3rd time unlucky - results are in!
3rd time unlucky - results are in! Hi guys,
after keeping quite positive over the weekend and through this week i went to get the results of my biopsies this morning. Good news is that one side is clear (as we thought) but there is a local recurrence on the other side.
Had just about convinced myself I could cope with more surgery or even rads if necessary, but wasn’t ready to be told that my only option is chemo. Have been offered Taxotere which I am considering .
Could anyone with experience of taxotere tell me how they got on with it. I was really really ill with my original chemo (doxorubicin I think) and want to weigh up the options (not that there are many!) before plunging in.
Thank you
Hi Lucy So sorry to hear about your new diagnosis.
I think doxorubicin is one of the anthracycline (seplt wrong probably) based chemos, one of which is AC which I had in 2003, then followed by taxotere in 2004.
I was relatively lucky in my side effects from both, but found taxotere musch less ‘sicky’. The worse side effect for me was bad fatigue from day 3-day 7/8 each cycle. I also got tingling fingers and toes and lost some nails. I know other people who had much worse side effects than.
So make sure that if you do chemo you get really good anti-emetics…at least two different kinds. Also with taxotere an injection called G-CSF can help stop your white blood cell count dropping. Please talk about all these issues with your medical team…there are many drugs which can help with the side effects of chemos…not all hospitals are as good or proactive as others at providing them before you need then, rather than once you’ve had an emergency.
Do you know what your hormone resptor status is? ie. progesterone, oestrogen and her2 tests? You sound like you might be ‘triple negative’ like me which means that hormone treatments and herceptin are not suitable for us.
I have recently been diagnosed with a regional recurrence and have just started another chemo combination. I can imagine how down you must be feeling right now…please do seek as much advice as possible…phone the BCC helpline…talk to your medical team.
very best wishes
Jane
Dear Lucy Here are details of the Breast Cancer Care helpline as Jane kindly suggested, please do not hesitate to contact the team for further support and information.
The helpline number is 0808 800 6000 and is open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-2pm.
Kind regards
Forum Host
Breast Cancer Care
Thanks Jane,
Yes, Im triple negative too. it seems a bit depressing at times that nothing is suitable for us.
Am thinking I might give the taxotere a try, but will talk through with the medical team first to get a bit better idea of how much they think it might help.
Sorry to hear that you’re going through the mill too. I’m trying to keep smiling. hope things are looking brighter for you soon. x
3rd time unlucky - results are in! Hi Lucylu,
I am almost at the end of my chemo after my third diagnosis - never had chemo before. I’ve had 3 FEC (doxirubin etc) and 2 taxotere. After the first 2 doses I was quite nauseous and suspected that this was caused by the anti-emetics so haven’t taken them since (just the dexamethasone & kytril) and have been fine!! I have aches and pains for a few days after the tax and also been a bit more tired but other than that have been OK - so far! The 2nd tax did almost wipe out my white cells so after the 2nd I had the gfc injection. Everyone reacts differently so just go for it. If you react badly the dose can be reduced to 60%. Good luck, be thinking about you.
chrissied