Chemo First

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Chemo First

Hi there,
I was wondering who out there has had, is having, or has planned ‘neo adjuvant chemotherapy’. I started mine on the 5th Nov and would love to hear similar experiences/ success stories.
I have a long way to go before surgery ( Mx and axc ) probably March? . My next FEC may be delayed because of low white count today, I hope they find a higher score when they recount on Thusday. I am having 3XFEC and 3X Docetaxil for Grade 2 Inv +DCIS 8x2x5cm + Lymph nodes.
It feels odd sometimes because whenever I look at the dodgy boob it is as if it doesn’t belong to me. I can’t wait to be rid of it.
Would love to hear from anyone in the same boat.
Sue x .

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Hi Sue
I too am having neo adjuvant chemo. Mine was 3cm lobular grade 2. I have had 5 out of 6 FEC so far and there has been a marked improvement in the size of the tumour. I assume that the chemo was given first in order to shrink the tumour and avoid a more drastic operation.
Good luck with your treatment
Debs
x

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I did chemo before my surgery for 6 months tumor was 9cm it shrunk to 2cm 15 nodes reomoved only 2 infected i no what you mean about the bust thing it became an obsession with me touching and feeling to see if there was any changes I had a good chat with my bust day b4 surgerey gave it a good wash and said its you or me mate and youve lost felt good when it had gone knowing it cant do anymore damage think people must have thought i was going round the bend probably was at that time im feeling good about myself now didnt have implant and looking forward to getting my new boob on the 14th dec early xmas box It was the right decission for me my tumor was on the large size all good in the end.

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Thanks very much for your replies.
That is a pretty impressive shrinking act Elaine. 9 down to 2 cm. I talk to it from time to time too. I feel quite sorry for it really. It’s not the boob’s fault. . I know the whole thing has got to go but it does feel weird looking at it every day: It’s like a gatecrasher at my party and it won’t leave just yet. It just doesn’t belong any more.

I’m sure they went for chemo first because they found cells in the lymph nodes ‘palpable lump’. I think they were concerned to mop up any potential spread and didn’t want to risk waiting after surgery.

I am glad that yours has shrunk too Debs. Have they given you an approximate date? Do you know what surgery is on the cards?

My second cycle is due on Friday if I can muster up a few more white cells by Friday morning.

Where are you getting your new boob from Elaine? Did your histology report change after the surgery?

Sue x

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Hi Sue
Im having adjuvant chemo,3 fec and 3 tax the same as yourself. Ive done the 3 fec and 1 tax,got 2nd tax a week to mo. I had a wide local incision to remove the grade 3 cancer,no nodes affected,triple neg. I will be having a double mastectomy with immediate recon in the spring,will know more when i see breast surgeon on the 10th of next month. All my treatment and mastectomy is being done as an insurance policy due to very high risk of it coming back. They said to me the chemo was kill any stray cells just incase.
I hope you can go ahead with your next chemo if your white cells rally,it would be awful to delay because your all mentally prepared. Ive had to have white booster inhjections with tax which i did daily for the first 7 days after chemo,so that might be an option for you. Good luck with treatment and i hope it goes ahead for you.

Keep well
Love Claire
x

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Hi Claire,
Thank you for your encouragement. It is good to hear from you as you are further down the road. Hope all goes well with your surgeon. The surgery seems a very long way off for me and I’m still managing to work so far.
I was really geared up for FEC#2 and will be disappointed to wait. I like to be pretty organised and plan exactly what I’m doing and when. I put my chemo treatments in the diary already: each 3 weeks apart. Perhaps I was being a little too optimistic, expecting to spring back each time.
I will ask re injections if the problem persists. Thanks for the tip.
How did you find the FEC compared with the TAX?

