TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
Comments
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Karen-on the diet...my onc said he had read many studies on raw foods during chemo, and he said there wasn't enough evidence to prove anything one way or another. His nurse manager, however, who was older, was just the opposite. She was a firm believer. Nothing cooked or warm tasted good to me. I had smoothies with kale, lots of salad, etc. I did not eat salad from restaurants when we ate out, however. I washed my veggies thoroughly at home and made my salads.
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I ate salads (that I made) all the time when I was on chemo. I was also doing nuelasta. What I read is things like raw veggies might be a problem if your counts are down and can't fight bacteria. I even read that spices shouldn't be eaten unless cooked. That would mean fresh ground pepper.
My onc said as long as I was doing nuelasta I could eat anything… even sushi!
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And mine never addressed the food issue until I rolled in with fresh veggies and dip and some fresh fruit while I was having chemo and caused the nurse manager to question me. Told her I had never heard anything one way or the other. That started a whole conversation among everyone.
Mine pretty much said the same thing as yours, Lago. If counts were down to a worrisome point, he would make recommendations. Otherwise, eat whatever I want but just make sure it is well washed.
Of course, I eneded up with pseudomonas, lol, which they think happened during surgery, but eating raw foods is a rare cause, so who knows.
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Karen, I had raw fruits and veggies during chemo but I only ate organic. I did make them myself though. I’m not sure if I 100% avoided them in restaurants, but it also depends a bit on the time of your cycle – your counts are usually lowest mid way, so that’s the time to be the most careful.
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I followed the instructions of the nurses/nutrition group and completely avoided salads during chemo. I'm a BIG salad eater so 3 weeks after final chemo, I had a HUGE salad and was so happy.
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Had 1st taxol and herceptin today! Iget herceprin weekly but taxol every 3 weeks...Im eating like a hog...pizza, ice Cream cake and chips and pretzels....Didint eat breakfast or lunch due to chemo and was my daughters birthday...but ate like a hog for Dinner must b the steroids
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Yea I ate fresh fruits and salads...on 4 treatments...now i should bc not getting neulasta with taxol/ herceptin ....so 3 more treatments to go! I hope this crap killed it all...
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ok lagoon..mine said on biospy path report Richard bloom 2 of possible 3
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You GO Karen! You'll do great. It isn't that awful, just kind of annoying in a time consuming way. I was still so chemo brained, I almost forgot to go some days. I'd be sitting at my desk at work thinking "now what else do I have to do today?" I never missed it though and like I said, the technicians were wonderful! I felt no pain, just kind of felt sad in that lonely dark room alone with that giant instrument.
So I'm battling insomnia once again, which I've struggled with now and there after rads, and I thought I'd post this fantastic link about bone loss in cancer patients. :-)
Arlene, I'm so hoping it is just a pulled, mad nerve. I have one going on now in my lumpectomy sided arm and I know I pi$$ed it off by putting my bra on wrong, but it is taking it's sweet time to heal.
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Ask your onc - He/she will refer you to a lymphodema physical therapist. I've met with one twice...she showed me how to do manual lymph drainage (massage) which has made a big difference. I'm also getting a compression sleeve to wear when I exercise or use my arm a lot. Mine is minimal but I want to stay ahead of it so it doesn't get worse. Good luck!
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Important newws in calcium supplements. You can get whiplash..
http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Calcium-supplements-may-not-prevent-bone-loss-in-women-with-breast-cancer-114814-1/0 -
Pbrain...thx..great comprehensive article on bone issues...
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Whiplash Ashla, lol!!
Back to the foods during chemo...I was vegan and about 60% of my diet was raw foods, raw juices etc. I had 6 cycles of chemo, only had neulasta once. I never had any issues with bacteria etc. I eat organic, but not always. I wash everything well, organic or not!0 -
I had three neulasta shots before I discovered they cost $9800 each! (and I do not have insurance), so I didn't have any more. But my counts were real good last blood test, so I figure I'm OK if I'm careful like you all said. Not sure how long the effects of chemo continue until you get back to normal. But I am going to the grocery store today and stock up!
I'm not too worried about the rads except I'm one of those fair skinned people who sun burn in 10 minutes. Got good info from the nurse about skin care, so I'll be ready. May be selected for a clinical trial, so that's kind of interesting.
Oh, and thank you all for your encouraging words.
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PBrain had to laugh at that one--u'd forget Rads.to funny.
I went to PT for (I forgot) maybe a month for managment and they taught me what to do on my own and I do wear a sleeve and hand thing and compression socks--but not religiously-they're so thick and warm, but I do do the simple excercises for this.
