TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

thanks for the lift-up

And I'm a high maintenance biatch like yourself, Cherry!!! LMAO.

Posey, lol, we all are or should be, at least))

Chemo #5 of 6 

Hi everyone, 

tid2017 - My chemo's - even the first one was a quick -uneventful 6 hours.  They first drew blood, then I went to see the MO, and back to the chemo room where they gave me Ativan to calm my nerves, anti-nausua (two different types) and steroids.  Then the Herceptin, and waited about 30 min to see if I had any reaction, (no) then Taxetore - where the RN  brought me ice packs especially made for the feet and hands (I only used for my hands) then Carboplatin.  Then placed the Neulasta Pod on my stomach.  Done.  It was all over before I had time to read my book or listen to my music.  I got up several times (dragging my chemo pole with me) to go to the Restroom and "shop" for hats and beanies they were giving away. 
  Only when I got home did the "lead feet" hit and severe fatigue. 
I do feel for you having your Port placed the same day Chemo.    Hopefully what Blownaway said will help - you will be so groggy from the Port placement you won't worry about the chemo treatment! 

Posygirl - Yes, I would like some titles of books to read please.  I'm always looking for a good book to read. 

As far as anniversary's go, I have no idea when I was Dx.  I thought it was in July, but I can't find it.  I'm not going to search, therefor I can't dwell over it. 

Take care all! rj

Hey ladies,

Anyone notice a change in their teeth? My teeth were never sensitive before but now they are. And i have never been one to get many cavities and now...... also chipped a damn tooth. And dentist said another one is broke. Wth?

Shelabela - I finished taxol\Herceptin end of August, continuing with Herceptin every 3 weeks. In November I cracked a molar, 2 weeks later an access on an upper molar. Several weeks ago chipped a lower front tooth. Thought just a run of bad luck, but wondering if from taxol or herceptin?

Blownaway

What a great childhood you had. I do miss those fogging trucks ... they were as much fun as the Good Humor man.

You brought back woderful memories this morning.

Thank you.

Vicky

Oy! Not enjoying reading this part. I have had so much dental work done--mine even responded poorly to pregnancy. This *is* all good info, though. If I end up going that route I'll remember about the softer brushes. I already brush a minimum of three times a day, and recently started flossing twice a day (randomly remembered something I'd read ages ago that said it can have a significant impact on dental health) (or something like that).

Good to hear, SpecialK. I happened to have a cleaning/check-up last month. :-)

I was very vigilant about flossing and using the baking soda/salt mouthwash combo. After treatment, my dentist said that my teeth were in excellent shape, but that was due to my flossing efforts. I would say the water pic and flossing are critical. Before all this, I was told I have early stage gum disease. I had a procedure to deal with that, and so I'm concerned about the fact that I'm on Zometa and shouldn't have dental work if I can avoid it. So I go in for check ups every 4 months so they can do a thorough cleaning. I have to get back to a better flossing regimen. So yes - I agree that keeping up with the dental hygiene is so important.

Can I just add my 2 cents worth in here about treatments and the damage they cause.

I've had two lots of bc five years apart. My first go around was in 2010 with a triple positive stage 2A. I did three rounds of FEC and was supposed to do three rounds of Taxotere, but could only manage two because of severe side effects. I completed twelve months of Herceptin. I also went on Arimidex, which was pretty awful for me and swapped to Aromasin which was better, but had to change to Femara after 3.5 years.

Five years later I had a lump in my opposite breast - so a brand new primary which was triple negative, stage 2A. Very unusual - but hey - I'm special lol.

I did three rounds of AC (couldn't do the four that were recommended because of lifetime limits) and then twelve weekly doses of Taxol. AC kicked my butt big time, but the Taxol was not so bad.

When I found out I had it a second time, I told my husband that there was no way I was going to do chemo a second time - I couldn't face it - I just wanted to leave it and face my certain death.

After a few days later (and no "encouragement" from anyone in my family) I decided to at least try chemo again - if it was as bad as the first time, I'd just stop.

