Yes me too, 15 felt a lot after three I was done. I have felt really nauseous throughout and have felt really sore.
How’s the kadcyla for you @sez
I guess apart from the phesgo/kadcyla we just carry on now?? Even my oncologist has reduced number of appts and next one is virtual.
Also not appreciating the tiredness either by 8pm I’m done for the day!!!
I was wiped out after the the first full week (around 7 in), second week I suddenly had an energy spark and then after that my energy dipped again but slower. A month after my last and I’m only just starting to feel pre-radiotherapy normal. I was sore too.
Kadcyla is treating me well so far 
. Fatigue is the worst thing I get, and I obviously would rather that than pain. I tend to get a bit of a bloody nose (always left nostril) about 4-5 days after but I only ever notice it cos I rub my nose (I don’t go full Eleven from Stranger Things, I just rub my nose and then notice red, it doesn’t drip). I have a little tingling in my feet and I have some shortness of breath but I think that’s lung capacity decreased since I first started treatment (not just Kadcyla).
I always turn my appointments with my oncologist into face to face ones (they’re always initially booked as telephone consultations). I only have telephone consultations when it’s the HER2 team (cos I don’t think they have rooms for consultations and they don’t say much anyway).
I finish Kadcyla at the end of December providing there are no delays. I’m very much looking forward to next year just having my ovarian cyst removal and losing some weight so I can have my good boob reduced to match my naughty one. Right now I feel so lazy, but I get really winded going up the stairs or standing too long so I’m listening to my body and doing very little.
Hopefully returning to work soon, waiting on occy health to get in touch (was referred 2 weeks ago, they’re taking their time) to make sure I’m protected when I go back. I wanted to go back in May but it didn’t happen.
Hi @sassy3
Sudocrem might help.
Did wonders in a day for the sure skin on my arm from my PICC dressing too.
Wow that’s great with the kadcyla. Fingers crossed it stays that way!
I need to think about going back to work too but for now will concentrate on just getting stronger after radio. I’m looking forward to the end of the year too, that’s when my phesgo will finish! X
You look fabulous.
Thinking I should have gone for the double DIEP if I looked as svelte as you do! Big op. You are one strong lady.
Think if I’d not had 5 months of chemo first I might have been brave enough.
Enjoy the cinema. X
Thank you, anything’s worth a try
I don’t miss phesgo. While the three times I had it after I finished FULL chemo (with Nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin) were side effect free I think I have ptsd from the first ever when she administered it in the wrong place and bodged my thigh nerves, because of that I had a very traumatic nerve conduction test so I don’t want anyone touching my thigh now. I still have discomfort and am on amitriptyline so I can sleep better. I much prefer Kadcyla through my port.
I had nab pacs too and carboplatin, tough cocktail. I was allergic to docetaxol which I had for two cycles.
I found that slow administration of the phesgo helps. There have been two times the nurse has done them fast and that’s been painful during and after. Sorry you had such a rubbish time with it @sez x
Clearly we’re twins 
. I’m allergic to docetaxel too. First round no side effects, 2nd I had such a severe reaction I thought I was going to die after I think 20-25mls, 3rd they reduced it and gave it at a slower rate and I had another reaction after about 15 minutes. Then they put me on Nab-paclitaxel and the rest of my chemo was smooth sailing.
Docetaxel is a bitch, I’m so glad I was taken off it (almost meant I could stop steroids which were also messing me up), wish I hadn’t had the reactions I did (they were terrifying) but so happy they figured it fairly quickly.
I actually was fine with all my latter phesgo administrations, especially the three I got at home after I finished full chemo, they were all in the right spot. I just got very anxious every time they would start and have to remind them where to do it. I hate telling anyone how to do their job (and I didn’t need to) but really felt I needed to make sure they didn’t mess it up like the very first nurse did (luckily haven’t seen her since). The nurses who came to my house were the best (I think cos that’s what they do mostly everyday, whereas the nurses at the hospital probably weren’t specialised in it the same way).
Thank you!!! And @sez 
we are all strong ladies 
I finished chemo on the 14th march! Then had surgery on the 15th may had a few weeks of normality kinda before surgery.
Was just sitting in the cinema when i had someone calling me from the hospital and it ws my oncologist with my results!!
I had an almost complete response i think she said 1 mil or something was left in the tissue, i had 4 nodes taken and all were negative ( scans were all clear for lymph nodes)
Ive to contine trastuzumab for a year so until october/nov as i started this last nov ! Aslo it looks like grade 1 and not grade 2, and it was smaller than what they thought as well so all good news.
She was so pleased with the results !so am i !!
Woot woot. Great news! 
I dare not ask what stage/grade I was/am. They said at the start they thought grade 3 (more than grade 2 anyway) but no stage given. I don’t want to know I think.
The fact noone is telling me and it’s not on any letters or anything I’m going to take as hopefully it was just stage/grade 3.
Yes i was trying not to get my hopes up for the pathology so just me mentally prepared mysrlf as much as i could do kadcyla
I was stage 2 grade 2 with dcis aswell so it changed after surgery to grade 1 xx
I mostly cling to the fact it started as a a massive lump and chemo reduced it to less than a quarter of the original size with clear margins. My lymph nodes were swollen and possibly had some cancerous cells and they tried to talk me into the Atnec study but I just said take em all, I want it out of my body (had to be selfish, didn’t seem like there was anything in it for me). Only one node showed dead cancer cells after they were removed which they class (I dunno why) as none of my nodes having had cancer.
