Starting Chemo September 2021
Comments
-
Congrats, OldLadyBlue!! I bet if feels great to put the chemo behind you and the next couple weeks will be tolerable knowing they are the last of the side effects.
Spades--we will compare notes but I'm happy you feel so much better with the weekly!
Debbie, Mindthief, Sarah and all--hope you are all hanging in there!
I'm off to #5 in the morning. I see the oncologist this visit and cannot wait to ask her about my hair, which is growing in with a VENGEANCE! I don't know if it's a cruel tease due to the two treatment break or an anomaly and it's actually really growing back not even halfway through this round, but I'm hoping it stays and continues. It's soft like a puppy's belly and about 1/8-1/4 inch long, depending on location. I can't stop touching it!!! My eyebrows and eyelashes completely disappeared this last week, so I think the chemo is still working...
0 -
Oh wow, SO! I just did my first herceptin only yesterday and have had a bunch of hip and back pain that I was attributing to arthritis. Will have to watch and see if it correlates with herceptin.
If it's muscle for you, have you tried Magnesium? I had awful muscle cramps on herceptin + taxol, and that helped relieve it. Hope you get some relief soon. Pls keep us posted.
0 -
Congrats oldladyblue on your last TC. That's a big milestone. I am counting the days to my last TCHP chemo on 12/23.
0 -
oldladyblue - hooray for your last treatment! I hope you have an easy recovery this time and are feeling great by Christmas.
Spades - so glad that the weekly taxol is proving easier for you
Hummingbird - I'm the midst of losing my lashes and brows right now, and have been wondering where everyone was at with that. Crazy that you're having so much hair regrowth! Mine's coming in a little but not in any noticeable way yet.
I've been quite a bit better this cycle with the extra steroids. Very tired and pretty hobbled by the end of the day, but well enough in the morning to go for walks, do some housework, etc. Under normal circumstances I'd say I feel like crap; right now, I'll take it! I go for my Covid booster on Monday; hoping the doesn't interfere with what should be my "good days" before I head into my last taxol cycle next Friday.
Sarah_78 - how have you been? Any luck setting up appointments with surgeons?
Those of you doing herceptin only, how long will you continue on that protocol?
0 -
hi mindthief. Herceptin is for one year (unless used for metastatic). So, I did taxol plus H for 3 months. Now I am in the beginning of my 9 months of H.
0 -
SmoothOperator - that’s a long haul! I hope your MO agrees to modify your protocol a bit to prevent the muscle issues.
0 -
Hi ladies,
I am hanging in there, thanks for asking Hummingbird. My 5th THCP (one before the last one) is on Friday, so it is my feeling-alright phase which I am trying to enjoy before Friday.
mindthief's right, I am in the process of setting as many appointments as possible with surgeons, only could get one phone number I should call tomorrow and hopefully meetings are then in January. The best university hospitals are 30 min and 50 min drive whereas my hospital is only 5 min from where we live. But I don't want to do the surgery with my onc, you know, he isn't very interested in me and my situation, at least this is what I feel.
smoothoperator, let us know how Herceptin alone is for you. I will probably be on it too after the surgery, that is if I can achieve PCR. If not it will be Kadycla, which makes me so nervous. It is chemo agent that bounds to HER2 receptors, but after all it is chemo and I read quite a number of people had to stop due to toxicity to lungs *sigh*.
AMG2, muscle pain is written as a common side effect of Herceptin, so watch out for that and let your onc know.
WIsh you all smooth last rounds of chemo for the following month, hope everyone is enjoying the festive season as much as possible.
0 -
Hi Sarah-78 - I am Day 12 of Cycle 5 of TCHP - we are "chemo twins" a little separated as you know....and new things I've noticed in the last couple of days I hadn't before. My feet and lower legs are tingly from time to time - almost like they fell asleep and just coming out of pins and needles. Nothing bad, just an observation. And I find myself getting really exhausted from doing things that didn't bother me before. Super exhausted to the point of having to stop and sit to rest. I'm not surprised really because they did say the effects are cummulative - but I hadn't really noticed any of these before. I have a feeling Cycle 6 will be more challenging but thankfully its the last one!!!!!! Bring on Dec. 23rd. My oncology nurse (who also went through chemo herself) said the last one does leave you feeling beat up. So I am mentally preparing myself for this. We'll see.....hope everyone is doing well....
0 -
Hi Debbie, dear chemo twin :-)
I am just 2 weeks behind you with only 3 days left for my 5th infusion. Tingling sounds like a light neuropathy, try to massage your legs and feet? Naturopathy department recommended me to massage the soles of the feet with electrical tooth brush.