Sue. x

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hi i am having my chemo first. My lump is over an area of around 10cm, dont know what grade or anything, because no on e has told me!! will ask at next onc appointment! I have had my first ec and due ec2 next friday.
I am having a mastectomy, recon and reduction…hopefully:))
kerry xx

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Hi Sue
Ive found tax harder than fec,different symptoms but much harsher for me. Not looking forward to next one but it might be not so bad as the first,will let you know. But we do all react differently,so dont worry please.

Lots of love

Claire
x

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Hi sue didnt ask for the report seen my surgen same day after op she was very pleased (not as pleased as me i bet) going st helens burley breast for my new boob

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Kerry,
I’m surprised you haven’t been told your histology. I had a letter that I had been copied into for my GP which outlined this. You could ask to be copied in. Different PCTs have different policies.

Elaine. A new boob- what a great Christmas present.

Claire,
The tax sounds pretty awful from other threads also. I will just have to wait and see. I’m prepared for a tougher time than so far. I do hope your second is better. Will you be having rads as well? I’ve been given the option of having a temporary reconstruction because of potential damage by rads, then a permanent reconstruction when treatment is finished. At least I hope so. Seeing a posting on someone who has been denied a reconstruction by her PCT, one wonders whether these procedures will be protected from cuts.

Sue

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Anyone had to have a hickman line put in? I am having 3xFEC and 3tax to shrink the tumour and to try to save the reconstruction (had mx and reconstruction only a year ago). The stage 2, grade 3 is in the reconstructed breast. My veins are very small, so hickman has been advised - and I find it really creepy does anyone know what it feels like to live with?

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Hi lovely lady’s
I have grade 2 invasive BC (difficult diagnosis, took almost 4 months! )
I was given the choice mastectomy first or chemo first…wasn’t too sure what to do, asked the team what they think was the ‘best’ choice, so Ihad the chemo first, 4 Epi & 8 (4 cycles in all) CMF.

Finished chemo last Wed yeah!!!
I have a SNB on 21st Dec to see if any node involvement.

Jan I have Bilateral Mastectomy (my choice due to difficult diagnosis)
in March 3 weeks rads, then DEIP 6 months later (my chioce if I go ahead with this.

Annie, I was told that they wouldn’t give my chemo without a line, I opted initially for a PICC line, big mistake it was so painful, and had to be removed a week later & I am no wuss!
I didn’t want a hickman, for lots of reasons, a constant reminder of BC looking odd and so many other reasons.
I was told that rather than hickman I would have a Groshon line would be the line of choice… I AM SO PLEASED that I had the groshon line, it has been so good and become my dear friend!! silly but I look after it myself, so reducing infection and trips to the clinic. I have been in hospital 3 times and have avoided the medics using my arms as oin cushions, it has been so easy.

ask fo a groshon, it is smaller than hickman, less infection rates and is so easy to look after and is not to intrusive. initially i was a bit scared of it, the brusing is quite extensive and painfull, but paracetamol gets rid of that and the pain was only for 24 hours. brusing about a week (I do bruise very easily).
I spoke to my BC nurse andtold her that it was become part of me I shall be very sad to see it go, daft I kno.

you really do forget it is there, some tuck insige their bra, I don’t. at night I sleep in a vest top, with no problems at all.

good luck Annie, please contact me if you want to know anymore about my experience.

love Jenny xx

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I’m a bit concerned as I have almost finished chemo but no-one has told me what is going to happen next apart from the fact that I will be having an op some time after christmas. What that op will be, no-one has actually said. I also have no idea if I will need radiotherapy as well. I am due to see my consultant on Tuesday so hopefully I might get a bit more info soon.

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Hi Annie
I had a PICC line inserted on Friday and so far I’ve been able to forget about it. It tugs a little and I have an awkward sleeve to put on when showering but I am sure it wil make it all much easier. At least no more punctures and failed blood attempts.
Not sure about Hickman I assume they go in the chest. I am very squeamish and sang ‘ Bread of Heaven’ throughout the procedure. My brother joined in from behind the blue curtains.