I completed it all. I now have a lot of health issues from two lots of pretty aggressive chemo. I do have heart damage from it - "luckily" it's the right side of my heart, so not as serious as if it were my left. I have a lot of swelling in my legs and ankles because of poor pumping from my heart. I also have liver issues, and recently my iron levels had dropped to critical levels. I have a lot of joint pain from my years on AIs, which I have now stopped due to side effects.

If I had my time over - would I do it all the same? Almost certainly. Chemo has saved my life so far - and yes my quality of life is not as great as it would be if I hadn't had bc, but I'm still alive.

Would I go the alternative route? No. I use complimentary treatments to help me though - but I have no basis to believe that alternative treatments alone would have kept me alive. I'm still not out of the woods - I will not be relaxed ever that I won't develop metastatic disease, given my history. If I do - then I do. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about it, I wont waste my energy on something that may not happen, if it does, I'll deal with it then.

My point is, that chemo is savage and it can cause a lot of issues - but the overwhelming evidence is that it saves lives. People who choose to not do it, I would never judge - but it's a personal choice - no-one else's, and I would never try to sway someone to either do chemo or not do it. My issues may never happen in someone else, they may sail through chemo with no problems and not have long term issues.

In a forum like this - we need to encourage those who choose treatment, yes there are risks and those risks can be significant, but without conventional treatment, anyone with bc that is stage 2 and above have an even higher risk of death without treatment, and that cannot be denied. But it's their choice. There are other forums on this site that deal exclusively with alternative treatments, and cater for people who do not believe in chem.

Even with the issues I have now - I'm enjoying life, my work, my family, my hobbies. When I have bad days, I hunker down and wait for them to pass - and they do.

I wish you all health and happiness - and above all peace.

Trish

xoxo

Hap - My point is, this isn't the right forum to raise those issues - this particular forum is for conventional treatment of triple positive bc. Newbies who come on here and are scared do not need to see what amounts to complimentary and alternative treatment ideas. These treatments may be ok for low stage and low grade cancers, but should not be pushed on a page that in the whole deals with a pretty serious type of bc.

I do understand the need to try to find what "caused" all this - but that is a billion dollar question, and unlikely to be answered in our lifetime. I do not accept that environment issues cause our cancers - yes, it may be one small component - but it is more likely to be a problem in our dna, and who knows what causes it. 

I recently had interactions with a woman whose 9 month old son had liver cancer. Yes - he may have inherited the problem from his parents/grandparents - who knows! I don't waste time trying to find the blame for my cancers - it happened. It happens to people who live in the country and far from carcinogenic/environmental causes etc etc - to people who are vegetarians, who exercise regularly, who eat meat, who don't drink, who do drink, who don't smoke, who do smoke, the list goes on and on and on.

And yes, the treatments can be harsh - but not always harsh to everyone. Some people have few side effects at all. I don't accept that "big pharma" are out to make as much money from us as they can. The person who finds the cure for cancer will be the saviour of the world, and the money to be made from a cure would far outweigh the money made from treatments.

I just do the best I can to deal with what I have to deal with, and not try to tell impose my views on other people who may be scared and just looking for an excuse to forgo treatment and change their lifestyle in the hope that their body will somehow suddenly start to attack their cancer and make it go away.

Sorry - I've lost too many friends who decided they could ignore triple positive breast cancer and through alternative treatments only make it go away - it's a bit of a sore point for me.
Trish

Proud of you! I have said to myself that if I ever had a recurrence I couldn't deal with chemo and losing my hair again. Hair shouldn't be a big deal, I know, but it really was. Glad to hear your positive attitude and that you decided to fight again and made it through, albeit a little worse for wear. Thanks for sharing.

"I would not tell you what you can and cannot discuss." No, but those of us who have any faith in pharmaceutical companies are just suckers because Big Pharma is busy manipulating their data so we agree to ingest more of their poisonous products.....

I agree with deni that we all have to make our own decisions about our treatment. But, I don't care for posts which implicitly criticize those of us who are willing to give standard medical treatments a try. If BCO members wish to gripe about Big Pharma and its evil designs on us, there's section of the community devoted to alternative medicine. As a rule, I don't post there because I don't have much knowledge of alternative approaches and I respect that participants on the alternative board have chosen their own path.