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Thanks everyone for the information on LE. Interesting when you call the offices and ask if they are LANA certified, many have no idea what you are referring to. I'm not 100% that it is LE because it doesn't hurt every day - today is just fine. But after my evening run, I'll see how it is. I'm going to see a physical therapist though. Thanks! I never expected this 2.5 years out from surgery but am aware it is a likelong risk.
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Pbrain, you made me laugh too! My image of you is of someone super organized, so to think of you nearly forgetting something like rads cracks me up!!
I've been seeing my PT twice a week since November for LE. I do the exercises at home too, but without these sessions the swelling gets out of control and my whole left did side is affected. I had no operations and no positive nodes and rads were for my spine, 3 months after I got LE. Just shows we're all at risk 😒
Nicky0 -
Arlene, my experience was that if you asked the question, they just started treating you as if you have it? My arms measured virtually the same, after I went to see one for one arm pain. She immediately wanted to order sleeves, etc. when I asked questions, she did not have good answers...and she had training.
So, I'm painting a picture for you... I'm coming down the stairs at midnight last night carrying four glasses with liquid. I put them in the sink, got a glass of water, and headed to the stairs for bed.
Suddenly....I hit a patch of water on the tile floor. Glass goes flying....arms, legs....flailing everywhere.....boom to the ground totally ungrateful. Household comes running.
Gingerly, I move. All seems well until I get to my foot....area of right big toe, two toes next to it, pad on base of foot. Sooooooo painful! Sleepless all night. Ended up in the ortho office today. Sprained big toe ( which already had arthritis), and the couple next to it. Area around it all inflamed from being mashed into the tile.
I am now in a boot until it all calms down. I was planning foot surgery on this foot in January. I know how bad it will hurt now. Holy cow.
Had to cancel my BS appt and rescheduled for next week. She called to say she anticipates everything being ok based on ultrasound and to take care of foot, but I had her chuckling.0 -
Interesting....
Andrew D. Seidman, MD, a professor of medicine at the Weill Cornell Cancer Center and an attending physician at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses breast cancer treatment with surgery and radiotherapy.
Seidman says that a study by Dr. Emiel J. Rutgers comes at a time when the oncology community has seen that it is possible to perform less surgery without putting patients at an increased risk of lymph node recurrence under the arm or in the axilla. In this study, patients with involvement of a sentinel lymph node were randomly assigned to undergo a complete axillary lymph node dissection or axillary radiotherapy.
The findings from this trial showed that the two approaches were equally effective in controlling breast cancer recurrence, but the radiotherapy led to substantially less swelling of the arm and hand (lymphedema) 1 year and 5 years afterward. Seidman says this represents a new option for patients.
Clinical Pearls
Less surgery does not equate to an increased risk of lymph node recurrence
In a trial, complete axillary lymph node dissection and axillary radiotherapy were equally effective in controlling breast cancer recurrence"
http://www.targetedhc.com/targeted-communications/Dr-Seidman-on-Surgery-and-Radiotherapy-for-Patients-With-Breast-Cancer0 -
Standard early breast cancer chemo regimens comparable on survival, but not toxicity
AUGUST 27, 2013
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A large trial comparing adjuvant anthracycline- and taxane-based chemotherapy in early stage breast cancer has shown no survival difference between the two, suggesting that any future progress in this area will come from therapies that target specific biologic types of breast cancer, rather than better chemotherapeutic regimens.
A third arm of the study that added gemcitabine to one of the regimens also showed no difference in survival.
"We have made huge progress in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer but have reached a point where the addition of other drugs used in a non-selected group of patients does not improve outcome and increases toxicity," lead author Dr. Sandra Swain, the medical director of the Washington Cancer Institute in Washington, D.C., told Reuters Health by email. "The era of these large nonspecific trials is over. The future is treatment based on the biology of the tumor with therapies directed at specific targets."
The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project conducted the large trial, which between 2004 and 2007 enrolled 4,859 women with node-positive early-stage breast cancer. The study was designed to compare optimal paclitaxel- and docetaxel-based regimens, as well as study the addition of gemcitabine to the paclitaxel regimen. Gemcitabine had previously been shown to improve outcomes in metastatic breast cancer when combined with paclitaxel.
Patients were randomly assigned to one of three regimens:
-six cycles of concurrently administered doxorubicin 50 mg/m2 plus cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2 plus docetaxel 75 mg/m2 every three weeks;
-four cycles of doxorubicin 60 mg/m2 plus cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2 every two weeks followed by four cycles of paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 every two weeks; or
-four cycles of doxorubicin 60 mg/m2 plus cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2 every two weeks followed by four cycles of paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 plus gemcitabine 2,000 mg/m2 every two weeks.
