Gruesome chemo with TCH

Sheila · 04-28-2008, 02:06 PM

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Gruesome chemo with TCH?
<HR style="COLOR: #cc0033" SIZE=1>Hi there. I write to ask if anyone, has experienced dreadful 7-10 in the bed malaise, pain, migraines, heart racing- from Herceptin Carboplatin Taxotere chemos? I do not believe I can do this three more times. Thank you! I am HER2 positive, ER-PR negative. negative nodes.

REally appreciate it. Westswon

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Mary Anne in TX · 04-28-2008, 03:31 PM

Hey, girl, get some meds for the migranes and the pain. Whatever you need! I did Taxol, Herceptin and Carboplatin and had basically the same side effects. Just call the doctor and get what you need to get those last 3 done. It does get better after # 2....also, we know we're 1/2 way there and get committed to "just do it"! Best wishes and take care of yourself. I'll be cheering for ya to have Much Better days ahead! It is worth it!!!!! ma

BethC · 04-28-2008, 03:56 PM

I'm sorry you are suffering - TCH was really awful for me too! But just think what it is doing to the cancer cells if you feel that bad! Definitely call your oncologist and he can tweek your medicine to better manage your side effects. That is his/her specialty so take advantage of his/her knowledge. Hope you feel better soon!
Love,
Beth

Leslie's sister · 04-28-2008, 09:16 PM

As I remember, my sister's #2 TCH was by far the worst. The problem we soon found out was that she decided not to take her antinausea meds because #1 TCH was not that bad. She suffered way too much and learned to ALWAYS take the antinausea meds both before and after her treatment. Hopefully this advice will help! You can do this. You are killing this nasty disease.

Lisa

Colleens_Husband · 04-29-2008, 07:32 AM

Westwon:

You can make it through all of this. You are half way through and you can now see light at the end of the tunnel. You are correct, days 7 through 10 are a fresh slice of hell. Nobody can dispute that. However, you can make it through just 9 more days of that hell and, God willing, you will never have to face that again.

You are stronger than you know. You can get through this. You are not alone. You will be in our thoughts and prayers.

Lee

harrie · 04-29-2008, 10:29 PM

Come on Girl......you are almost there!!!! I know it is crappy......but we are all there for you, supporting you.....
We've been there. Get those meds to help with the migranes and whatever other problems you might be experiencing.
I can see the finish line just around the corner!
......we are all waiting for you......
harriecanarie

CPA · 04-30-2008, 11:29 AM

Discuss this with your oncologist. Make sure you are getting the right pre-meds with your treatments. Most meds intended to treat chemo side effects have alternatives. For example, if you do not respond well to compazine for nausea, you can possibly get zofran.

You have options. Let your doc know how hard your treatment is beating you up and he/she should be able to help minimize your side effects. Don't let them brush you off. These side effects sound much worse than they have to be.

Remember that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Squeak loudly!

SoCalGal · 04-30-2008, 12:09 PM

Some of your symptoms MIGHT be from the pre-meds used for side effects. I get migranes from certain anti-nausea meds. Heart racing from Decadron. It helps me if they give me chemo VERY slowly. But yes - I used to loose a week of my life feeling pretty rotten. Hang tough. Way to be a Warrior Girl!

Bill · 04-30-2008, 10:35 PM

Westie, your sisters and Lee have given you good counsel. All I can do is chime in. Discuss the possibility of your pre-meds causing migraines, and discuss slower infusion rates with your docs. and chemo. nurses. You can do this. Like Lee said, you are stronger than you know. We are all strong, together, as a group, as a family fighting this horrible disease. I am strong, and right now I am praying that God will give you some of my strength, and I know others will do the same, so that you will have enough strength and support to finish your treatments. You can do it! Love, Bill

duga35 · 05-03-2008, 10:57 AM

I'm right in the middle of the TCH treatment, and it has been pure hell for me as well. Right now I'm 8 days from my last treatment and I still can't keep any food down. I had to be given 2 infusions this week at the oncologists office because dehydration. He wanted to admit me in to the hospital yesterday but I refused because I can't miss anymore work.

Had I known it was going to be like this I think I would have declined treatment.

Sorry for the whine...

nitewind · 05-03-2008, 02:36 PM

Westswon, I'm so sorry that you are having such a rough time. I agree, talk to your doctor about the meds and for me, it helped a whole lot when they slowed down my infusions, made a world of difference.
I'll be keeping you in my prayers. Please promise that you will speak to your onc about what you are dealing with, It doesn't have to be that bad for you.
Hugs

Soccermom · 05-03-2008, 05:46 PM

Duga and Westswon,
Hang on..hang in there...I wish there was more to add and I know its sounds trite when you are feeling so bad...but try and imagine just how BAD those cr*ppy cancer cells are feeling right about now!

