Hi All
I was wondering if anyone else is having neo-adjuvant chemo. I start tomorrow, 8th Jan: 3xEC then 3xTaxotere. Then surgery after that and possibly rads, then hormone therapy x10 years.
There don’t seem to be many of us neo-adjuvant folk around. Psychologically it’s tough knowing all the women in my monthly chemo thread have had their tumours removed and I am sitting here all tumoured to the hilt like some kind of weirdo!
Hi
I am also having chemo first 6x Fec T. I’ve had 2 lots with my 3rd due next fri.
As I understand I’m having my chemo first as my BC was first detected by a biopsy of a swollen gland in my armpit. Mammogram and ultrasound did not show anything wrong with the breast but further MRI & CT scan showed a 1.7cm grade 2 ductal tumour. So the logic is that because they know its in the node already the chemo will be now catching any stray cells that maybe floating around and undetectable.
Like you I have at times been confused and thinking how comes mine is this way round but the last few weeks Ive taken the view that, for me anyway I am thinking that chemo is going to be the hardest to cope with and therefore I’m of the view that’s its best to get the toughest bit done and dusted first without having to go through surgery knowing this is to come. I say the quicker chemo starts, the quicker it finishes and I’m happy for it to be a memory sooner than later!
Hope this has helped. Sending you good vibes for your first session. You’ll be totally looked after and will no doubt feel strangely safe in that environment, I do :-))
V xxx
Hi ladies, there’s several ladies on the November Newbies thread who are having chemo ahead of surgery. Some surgeons prefer this method as they can see how well the tumour responds to treatment. It’s also used to shrink the tumour so that you can have a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy if the lump is large compared to your breast.
It can be tough psychologically - there were a few of us on my monthly thread who had neoadjuvant chemo and I don’t think I was the only one who found it difficult. If your lump shrinks a lot then the psychological benefits must be great. Mine didn’t shrink as much as I’d hoped which I found difficult, although a partial response is much more common than a total one, especially if you’re ER+.
That all sounds disheartening, and I didn’t mean it to be, I just meant go easy on yourself if you feel down, because it is tough and you wouldn’t be alone in feeling like that. I also found some older posts on here from ladies who’d had neoadjuvant and are now doing well and that helped me.
The flip side for me was that as soon as I’d had my surgery I felt fantastic mentally! I spent so long wishing the lump was gone and worrying they wouldn’t be able to remove it all that once it was gone I felt much much better and able to move forward. It may feel now as if you’ll never get to that stage, but you will. Don’t worry if everyone around you isn’t the same, focus on getting through yourself.
I hope it all goes well tomorrow x
I finished adjuvant chemo on Sept 3rd. I was ER+, PR+, HER+ and diagnosed last March. I had Ductal, Stage 2, 4.5cm tumor in the right breast with node involvement.
Please don’t be worried. Now Ive had surgery and just finished radiotherapy and for me I can see that it surely was the right way round.
Some ladies have had two or more surgeries to get clear margins and the recovery time before you can start chemo can leave stray cancer cells to move around. Chemotherapy shrunk mine from 4.5cm to just 3mm. It was good to see it disapear and helped me through chemo. I had 4 x Fec and 4 x Docetaxol and Herceptin together and I knew that wherever they were trying to hide they were being killed.
I was also told that If those particular drugs in chemo were not working they can change them to those that do as they can see which will work for your particular cancer.
I also had a clot after my op so they had to go back in. I felt quiet unwell and the thought of having chemo after surgery (now I know what you go through) would not be my choice.
I then chose MX with immediate recon with expander implant which i didn’t need, (I was told lumpectomy would have been fine), but I do tend to go overboard. They gave me a choice of radiotherapy and I said I wanted that too as it means they have to put in the more expensive expander to cope with rads. I only now have to have a small op in a year to remove the port from the expander making it permanent.
I am so pleased with how it looks too and Ive been offered a lift on the other when I have the port removed.
I really wish you all the best and keep in touch if you have any questions at all. I was the same as you with me being the only regular adjuvant patient on our April Angels thread. Love and prayers. Sandy
hi pie,
i am also on noe-adjuvent chemo, 3fec + 3 tax prior to surgery then rads. i will be getting 3rd fec next wednesday. i know how you feel re tumour still there,however I have been assured this is the best treatment for me and everyone has an individual treatment plan that is best for them,so dont worry too much,
I also had an MRI scan on Mon (after 2nd fec) to check how effective the chemo has been but wont find out results until 15th ( fingers crossed) if tumour has shrunk any.
I am triple negative so wont be going on to hormone drugs.
I am also waiting on results for BCRA1 genetic testing as I have a family history of breast cancer. at the moment the surgery plan is WLE but depending on results this could change.
sending hugs
Wyn
I had 4 docetaxol this time last year before surgery my last one 4 March. My original tumour was large at 4.9 cm and aggressive but when they did surgery I had had a complete response to chemo and no tumour remained only scar tissue where it had been. Thought I wouldn’t cope mentally knowing it was still there but I accepted it and just concentrated on chemo. X
Hi all-
I am a little confused about the purpose of neo-adjuvant chemo. My partner has had 4 chemo so far, 2 to go . Early reports suggest good shrinkage . I thought the purpose was to shrink the tumor to hopefully avoid mastectomybut that doesnt seem to have been the case for most on here ?
