HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - My Wife Rachel Was Just Diagnosed With HER-2+ Breast Cancer (Please Help ...)

CoolBreeze · 07-11-2013, 03:04 PM

I think TCH is standard of care now; it is easier on the heart that an adriamycin and herceptin combo. Your wife should do well on it and like many here say, it is quite do-able. To be honest, I had very few side effects on it. I worked, went on field trips with my kid and did my normal routine. Towards the end I was pretty tired and achy but nothing terrible. I drove myself to every appointment, and continue to do so. It is not like the movies show, that's for sure; I wasn't puking and sick. I am in the norm although of course, there are always exceptions.

The worst part of the treatment was the nasty taste changes. She'll have to find stuff she likes to eat on it - I found I could still taste sugar so I became a cupcake-aholic when I'd never eaten sweets or cake in my life before.

Lemon drops and jolly ranchers are also helpful. Constipation is also the other main side effect so she'll need to watch for that - get Senekot S which has a motility enhancer as well as stool softener. Of course, she should drink lots of water and a high fiber diet will help with the constipation. She is very unlikely to be nauseated but they will give her anti-nausea drugs and I recommend she take them the first few days after chemo until she knows she'll be okay. To be honest, I have been on seven different chemos now and only one even made me slightly sick, and that was Gemzar and she'll probably never have to take that one <knock wood>.

Oh, and I'm not a big natural supplement type of person but I did find that l-glutamine helped with neuropathy. If she starts to get that tingling in her fingers and toes, it's worth looking into. There have been studies done at UCLA that shows it can help, plus it's good for your gastro tract. You dissolve the powder in cold water and take it a few times a day, on the day of chemo and a couple days after. Like I said, I've been on a lot of chemos and I did start to get neuropathy but it went away after I tried the l-glutamine. Of course, ask your oncologist before you take anything.

Good luck to your wife. I think she's going to find it much easier than she expects. Losing your hair is the most difficult part but it grows back as soon as chemo is over (herceptin doesn't affect hair) and it'll be over before you all know it.

*hugs*

07-11-2013, 03:04 PM	#39
CoolBreeze Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 562	Re: My Wife Rachel Was Just Diagnosed With HER-2+ Breast Cancer (Please Help ...) I think TCH is standard of care now; it is easier on the heart that an adriamycin and herceptin combo. Your wife should do well on it and like many here say, it is quite do-able. To be honest, I had very few side effects on it. I worked, went on field trips with my kid and did my normal routine. Towards the end I was pretty tired and achy but nothing terrible. I drove myself to every appointment, and continue to do so. It is not like the movies show, that's for sure; I wasn't puking and sick. I am in the norm although of course, there are always exceptions. The worst part of the treatment was the nasty taste changes. She'll have to find stuff she likes to eat on it - I found I could still taste sugar so I became a cupcake-aholic when I'd never eaten sweets or cake in my life before. Lemon drops and jolly ranchers are also helpful. Constipation is also the other main side effect so she'll need to watch for that - get Senekot S which has a motility enhancer as well as stool softener. Of course, she should drink lots of water and a high fiber diet will help with the constipation. She is very unlikely to be nauseated but they will give her anti-nausea drugs and I recommend she take them the first few days after chemo until she knows she'll be okay. To be honest, I have been on seven different chemos now and only one even made me slightly sick, and that was Gemzar and she'll probably never have to take that one <knock wood>. Oh, and I'm not a big natural supplement type of person but I did find that l-glutamine helped with neuropathy. If she starts to get that tingling in her fingers and toes, it's worth looking into. There have been studies done at UCLA that shows it can help, plus it's good for your gastro tract. You dissolve the powder in cold water and take it a few times a day, on the day of chemo and a couple days after. Like I said, I've been on a lot of chemos and I did start to get neuropathy but it went away after I tried the l-glutamine. Of course, ask your oncologist before you take anything. Good luck to your wife. I think she's going to find it much easier than she expects. Losing your hair is the most difficult part but it grows back as soon as chemo is over (herceptin doesn't affect hair) and it'll be over before you all know it. hugs __________________ http://butdoctorihatepink.com 08/17/09 Dx'd. Multifocal/multicentric IDC, largest 3.4 cm, associated ADH, LCIS, DCIS HER2+ ER+/PR- Grade 3, Node Negative 10/20/2009: Right mastectomy, reconstruction with TE 12/02/2009: Six rounds TCH, switched to Taxol halfway through due to neuropathy 03/31/2010: Finished chemo 05/01/2010: Began tamoxifen, the worst drug ever 11/18/2010: Reconstruction completed 12/02/2010: Finished herceptin 05/21/2011: Liver Mets. Quit Tamoxifen 06/22/2011: Navelbine/Zometa/Herceptin 10/03/2011: Liver Resection, left lobe. Microwave ablation, right lobe - going for cure! 11/26/2011: C-Diff Superbug Infection, "worst case doctor had seen in 20 years" 03/28/2012: Progression in ablated section of the liver - no more cure. Started Abraxane, continue herceptin/zometa 10/10/2012: Progression continues, started Halaven, along with herceptin and zometa. 01/15/2013: Progression continues, started Gemzar and Perjeta, an unusual combo, continuing with herceptin and zometa 03/13/2013: Quit Gemzar, body just won't handle it. Staying on herceptin, zometa and perjeta. 04/03/2013: CT shows 50% regression in tumor, so am starting back on Gemzar with dose reduction, staying with perjeta/herceptin/zometa. Can't argue with success! 05/09/2013: Discussing SBRT with Radiology due to inability of bone marrow to recover from chemo. 06/07/2013: Fiducial placement for SBRT 07/03/2013: Chemo discontinued, on Perjeta, Herceptin and Zometa alone 07/25/2013: SBRT (gamma knife) begins 08/01/2013: SBRT completed 08/15/2013: STABLE! continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 06/18/2014: *** NED!!!!*** continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 01/29/2014: Still NED. continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin. Zometa lowered to every 3 months instead of monthly. 11/08/2015: Progression throughout abdomen and lungs. Started TDM-1, aka Kadcyla. Other meds discontinued. Remission was nice while it lasted. 5/27/18: Stable. Kadcyla put me right back in the barn. I have two teeny spots on my lungs that are metabolically inactive, and liver is clean. I’m beating this MFer. I was 51 when this started and had two kids, 22 and 12. Now I’m 60. My oldest got married and trying to start s family. My youngesg graduates from Caltech this June. My stepdaughter gave me grandkids. Life is fantastic.