Hi Everyone
This is my first posting but really encouraged after reading all your comments about T-axatare. I should have my first one this Wednesday after having three FEC but i am Neutropenic , have to have some more blood tests tomorrow. Really scared about having the steroids on tuesday with my first FEC 8mg was given and i was as high as a kite and tuesday have to have 16mg then weds. the same when i have T-axi then thursday. I noticed one or two of you are having Herceptin as well, i have been told not until i have finished T-axi then 6 weeks daily radiotherapy, is there anyone out there who could please give me some encouragement and advice. All your comments sound so brave and upbeat
Lots of love to all
Kate
Hold in your mind that taxotere is one of the most powerful treatments currently available.It can be hard and you may have lots of different side effects.For me the worst was exhaustion but many find it easier than FEC.A couple of tips;use dark nail varnish all the time as it may help prevent nail damage[toes as well].Add some Roses Lime juice to your water it makes it more palatable.Take pain killers at first hint of aches,neurofen express is good alternated with paracetamol.Honestly it is very doable.I had 4xFEC and 4xTax then 15 rads finished June last year.Remember to rest.Good luck.Valxx
Val thanks for your comments and for the advice it is comforting to know someone has been through it, had a lovely weekend planned with grandchildren but it didn,t happen as Neutrapenic so feeling quite down you have lifted my spirit
Kate xx
HI Kate
I also wasnt too happy with the increase in steroids after Fec (I also went up to 16mg a day like you on the tax) I dont know if you have seen the other tax thread , just to say that my oncologist prescribed more steroids for me to bring me down a bit more gradually over the subsequent days . I have to say it is a diffferent experience to tax number 1 . I will just take one in the morning and one in afternoon now .
Even when I was down after the 1st tax it was probably 36-48 hrs so at least you know there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Val , do you know why you had 15 rads ? I am scheduled for 30 but will had had 6 chemo sessions as opposed to your 8
Cally x
Hi Cally
Was thinking of asking oncologist for a gradual reduction so thanks for that,i had my last FEC 16th Jan had to have another bi-opsy on back of my arm last thursday where i had lymph nodes removed my neutrafils were 1, now today they are only0.6 so i am confined to house and cannot have Taxi on Wednesday really down as i do not feel ill at all do you know anyone who has experienced this. It is so lovely to be able to talk to you all and read such uplifting comments
good luck to you
Kate x
Hi kate
Sorry dont know anyone who has had low neutaphils but there have been lots of postings of people who have have gone through what you are experiencing.
Maybe if you start a new thread you may get more of a response. I consider myself very lucky not to have experienced it am am sure its because of the neulasta jab I am having 24 hrs after chemo.
take care cally x
Hi Kate
I suffered from lack of neutrophils whilst on FEC and I was given an injection of something called a growth factor (Neulasta) like Cally. On my first lot of FEC I ended up in hospital with no white blood cells and an infection so was in for a week. Once I was given these injections I didn’t have this problem anymore. I am also having herceptin and started this with my 4th lot of chemo had no problems with it as such although now (even though I finished chemo end Oct 07) I am suffering with low white blood count again and am being investigated as to why. My herceptin has been delayed until the problem has been resolved and it’s really annoying me.
Ruby xx
Thankyou Cally and Ruby , i have never heard of Neulasta but will ring treatment unit tomorrow, my daughter said today that between us all on this site we would know more than my oncologist, she was right !! Ruby i am so sorry your Herceptin has been delayed my daughter did some investigating when we were told i would be given Herceptin, do you know there are only 37% of women with breast cancer in this country that are tested to see if they are Her 2 positive ? Did you have Ruby T-axi after FEC ? and radiotherapy. I hope they sort out your problem very quickly would you keep me updated.
Cally did they just offer you Neulasta i was told when i mentioned to my oncologist that i have a really bad immune system there was nothing they could give me to help me fight, was he right ?
Lots of love to you both and every good wish.
Kate xx
I had the neulesta injections for my last 3 Taxotere as I had ended up in hospital in quite a poorly way with a count of 0.01. My onc did not want my last 3 Tax or herceptin which I had started alongside the Tax put on hold or delayed (I am high risk of recurrence and her 1st ever patient to get approved funding for Tax and herceptin on primary BC as this was 6 months before both were approved by NICE).
My Onc warned me it was an expensive jab, hence why you had to ill to get it prescribed but it was cost effective against a 5 night stay in hospital. Its just the one jab that you can inject yourself 24 hours after chemo, it has side effects pretty much the same as taxotere, aches in the big bones as its making them work overtime to produce more bone marrow and WBC.
I had 4xfec, 4xtaxotere, 18 herceptin, 25 rads and currently 1.5yrs on tamoxifen, found the Fec sickly but was over it in a matter of 3/4 days but the Taxotere is a sneeky one, seemed to hit me differently each time but the tiredness did grow with each session, would recommend the dark nail varnish, diflam mouth wash, plenty of neurofen and as much rest as possible. However a plus point of the Tax, I didn’t feel sick or dizzy so stopped the anti sickness tablets and was able to help at my daughters dance shows and cheer my sons football.
Good luck, Debbiex
Hi Kate
I didnt mention I am going private so was offered the neulasta as a matter of course. I hadnt heard about it and lets face it when you are sat in that chair for the first time going through treatment options you havent a clue !
My neutrophils were at their lowest at 1.9 something but thats fine. They were over 2 at the last tax so it obviously is v . good. it has to be given 24-48 hrs after chemo though so trying to get the body to produce the White blood cells after the horse has bolted probably wouldnt work ? my assumption.
hope you are gathering your knowledge . I find the whole blood thing quite interesting . My chemo nurse did say though that you cant do anything or eat anything to boost your results , its just what chemo does to your body , suppresses production of everything.
