Stopping chemo early

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  • elm3544
    elm3544 Member Posts: 748
    #22
    neuropathy
    I did not have my final dosage of Taxotere because the neuropathy was so severe. My last infusion of Taxotere was in August and I am still dealing with the side effects.
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #23
    elm3544 said:

    neuropathy
    I did not have my final dosage of Taxotere because the neuropathy was so severe. My last infusion of Taxotere was in August and I am still dealing with the side effects.

    well I bit the bullet and
    well I bit the bullet and just finished it. went with my gut at the final moment. just felt a need to finish it. thank you for your input. For everyone who decided against I am in full support. I did not have such glaringly obviousss symptoms. hope I dont regret it. But its done. !!!!
  • scout5000
    scout5000 Member Posts: 94 Member
    #24
    carkris said:

    well I bit the bullet and
    well I bit the bullet and just finished it. went with my gut at the final moment. just felt a need to finish it. thank you for your input. For everyone who decided against I am in full support. I did not have such glaringly obviousss symptoms. hope I dont regret it. But its done. !!!!

    Brilliant!

    Brilliant!
  • aztec45
    aztec45 Member Posts: 757
    #25
    carkris said:

    well I bit the bullet and
    well I bit the bullet and just finished it. went with my gut at the final moment. just felt a need to finish it. thank you for your input. For everyone who decided against I am in full support. I did not have such glaringly obviousss symptoms. hope I dont regret it. But its done. !!!!

    Way to Go
    Hope you get to feeling better. And concrats on deciding to finish and to sticking with your decision. Hopefully the effects will be mild.

    P
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #26
    aztec45 said:

    Way to Go
    Hope you get to feeling better. And concrats on deciding to finish and to sticking with your decision. Hopefully the effects will be mild.

    P

    I still have problems with
    I still have problems with my hands and feet constipated and eyesight a little funny. I blame the chemo, I dont think it is worse from the last taxol. i am still very exhauasted and totally out of sorts with this. I am waiyting to see what my WBC is going to do so i can have surgery then rads whoo hoo.
  • GrandmaJ
    GrandmaJ Member Posts: 209
    #27
    Chemo stopped
    I had chemo first. I was scheduled for 6 chemo treatments of Taxotere and Cytoxan. Oncologist stopped after 5 treatments, stating that the chemo drugs had shrunk the tumor in half and there was not much change after the 5th treatment, so he didn't feel the sixth was necessary. (I danced out of his office that day ) !! Also twice I developed a high fever and had to be put on antibiotics.

    Judy
    (still digging out of 23 inches of snow !! )
  • Lynda53
    Lynda53 Member Posts: 210
    #28
    tacol.taxotere reactions
    Many of you know I had severe reactions to tax, stopped breathing. It was decided the tax was critical to shrink the beast, and remove more cancer from my skin.
    Google Dr Maria (Mariana) Castells. The process I am going thru is called desensitization. Basically: tax is diluted,given in different dosages,it tricks the histamines in your body for the 24 hours for them to recover and give you a reaction. Originally used for insulin reactions.
    It is working for me,2 down and 2 to go.
    Peace
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #29
    Lynda53 said:

    tacol.taxotere reactions
    Many of you know I had severe reactions to tax, stopped breathing. It was decided the tax was critical to shrink the beast, and remove more cancer from my skin.
    Google Dr Maria (Mariana) Castells. The process I am going thru is called desensitization. Basically: tax is diluted,given in different dosages,it tricks the histamines in your body for the 24 hours for them to recover and give you a reaction. Originally used for insulin reactions.
    It is working for me,2 down and 2 to go.
    Peace

    glad it is working for you
    glad it is working for you do you get any of the reactions? or just not the allergic one?
  • blondie45
    blondie45 Member Posts: 10
    #30
    carkris said:

    glad it is working for you
    glad it is working for you do you get any of the reactions? or just not the allergic one?

    Stopping chemo
    I had A/C and then Taxol/herceptin for 12 weeks and then herceptin every 3 weeks until the end of last year. I was supposed to continue on herceptin until July of this year. All of a sudden my ejection fraction just dropped to half of what it was. Seeing a cardiologist now and running some tests to see if I can go back on the herceptin or not.
  • andreasny53
    andreasny53 Member Posts: 3
    #31
    Sher43009 said:

    Listen to your heart--it'll
    Listen to your heart--it'll tell you what to do. That's what my oncol. told me and it worked. I have no regrets that I stopped.

    stopping chemo early
    I agree, your body know when the chemo is doing more harm that good, I stopped after 4 rounds out of six ,pain in my legs was just to much.
  • 1acme
    1acme Member Posts: 77
    #32
    natly15 said:

    I had a reaction to the
    I had a reaction to the benadryl IV, thats why they gave me the pill today.

