rest and relaxation during your time of need. Hope the medications help and it hurts my heart to know you are in pain...sending my love to you all💖💜
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Hello everyone. My name is Amy. I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer on the left breast on 12/3/19. I've already been through so many tests and procedures. The original mammo. The ultrasound and following biopsy of the tumor. The original u/s showed an enlarged lymph node. That was tested. Result: no cancer there. Meet treatment team and get the plan. Plan: First stop: chemotherapy with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide every two weeks for four cycles. Depending on response treatment could continue on three different paths. No response to current chemo involves surgery then radiation. If I respond to current chemo the next treatment depends on whether or not I have BRCA1 or BRCA2, either way more chemo (type is dependent on BRCA status), then surgery, then radiation. So far I've undergone Blood tests. Physical Exams. Genetic Testing. Then the MRI. Two more suspicious nodes found there. PET scan showed some activity in tumor and additional suspicious nodes found in the MRI but thankfully no where else in the body. One more biopsy on one of the suspicious nodes. Result: no cancer there. Port placement done. I have already undergone my first chemo treatment on 12/17.
My body's initial response was nausea accompanied by being zonked the first day, along with about no appetite. Followed by more nausea day two and no appetite. Day three is feeling so far a bit better with the tiredness, but now I have reflux and still lack appetite.
Whew. That's a lot to unload. I'll look forward to conversing with you.
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Welcome Amy, we are here with you on this journey❤️ I also had a lot of testing and scares and now finally everything has prepared me to start chemo 12/30...until then I will get the house ready and get all the meds and recommendations prepared for chemo start...hoping you feel better soon and think-one chemo down! 🙏❤️
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Hi Amy....welcome to this group. I’m so sorry you find yourself needing to be here but glad you found us. We are here for you. I have had one out of 4 treatments.....gotport placed today and my second treatment is Monday. Merry Christmas to me!🎁
If you feel comfortable doing so, you can go to your settings and enter all kinds of data about your diagnosis so you don’t have to repeat it each time you post. I’ve found it helps others to know how to help me
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Port placement for me was very sore the next day, but I promise it will clear up soon. Just follow the weight lifting/push/pull restrictions and listen to your body, it'll be ok. I used a combination of ice packs and Tylenol to manage discomfort. You'll thank yourself for the port.
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Thank you. Chemo was pretty high anxiety for me, but my nurses have been amazing. The anti-nausea meds they gave me are helpful and there for a reason. From me to you, what also helped was to snack frequently, drink lots of fluids, have ginger ale around and use ginger essential oil dabbed on cotton balls attached to my clothes. I am post day 3 and feeling better already, just lacking appetite still.
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Day 5 Round 1 TC. Today I feel a bit better. No achy muscle pain. Last time I took Tylenol was at 4 am. I still feel tired but not like the other days. I am a bit congested. Not sure if it's due to the treatment. Anyway it's tolerable for the time being
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Eigna....so glad you are feeling better.... it will get better for the rest of your cycle, or at least that’s how it’s been for me....
Day 2 after port placement here.... it sore and red....no fever....anyone else have redness around port? I bet it’s going to be slow to heal...... dreading Monday..
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Margo, I had soreness and redness for 2 days after port placement, reached out to doctor and he thought it was normal post placement...look out for warm ness to touch and fever for sure! Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to the doctor...my doc ordered an antibiotic Just in case (which I had to stop Day 3 r/t rash on face) but port is much better now (one week later), getting used to it!
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Hello Everyone,
I had my annual mammo in July. I got a call back to get a diagnostic mammo due to new calcifications noted in my right breast. Dx mammo done in Aug with recommendation for biopsy. Needle biopsy done one week later with results on 28 Aug of pleomorphic LCIS. At that moment I knew I wanted to have a bilateral mastectomy. I was hoping to get ahead of this disease as I had already had atypical ductal hyperplasia on the left in 2010. I also lost my mom to BC in 1994, her sister in 1995 and my 35 year old niece a few years ago. When I consulted with the surgeon he wanted to do another BX because he was conserned that the CNB was imited and there could be more hiding inside. When I told him that I wanted a bilateral, he agreed. I had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction on 24Oct and the pathology is in my tag line. While I was concern about upgrade I was not prepared for all that was found. My SO told me at followup that electing the DMX save me a lot of step in getting a very aggressive cancer out of my body on the right (TN IDC with micromet to one sentinal lymph node & SEVEN ER/PR+/HER2-ILC tumors no lymph invovelment) and more ADH on the left. I had a power port place on 27Nov, and started DDAC chemo on 9Dec. Like all of you I have been full of anxiety about this journey. So far I have had very little side effects. Just a little sore throat for about 2 day and I gargle 3-4 time a day alternating sodium bicarb rince and Biotene mouth wash. I am cold capping so hopping for the best with my hair. If this is as bad as it gets...I will be a happy woman.