I hear you on the exhaustion, first week after the infusion I feel exhausted even when someone tells me something a little excited. Gotta love so called double citizens, nurses, doctors who went through this ordeal themselves. They are always so helpful and great at calming patients down.
Smoothoperator, how are you dealing with only Herceptin? Any side effects? I can't wait to get over the surgery and be there myself.
mindthief how did your booster go? I will have to get boosted in January before my surgery.
Hope everyone else is hanging in there *hugs*
0 -
Sarah_78 - I had no problems with the booster; just a sore arm for a day. When they first talked to me about it, it kind of seemed like overkill but now with the way omicron is exploding I’m relieved I got it done!
0 -
dear Sarah_78, I’m four weeks out from Taxol and getting my second dose of Herceptin tomorrow.
I was pretty sore the first two weeks of the last dose. Tight calves, hips sore, Achilles’ tendon tightness. It eased up the third week mostly, but I am prepared for it again. I hope I’m wrong and it’s better
0 -
Sarah_78 - I got my booster a few weeks ago....and just had a bit of lethargy and sleepy, slight sore arm but it was better the next day. All good!
0 -
hi All!
I had my booster a couple weeks ago and also only had a sore arm. I had almost no symptoms after my first low dose taxol, but this week I definitely feel less well. My stomach hurts, my appetite is low, muscle soreness/tightness, and my heart rate goes sky high the smallest exertion! Not horrible but definitely not as good as last week! 7 more feels like ALOT!
Mindthief- last one for you on Friday!!
0 -
That's not good, Spades. Might it be something else?
I've been very consistent with the same symptoms each week, most notably the aches from Monday through Wednesday. I have even started to drive myself to/from infusion. I get a little neuropathy in my index finger and thumb on each hand and also my tongue, but that lasts just a couple days, too, and is pretty faint. Are you noticing any hair growth? I know we are all different but getting hair in makes everything else seem better
Today I see the naturopathic oncologist and have a mile-long list of questions. Most of them revolve around radiation and what alternatives there may be. I know he will tow the pharma line, but I can then research on my own. Radiation can cause cancer so it feels counter intuitive to use it to fight cancer. I honestly haven't thought about the next part yet but I guess now is the time.Also seeing the plastic surgeon, although it's too early to consider anything. I was dead set on not having any more surgery but am now a little more open to it since after the infection, my cancer boob incision has somewhat collapsed on itself and is now about a half inch deep divet. I feel so hacked up.
0 -
Hi ladies! Last treatment for me tomorrow! I'm so ready to be done; although I'm too paranoid a person to say this is my “last" chemo, I'm going to celebrate it being the last of this treatment plan. I just learned I'll also be getting a zoladex injection tomorrow and every month to make sure I stay in menopause while we wait for my ovaries to be removed. Fun fun.
What is everyone planning for the holidays? I was looking forward to maybe some small, cautious visiting with family but omicron is really sticking it to us. The chief medical officer of health here is indicated cancer patients basically shouldn’t be leaving their houses.
0 -
Ring that bell tomorrow, mindthief (even if your center doesn’t have one. You’ve done the work. Enjoy the accomplishment.
0 -
Yay, mindthief, congrats for the big milestone. So happy for you.
You have radiation planned or you are done with the treatment?
I have 5th out of 6 tomorrow, will be finishing on the 7th of January. Today was very stressful though, I went for a regular echo due to Herceptine and cardiologist told me there was fluid around the heart. I didn't know what to think of it, until they checked last echo and seems I had it 3 months ago too (last doctor ignored it). They explained mine is a little bit more than normal whatever that means. They will check again in 3 weeks but I recall they said something like this 10 years ago when they checked too. I am not expecting it to resolve but who knows.
Debbie when is your last infusion?
I finally made appointments with 3 surgeons. 10th Jan and 12th Jan. I hope I find someone who is more interested than my onc, then again it is not a challenge by any means
Hummingbird, I feel you about radiation causing cancer, since my breast cancer is probably caused by radiation I got 10 years ago at the edge of my breast. Then again, radiation is very effective in killing any stray cells that might have remained. Cancer treatment is such a balancing act between long term SE and making sure it doesn't come back. So hard to make decisions.
0 -
Sarah_78 - yes, I'll be doing 4 weeks of radiation in January. Just a happy coincidence that's my break in between falls over the holidays, so I'll have some time with my kids and husband. That's so stressful about your echo results. Hopefully it's just one of those random idiosyncrasies and nothing dangerous.