Hi pie314
I have had a similar experience with other ladies looking at me like I’m nuts for having chemo first ! They had all had surgery lumpectomy or mastectomy first !
I wondered why is had chemo first,even though my surgeon explained, now I understand ! My lump has gone from 3.5-4cm down to 1cm before my 5th treatment ! I’m having number six tomorrow and my dimpled misshapen skin looks normal again and I’m having a job finding the lump now ! I’ve had 3 x Epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and 3 x taxotere !
It’s not nice with side effects but when you hear that from your oncologist it really helps 
Got next set of mammograms etc in around three weeks then ill know for sure how much it has shrunk and that it was all worth it having chemo before surgery
Good luck with the rest of your treatment
Kay x
I’m having my final lot of chemo today. My mastectomy and lymph node clearance is booked for 1st May with 15x rads in June. Next year I’m having the other breast removed as a precaution and a double reconstruction using flesh from my tummy. It all seems to be going well. Lollymum, you won’t notice a difference in the tumour yet. They’ll probably do an ultrasound scan at halfway to check progress. After 3 FEC cycles, my 5 cm tumour was roughly the same size but had collapsed like jelly. It’s still about the same. My lymph nodes have hone right back down yo normal size and aren’t sore at all now. He’s still removing them all though. Good luck with your treatment.
Hi kay73,
I am to start 4, 3 weekly Epirubicin and Cyclosphamide shortly and would like to know what side effects you experienced and if they lasted till your next session etc. and how did your blood work behave during this chemo, any dips on the white blood cells etc?
I am on Carboplatin and Taxol at the moment and Carboplatin is the only one that makes me very tired and nauseous. I have had 10 weekly cycles so far.
Hi ladies. Ranij, you’ll be fine x. Back in 2014, I had 3 rounds of FEC, which I didn’t struggle too much with, then 3 rounds of Docetaxol. I don’t know what changes when you take the F away from FEC, but for me the worst side effects were oral thrush, mouth ulcers and damage to my teeth. Sometimes I could hear them cracking, and after all the treatment I had to have 2 molars extracted and 3 fillings, all because of damage from the chemo! My white blood cell count did dip, but the tummy injections stopped me from becoming neutrapenic. The effects do slowly accumulate, but you survive it, and then it drifts into the past.
I lost my left breast in May 2014, then had 3 weeks of radiotherapy. In August 2016, I finally got a new breast by DIEP flap reconstruction. I’ve just been back to hospital today to discuss a balancing reduction on my right breast, which is being planned for Feb/March 2018.
I feel great now, and cancer is a fading word in my mind. One day, you too will be where I am now x Good luck.
Hi ladies, I too am having neo-adjuvant chemo and happy to share my experience of treatment so far. My diagnosis is Grade 3 DCIS which is 5cm in size and HER +
I was due to have 3 rounds of FEC then 3 rounds of PTH (pertuzamab, doxetacal, Herceptin) pre op. It is planned that I have DIEP reconstruction after treatment followed by a year on Herceptin and Tamoxifen.
I had a mammogram and ultrasound between cycle 2 and 3. I was disappointed to hear that there was no change after two cycles of FEC and that Switching to PTH immediately was required. You feel like you’ve gone through the effects of 2 cycles of drugs for nothing. I felt pretty low. Anyway I was told that I should see the situation as positive because knowing the results meant I could switch to something that would work.
My side effects on FEC were a metallic mouth and my tongue was sore. Constipation was pretty bad and nausea. So I was prepared for the 2nd cycle armed with Lactulose and Movicol and we upped my anti-sickness, so that cycle was more bearable. Day 3 and 4 were my worst days, coming off the steroids were to blame, but on Day 5 there was a turnaround thank heavens! I kept a diary of each cycle and wrote down what I could comfortably eat, what my moods were, my energy levels and what I was able to do on each day. That helped me prepare for the following cycle too.
PTH gave me diarrhoea really badly for 9 days straight and fatigue like I’ve never had before. Apparently it’s the Doxcetacel that’s responsible for these side effects. To manage the diarrhoea I was prescribed codeine to act as a ‘bunging’ agent. As a mum of two and needing to run them about codeine was not such a great option when you need to drive, so I took it only at the end of the day to ‘act’ on my system overnight. I have less of a problem so far with my mouth which is good but food still tastes funny. I had chest pains which really scared me on Day 5, so under the advice from my chemo hotline I popped into hospital to have bloods checked and a CT scan to check heart and lungs. Everyone was great and nothing untoward was found. So again, this was just a symptom of the treatment for me. Due to the diarrhoea it is likely that I’ll have a dose reduction on the Doxcetacel by 10-15% to help manage these symptoms but won’t affect the treatment. So I’ll let you know how that goes.
I am am due for my 2nd cycle of PTH on 29th September with 2 more cycles after that. Like most of you I’m not looking forward to the treatment but each time of going in I know I’m closer to the finish line!
I cant wait to have my operation, as I feel that having my lump physically removed (what’s left of it) will rid my body of the cancer completely. Knowing it’s still there for the next 9 weeks doesn’t fill me with joy but then it’s only 9 weeks :-)
I wish you all the very best with your treatments. Chemo is pretty brutal, but ladies we can get through it!!! xx