Did It Really Work?

j916
j916 Member Posts: 141
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
While going through chemo...i was blessed to not have the nausea that so many are plagued with..i had the horrible bone/joint pain, but think that was more from the nulasta shot, and the fatigue...omg, the fatigue that i'm still fighting three weeks after my last treatment. But i'm wondering...if i didn't have the side effects...does that mean the treatments didnt' work? I drank a LOT of water during my treatments and after, i had heard that helped a lot with the side effects...but wondering if that pushed the drugs out of my system too fast, if that's possible??

Comments

  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159
    #2
    Water
    You are describing me to a T~ I drank water and drank water and drank water~ I had NO nausea at all during chemo, though the cumulative fatique took me to a place only science fictions writer's could have conjured up...my bones ached horrifically because of the Neulasta.

    Point is: If I flushed out the chemo and it didn't work, my body doesn't know that~ I am almost 7 YEARS out of treatment! I was stage 2B, with a 3cm tumour and 3 of 15 positive lymphnodes.

    I hope this sets your mind at ease~ no way that water is stronger than chemo. Unless your water source is a Nuclear power plant, and you glow at night! Other than that...you are just fine!

    Hugs,
    Claudia
  • cats_toy
    cats_toy Member Posts: 1,462 Member
    #3
    what she said....
    Claudia is right, and we all react differently, I hardly had any reactions either, and did not need the Neulasta, so no bone pain until I started on the Taxol. If the water is helping, keep it up. It's good for you anyway!
    =^..^=
  • dyaneb123
    dyaneb123 Member Posts: 950
    #4
    cats_toy said:

    what she said....
    Claudia is right, and we all react differently, I hardly had any reactions either, and did not need the Neulasta, so no bone pain until I started on the Taxol. If the water is helping, keep it up. It's good for you anyway!
    =^..^=

    Ya know I had exactly the
    Ya know I had exactly the same thought this week....if I'm not sick from the chemo drugs am I getting a strong enough dose? I will choose to think yes..my hair did fall out after all so something is going on in there.
  • Moopy23
    Moopy23 Member Posts: 1,751 Member
    #5
    No Nausea
    Hi, before I ever started chemo, my onc. told me that there was absolutely NO reason I should spend my days and nights hanging over a basin, throwing up. She stated firmly that a variety of drugs are available now, so no woman should have to suffer nausea.

    As far as drinking water, I also was told to drink as much as I could.

    I guess we all have anxiety about whether our treatments really do/will/did work. I know I have experienced the same worry. I hope you feel better and more confident about yours now.
  • tasha_111
    tasha_111 Member Posts: 2,072
    #6
    Moopy23 said:

    No Nausea
    Hi, before I ever started chemo, my onc. told me that there was absolutely NO reason I should spend my days and nights hanging over a basin, throwing up. She stated firmly that a variety of drugs are available now, so no woman should have to suffer nausea.

    As far as drinking water, I also was told to drink as much as I could.

    I guess we all have anxiety about whether our treatments really do/will/did work. I know I have experienced the same worry. I hope you feel better and more confident about yours now.

    No Nausea or Water
    I drank like a fish.....BEER. I had antinausea meds and never once felt sick at all.

    My fingernails all fell out after treatment and I asked my Onco (Dr. Charisma-Bypass) about it, he replied that more severe side effects didn't mean that the chemo worked any better on people who had them than anyone who didn't.

    Hugs Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #7
    Not at all
    I think the presence or absence of side effects has little relation to the effectiveness of the treatment. I also had very few side effects. Even with that the tumor was reduced to half its original size in 3 weeks and all evidence of cancer was gone from CT scan and sonogram after treatments were done. It sounds to me like you did exactly what you were supposed to, and I think you should expect all evidence of cancer to be gone.

    Live as well as you can for as long as you can. seof
  • dyaneb123
    dyaneb123 Member Posts: 950
    #8
    tasha_111 said:

    No Nausea or Water
    I drank like a fish.....BEER. I had antinausea meds and never once felt sick at all.

    My fingernails all fell out after treatment and I asked my Onco (Dr. Charisma-Bypass) about it, he replied that more severe side effects didn't mean that the chemo worked any better on people who had them than anyone who didn't.

    Hugs Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Wow. Did your fingernails
    Wow. Did your fingernails come back Tasha?
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #9
    Water intake is important and necessary during chemo
    My med onc ORDERED me (not kidding) to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day all throughout chemo. His rationale: the water intake helps to circulate the chemo drugs everywhere. And, many chemo drugs can be very dehydrating. So, please don't worry that drinking lots of water "flushed" the drugs from your system too quickly. Can't happen.

    Everyone reacts differently to chemo. We don't all experience all the potential side effects.

    Besides, you lost your hair, right? And, your eyelashes, too - if I remember correctly.

    Kind regards, Susan
  • Aortus
    Aortus Member Posts: 967
    #10
    seof said:

    Not at all
    I think the presence or absence of side effects has little relation to the effectiveness of the treatment. I also had very few side effects. Even with that the tumor was reduced to half its original size in 3 weeks and all evidence of cancer was gone from CT scan and sonogram after treatments were done. It sounds to me like you did exactly what you were supposed to, and I think you should expect all evidence of cancer to be gone.

    Live as well as you can for as long as you can. seof

    Seof is exactly right
    After a hellish first round of TAC, the Moopster also got through with comparatively few side effects. The PET scan she had a month after chemo showed her to be NED, as in No Evidence of Disease. Can't gripe about that!

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