Hi All, had 2nd T yesterday (Thursday) and am up with the steroid insomnia (although I did take a sleeping pill and got a good 6 hours continuous sleep, so not so dire as last time). I had an allergic reaction very early on this time: quite dramatic with sudden breathlessness and red face. My partner called the nurses who rushed over, stopped the treatment and pumped me full of more steroids before restarting! All was fine in the end and they were able to continue the treatment successfully. Regarding peripheral nervous damage under T, especially hands and feet: I haven't had it yet, but my dear post-mastectomy physiotherapist had some top tips. She said people can become very accident prone, dropping things, bumping into things, falling down, etc. She recommended avoiding sudden movements (sudden turns) and exercising balance: walking heel-to-toe along a line on the floor, standing on one foot then then other while waiting for kettle to boil, etc, as part of daily routine. For mouth troubles, I have been so lucky so far: I can and do still eat anything not forbidden by chemo diet (except for spicy food and curries! I eat those like mad). However, last time I had oral thrush, which I'm pretty sure was caused by the steroids alone, because it flared up so fast (was really there before chemo would have had time to hit). Have those of you with mouth troubles been able to tell the difference between thrush effects and chemo effects? I'm wondering how much of chemo mouth is really thrush mouth, because that was pretty gross: couldn't drink tea, even. Bad news on my side: my white blood cell counts were really low (WCC = 3.2) so just above the margin for allowing chemo. I'll be trying to eat lots of (veg/dairy) protein to help build that back up, and take my folate and Vit B12 much more than this past cycle (I think I only took them twice). The cycle before last I paid more attention to diet and the supplements, and my WCC rose from 4.3 to 6.3 - who knows. I fear the real culprit in the drop is Taxotere, though, that there is nothing much I can do about it, and that I might have my last chemo delayed as a result (or worse, get an infection into the bargain). Oog. Will just have to be extra careful with hygiene & food this cycle. That's all from a sleepless room! Take care all, Julia
... View more