Happy Mother’s Day all mums, and hope you all managed to enjoy the sunshine this weekend.
The September platoon have all deserted, unfortunately, except for Aine who like me pops up on other threads from time to time. I think for the others, their active treatment is now over, and they have returned to work etc. I am still having radiotherapy, and Occupational Health won’t let me go back to work until it is finished (mind you it would be difficult to work around the appointments they are giving me, which are a different time every day).
Nicky and Slowski have made a good point about Cycle 4 of chemotherapy being the most difficult to cope with mentally. By this stage many of us have already had a hard time, and there still seems to be a long way to go. If you are changing over from one combination of drugs to another, it adds to the anxiety because you don’t know how the new ones will affect you. Everybody reacts differently, so while some people will get off relatively lightly with SEs, others will get a lot more and will find it harder to cope. In extreme cases, where the effects are very severe, the drugs may have to be changed or the doses reduced.
Jackie - everyone is entitled to rant during chemotherapy, and this is one of the few places you can do it without anyone being offended or judging you. I’m sorry that I hadn’t appreciated you are on Tax throughout, which must be particularly tough. It is amazing how many permutations of chemotherapy there are. The skin and nail problems and sore eyes you mention sound familiar - Tax is much harder on the skin and nails than FEC. I had dry sensitive skin and pimples on my face, arms and legs, though I didn’t have sores. I also got conjunctivitis during the last cycle. My nails also went dry, ridged and discoloured. There seem to be two different approaches to caring for nails during chemotherapy. Some recommend using dark nail varnish to protect them and disguise the discolouration, others recommend conditioning with oils, creams or other products. I went for the second approach, and used Onicolife drops (not cheap and only available online from Live Better With) twice a day throughout chemotherapy, and for about six weeks after. A cheaper option is sweet almond oil or specialist nail products that contain it such as Dr Organic Tea Tree Antifungal Nail Solution, which is what I am using now. Although my nails still deteriorated, I didn’t lose any, and they are now getting better as the grotty bits grow out.
Nicky - your first Tax doesn’t seem to have been so bad, so hopefully the rest will be similar.
Slowski- sorry to hear you have palmar-plantar on top of everything else. I hope they have given you something for it. Useful information about this condition isn’t easy to find, but I came across the following (via Macmillan website): cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/side-effects/hand-foot-syndrome-or-palmar-plantar-erythrodysesthesia I also hope you have got something for the sore mouth, which should be starting to get better soon. I had nose bleeds with Tax as well (and bleeding elsewhere!) but it does stop once chemotherapy finishes.
Egg - you’re having four cycles of each lot of drugs, which is particularly tough. You’re having the targeted therapy drugs and Tax on different days though, which you may find easier to cope with than having the lot all one one day like I did! The other reason why the next treatments will take ages, apart from the monitoring, is that the first doses of Herceptin and Perjeta are the ‘loading’ doses, which are double doses, so the infusions take longer. The final three treatments won’t take as long. Your veins won’t necessarily get better without help, as the damage is cumulative. You don’t say whether you have a PICC line. If you don’t (I didn’t), its important to get help if your veins are suffering and cannulation could be difficult next time. I got veinous phlebitis during Cycle 4, and the only thing that got me through the last two cycles was Heparinoid (Hirudoid) cream.
Egg, Ebim, Beedot and Robin - you’re all having your first Tax next week and will probably be very worried after reading the scouts’ posts. There are lots of possible SEs with Tax, but note the emphasis on the word ‘possible.’ You are unlikely to get all of them, most people only get two or three. The steroid insomnia mentioned by Egg could get worse the first few days, because of the higher doses, but it won’t last. Otherwise, the main SEs to watch out for are the bone and joint pains, which could get worse with Tax (try taking Paracetamol before the infusion), the awful sore mouth and taste changes, and the ‘Tax Trots’ (self-explanatory), both of which will probably start around Day 4 and last until about Day 11 or 12 if you are going to get them, and problems with your skin and nails. Any SE that causes severe pain or discomfort should be reported to sick bay.