SmoothOperator - thank you! And I believe they do have a bell
Hummingbird - how did your appointment with the naturopathic oncologist go? I don’t know that there’s an alternative to radiation, but I understand your concern. I hope at least they could give you some guidance on how to limit any damage during radiationtreatment if you do need to go that route.
0 -
Congrats Mindthief!! I hope you will check back with us from time to time after "graduating" from our thread. It seems as if everyone will be done by end of January, though. My last infusion will be 1/28 after they added the two missed ones back in. I don't mind because those two weeks were wonderful for my mental state. Tomorrow I will be officially halfway through the Taxol and will be thinking of you beaming as you walk out DONE.
I met with both the plastic surgeon and the naturopath yesterday. Apparently, the scar from my lumpectomy (which is about 2-3 inches long) caved in after the infection resolved and the drain was removed, so now there's a long divet that is almost a half inch deep. She said after radiation, your boob is "frozen in time" and typically raises up on the chest an inch or more and hardens some. It will stay that way forever. In essence, the divet will always look like that and there is no way to fix it after radiation. So now I need to decide if I should have a scar repair surgery prior to radiation, which will delay it for a month. Of course, this will need oncologist approval. She also said most of the restorative work after surgery and rads is trying to get the non cancer boob to look more like the altered boob. Do I really want two more surgeries? Probably not. Although I feel somewhat pressured that this scar has a limited window of opportunity to correct if I want to. Oh boy.
Naturopath said exactly what I thought and is a strong proponent for radiation. The essence of what he said is "breast cancer is common and well-funded with good protocols to treat. Sometimes people say that if you're going to get cancer, it's the best one to get because of that. However, it has one of the most likely chances of recurrence so we throw everything and anything at it to decrease that chance." So, six weeks of radiation starting late February unless I go the scar repair route, then late March.
How are you feeling Spades?
0 -
Hi Sarah_78 - my last infusion is next Thursday 23rd....I'm so happy to have this part of things behind me. I meet with my surgeon on the 4th Jan and hope to have a date for surgery soon after that. Double masectomy. I am ready to move along and get this all done.
Hope that the fluid thing is nothing of concern Sarah - sounds like it may have been there all along....hope your #5 goes well tomorrow. You're nearly done too!!! Yippee!!!!
0 -
And I’m done! The bell was alarming loud, lol. I have a couple weeks off now to recover and try not to stew, and then I’ll start radiation and later in January an AI. I’ll definitely check back in with you guys to see how everyone’s holding up, but if I’m not around in the next week, happy holidays to you all
0 -
CONGRATULATIONS MINDTHIEF!!! What a tough road… good for you for making it through. Enjoy the break between treatments. What’s AI?
Hummingbird- that is some seriously tough decision making. I wish you luck in figuring it out. I’m doing ok for today.. last week it hit me on Sunday so I’ll see how I am tomorrow! 6 more.. I’m so nervous about delays in treatment making it go longer..
Debbie.. the countdown is on! 23rd will be here and done before you know it. Such a big milestone. I wish you well with your surgery and recovery
0 -
mindthief, you did it! Congrats!!!!
0 -
Congratulations Mindthief - enjoy your break and your holidays!!!! All the best!
0 -
Hello ladies, I am glad to hear things are moving along pretty well overall for each of you. Congrats on finishing Mindthief, big milestone for sure. Wishing everyone good days and happy upcoming holidays. Next year will be better for all of us.
0 -
Thanks everyone! Day 4 right now and I feel like garbage, but at least it’s done
Spades - AI is aromatase inhibitors, the hormone blockers they use for post-menopausal women. For a few different reasons, my MO and I have agreed to go that route over tamoxifen. I hear horror stories about side effects but I’m trying to go into it with an open mind and open for the best
0 -
Congrats mindthief and Debbie for graduation :-)
Definitely what oldladyblue says, 2022 should come and make it all better.
0 -
Cycle 5 hit me so hard, for the first time couldn't set a foot out today since I spent the night between restroom and stomach cramps, I was so exhausted. Sometimes I think, what have I done to deserve this... I know it isn't the right mind but mine spirals there lately.
Can't eat much, hoping to bounce back until Christmas but looks unlikely.
I hope everyone else is doing better, wish you all a wonderful time with your family and friends.
0 -
Aww Sarah, hope you start to feel better. Try and get some naps if you can, that seems to help me on a down day. I hope by Christmas Day you are much better. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I know it. Sending hugs and love to you and everyone.
0 -
Oh Sarah, so sad you aren't feeling well enough. I hope it gets better in the next few days. Be careful what you eat, perhaps that will help, some days I only ate hardboiled eggs, vanilla yogurt, oatmeal and applesause for each meal.
0