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Mary,
My port experience was by far the worse and most painful part of this experience so far. I had an allergic reaction to the occulsive dressing and ended up with what looked like a second degree burn all the way up to my neck and itching nearly out of my mind. I was miserable for a week and a half!
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welcome Gearup! Glad you found us, of course none of us are glad to be here but happy for all the support I have gotten here.
Sounds like you have had a LOT going on! I definitely need to look up some abbreviations you used.
I’m glad your chemo is going well.
My port incision has surgical glue , no dressing of any kind. It is very bruised tonight and sore but Advil seemed to help a lot. I’ll be getting my second treatment on Monday., after which I will be half way through!! Yay!!
Keep us posted on how you are doing. I hope your cold capping is successful. I am doing ice packs on hands and feet to decrease neuropathy
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Welcome gearup! So sorry for your port experience but glad to hear you have not had lots of side effects with chemo! I have heard of cold capping but since I am prone to headaches worried that this will just cause more!! Let us know how the cold capping goes!!0
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Hi everyone,
I've been reading all your posts. Don't hesitate to contact me privately.
I'm at Day 4 after first round of AC. Boy, this stuff is strong!
Day 2, like many have reported was almost normal aside from the nausea but days 3 and now 4 are filled with strange aches and pains that feel deep into my tissues. It really feels like im going through cellular breakdown and reconstruction. Yesterday I had 3 naps, and now just woke up from a 10 hour sleep! Strange because I'm normally an insomniac.
And no headaches so far at all while I'm prone to them. I did a water fast 45 hours before the infusion which I continued about 20h after. I'm also on lots of supplements. But who knows exactly what is helping and not? I try to drink at least 3 litres a day of quality water.
Each day brings something unexpected. It's not so bad but I dread the idea I will have to go through this, or worse, three more times. And then the taxol...
And BTW, I decided not to cold cap at last minute even though I had all the material. Now I just returned everything. It was just too much to handle. I'll soon join the sexy bald women's club!! Bye bye long blonde hair.
Wishing a smooth Sunday to all of you.
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marmotka, thanks for sharing! May i ask why the water fasting? Also...any dietary tips or changes you have made??? I am taking fish oil, turmeric, multivitamins and melatonin...I have cut out red meats, cut down on processed carbsand making sure I eat lots of veggies!
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My nurse said no vitamin c or multivitamin it interferes with chemo. So I googled it. It's another controversial issue with Polar opposite opinions. Based on Sloan study. I'm going to stay away. Don't want to decrease efficiency of chemo. And my treatment is based on Sloan.
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Thanks JRNJ! So much back and forth..super confusing when we are trying to make sure we stay healthy and prepare for chemo the best we can
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I know it’s so confusing. I thought they had breast cancer treatment under control. I didn’t expect so many different opinions. I’m day 6 after 2nd treatment and feeling down today. First treatment I felt “normal” by day 6. Today I feel dizzy and tired. And I’ve lost a lot of hair (not supposed to with cmf) 3 more months of this. Hope I feel “normal” Tomorrow to enjoy xmas break with kids.
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I had been doing intermittent fasting for 4 years before being diagnosed and had read many times how fasting prior to chemo helped protect healthy cells while boosting the effectiveness on cancer cells. This is well demonstrated in mice. You could Google Valter Longo, one of the first to study this. There are currently clinical trials in the USA with exactly this regimen ( 72 hour fasts) (you can Google and you may even be eligible as these are active).
I am seeing a naturopath oncologist and the supplements will vary depending on which chemo you are getting. My naturopath is also pro fasting. My oncologist did not mind as long as I'm eating well the rest of the time.
For AC, I'm taking 3g Omega 3, 400mg cq10, hawthorn, 4000 IU vitamin d, vitamin b complex, collagen, 100 mg rhodiola, 3g turkey tail mushrooms, digestive enzymes, probiotic, milk thistle, l-glutamine, 5g spirulina, melatonin. And I'm probably forgetting some. You may be interested in the book " life over cancer" by naturopath Keith Block.
As for turmeric, it's not recommened for AC but there is a study showing it might make taxol more effective. I will resume taking it once I start taxol.
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wow! Thank you for all of this valuable insight! Will find out if I can find a naturopath oncologist here in San Antonio! Until then, will change up my supplements..
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Hello everyone. I have been reading posts re: Chemo (AC-T) over the last couple of days and I have found that your insights are helping me with my anxiety as I prepare for my first AC treatment on Jan 21. Thank you all very much.
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