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Re: side effects question
My suggestion is that you see a podiatrist.
When I was started Taxol and Herceptin, I had the swollen toe (the pain of which was exacerbated by a sharp, but very tiny, piece of nail in the outer corner). It drove me crazy and made walking extremely unpleasant. I did not see a podiatrist; instead, I soaked my feet in white vinegar.
Vinegar helped a lot, but I'm seeing a podiatrist now, and if I had it to do over, I'd have seen him sooner. MDs don't get a lot of training with respect to feet (unless they're orthopedists), but the folks with a DPM tacked onto their names can work minor miracles.
I've always had issues with ingrowns, so I'm quite the handy surgeon on my own feet. On the other hand, I don't enjoy it a whole heckuva lot, so when Groupon came up with an offer for a "medical pedicure" just as I was about to finish Herceptin, I thought it worth giving podiatry a whirl. I was very fortunate that the podiatrist is also in-network for my insurance, so I now see him every six weeks, and my feet have never felt better.
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2/6/09 Core needle biopsy: negative; Mammos through 2010: no change
3/30/11 Pea-sized lump in left breast at site of prior biopsy; mammo negative, sonogram not so much
4/14/11 Core needle biopsy: negative for cancer
5/18/11 Excisional biopsy 1.2 cm tumor, LVI, positive margin; ER+60%,PR+20%,HER2/CEP17 5
6/15/11 BMX: Left DCIS & LH; Right ADH; SNB: 2/3 nodes: 1.4 cm and 1 mm; ALND L1&2: 0/10; Stage IIa, Grade 3
7/14/11 CT/Bone scans NED; MUGA 66%
7/19/11 Biweekly dd AC w/Neulasta; done 8/30/11
9/13/11 Transfusion (Hemoglobin 8.6); MUGA 64%
9/20/11 Start Taxol + Herceptin; Taxol done 12/6/2011; continue Herceptin until 9/4/2012
12/27/11 Radiation - 6 weeks; 2/27/2012 - DONE! Yayyyy!
2/29/12 Start Tamoxifen 20 mg/day; continue until 2/28/17
5/16/12 Start five-years Metformin trial
6/19/12 MUGA 61%
8/21/12 Brain MRI NED (head still hurts, brain still fogged)
9/4/12 Herceptin done!
9/6/12 Port out!
7/11/13 Aricept 5mg for cognitive impairment; increased to 10mg as of 8/23/13; back to 5mg 12/2013
5/2014 Add Namenda 7mg
9/2014 Stop Aricept and Namenda; Neuropsychological evaluation
10/24/14 Start cognitive rehabilitation therapy
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