Well done on finishing your chemo Jenny. Closer to the finish line now. The four month diagnosis thing must have been hard. Also the surgery but at least you have a break and Christmas in between. Hope the biopsy is negative for you. I’m having a clearance as they found cells via FNA.

I’m sure your surgeon will go through al the options with you Debs. I was told exactly what would be needed quite early on but surgery is a long way off and I’m still not sure how I will cope. Other threads from people who have already had surgery suggest that those who have had surgery first are afraid of chemo. Perhaps whatever you start with you’d be fearful of what comes next. I hope it goes well for you.

Thinking of you all
Sue x

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Hi All

Just to let you know that you do get there!

I was dx with IBC March 2009. Had chemo x 6 first. Mx and node clearance August which I was prepared for by that time and was glad to see it go. Had rads in Nov. made appt. to see Plastic Surgeon for recon while that was going on. I had to wait 12 months - added complication was that I’m staying on Herceptin at the mo as a safety net as a sinister spot on my liver showed up on 1st CT scan and no sign since(although they have found cysts and I have gall stones). I had recon 12th Nov. and am sooo pleased even tho its still battered and bruised!!!Am now looking forward to the uplift on my good right boob and lipo on new one to match with new nipple etc as icing on the cake!

Best wishes to you all
x

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Ladies,

I had WLE and node clearance, followed by chemo, then MX and recon, then rads. I would say that the chemo was the worst bit of the experience for me even though I stayed relatively well and was able to work throughout. So having got through the chemo first, I reckon that you will all find the surgery a breeze.
(I think that most people find Tax more difficult to deal with, but it isn’t always terrible - you do get through it)

Good luck,

Jacqui

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Thanks Sue, I feel so well which is fantastic. Daft as it sounds I am looking forward to my surgery, in part to get node results, fingers crossed. my gall stones have been playing up so it will be good to get rid of them.

love to you all xxx

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Thanks for posting Fudgeincornwall; a reminder that this does get better, How is your reconstruction? Are you pleased with it?
Jacqui,: I might hold you to surgery being a breeze as I am so very squeamish. I can’t really see what the chemo is doing so it isn’t so bad. Surgery is another matter. I am working through the chemo also ( though not this week) Feel a bit cross that I’m not quite up to playing in the snow but my dear father in law is on snow duty with my lovely son so not so bad. I can watch. There will be other snow days.
I hope like you Jenny I’ll b up for the surgery when it comes; I’m just a bit impatient.
I managed to get to a Look Good Feel Better class yesterday. It was really enlightening. Most women there were finishing treatment; I got in as a cancellation and it was good to see people who were / had got over it and were recovering well. As well as all the lovely free cosmetics that I received seeing others closer to defeating this was inspiring.
Overheard two people who are on Tax, I am in trepidation.

Did you get to see your consultant yesterday Debs or were you snowed in? I hope it went well and that he/ she was able to answer all your questions.

Are you snowed in Claire or is your second tax still on for tomorrow?
There seem to be a range of lines to suit all Jenny. I am managing with a funny bag over my arm in the shower but need a hair wash. Not sure how effective the scalp cooling is as it is coming out in handfuls today. We’ll see when it is washed. Will ask my dear husband to do the deed for me.
Loving the winter wonderland from indoors.

Sue x

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Hope this hels a little.

My wife was diagnosed in June, and with a 24mm lump she was given a choice - surgery first or chemo first. Surgery first would have been mastectomy, so she chose chemo first.

The tumour was triple neg.

She has had all her chemo now - 4*EC, 4*TAX.

We went for a scan the week before the last chemo, and basically the tumour has gone. She will still have surgery, but that is now simply removing some of the affected tissue to be sure, and taking a few lymph nodes to check them. After surgery there will be Radiotherapy to follow.

Paul.

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Hi paul congrats to your wife i had 4AC and 4TAX and i know how difficult it was but it was well worth it the only way is up now well done