First chemo done begin new regimen Jan. 28th, need input

2ndxyvonne
2ndxyvonne Member Posts: 41
in Breast Cancer #1

On the 7th I took taxotere, herceptin and perjeta, have been doing pretty good. drinking lots of water as everyone advised.  I have bone pain and muscle pain but bearable with prayer.  BUT, she decided she is switching me to Taxol (and I guess still the other 2- herceptin and pejeta not clear on that yet).  anyway, she gave me this steroid to take- 2 the day before chemo and 2 the day after.Which by the way I did not take the day after the 1st chemo treament as I hadn't went to the pharmacy yet). This is all new to me.  so, have you girls any advice on this new regimen.  Oh, yeah, I will be doing the taxol every week for 12 weeks.  And is it true I will have to have periodic treatments to sustain myself since there are no cure for metastic stage4?  Thanks for a ll the advice.

 

Comments

  • New Flower
    New Flower Member Posts: 4,294
    #2
    Hi and welcome back

    Cytotoxic Chemo is not nessasry indefinite treatment for those with Her2 + or Er +

    Of you respond well to your combination taxol can be dropped off after 12 weeks and you can stsy on other two drugs that are specific   For Her2+ positive

    good luck with your treatment talk to your doc and ask more questions

  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #3
    I did 6 rounds of taxotere,

    I did 6 rounds of taxotere, perjeta and herceptin (every 3 weeks).  That knocked my cancer back into NEAD (no evidence of active disease).  I am now on perjeta and herceptin for life or until they quit working.   The herceptin and perjeta alone or much more manageable.  I have been Stage 4 since 2005.  I suspect that eventually the drugs will not work and we will try something else.

    What is the reason you are being switched to taxol?  I am just curious.  Taxotere and taxol are both taxanes, so, if you can't tolerate one, I would not be hesitant in trying another.  Adding a taxane to perjeta and herceptin potentiates the therapy and improves outcomes: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1113216

    Do take your steroids as prescribed as you do not want a severe reaction.  That can happen any time and my experience was that my antibody type of reaction didn't happen until about the 4th round.   

     

  • 2ndxyvonne
    2ndxyvonne Member Posts: 41
    #4
    CypressCynthia said:

    I did 6 rounds of taxotere,

    I did 6 rounds of taxotere, perjeta and herceptin (every 3 weeks).  That knocked my cancer back into NEAD (no evidence of active disease).  I am now on perjeta and herceptin for life or until they quit working.   The herceptin and perjeta alone or much more manageable.  I have been Stage 4 since 2005.  I suspect that eventually the drugs will not work and we will try something else.

    What is the reason you are being switched to taxol?  I am just curious.  Taxotere and taxol are both taxanes, so, if you can't tolerate one, I would not be hesitant in trying another.  Adding a taxane to perjeta and herceptin potentiates the therapy and improves outcomes: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1113216

    Do take your steroids as prescribed as you do not want a severe reaction.  That can happen any time and my experience was that my antibody type of reaction didn't happen until about the 4th round.   

     

    conference she attended in December

    My doc said she ahd attended a breast cancer conference in December and it is proven there is a much better outcome with the taxol.  Longer survivial rate if I respond well.  I did fine on the taxoterene just had some achy muscles this weekend, I did take my nauseau meds as told and that was not a problem either.  I have been doing pretty well, tired, tired, tired but I just rest.  Yes, I intend to take my steroid- but in all fairness she did not say a word about them to me.  I knew they'd put some in my line before they gave me the heceptin I thing.  Anyway I did have steroid through my port, I was shaking like crzy and cold.  Anyway, she said she woild do a couple of these taxol treatments then send me for some scans again to see if it's working.  You girls are such a big help, thanks for being there, I have nobody else to talk to about any of this.

  • ComfortablyNumb
    ComfortablyNumb Member Posts: 45
    #5
    I did 9 Taxol (I had to stop

    I did 9 Taxol (I had to stop after week 3 because I got pneumonia and once i restarted the tumor stopped responding so switched after week 9) and really did not have any side effects other than most of my hair falling out and being tired. I was always given a heartburn med, benadryl and an anti-nausea before treatment, and I would drive myself home after, nap for a few hours and be good to go. I tried to schedule my days to give myself a break in the afternoons, if not to nap then at least to relax, and I did make sure I drank at least 5 or 6 bottles of water a day. 

    Of course everyone responds differently, but in my experience Taxol was the lesser of the two evils in terms of chemo by far for me. FEC on the other hand...*shivers* 

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