Anyone starting Chemotherapy in March 2023?

Hi sheilzinia!

Sorry you have to join those of us doing chemo, but we are here to support you. I am in the February 2023 group. If you don't get many responses here, feel free to join us. Also, you might like to look in the Chemotherapy forum for the thread "Anyone on Just Taxotere and Cytoxzan". There are a few of us active there. In addition, under the "Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer .... Treatment forum there is a "Cold Cap Users Past and Present" thread that might be helpful. (I am also on both of those.) My chemo regimen is the same as yours and I go for my 2nd infusion on the 8th. My guess is that the 2nd appointment is for a Neupogen shot. This helps boost your white blood cells. I have heard it done in 3 different ways:

1) You get the wearable Neulasta where it auto administers a shot the next day (which I have)

2) You self admiinister a shot.

3) You got back to the clinic the next day for a shot.

Maybe you are going back to the clinic if your insurance didn't cover the wearable device?

I had a couple of ripples with my 1st infusion, but I am doing pretty good now other than fatigue, so you will get through this! Join us on the other threads and do some reading there. It should help you see what others are doing.

Best of luck!

Hi sheilzinia -

Yes. I am cold-capping using Paxman, which is a scalp cooling machine that they plug me into. I have found the nurses at my clinic are pretty hands-off the whole capping thing except to plug you in and out. Fortunately, my husband is able to assist me with getting the cap on as well as possible. I have really thin hair to begin with, so even if I lose my hair, I am hoping to preserve the hair follicles and allow them to quickly regrow hair.

I am icing my hands and feet during Taxotere using Suzzipad Cold Therapy that I purchased on Amazon. It has several gel ices that you freeze and put into their socks and mittens. I bring them to my clinic in a small cooler. I also suck on ice chips for both T and C to avoid mouth sores. So far, so good on that! I only had a small sore throat after infusion #1 and no mouth sores! I did sort of feel like a popsicle though!

My infusion day got to be longer than anticipated since I had a reaction to the T and they had to stop, give me more drugs, help me to calm down and restart it more slowly. It then did go fine. Also, due to the cold capping, I had to stay 2 hours when done with the T and C. So, it was a long day. We got there probably about 8 am and got home about 3:30 pm (and I am only 15 minutes from my clinic). I am hoping with infusion #2 next week things will go better and maybe the day will be a bit shorter!

Now you are going through the waiting part.....that's agonizing too. Spend the time getting things done around the house and plan on feeling somewhat under the weather for about a week. I was glad to see that after the first week, I started to recover more quickly and now am in my 'almost normal' week before the next one!

Hi sheilzinia -

I just had the one set of socks and mittens. I decided the socks stayed pretty cold even if they weren't frozen and with my feet being normally cold anyway, I decided to call it 'good'. The mitts I used like oven mitts, keeping them not tightly cinched, but open enough that I could pull my hand out in order to feed myself ice chips. Yes, I forgot to mention that I am also rinsing nightly with Biotene.

For me, the side effects were the worst from about days 4-8 and after that there was marked improvement. I'm doing pretty well now and anticipating my 2nd infusion on Wednesday.

Hi everyone. I'm starting Chemotherapy next week and would love to support others in this or the Feb chemo group. I have DCIS / IDC and positive lymph nodes. Staged at 2B. I had a bilateral mastectomy in February, a mediPort implanted last week and ready to start my first session on the 15th. My treatment plan will be AC every 2wks for a total of 8 wks, followed by Paclitaxel weekly for 12 wks. Yes, a long journey, but I am going in with the most positive approach as possible. I am cutting my hair down since it will most likely fall out. I already have an affinity for wigs, but I've also purchased a few scarfs/caps for those days where I just prefer not to worry about a wig. It would be great to engage in this community to learn, share and receive support!!

Hi all. I had my first AC session yesterday (1 of 4). All went well and fingers crossed for any potential side effects to come. I took my Sizzie cold pack but they told me to save them for the Taxol treatments. I sucked on ice chips during a portion of the treatment. Took the 1 nausea pill prescribed and will follow over the next 3 nights as well. But other than that, nothing else (except Biotene rinse at night). I was told that some patients have side effect after round 3 of treatment. Going back next weeks for lab work, then the following week for round #2 of AC. Hope everyone had a great rest of the week and weekend!

