Chemo again?

[kvogler]

Just wondering and can't get it out of my mind until my next appointment with my oncologist.......at the beginning of my cancer journey my oncologist had said "Chemo first to shrink and prevent spreading, surgery, radiation for sure, and possibly more chemo at the end, followed by herceptin alone. Okay, had 6 rounds of chemo up front with herceptin which shrink the tumor so well that it showed no activiy on a PET scan and I could have had a lumpectomy, but I chose a masectomy instead. Just had the surgery a week ago and I'm recovering preparing for the weeks of radiation. But I wonder since I responded so well to the chemo will I need any more chemo? My oncologist will tell me eventually, but what do you guys think? Anyone ever had a similar experience? I'll do what I have to but I so hope I don't have to have more chemo since it responded.

[sarah]

My guess would be that you will not do more chemo but will get Herceptin, radiation and if you're ER+ an anti-hormonal.
good luck with your journey.
health and happiness
sarah

[roz123]

i had chemo before surgery aswell. What chemo did you have prior to surgery? if you have the full course -6 TCH or ACT-H or FEC-D (like a/c) then you will not get any more chemo after. I have seen where they break up a full course but from my understanding of neoadjuvant they give you the entire treatment up front. I have seen some ladies on clinical trial who do the trial part first, surgery and then standard of care chemo

[kvogler]

I get confused with the abbreviations for chemo. I had docetaxel, carboplatin given with Herceptin is this TCH? I'm not in a clinical trial so I'm really hoping I got the entire treatment up front. I did well with chemo but it got harder the further in I got (fatigue and one fainting spell with last dose) and I started chemo up front when I felt healthier. Now after surgery, I'm getting worn down a bit. Chemo will be harder now.

['lizbeth]

Yes you did TCH. Drugs have two names, docetaxel is also Taxotere, which the the T.

If you just have the year of Herceptin it will get easier. The Taxotere really kicked my patooty too.

Let us know what the report & doctors say.

[sarah]

Herceptin is a breeze not like "real" chemo which is exhausting, etc.
You may be a little tired after the session and may be have some skin problems but you won't lose your hair and you will be able to function in a normal way. I drove myself 45 minutes to and from my Herceptin treatments on a highway and I did it every 3 weeks for 6 years; I certainly would not have been able to drive on a highway after my chemo which was Taxol. Herceptin is a miracle drug for us with HER2. We are all lucky to have it. Thank you Dr. Slamon!
Herceptin isn't considered a chemo, it has another name. So take a deep breath, you won't be doing chemo again, so life will get back to normal. You will have to have periodic heart function scans while you're on Herceptin but that's easy also. You might want to search the forum for posts about a supplement: co-enzyme Q10 which some people take to help with heart issues. It's apparently good for many things. I take it but everyone must make their own decisions along with their doctor's advice.
take care
health and happiness
sarah

[kvogler]

Yes, I've been taking Coenzyme Q10 also. In fact, I've heard it suggested for people just on cholesterol meds.

[sarah]

Hope your EF bounces up soon. Good to know about its effect on cholesterol meds.
take care
sarah

[twosenuf99]

Hi I had chemo before surgery then more chemo then radiation then herceptin. I also responded well to the first chemo. When they did my mastectomy I had no tumors, or cancer cells left at all but still did the rest of the treatment. Doctor said since my cancer was as aggressive as it was that was her standard treatment plan. Good luck.

[norkdo]

i just want to give you props. Well done on choosing the mastectomy over the lumpectomy. I grew up with a mom who had a mastectomy in 1975. She hated hated hated that she had a mastectomy instead of the lumpectomy that came into fashion a few yrs later. She was mad at the loss of her breast when she learned that women could just have a lump removed instead of the whole breast.

However, my own experience (dx'd at stage three, instead of the stage one or so my mom was dx'd at...) is that my mom god love her (she lived another thirty one years to the age of eighty six after her mastectomy) was wrong.

Survival, prevention of recurrance, survival, prevention of recurrance, survival.

Say it with me!!!!!!! I had my mom for the rest of her natural life til she died an old lady!!

If ANYBODY offered me a lumpectomy (had i been dx'd earlier than stage three) despite my mom's moaning for thirty years about the loss of her breast, I'd have tossed them across the room. "TAKE IT OFF! TAKE THE BLOODY BREAST OFF!" In fact I elected to have the other, healthy breast off, in the vain efforts of recon, which I still have hope in, once the botched attempt at reconstruction heals.