hi i am confused i was told i needed fec chemo. i havent started yet. i read on here most people have fec and something else. is there anyone who has just fec…
hurry up sunshine and wake up it does us good
xjuliex
Hi jal7777
I have just started FEC chemo , then a lumpectomy and radiotherapy. I have to have 6 X FEC , not too bad after the first one mainly nausea sickness and diarrhoea, but the hospital will give anti sickness tablets etc. I feel more tired but now i do not feel too bad, managinging the children whilst they are off school.I just want to get the next dose out of the way and see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Let me know how you get on
Best wishes
Sarah66
Hi Julie,
I had 6 x FEC starting in Aug 07 then WLE then masectomy now they want me to have mare chemo but Taxatere! Then Rads, herceptin and tamoxifen.
Everyone is different in the circumstances!
Good Luck
Hugs
Mel
Hi Julie,
I had just FEC first time round, I have just finished Taxotere, Like Mel says we are all different and Onc’s have their preferences to the treatments for stages and grades of the cancer.
Good Luck
Carol
Hi Julie
I am also just having 8 x FEC - had the first one today! I know it’s early days but feel fine at the moment, just a little tired.
I was diagnosed on 3 Jan 08, had lumpectomy and all nodes removed on 14 Jan, nodes were all clear but as tumour was a grade 3 chemo was needed.
Glad the first one is over - let me know how you get on with yours.
Good luck
Wendy
Hi Wendy
I was told i have the choice as whether to have chem or not as only about 2 percent increase on stats. Have decided to have it as i can then have herceptin. I have been told 6 doses but can give up at four if need to and still be allowed herceptin. I will see how it goes.
I had lumpectomy in Oct and sentinel node biopsy. That was clear but found two more spots of cancer in margins so a mastectomy was offered. As I wouldn’t need rads i could have immediate reconstruction so i did. i am grade two. i will have chemo tamoxifen and herceptin i cant wait…
take care
juliex
HI Julie
Sorry to be nosy, I was wondering about your treatment. What sort of tumour was it and its size? You say the margins were not clear , were you given the option to have a re-excision or did they recommend a mastectomy? I had WLE, grade 2, not all margins clear,well one side, tumour close to surface, so they will be removing the skin, next week. This is when I should have started rads.I was never on for chemo but am for radiotherapy and tamoxifen.
Sorry to be nosy
Take care
Alice
Hi Alice
You aren’t nosey its good to talk so to speak.
I had 1.4 tumor invasive cancer didn’t show up on mammogram I pushed for scan. I had lumpectomy and sentinel node with 4 or 5 nodes removed. It was in margin they found two spots of dcis. I was just offered a mastectomy. They said good thing if i did have mastectomy i wouldn’t need rads. Also because i didnt need rads i could have immediate reconstruction. No chemo was mentioned until after the op… What a shock i got then. I was told it was grade two and i needed tamoxifen and herceptin. My consultant still doesn’t agree with oncologist he thinks its all over treatment. I decided if offered it should go for it. Only ups my stats by 2 percent but it means i can have herceptin as they go together. I was told 6 fec chemo doses but if only wanted to do 4 that would be OK and could still have herceptin. I think one of reasons i am going for it is i have read on here herceptin pos is a bad thing to have more aggressive so i want to do all i can to stop it coming back although as consultant says its gone… hope this helps.
X JULIE X
hi Jal777,
I had a 1.4 cm tumour removed with clear margins and no lymph node involvement but it was a grade 3 so was recomended chemo. This upped my non-reoccurence stats from about 85 -95%. I am having 6 FEC and then radiotherapy.
I’ve just had the 2nd FEC and haven’t had too many problems. Just mild nausea for a couple of days but chronic indigestion and wind in the second week and a bit tired -more can’t be bothered to do anything than real exhaustion.
Hope it goes well for you.
Karon
Hi Karon
You seem to be going roughly the same as me but my tumour was 2.3cm and grade 3 hence the need for chemo. I’m still feeling good after first FEC yesterday, slightly tired but have been out for a walk this morning and am going to take it easy for the rest of the day. Trying to keep positive and visualising the drugs doing their wonderful work and mopping up any stray cells from my body - my lymph nodes were also clear but they told me that some cells could still have got through.
Hope you continue to do well.
Wendy
Hi Karon, Wendy and co. you sound about the same as me . i had 2.1cm and clear margins and no spread but grade 3 so was told chemo would add 5% up to 85% with rads and arimidex afterwards. Some of you seem to be much quicker getting going as I had op. Dec27th and don’t start chemo(FEC) till Feb 25th. Just as well as this weekend is the mother-in-laws 100th and I am shattered already! Next week I’ll retreat to my books again. my poor husband is so stressed and tense he keeps pulling muscles so far side, foot and today his neck spasmed. I think looking after me and mum has been too much and no chance of respite in spite of carers for mum and family support. Nothing can help him relax. Perhaps sitting in hosp waiting for me to have treatment will force him to sit and rest. Sorry this sounds a bit whingey must be tired !!
Hi Julie,
I only had FEC (6 cycles). I had a 2 cm invasive ductal tumour, with associated intermediate grade DCIS, stage and grade 2. (Must be something weird about all those 2’s). I had clear margins but 8 sample node removal done with the WLE showed 3 nodes malignant, so I went back for total axillary clearance, another node positive. This was when chemo was first mentioned and I was quite shocked as I was initially told I would only have a WLE and rads.
That was 5 yrs ago, and am doing well on Arimidex.
Liz.
Hi Jenny and Liz
Jenny, it sounds like our situations are almost identical. Good luck with your first FEC on the 25th and let me know how you get on. I’ve crashed a bit today, the steroids mean you don’t get a proper night’s sleep even though I took my last lot before 2.00 yesterday as recommended so just feel really tired at the moment. Hope you have a lovely weekend with your mother in law - 100 years old - she must be made of strong stuff.
Liz, I’m really pleased you’re doing so well, how did you find the total axillary clearance, that has been the worst thing for me, I currently have a lot of cording which feels like having a splint under my arm, not painful, just really uncomfortable.
Take care
Wendy
Hi Wendy it seems that lunpy underarms are everywhere. mine seems to be worse when I have used it a lot but I find it very weird trying to put on deodorant and washing as I can’t feel it and the shape is all strange. I also have shooting pains in the breast at odd times tho’ this is getting less often. M-in-law had panic as she thought it was Saturday today and wondered where we had gone (to get cake). So she washed her own hair!! She is certainly a tough one. Two weeks ago we thought she wouldn’t make Sunday as she had a chest infection and was not eating. She looks on me as doomed to be an invalid for ever in spite of my efforts to prove to her that her attitude is 100 years out of date. I have to be careful this weekend to make sure the attention is all on her as I don’t want too much sympathy it is unnecessary as I don’t warrant it. i sometimes feel a bit of a fraud when I read what some the people on here are cheerfully putting up with. Jenny