    Have you decided to not take the last treatment? Heck if its just the icing on the cake, I think I'd take the plain cake, but who knows for sure because I havent considered that option.

    No crystal balls when it comes to something so serious as our cancer treatment. I also have strong faith, and if you feel in your heart that stopping may be the way to go, then it would probably be wise to listen to your heart. I feel that I must do my part, but I have a God Who will also do His part in this treatment.

    Please let us know of your decision. Hugs to you.

    Allergic reaction to TAXOL dence-dose
    I had 4x A/C (two weeks a part) which was tolerable and my

    1st dose of dose-dense TAXOL I had allergic reaction during 3/4 infusion - red face, rash in my face for few days after and terribly itchy skin.
    Even my Psoriasis which disappeared on A/C star coming back quickly.
    Also 48hr after 1st Taxol dose I had horrible bone pain in my feet/legs to the point that I just drag my feet behind me and holding my self to walls just to manage to go to bathroom. I called Onco first thing morning and they put me on Hydro-Morphine pills 1mg taken every 2hrs. They help a bit, but I was still in severe pain for about 4 days just stay in the bed.

    I had developend bad Neuropathy in my feet & fingers. My feet got numb, so I could not get any balance to walk, skin was peeling in huge blisters-like areas. My 3+3 fingers lost feelings completely to the point that I cannot hold even a cup of tea in my hand without dropping it and burning my self.

    When I told all those symptoms my Onco he set that they are very common to Taxol, but he was concern about my fingers as it was quite severe after just first Taxol dose. I told him that I NEED my fingers "back" as I work in enforcement and I need my fingers to be able to use firearm for my job (currently off duty during the treatment).

    He told me that we may try 2nd dose of Taxol, but schedule it 3 weeks a part so my body have time to recover better. Sounded as a good plan, but with my 2nd dose of TAXOL, just after just 20min in the Taxol dose I wake up with severe sneezing, runny nose, my heart was pounding (pulls 112) and I could not breath (short of breath). My face become purple/red and my eyes were also red. My chemo nurse stopped Taxol infusion ASAP as she set that it looks like my body does not like it and she does not want to risk it to put me on ICU unit if we continued. I was given extra dose of Antihistamine, cold towel on my head and held for observation for about 2hrs. So I manage to get only about 1/4 dose of Taxol in.

    Day after I was talking to my Onco about our further strategy and he mention that I may "finish" my chemo as I completed 4x A/C and 1.25 dose of Taxol.

    Well since I had been diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer which is very aggressive & fast growing/spreading I refused to "drop-out" from chemo and told him that it is very important for me to finish ALL dose.

    He agreed to put me on milder dose of Taxol for another 6-8 weeks once a week and will see how I will tolerate this milder dose. I have to be back in hospital in 2 weeks for my 1st Milder dose of Taxol and I am hoping that my body would tolerate it.
  • HootieGirl
    HootieGirl Member Posts: 85
    #33
    blondie45 said:

    Stopping chemo
    I had A/C and then Taxol/herceptin for 12 weeks and then herceptin every 3 weeks until the end of last year. I was supposed to continue on herceptin until July of this year. All of a sudden my ejection fraction just dropped to half of what it was. Seeing a cardiologist now and running some tests to see if I can go back on the herceptin or not.

    After my 4th month of
    After my 4th month of chemotherapy, my tumor came back. They removed it and the pathology came back that it was the same cancer. They went back in and removed a lot of my pectoral muscle as well as all of the skin around it. I didn't start back on chemotherapy because it hadn't worked, so I just started radiation as soon as I was healed from the surgeries.
  • ElizabethB
    ElizabethB Member Posts: 89
    #34
    blondie45 said:

    Stopping chemo
    I had A/C and then Taxol/herceptin for 12 weeks and then herceptin every 3 weeks until the end of last year. I was supposed to continue on herceptin until July of this year. All of a sudden my ejection fraction just dropped to half of what it was. Seeing a cardiologist now and running some tests to see if I can go back on the herceptin or not.

    same as you
    A/C x4 then toxol x4 and herceptin just had 2 heceptin they had to stop it my heart went to 51 % so they gave me pills to take i need to wait about 2 or 3 months then maybe i will be able to continue herceptin ....well at least by then my rafds will be done good luck with you...xoxxo

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