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Hi everyone,
I've been a bit quiet this last week due two my double-dose of Paclitaxel and carboplatin, which knocks me out a bit. Had a new SE this time - yipee! Bad dry cough and terrible breathlessness when doing anything other than sitting. I also struggle at night if lying flat, so have to have three pillows in various positions amd can't lie on my side, as this seems to restrict my breathing still further. I've had additional bloodtests and swaps to rule out any infection and gastric reflux; all were clear, so it's just something I might have to get used to 
Hopefully it will wear off a little over the next week and I am also trying to find other ways of dealing with it. For a start my BCN told me to slow down! I still leave the house walking at some pace, only to find that after a few yards I am breathless, so yes, slowing down seems like a good plan! Went to the theatre last night and in order to control my cough I had 3 Jakeman's sucking sweets, which oddly eoungh seems to make quite a difference once I was back at home and in bed - better night. Has anyone else struggled with breathlessness and got any tips?
I've got an MRI scheduled for next week to check on progress. Am rather excited about this and hope that the news will be good. If the tumour shows signs of shrinking, they may consider lowering the last Carboplain dose, which would be lovely. Then I move on to EC.
I have stopped cold-capping, as my hair is falling out big time. Well, at least I tried. Actually, it's quite nice not having to spend an extra 2 hours on the chemo ward every Wedesnday, far less tiring. I don't bother wearing anything on my head at home, but am aquiring a selection of nice little beanies and scarves for going out and sleeping. I didn't want a wig, it's just not me. Also haven't braved the shave yet, as I still have just enough hair to get away with it. I have a hairdresser appointment in 10 days, so will see if there is anything left to cut by then, otherwise....
Hope everyone is having a reasonable week. 
Gx
Thanks Lisa-T for the tip on using the voucher to put towards a wig - will definitely look into that!
Bee - so sorry to hear you've had such a horrid time with the loss of your dad as well, sending massive hugs to you 
How are you doing now? xx With the food stuff, I'm just over 2nd cycle of FEC and I do find my taste changes about a week later.
Keeno - sorry to hear you've had a rough time on the T. I know what you mean about constantly checking temp like a looney, I was doing the same due to having already been to hospital twice after each round of chemo. The helpline nurse had to be really firm with me and reassure me that I was just panicking before I eventually started to feel ok lol.
I'm really anxious about changing to the T drugs as well, even though I still have one more FEC to go. I was freaking out at my breast care nurse last week and telling her "I can't do this, the anxiety over infection / paranoia over side effets is going to break me at this rate!" (though I can see the funny side of it now actually that I am much calmer, realising I am probably the medical professions' worst nightmare in terms of the hypochondria that seems to have come out of me). 
Hi everyone 🙂
I'm new to posting here despite starting chemo on 26th September....I finally have only just had some time and space to sit down and do this but have been reading some of this thread and wanted to say that your shared experiences have been a godsend to me!
I've had two hospital stays already (first one was due to a combined anxiety attack / body not handling the first chemo too well), then 4 days after my second FEC I somehow got a UTI and ended up in hospital for 3 nights. Bizarrely I didn't actually feel all that ill the second time round, I thought I had come down with a bit of a cold or something but the high temp flagged up the infection.
In between the hospital stays however, I have been very lucky to not feel too ill - most of my problems seem to be gastric / stomach ache or discomfort and my asthma seems to be a bit worse, so never sure if I'm short of breath or if its just the asthma! I do find myself very tired sometimes and I've noticed if I over exert myself in that first week after chemo, I tend to get the shakes and my heart feels like its racing.
All my hair is practically gone now so I'm embracing the bald look, its a bit upsetting at times but on the whole I found I actually enjoyed having really fast showers (who knew hair washing took so long!). Supposed to be getting a wig on the NHS but I've heard they are appalling so I might not bother, so long as my head is warm I'm happy to keep wearing scarves and hats.
Hope you are all doing ok with your respective treatments, look forward to going through this experience with you from here on
Hi Jacqs,
I'm triple negative and on weekly Paclitaxel plus Carboplatin every three weeks. The Paclitaxel is quite easy to tolerate - just tiredness, bad taste for a couple of days, a a few stomach niggles, but nothing major really. I find the Carboplatin harder to deal with, as it really affects my stomach and taste buds and I feel farily lousy for 3-4 days. The weekly routine does dominate your life a little. I have a picc line which needs sorting, plus bloods, every Tuesday, and Wednesday is my Chemo day, so that's two days of my week taken up with hospital visits. It's a bit boring, but otherwise totally manageable. The Carboplatin also seems to have a worse effect on my neutrophils, so that's a bit annoying, as I am always a bit worried that my count will be too low. I've got four cycles of paclitaxel/carboplatin in total; done two and am about to start on cycle 3 this week, i.e. have the double-dose of both drugs to look forward to for Wednesday so have kind of written off the rest of this week plus weekend, as I know I won't be feeling great. You may react quite differently to this lovely cocktail, but I think in general both drugs are tolerated reasonably well.
Thanks to everyone for the various tips on dealing with the bad taste. I haven't tried ice lollies or fizzy sweets, so will give those a go, but I gues really it's just something we have to deal with.
It's still beautifully sunny here, so am going to potter about in our garden, which is a bit of a jungle. 
Gx