Cally
Dear Debbie and Cally thank you so much for your help especially the Diflam mouth wash have got two and my mouth is so sore given a different one in Hospital but it did not seem to be getting better started Diflam on Sunday and it hasn’t got any worse. Debbie really interested in the fact you are having tamoxifin and you have had herceptin i have been told that i am having 18 herceptin but that tamoxifin would not do me any good. My friend who had BC many years ago still takes tamoxifin as she feels as if she comes off it it will come back, we are talking 16years since she had her operation.
Lots of love and good luck to you both
xxxx
Kate
Hi Cally
Just seen your comment about rads have not had them yet, got to have 3 taxe first then either 25 or 30 rads and they have said they may start me on Herceptin the same time as rads.
Best of luck to you and lots of love
Kate xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Katiej
My neutrophils were down on the Thursday to under 1.0 and they would not let me have my chemo. I took an echinacae tablet (which is supposed to boost your immune system so guess it does improve white cells!) and the next morning my neutrophils were up to 1.47 so they let me have my chemo and I only had the 24 hour delay. I asked my onc consultant if it was ok and he said it was fine to take them so now I take one every other day in the week before my chemo. The are available at any chemist or health food shop. Good luck.
Hi Penn 1
I read your message re crying at looking at yourself remember beauty is only skin deep, my partner tells me i look just like my Dad when he lost all his hair, i think i look like the hunch back of Notradame other than my partner no one has seen me without syrup or scarf !!.
I will get some echinacae or ask if there is a Bach equivalant.
Remember tears cleanse the soul, i just think how did i get myself into all this mess, but i did not nor did you. The spring is coming and the lighter nights and warmer days !!!
Look after yourself you are so brave and by this time next year life will be so different.Will think of you and wish you all the luck and love in the world
Kate xxxxx
Hi girls,no Cally I dont know why I only had 15 rads it seems to be standard here.About Neulasta,it is only available privately but you can have something called GCSF which does the same job only with 5 jabs instead of 1 they are given by district nurse at home a few days after chemo.I did have Neulasta cos I had insurance[only for 2 years]but still ended up in hossie with neutropenia after 4th tax!Honestly love you will be fine.I stuck a chart on the wardrobe door and crossed off the days.I remember my onc saying '‘you will look back in 6 months and be amazed at how much better you feel.Then look back 6months after that and it will be better still.’'I’ve done the first 6 and he was right!Roll on the next 6.Love Valxxx
Hi
Good to hear your postive comments Horace , I really need them right now as I’m going through a bit of a wobbly patch to say the least.In some ways feel like I did right near the beginning and I almost have the finish line in sight so got to get my head around this .
I dont really want to elaborate on this thread but got some bad news about someone I knew at school and its really knocked me for six.
I know we are all different even in terms of how we respond to treatment so I know I cant do comparisons in terms of outcome either . Got the kids to get up and out in the morning , thats whats keeping me going 
cally
Having read all the threads here I am going to be armed with so many questions on Monday when I see the consultant again. Tomorrow I have my 4th FEC so I just hope I will have the strength on Monday to ask everything. At the diagnosis I did not ask anything but to be honest I did not know anything either. Everyone sounds so technical on these posts - I feel so ignorant. Everyone seems to have been given a grading and a prognosis which I have not had so that is my first question!
Thanks Katiej for your kind words - I have to say life is probably a lot harder by not telling anyone but that is just the way I am dealing with it. Maybe that is why this site is a lifeline!
Best wishes to everyone
Hi Penn Cally and everyone
Had my first tax on 13th February real implode day the day before 4steroids in hand and felt by taking them going to take myself to be executed. Everything went really well 5 days after district nurse came out to start lenigrastim injections to boost neutrefils had sun mon tues morn awoke 2.00am in agony with sore throat, rang cancer ward 5.10am told to come straight inbut partner was snoring it was bitterly cold o/s so crawled back into bed with paracetemol partner rang gp they sent someone out had thrush had nyplastin and soluable paracetemol, no better during the day put comments up on web site tues night as could not cope with pain wed morn same as tues decided had to go in to hospital as pain was so bad could not control it and paniked. Turns out my neutrefils were almost nil so only came out on fri night have put what they did for me on discussion mouth thrush for info. But without all of your help would have been in a far worse state. Are you all ok thinking about you all and wishing you well. Please let me know.
Lots of love Kate xxxxxxx
Hi everyone
Kate really sorry I haven’t read this thread since you posted a reply back to me earlier in February. I will bookmark it now so I don’t lose it again.
I was automatically tested to see if I was HER2+ and got the results back very quickly so when I started chemo I knew that I was going to start Herceptin with my 4th lot of chemo which was Taxotere.
I am being treated under the NHS and was given the Neulasta injection under the NHS and not privately so you can get it privately but I think that each county has different rules about who gets what and when.
Anyway just finished radiotherapy and it went fine except that my skin is very inflamed at the moment and quite sore a bit like sunburn so am slapping on the cream to calm it down.
I’m still off the Herceptin at the moment as my white blood count is 0.4 and I saw a haematologist last week who asked me a lot of questions and is planning on carrying out some more tests on me in a week’s time. I so want to get back onto the Herceptin which I’m sure you can understand and it’s making me very nervous that I haven’t had it since beginning of January.
I’m so sorry to hear how ill you’ve been with the Taxotere and really hope you are feeling better now and sending you a big hug.
Lots of love
Ruby xxx
Hi Kate
just to say hope you are feeling better now , sounds like a vey scary experience . I wasnt aware you could get oral thrus through this (I do now !) I am having my las tax this week and have not experienced anything like that. I am having the neulasta but guess what you are having does the same job ?
Hope you are on the mend now
love Cally xx