At five years, as reported online August 12 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, none of regimens led to a significant improvement over the others in either disease-free or overall survival.
Adverse events from drug toxicities, however, were different: the docetaxel regimen led to higher rates of neutropenia and diarrhea, while the paclitaxel-based regimens produced higher rates of sensory neuropathy.
Dr. Swain said she currently offers patients both the six-cycle regimen of docetaxel, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, as well as the four-cycle, dose-dense regimen of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel, explaining the potential adverse effects of each.
While targeted therapies like trastuzumab have improved the outcome for specific groups of patients such as those with elevated levels of HER2 protein in their tumors, few new options exist for other subgroups, Dr. Swain said.
When asked if there are currently any new options for HER2-negative early breast cancer patients - either biologic agents or new chemo regimens - Dr. Swain responded, "No, unfortunately not right now."
There is one study underway that adds everolimus to standard hormonal therapy in the adjuvant setting for patients with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, she added."
http://www.curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/news.showNewsArticle/id/13/news_id/37900 -
You are gonna hear alot about this subject in the future so if you haven't yet read about it...here ya go..
It's about poop. it's about poop tansplants too!
"NEWS FOCUS
MEDICAL RESEARCH
The Promise of Poop
Jop de Vrieze*
A controlled clinical trial published in January 2013 has shown that fecal transplants can help cure recurrent infections with Clostridium difficile. Researchers think patients with other diseases, too, may benefit from the procedure, but much more study is needed. Meanwhile, scientists are trying to understand the underlying mechanisms and hoping that, in the future, they will be able to transplant selected bacterial strains instead of human stool."0 -
Ashla u'r really going to town here--well believe it or not I knew all about C-diff--ALL ABOUT IT. LOL which I usually don't know much on here so I had to tell u that. And honestly having chemo before surgery, I thought gave the surgeon better advantage (if it worked) over the whole situation so they can get to more things easier than if u didn't have it--that it really didn't have much to do with recurring or much else as far as exactly what it means, cuz it seems every situation is different for surgery time. That's how simple I think. Whatever is easier.
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Camille...
I thought of you and Moon when I read it. This is a very serious medical procedure. Have your md's discussed it with you?0 -
Poop transplants. Now that is something
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Well I'm flattered u thought of us Ashla when u wrote about poop. We talked about it but I never had c-diff--that was just another thing they were looking for. But now I think I know why I had D for over 5 yrs---no tests either cuz my colon was climbing up my side, cuz now that it has and moved my liver into my ribs, I have D once in a while but everything is moved in my lower intestines and nowI have 2 hernias in ther instead of one so I think all this confusion is stopping my D. See Take with one hand and give with another. LOL And I don't even know if there is a name for this or if it's anything to give a second tought about. all I know is it's painful alot.
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Karen, I learned something interesting from my RO. He said his African American and Hispanic patients usually have much more of a problem with their skin during radiation than do us pale people. He said it is ionizing radiation, so it doesn't interact with melanin. So people with darker skin don't have the same protection that they do with UVA and UVB rays. My boobs have never seen the sunlight, are whiter than two little ghosts, and I did fine. :-)
I think I need a poop transplant. Barely made it on my mile walk with my doggy. I had to drag her inside and run to the poop-a-torium.
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Camille,
Lol!!!! i stepped in it that time, didn't I? You know what I meant though, right?
You have such a great sense of humor! I hope I didn't offend you.0 -
Sweet Ashla u could not offend me hahaha
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Poop transplants. Now I've heard everything.
My drama with getting into a LE massage therapist continues. Called my oncologist and she's out for a few days and I asked if the other oncologist could give me an order...well, no and not certain she will give you one either. ME - why would she not? Receptionist - some patients she doesn't want to have massage therapy so call your primary care physician. Ok, left 2 messages there and no response. Called several therapists who won't take me without an order from my doctor. Tomorrow is another day.
It didn't bother me at all today until after my evening fun run and judging by all the symptoms, it must be LE.
Darn, but things could be worse! 0 -
Arlene, sorry you don't get the apt.
And, yes, poop transfers were the tx I was taking about.
Guess. Who had to have 2 units of magnesium today when I went for my blood test today? Now I have to go back to 4 tablets a day. Back to the poop station! LOL a year. PFC and still getting infusions ! oh what fun.0
