[janet11]

Tricia, I'm another who went on Taxotere, Carboplatin (and Herceptin). Not fun, but doable.

I also simply 'controlled symptoms': I took Senekot-S nightly for the first 5 days of each chemo cycle to manage the constipation. Took Immodium when diarrhea started. Took a Prevacid nightly for the duration of chemo (plus a few weeks) because of the reflux that it caused.

Also was on 3 anti-nausea meds: zofran, compazine suppositories, and lorazipam (not sure of spelling) for "breakthru nausea". That handled the nausea for me. If I had needed it, they would have added Emend.

Hair went mostly. When it was falling out, I had it buzzed to about 1cm long. FYI: I spiked it with yellow spiking gel for Halloween. But I had so little hair that I could only get 3-4 hairs in each spike (*grin*). But it was fun.

I used Tylenol for aches and pains, and could ignore most of it. I also got a mild sleeping pill from my onc. I learned to definitely TELL my onc what bothered me. She was MOST helpful, but not a mind reader.

Oh yes: my life-saver was Biotene mouthwash (on your grocery shelves). The worst thing for me with Taxotere were the taste bud changes. I LOVE vinegar, and it was so sour I couldn't have anything with vinegar for the entire time I was on chemo. I still don't much like chocolate (and NOTHING chocolate was safe from me in the past). Each cycle, more and more foods went from 'good' to 'ok' and more and more went from 'ok' to 'disgusting'. Don't worry about it: just find what you still like and know that this will come back.

The hardest thing for me the first cycle (other than the GI upsets) was "sewer mouth" -- the most disgusting taste in my mouth that I've ever imagined. I described it as feeling like I had cleaned the sewers of Dallas with my tongue. It was so bad, it would wake me up (if I could get to sleep). As I said, my salvation was Biotene mouthwash. After I found that, I'd rinse every 10-15 minutes during bad times. It helped a LOT.

Another thing that helped: make a daily journal: a piece of paper with the numbers 1-21 on it (for a 3 week chemo cycle). For each day, mark down anything you feel (can't sleep, constipated, didn't want coffee, etc) and in another section, mark down all pills you take that aren't on your normal "anti-nausea' schedule. This way you'll find out what your routine is. I found that "sewer mouth" hit roughly days 10-15 of each cycle, and I knew I would feel GREAT during week 3 of each cycle. By learning this, I could plan when I'd probably feel ok and when I wouldn't in the future. And it's a great thing to bring your onc so you don't forget anything.

My chemo ended mid January 2007 and now a month later, it's only a vague memory (*smile*). You too will get through this!!!

All the best,
Janet