Gentle hugs,Marcia

Bill · 05-03-2008, 06:23 PM

Westswon and Duga, I know it's easy for me to say, I've never been through the hell of chemo., but I know how hard it is for you both right now, but hang in there and finish it. Soon this part of the journey will be behind you, and after these treatments are done, you will look at things diferently. It's always okay to whine here, Doug, you know we are all family here. I'm sorry you guys are having such a rough time, but hang in there and know that these treatments are, like Marcia said, killing those cancer cells. Please keep us "posted". Prayers to you both, Bill

kcherub · 05-09-2008, 05:22 AM

Duga and Westwon...

How are you feeling?

duga35 · 05-09-2008, 11:17 AM

For the last few days I've been feeling much better. It seems that I run about 10 days after treatment feeling very sick, and than BOOM! Right on the 11th day after I feel much better. I just wish my taste buds would come back for at least a week! LOL
You would think that after having to go thru this crap that the least a person could ask for is to be able to have a Snickers bar and not have it taste like the sole of my boots that I used to wear when I worked oilfields!

Anyways, sorry for complaining guys. I know that many here have it much worse than I do and my whining makes me feel stupid.

Andrea Barnett Budin · 05-09-2008, 01:01 PM

Let's not call it whining. It is venting, purging, get the toxic thoughts and feelings out. Essential to good health.

Griping is HEALING.

Then, you can move on. Onward and upward.

See the light at the end of the tunnel. You dancing with NED. Carry that with you with each day. KNOWING that is your destiny! And humbly grateful for its blessings.

This allows all the right energy to be drawn to you, along with your desires...

Sending Love and Light,
Andi

Colleens_Husband · 05-09-2008, 05:04 PM

Doug:

Chemotherapy might be the most difficult thing you will ever face in your life. I have a friend who had non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was a farmer and a logger most of his life. He is a tough man by anyone's definition. He told me that chemo kicked him on his backside and he was afraid he wouldn't get back up. That really shocked me. If this guy is saying chemo is that bad, how does anyone get through it?

If you worked in an oilfield, I am sure you paid your dues. Chemo is tough on you because there is nothing you can do about it. You just have to sit there and take it. Thats not a trait you would expect a man to be good at.

I can understand your frustration, but you can and will get through this and we will help you however we can. Just knowing that you are going to feel a whole lot better on day 11 is something you can focus on. Knowing that you only have nine or fewer real bad days is also something you can focus on. You don't have to get through all of this in one effort. Just make it through one day at a time, and when that gets tough, make it through one hour at a time. When that is tough, then make it through the moment.

You will get through this and then you can have your life back. That is how you get your revenge on cancer.

Doug, I'll be saying prayers for you.

Lee

westswon · 05-30-2008, 10:07 AM

Westswon here. An update: after getting a 2nd opinion I have stopped chemo. 2nd doc said he had seen this gruesome reaction once before--it was the Taxotere--but he suggested switching to Taxol. With my existing neuropathy it is not an option. I am taking Herceptin every three weeks and starting radiation. Rad. onc. said she thinks, in her 25 years, she has never seen anyone so "overtreated" for a 7mm tumor. I am seeing her ONC colleague next week. Breast surgeon said the same thing.
Bottom line is: all ONCs treat MANY cancers, not many of them treat only BREAST cancer so perhaps, in my case, I got the kitchen-sink thrown at me when only the faucet would have done fine. Each of us is so very different. And, as we all know, time will tell!
Thank heaven for this website...and all of you.. westswon

MJo · 05-30-2008, 12:52 PM

I don't think you were overtreated. I had a .5 mm tumor -- 1/2 centimeter. My oncotype score was 32--beginning of high risk for recurrence, with just a tiny little tumor. That's what Her2 does. I hope that studies prove herceptin to be so powerful that we Her2s can dispense with chemo, but I don't think we are there yet.

harrie · 05-30-2008, 01:31 PM

I had a 6mm (0.6 cm) tumor. I know there are many out there with similar path reports that did not feel the necessity for chemo and have done very well over the yrs. I read profiles of people at this site that had stage 1, like me, and have gone on to a more advanced stage a few yrs later. I look at that and I wonder what did they do or not do that I am doing that may make a difference in my prognosis.

To do or not to do chemo was a difficult decision. At the time I was not familiar with the HER2 online site. I was told either choice would not have been a wrong choice given the size of the tumor. I decided to be aggressive and "just do it" which is part of my nature anyways I guess.
I was fortunate and dispite the side effects, tolerated treatment reasonably well.
I totally agree that is is an individual decision with many factors to take into consideration, esp when the tumor is fortunately as small as ours (MJo, Westswon)was.
Mjo, your Oncotype score is favorable as far as the probable effectiveness of the chemo. Wish mine was that high.