Chemo question

Help4Sis
Help4Sis Member Posts: 53
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
My sister is receiving 4 tx's of TC, 3 weeks apart. Should she expect the side effects from the treatments to change much? She's had one treatment so far... will each one get progressively worse? I assume she will get more fatigued.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

Comments

  • MyTurnNow
    MyTurnNow Member Posts: 2,686 Member
    #2
    I had the same 4 treatments.
    I had the same 4 treatments. I was "one of the lucky ones" and really didn't have too much trouble. Mine were pretty much the same from the first one to the last one. I continued to work and also continued to exercise. I hope your sister is in this same group. Good luck!
  • Boppy_of_6
    Boppy_of_6 Member Posts: 1,138
    #3
    MyTurnNow said:

    I had the same 4 treatments.
    I had the same 4 treatments. I was "one of the lucky ones" and really didn't have too much trouble. Mine were pretty much the same from the first one to the last one. I continued to work and also continued to exercise. I hope your sister is in this same group. Good luck!

    Same here
    I also had this same chemo and did well. I think my first tx was the worse. I worked the entire time too.I never had any nausea, just tired and chemo brain. I would be tireder on the 3rd day but it was still not awful. God Bless
    (((Hugs))) Janice
  • cindycflynn
    cindycflynn Member Posts: 1,132 Member
    #4
    I also had TC for 4 treatments
    And, like MTN, was very lucky to have few side effects.

    With the first treatment, I had more digestive issues (constipation, heartburn) but then I learned how to deal with that and it was better with the subsequent treatments. I also had more problems with my taste buds at first. That side effect went away more quickly after each subsequent treatment, and I learned quite a few tricks from this board to help with that SE (thank goodness!)

    The fatigue was cumulative for me, however. By the 4th treatment my legs just felt like lead. I also was not exercising, though, and I have heard that regular exercise, even when you don't feel like it, helps with the fatigue.

    I hope that your sister is able to get through this with minimal side effects.

    Take care,
    Cindy
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #5
    Expect/Assume nothing
    Be prepared with knowledge of what is possible - but don't expect that anything particular WILL happen. We are each so different that there is no reason to EXPECT anything that has happened to others to happen to you/her. I can only speak for myself.

    I had 4 A/C 2 weeks apart - only had 2 'tired' days with each infusion - had no cummulative effect that I experienced. The 12 weeekly Taxol were another story entirely. I was completely exhausted 5 days a week and tired the other 2 - it was cummulative over the weeks. Personally I think that the A/C being every other week allowed body to recoup but the weekly Taxol did not. I started Rads 1 week after the last Taxol and only felt better ddaily so to me that supports my theory that the weekly didn't let body recover but then being I
    BC were going for the most aggressive tx.

    Certainly there are others with exactly the opposite experiences - A/C bad; Taxol not bad. Be educated but do not EXPECT/ASSUME anything in particular to happen - that can sometimes be a 'self full filling' process.

    Susan
  • Help4Sis
    Help4Sis Member Posts: 53
    #6
    Rague said:

    Expect/Assume nothing
    Be prepared with knowledge of what is possible - but don't expect that anything particular WILL happen. We are each so different that there is no reason to EXPECT anything that has happened to others to happen to you/her. I can only speak for myself.

    I had 4 A/C 2 weeks apart - only had 2 'tired' days with each infusion - had no cummulative effect that I experienced. The 12 weeekly Taxol were another story entirely. I was completely exhausted 5 days a week and tired the other 2 - it was cummulative over the weeks. Personally I think that the A/C being every other week allowed body to recoup but the weekly Taxol did not. I started Rads 1 week after the last Taxol and only felt better ddaily so to me that supports my theory that the weekly didn't let body recover but then being I
    BC were going for the most aggressive tx.

    Certainly there are others with exactly the opposite experiences - A/C bad; Taxol not bad. Be educated but do not EXPECT/ASSUME anything in particular to happen - that can sometimes be a 'self full filling' process.

    Susan

    Thanks for the replies
    Thanks for the replies. So far my sister is doing really well... keeping our fingers crossed. She is unable to work because she has a physically demanding job... had mastectomy end of August and then her first chemo 10 days ago. She IS exercising though.. making sure to walk 3 miles/day and doing whatever exercises she was approved to do.
  • Heatherbelle
    Heatherbelle Member Posts: 1,226 Member
    #7
    Help4Sis said:

    Thanks for the replies
    Thanks for the replies. So far my sister is doing really well... keeping our fingers crossed. She is unable to work because she has a physically demanding job... had mastectomy end of August and then her first chemo 10 days ago. She IS exercising though.. making sure to walk 3 miles/day and doing whatever exercises she was approved to do.

    I'm glad to hear your sister
    I'm glad to hear your sister is doing well. Out of 6 treatments, I'd say the first 3 I handled very well. Only had 3 or 4 days of feeling bad after each one, was able to keep up with working out, taking care of my kids & my house. But, the fatigue did get progressively worse, and the last 3 chemo treatments (well this one hasn't hit met yet, but tomorrow i stop taking my steroids so im expecting my last crash day tomorrow) -have knocked me on my butt. The feeling crappy lasts more like 5-7 days rather than 3 or 4. Some days I sleep more than I'm awake. But - I'm all done with the chemo, and pretty soon your sister will be too. Tell her to hang in there! She sounds like a tough cookie & I'm sure she'll get through it allright!
    *hugs*
    Heather

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