Hello im new to the site and looking for some guidance. I was diagnosed with bc grade 2 in may started chemo in July & now had 4 fec out of 6 have been neutropenia twice. Last chemo Friday 14th sept & feeling very sick at moment. Came home from hosp with G-CSF injection to help my bone marrow to make white blood cell but refusing to have them. Have decided enough is enough and wondering whether others have decided to stop at 4 & What the difference between having 4 or 6 chemo session? Also Given that I’m going on to have Radio & Herceptin. Looking forward to hearing from others who feel the same.
Hi AC
I finished 6 x FEC in July and like you had episodes of neutropenia, I also ended up having the GCSF injections. Although I didn’t exactly enjoy feeling pants and having the injections and subsequent SE’s, I knew it was temporary and the end was in sight, I also knew that by perservering I’d done everything possible to ensure that the cancer wouldn’t return (mine was also grade 2). I understood the 6 sessions were a course of treatment and believe the jury is very much out on having any less, although I realise some people have to stop as they are very poorly throughout and this I completely understand. For my own peace of mind I had to continue, didn’t want to be in a position in the future where I regretted my decision to stop. Have you discussed this with your onc? Might be worth talking to your team about how you’re feeling. Whatever decision you make will be the right one for you.
Take care
Lydia
Hi Lydia really lovely to see your response this morning after having a bad night sleep & feeling so confused about continuing treatment. I have had discussion about stopping chemo with the onc & he just advices me to at least have 4 treatments then would discuss again - however i can’t seem to work out what he feels is best for me!! Like u I don’t want to regret my decision im 47 yrs old & still have an 8 yr old son to care for (also have a 20 & 16 yrs old sons too) however after seeing so many secondaries cancer on the chemo unit I kind of questioning it all. Which i hope is normal thinking?. Thank you for your positive advice.
Hi, I too am 47 and had 3 x FEC and 3 x Tax when I had my chemo last year.
On FEC I would be Neutropenic until about day 18. I would have a blood test on the Friday (taken by the district nurse), “fail” it and then have one on the Monday just before chemo and pass. No-one ever suggested injections to boost my bone marrow until my ever-sharing husband gave me man-flu and I was in hospital “just in case”. Luckily I was on Tax by then, and my white cell count recovered quicker on that. The drs agreed there was nothing wrong with me, but kept me in for 3 days as a precaution. I think if my count hadn’t started improving, they would have suggested injections.
I did google foods to boost white blood count and it seemed that any orange food was good. Salmon, sweet potato and butternut squash were all mentioned, so I made sure these were included in the weekly shop. I wouldn’t have gone to extremes without discussing with a medical professional, but having roasted butternut squash and sweet potato for a meal and home-made soups with lots of veg in seemed like a good approach.
Like Lydia, I wanted to do as much as I sensibly could to keep the secondaries at bay. I have a 6 year old and she needs me fit and well. If you feel up to it in a week or so, why not plan “just one more” FEC? On the basis that 5 is better than 4. Or discuss with the nurses anything else that you can take to reduce the side-effects (or to reduce the side-effects of the side-effect reducing drugs).
A lot of people have 3 fec and then 3 tax chemos. I did, and I found them both hard but for totally different reasons. But on balance, fec was worst. I think it’s because it hit my hormones so much, as well as the other stuff. Wh not ask if you could consider changing to a different chemo for the last 3 rath than giving up altogether? I had the injections too, they didn’t hurt me and I didn’t go neutrophenic again after having them. My count had dropped right down aftr cycle one when I didn’t have the neulasta jab.
It might seem like it’s forever now, but honestly this is only a short period of time in your life and it will pass. If your oncologist thought six cycles was the best treatment for you then that remains the case, unless the risks (rather than feeling cr@ppy) start to outweigh the benefits of treatment. I am now 2 years since treatment ended and it all seems like a bad dream. I know I’ve done everything I can and I am proud of myself for it. You are now more than two thirds of the way through. The sixth cycle just doesn’t count in the same way as other cupycles as every day after it is a day you are getting properly better, not just waiting to be well enough for more chemo. It makes a difference to how you get over that last treatment. So, on that basis, you’ve only really got one more real fec cycle to go now, and the last one only counts for a fraction of a full cycle. So you are nearly nearly done!!!
Hold on in there. Cycle 3/4 is renowned for being when you plummet to your lowest, I wanted to stop then, my friends wanted to stop then, but unless it becomes too dangerous to carry on medically, just try to hold on in there.
All the very best
Xxx
Hi AC,
This is a very personal decision- a difficult one- and you have to weigh up the benefits of chemo against the risks.
