Hi ladies it’s been an interesting week. On Monday I had an appointment with my oncologist and he said he feels the best treatment for me is chemo. My last scan showed good results some shrinkage and stability but one met in my liver has increased. Oncologist feels that Paclitaxel will beat it back. Because I’m well I will have full dose for 9 weeks, once a week. He predicts good results, so I hope he’s right. I’ve got my head around it all now and kind of just want to get on with it. Any advice would be appreciated. Take care all x
Hi Jennie,
I’m having similar treatment to you-3 weeks on/1 off. Originally it was to be 9 rounds, but because I’ve responded so well, my oncologist has increased it to 18. My breast lump is on the surface and was causing me problems and I was in quite a lot of pain prior to going on this chemo, to the point where my SBC nurse had suggested referring me to the hospice for pain relief, now I’m just taking the odd paracetamol! I could see a visible difference in my lump after 2 rounds, not even a complete cycle! My oncologist was thrilled at the difference when I saw her a couple of weeks ago, tbh I think she was surprised and doesn’t want to see me again for a couple of months unless I’ve got any problems. I have got a few small mets in my lungs, so hopefully it’s working well on those too, I think my oncologist is fairly confident as she doesn’t feel I need a scan again yet.
The side effects of Paclitaxel aren’t too bad because of the smaller dosage, my main one seems to be tiredness for several days, not helped by having steroids before the chemo and then a couple of days afterwards. I find I can’t sleep on the day I have the chemo and it takes me a while to sort out my sleep pattern again! I also find a need a nap some days, but I’m nearly 61, so it could be partly down to my age! I have got some neuropathy in my fingers and toes, but I’d still got that from when I had chemo in Oct’17.
The downside of Paciltaxel is having to go to the hospital twice a week to have the chemo, bloods and line flush and also having to have chemo weekly and not allowed anyone with me, which I’m finding harder as the time has gone on, probably not helped because I’m only half way through now, but if it works, then it’s worth it!
One thing, I don’t know if you’ve been told is that you have to have pre-meds before the chemo infusion, so it takes a bit longer than my oncologist had told me. One of the pre-meds is an antihistamine, which I found made made me feel really drowsy and not a good combination with the IV steroids! I enquired about the dosage a few weeks ago and discovered although I was only having a third of the Paciltaxel at each round, I was being given a full dose of the antihistamine! My oncologist was happy to reduce this to half and if I had no reaction whilst having chemo, to stop it altogether (I think she said it comes under The Royal Marsden guidance) and so far I’ve been fine without it.
Hope it goes well for you tomorrow, Jencat x