I do hate when they start going on about survival, I’m like I could be hit by a bus tomorrow (probably not cos I’m mostly sleeping at the mo), it might not be cancer that does me in, so please shut up and making me think of my mortality. I was a mardy and miserable teenager, I did all that overthinking then. I’d like to focus on the now thank you, we have no idea what the future holds with the state of those in power so precarious.
Yes I get tetchy with them (but always hold it in til they leave the room and then bitch to my loved ones ).
@lilyanne sorry to hear of your reaction. I had Paclitaxel with no premeds at home for the first two, only premeds on the day before the infusion. On my 3rd infusion I had a reaction, the reduced the dose and added in pre meds at home the day before, morning if and day after chemo. No further reactions, although I did get an infection and dose reduced again. Also option to change to nab Paclitaxel/Abraxane.
@loubeeloo21 welcome to the thread. I’m sorry to hear of your diagnosis .BCN have an area for those with secondary if you want to join as well.
A charity called Penny Brohn have lots of services online and in person.
@mrsjelly hope the pre op appointment goes well an Monday and your meeting with work goes ok. A few nights away will do you the world of good. I had time away after my surgery before starting chemo.
@gromit12 well done for getting to 13/14. I know how you feel when stopping treatment. I felt the same when Herceptin stopped, with no further scans or checks apart from annual mammogram. How do they know there is no spread? A few days ago I shared the link to @abcdiagnosis infographic to check for spread in ductal or lobular breast cancer.
@jayveebee my menopause specialist shared this study with me a few weeks ago when I said I had reduced the use of my vaginal oestrogen for fear it could be detrimental. It made me feel happier to continue with the vaginal oestrogen (Imvaggis and Blissel twice weekly). The study looked at a number of previous research studies and compared outcomes. 
Hope you feel better soon.
@sn25 I was told my immune system would still be low on Herceptin but not as low as chemo. I was still relatively careful with people being unwell or being in enclosed spaces especially GP or hospital waiting rooms so I would mask. I think rather than being immune suppressed its low white blood count so higher risk of infection. Ring the BCN helpline 08088006000 for advice or call your breast or clinical nurse specialist to talk it through. I had existing health conditions that put me at higher risk of infection as well.
@sassy3 a barrier cream that is fragrance free, anything for eczema such as Diprobase, QV, Cetraben, Epaderm ( ointment like Vaseline). Maybe using Vaseline to protect the area when you go to the loo aswell especially if you have larva bum. Maybe talk to your team.
@shannon27 looking fabulous. Great news about your results.
@purple_rain nice to hear from you. Well done cold capping, it’s not easy but it can work wonders. It did for me. My hair thinned a bit on Herceptin and continues a bit on Aromatase Inhibitors but I’m lucky I have a lot of hair so it not so noticeable. My issue is that it doesn’t grow very quickly. I’m trying to grow a bob back after having a pixie cut for chemo ( bad advise saying I’d loose my hair even cold capping, I should have kept the bob), it’s grow part the way down my ears and it’s been 18 months since finishing chemo next week!
Take care all. Hope you’ve had a good weekend so far. The thunderstorms forecast for us today didn’t happened and we had a big down pour for about 20 minutes late afternoon.
Yes we could be as I feel the same about all the various statistics too!
I just want to get out there and enjoy life! Which I’ve tried to do when I’ve felt well enough, for me it’s even going for walks and appreciating the warm sun on my face or the lovely greenness of trees! That said I still enjoy going to a fancy restaurant or planning holiday too 
Thanks @naughty_boob I really don’t want to be ungrateful for all the treatment but for me my hair always meant so much to me. I have mainly grey hair now but the shortness of I find so weird as I’ve never had it this short so just want it to grow. Using weleda rosemary tonic, collagen shampoo and conditioner and taking collagen vits. I guess patience is my test here x
I am 10 days since my last of 15 radiotherapy and yesterday felt totally shattered. Did you ladies who have done 15 rounds (sounds like we’ve been boxing) get whacked with fatigue? I also had my port fitted under sedation last Tuesday and my first Kadcyla on Thursday plus had exercise medicine gym sessions Weds and Fri so I guess created a perfect storm for fatigue but it is soooo frustrating. Just start to feel stronger and then another bump in the road.Just hoping it’s the radiotherapy rather than the Kadcyla 
@purple_rain that reminds me of something I heard yesterday. I saw Matt Haig (if you’ve not heard of him, he’s written a lot of fabulous books - would highly recommend checking him out if you haven’t already) He said something about how when you’ve been through a lot of trying times, it makes you appreciate the beauty in the mundane experiences. Things that you wouldn’t necessarily have thought about before, you have a different appreciation for after you’ve been through this perspective shifting experience.
He said a lot of really interesting and thought provoking things about mental health and such, would recommend seeing him speak if he comes to a town near you.
@woody2 im on fourth day after 15 radiotherapy treatments, im feeling fine, i never felt tired during radiotherapy, maybe its because im going out walking everyday and keeping myself busy x
I love Matt Haig books.
A friend who had secondary lung cancer gave me a pile of books to read last year, she died in August and I couldn’t bring myself to read anymore of them. The other day I thought it was time. One of the books was How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. It was fabulous. It put a lot of things into perspective about this cancer journey.
‘How to Stop Time is a wild and bittersweet story about losing and finding yourself, about the certainty of change and about the lifetimes it can take to really learn how to live.’ From Amazon UK.