Women who had chemotherapy less likely to be employed 4 years later

['lizbeth]

Loren,

Hello, and sorry for the diagnosis. I'm not familiar with a treatment plan that include 12 infusions of Taxol. There was a study that showed 4 treatments were equal to 6 of Taxol.

I did battle with my oncologist, and lost with the Taxanes. She didn't feel as a patient that I would be able to grasp the significance of my treatment options and switched taxanes. I found out after receiving my pre-treatment medications in the infusion room. I do remember that one taxane was infused at a quantity of 75mg per meters squared. So not only is the question the number of treatments, but the amount received.

Are you absolutely sure it is 12 treatments of Taxol, or was it 6 treatments with 12 months of Herceptin every 3 weeks?

Some of my worst experiences with the effects of chemo was the cognitive damage associated with speech. Perhaps God has a bigger plan for you, as this is an area that many cancer survivors could use some help with in both recovery & prevention of damage. Word recall and short term memory takes a hit. Part of it seems the emotional stress, most is physical. I suspect acetylcholine and dopamine are affected along with slight physical changes in the brain and nervous system.

Having the BRCA2 means making tough choices. My friend just passed from stage IV ovarian cancer. My observation from my friends's experience is that she opted out of mainstream medicine when she should have tried traditional chemo treatments. She did enroll in a PARP inhibitor study and had spectacular initial response followed by a rapid worsening of the spread of the cancer. She was highly ER+ and was not pursuing treatment for this aspect of her cancer - even though testing at Rational Therapeutics showed it was important.

I would be more concerned about the ER+98% then the radiation. Since you have had so many treatments of chemotherapy I would suspect you have plenty of time to research radiation therapy. Look for clinical trial options, although at your stage of treatment they might not exist. Platinum salt treatments have been shown effective with BRCA positive cancers, not needed now - but tuck the thought away that you have additional tools in the tool box if necessary.

I think your surgery choices are prudent with the BRCA positive results.

I didn't realize how effected I would be physically by treatment. I tried to follow my normal life. I had just started a new job and managers thought I was stupid and difficult. Well - i was in chemo. It took every effort to make it to the standards set for the job. It was so stressful. 15 months later they let 200 of fellow employers go in layoffs, and I was relieved. The next job was brutal. I taught but I could not remember anything. I studied hours for each lesson and had to relearn things that I should know. It was rough. I had an opportunity to go to school and that gave me a break from work for 2 1/2 years. I've been working for 6 months now. It was traumatic in the beginning. Some of my coworkers were from hell. They treated me like I was stupid, and much of it was memory/cognitive processing speed and lack of confidence. I now feel I know what I am doing and what I can do - which is much greater then 6 months ago.

I take supplements: Lecithin and DMAE, and on occasion L-tyrosine. I am not ER+ and don't worry about the effects of soy from the Lecithin. But these help me significantly.

Another huge help was physical therapy, and a little music therapy from a talented doctor. 60 two hour visits of resistance training and treadmill had amazing results. It was brutal and exhausting in the beginning but I was to pre-cancer levels of health when Dr. Joe finished working with me.

I rambled a bit - if you have questions email me at tsio520@aol.com

Warm regards,

'lizbeth