Hi! I'm starting chemo on 3/27/23. I had SMX on 2/9/23, stage 1 triple positive IDC and DCIS. I'll have 12 weekly infusions of Taxol and Herceptin. I'm getting my port this week on 3/22.

It would be great to be in touch with others going through chemo at the same time!

@ruby216, Hi there. Welcome to our small group. Happy to support you on this journey. I got my port on 3/6 and started my AC session on 3/15 (1 of 4). Then I will have 12 weekly sessions of Taxol. After my chemo session, no problems of side effects until yesterday (day 4) when I experienced a bit of nausea from food being cooked in the house. After taking the Ondansetron 8mg, it passed and I was able to eat for the rest of the day. My taste buds are a bit off and food doesn't taste exactly right, but that's okay for now. Good luck with your port insertion and chemo later this month!

Hi all I am starting my Chemo on March 30th. I am doing six rounds every three weeks. I am getting my port this week Thursday. I am also going to have my appointment this Wednesday with my oncologist to get all my information about my chemo. I am not thrilled about having chemo again. My son is getting married in November and I am upset that I will be losing my hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. Would love to have some people to e going through this with.

towens319: I can relate to your concern about an upcoming wedding. I just finished my 6th and last round of TCHP. I used the dignicap cooling cap and while I lost probably 50% of my hair, I still have most of my eyebrows, all eyelashes, and enough bangs and back area of hair to peek out from a hat. I was surprised the cold cap somehow kept me from losing my eyelashes. My nephew gets married this summer so I will be looking for a cute hat to wear.

Good luck with your chemo. I thought the four months would never pass but it actually went by pretty fast. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I said to myself often, this too shall pass. And it did. Take good care of yourself through it all.

Hi Iris,

I had my port placement yesterday. It's really sore today. I wish I had it put in last week because I'm worried it'll still feel tender for chemo on Monday. Let's touch base after our twinning treatments on Monday! Good luck to you! I hope all goes smoothly.

Hi all - just wanted to drop in and offer some encouragement. I was diagnosed in May last year, triple positive. I had a single mastectomy. I started weekly Taxol + Trazimera (biosimilar to Herceptin) in August and finished this past November. I had a hell of a time in the beginning but things got more manageable after they took me off the steroids.

I iced my hands and feet during Taxol and I kept my nails, though they did split at the tops. My toe nails are still very discolored. But none of them lifted. I also avoided neuropathy in my hands and feet. I can't recommend icing enough for those on Taxol.

I remember reading others chemo experiences when I first started. Everyone seemed so much tougher than me. I never imagined I could finish but I did, and you all will too! People used to tell me that I'm stronger than I think I am but I never believed them. Looking back, they were right. And the same goes for all of you. It's very tough; one of the toughest things I think anyone has to go through. But you will make it! Hugs to all of you!

Hi your reply seemed so helpful but I do have a few questions. I start chemo in the 5th of April and though I had BC 10 years ago thanks to my Oncotype I got to skip chemo and did radiation instead. This time though it’s on my other breast and due to Her2 positive I have to do one round of chemo once a week with Paclitaxel for 12 weeks and the Herceptin once in 3 weeks for a year. Im super scared especially to loose my hair did my Microblading yesterday but my oncologist advises me against the cold capping. im also super worried about the neuropathy part and since you mentioned that could you give me some tips on how to handle that please? It would be of great help

Hi Lavinia. I did the chemo regimen that you are starting, Taxol weekly for 12 weeks, and I had Perjeta added to the Herceptin. I started last May. Please do not be worried about the side effects! At my center they gave me pepcid, a steroid, and Benadryl as premeds. The first two weeks I also had oral steroid pills which I took at home- those made it hard to sleep- but that was discontinued at week 3. I iced my hands and feet during the taxol portion only (not before and after as some people do), and had almost no neuropathy. I got a tiny bit of numbness in 2 fingers on my left hand and some minor tingling in my toes and it all went away as soon as treatment was done. I did not cold cap. My hair loss was very gradual and I started wearing a hat about week 9, then it started to grow immediately after finishing. I did have a few days each week where I felt pretty queasy but no real nausea, and some foods tasted bad. I ate a lot of ice cream! My biggest side effect was fatigue. I assume you will be continuing with Herceptin after the Taxol is finished and I had no side effects at all with that.