a/c t/h chemo

[Heart Sutra]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for being here.
It's been a long time since we posted, and truthfully a long time since we visited. Though this site does a great service, it can be harmful to fill all days and nights with thoughts and fears of cancer, which we did despite knowing better. It's a tough run.

Sue's treatment with A/C, then T/H chemo was horrific, and is only slightly better now. She hit the jackpot with having nearly every one of the "Possible" side-effects, with the expception of death caused by chemo.

She was switched from Taxol to Taxatere, which does seem to be making these last two treatments better. She will then have a year a Herceptin every 3 weeks left.

With A/C treatment, she was completely incapacitated 5 days on average with a 2 week cycle. Completely means completely unfortunately. She experienced the severe nausea, mouth sores, nose sores, vaginal sores, severe headaches (She had chronic migraines before chemo, chemo brought them on) vomiting, fatigue, hemorroids, severe constipation, period every 2 weeks, and probably one or two more we've missed here. Her blood counts of white and red cells went through the floor, and that was fixed with very painful, very expensive, injections which kept her body alternately killing, and rebuilding itself. There is no pretty way to say the truth, and why even try?

All of this chemical induced misery was countered with other chemicals that helped to some degree. She refrained from taking any "folk cures" except marijuana, which did not help, and trying a vibrating pillow held on her stomach for the constipation.

With Taxol and Herceptin, the nausea was lessened, there were no sores, the headaches were gone, no more vomiting, and her period stopped for now.
But replacing that is joint pain that brings her to tears, numbness in her extremities and her mouth that is alternately annoying or painful, and drastic mood swings. The joint pain resulted in a switch from taxol to taxatere, and so far it is working out.

She describes her experience as a temporary chemical induced death, and I can't argue it, not that I would anyway. No wonder so many abandon the treatment for the wishful thinking of whatever is the magic healing practice du jour, it is certainly understandable. There is no reasonable way to imagine that chemo does not cause harm as well as kill cancer cells. There is no way to feel, despite all reassurances, that chemotherapy is anything but a crude and blunt instrument even with all the advances that have come. What would be worse is for it not to be available. Not a fun run at all.

This is all as a preventative measure. Sue had clear margins after her mastectomy, There was no node involvement, her scans were good, her blood work is good, as of today, there is no indication of cancer anywhere in her.

May it always be that way.

Good luck to all of you new friends and old, we think of you often.