Hi @chellebelle
That is great to hear!! Day 10 for me and feeling ok too. Suffering from bad heartburn though and numb fingers.
Last week was so tough it feels like day and night in comparison! Trying to mentally prepare for EC 2 on Monday including Picc line fitting…
Hope the rest of the week goes well
Take care
Marion
Lol I spoke too soon. I’ve just had 2 hrs of insane diarrhoea…hoping that’s it now!! I’ve taken some imodium
I would call your team to advise them of your diarrhoea if it doesn’t settle with the Imodium 
I managed to regulate it thank god
Hi I am due to have my first round of chemotherapy 25th March.
I have had 3 lots of surgery finishing with a left mastectomy. Lymph nodes were clear. I previously had another primary breast cancer in 2020, when I only required surgery and radiotherapy.
Due to have Docetael and carboplatin with Herceptin. in all 6 rounds.
I had an informal look round but I am feeling quite sick about it all starting having read up about all the side effects.
Any advice ?
Hi @rec
So sorry to hear you have been diagnosed with another primary breast cancer. This forum is full of so many lovely people and the monthly chemo groups are very supportive.
Taxanes (Docetaxel and Paclitaxel) can both cause peripheral neuropathy, it can help to use ice gloves/socks/slippers/packs during and after your treatment. I was only able to ice after treatment and the next couple of days, it helped a little. Some centres offer a similar system to cold capping for arms and legs.
Your nails can get damaged. Treat with strengthener and paint dark colour if you can. Moisturise daily and use balm or oil on cuticles. www.lookgoodfeelbetter.co.uk to a brilliant course for nails, skin and hair care and you get free goodies.
Diet, I had Paclitaxel and found fruit and salad upset my stomach (diarrhoea took loperamide/imodium) and I avoided live food (yoghurts cheese etc). I was advised to eat plain/brown food, reduce fibre.
Temperature: take it regularly and report any increases, as well as decrease, my centre wanted me to report anything less than 35.5C
Oral hygiene: clean your teeth after every meal, floss gently. Report redness or ulcers. Oral thrush is also very common and needs treating.
Taste; eating a small amount of pineapple can help recover some taste, but not too much as it can increase diarrhoea.
Are you cold capping? If so www.coldcap.com and if you want help for hair loss www.cancerhaircare.co.uk Jasmine is lovely and her team will answer your individual questions. Many videos on YouTube.
Herceptin: it stings if you have by injection, they can slow the injection. I’m 9/18 cycles. There is a forum thread for HER2 buddies HER2+ and need some buddies - #236 by Nikks
If something doesn’t feel right, call your team/helpline. No question is silly.
I wish you well in your journey.
Thank you have booked some workshops at the looking good website and joined the HER2+ group
Not a good week at all. An infection meant a trip to A and E and the 3 days in hospital where they said I am neutropenic and had possible sepsis.
Back home now but really don’t want that to happen again. Missed picc line appt and chemo 2 so both will need rescheduling. Just prolongs what already is a long process.
Also whilst in hospital my hair decided to fall out in big clumps, I got my husband to shave the rest off when we got home yesterday. My scalp feels a lot better now, it had been very tender.
I will isolate for the next week to avoid getting another infection and hope my white blood cells start to increase. Has anyone else experienced this after just one chemo session? It really does worry me that I will not be able to complete the full course.
Aphra
Hi @marionse25 so sorry for the delay in replying and thanks for your message.I hope everything went OK with your pelvic ultrasound and you are doing OK.
My chemo side effects are negligible compared to my arm which is still the same despite nearly a week of blood thinning injections. My tummy is covered in bruises and I am feeling very fed up. I am back at Velindre monday for them to check my arm measurements and take bloods. I didnt really get any clarity from them last Monday as to how long the blood thinners would take to disperse the clots however they did say it had been caught early. I won’t be leaving the appointment Monday without some more clarity as the whole thing is causing me to feel very low, tearful and depressed which is not good so early on in the treatment.
Sending hugs to everyone on here and wishing it was July already xxx
I’m so sorry to hear you’re still having issues with the blood clots in the PICC. Don’t forget to write down everything you want to ask and say, tick them off to ensure you have covered everything. I found it really helped as the HCWs can take over the meeting with what they want to say and a list will help remind you what is important to you.
There has been a few times I’d left an appointment only to say I forgot to say …
Please ensure you tell them how you are feeling, your mental well-being is just as important your treatment.
Lets us know how you get on.
aphra 
yes it can happen and I was hospitalised after first chemo with a uti as I went into nadir phase of chemo cycle, neutrophils were - and it was 
but you did right thing getting onto your team/a&E and being vigilant. Your onc will assess and possibly reduce your dose, it’s happened to a lot of us over the years and please don’t worry about a reduced dose, your treatment plan is tailored specifically to you and your onc will have seen it all before 
be kind to yourself it’s not the start you wanted on chemo (it certainly wasn’t the start I wanted back in 2017 either) but you can do this, you got your March amazing team here and everyone at bcn on this forum and all of bcn is here for you too step by step a day at a time do it your way, there are no right or wrongs to get through chemo, you do whatever you need for you 
Shi xx
Is Ec the same as ac, aka the Red Devil?
Thanks for your kind words and hearing that others have had similar and been ok is good.
Now working on no more infections before session 2.
Charlotte
Hi everyone! Just found this forum…I started chemo on the 19th March…I was supposed to have 3 x EC and then 3 x Docetaxel. Annoyingly I had an allergic reaction to the E part of the EC so my oncologist has changed my plan going forward to 5 rounds of TC (so C plus Docetaxol) is anyone else here on TC?
I cold capped and so far no hair loss but am only on day 13…Has anyone lost their hair who has cold capped? Were there any signs of it falling out before it actually fell out or did you just wake up one day and it came out when brushing etc?
Felt pretty nauseous the first week, taste changed, slightly spaced out etc but feeling much better now so hoping for a good week or so before they knock me down again on the 9th!!
Hope everyone is doing ok!..and Hope side effects etc are minimal. Sending positive vibes your way! X
I’m the same chemo days as you, I’m having the Red Devil. I cold capped and so far no hair loss, I actually feel I’m keeping more than I usually would. Hair feels a bit lifeless though, dry etc. I’m guessing this will be the week we find out if it’s working.
Keep me posted! Yes my hair feels quite full!! Guess we’ll have to wait and see, my hair is super fine so not sure if it will stand a chance but time will tell!!
Hope you’ve been feeling ok and side effects minimal 
Happy Easter! 
Thank you, not doing too bad side effects wise, but have a raging cold this weekend!! Just as I started to feel completely normal again.
Happy Easter to you too
Oh no! Oh sorry to hear that…really hope it’s short lived so that you can have a few days of feeling good…before they knock us down again!!!
How did you feel after the first round? Hope you had relatively mild side effects!
Xx
Well bloods done today although I accidentally arrived at my appointment over an hour early lol…chemo brain! Hoping all will be ok for chemo on Friday. I’ve been eating all my favourite foods this week as my sense of taste came back! And today I braved the shave and now feel so naked!!
2nd of 3 ECs yesterday and blood thinning injections seem to be working on clots - tummy covered in bruises but just thankful arm and PICC feeling almost better. Appointment with haematology consultant 1st May to discuss meds - 
tablets instead - overall feeling good today - no sickness or fatigue yet. Didn’t sleep last night - maybe steroids?? - hair started to shed a few days ago no bald patches so hoping cold cap working and it’s all over and just thinning - 9 weekly taxels after the 3rd EC - hope everyone is doing ok xx