I agree that the side effects are temporary. The way I coped was to think of it as being a bit like the morning sickness ie its temporary and when you look back, you remember it, but you move on.
Having said all this, I recently stopped my chemo at number 5/6. I did not suffer neutropenia but I felt so horrible that the thought of number 6 was awful. This is my second breast cancer - I had 4 fec and 4 taxol in 2009. This time it was a different regimen. My onc said there is no evidence to suggest that 4 or 6 is better for this regimen. In the end we stopped because of the neuropathy I was experiencing.
So, a bit different for me as Ive had so much chemo already, but I am 42, with a 6 year old and with an aggressive cancer so not easy and I did feel like I was giving up.
I think its really important to talk it trhough with your team, (as someone else has said) and I would also suggest talking to BCC. I did and it was really helpful to talk it through with someone who had no interest in persuading me one way or another. Whatever, you decide, you have to know you wont have any regrets.
Hope this helps, and good luck.
Rattles
Hi, Sorry you are suffering so much. It really seems never ending once you have had four chemos and ‘only two more’ sounds a dreadful thought. I had to have the injections - they are really not that bad and well worth having - I had no more problems wgith low white cell count. Ask yourself how you would feel if you ever had a spread or recurrence and you had not had all six chemos. If you can say it would not bother you, then by all means stop, but if you think you would be regretting your decision then give the injections a go and go for it. It will pass - I know it seems a long, long haul at the time.
Hope you feel a bit better soon.
Best wishes- whatever you decide.
Hi after spending most of my day sleeping feeling crappy I just want to say big thank you to all of you regarding your comments. It’s very supportive. I still wondering statistically what the different is between 4 chemo or 6 chemo? is there any evidence? I personally feel the onc dont know!!, Also if going on to Herceptin my understanding is this drug covers & teachers the cancer cells to behave themselves? If that’s possible!!! I think I will phone the BCC, when feeling like I can concentrate. Has anyone contact Yes for Life - a charity that help look at both conventional & alternative therapy for cancer?
Thank you & wishing everyone all the very best xx
I was advised to stop after 4 FEC as the risks of carrying on were considered too high. I had a blood clot after the 3rd and neutropenia (zero neutrophils, and an infection after having already had the Neulasta jab) after the 4th. My own oncologist was away abroad for several weeks and I would really have liked to talk to him but I couldn’t so it was a difficult decision to make. However I did stop chemo and went on to have rads and a year of Herceptin. I was told that you get more than 4/6 of the benefit from 4 chemos and that 4 used to be the recommended dose rather than 6. But no one seems to be able to be very precise about it. Although I was in my mid fifties, I had a very aggressive grade 3 cancer. I have worried about it from time to time but all this was 5 years ago now and I am (hopefully) fine. Whatever decision you take, it has to be right for you.
Good luck with making your decision. It really is difficult.
All the best
Anne
Hi AC
I was also grade 2, HER2+, ER+. my onc prescribed 4 cycles of FEC 75 from the outset and I then moved onto herceptin. This is the standard treatment in the U.S.
I was node negative and stage T1c.
My onc said there was no need for 6 cycles and his job is to do the very best for me.
I am fairly active on this forum and haven’t yet met anyone who was prescribed 4 cycles from the start. However, i am very comfortable with only having 4 and am now progressing merrily with the herceptin.
Perhaps you could ask your onc about risk benefits analysis, you know what does he consider any risk of stopping at 4 as opposed to these dresadful side effects and neutropaenic episodes you are experiencing.
The decision is ultimately yours, good luck and God bless.
Pixie xxxxxx
Hi there.
My advice to you would be to persevere if you can with all 6 recommended cycles. I know how it feels, going through all this horrendous treatment. I had 3 FEC and 3 Taxotere. I was dreadful with the Taxotere and I remember my husband saying, after my 1st Taxotere “Lets tell the drs you dont want any more”, because I felt so awful. But even though I felt so rotten, I knew It wasnt forever, and I replied “Dont be so stupid. This is a few days in exchange for what I hope will be many years. Im carrying on”. And I did. And believe me, now Im on the other side of it, Im SO glad I did. I know Ive given it my best shot. PLEASE try and continue.
The reason they recommend 6 cycles is because they want to kill off all the cancer cells if possible. As cells have a life span of upto 21 days, they are all at different stages of maturity each time you have your chemo. So the more cyles you have, the more “bullets” you’re firing at the canceer cells.
And as Im sure you know, HER2+ BC is a fast growing type, so the more ammo you have to fire at it the better. Ive just completed my last Herceptin at the end of June. It felt like a mountain to climb in March 2011 when I started out. But eventually you get there.
Wishing you the best of luck.
Love Mandy xxx