1st and last chemo

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getmehealthy
getmehealthy Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I had my first chemo 9-2-10, couldn't tolerate taxotere, but cytoxan was ok. That night I had the hor flashes and night sweats so bad the next day my hair looked like it hadn't been washed in a week. Then I only was getting five hours of sleep per night, I did not want to eat the comfort food I bought, my back, neck, hip and shoulder joints hurt so bad is was disgusting, not to mention that it pligged up my digestive track and flared up my diverticulitis. In essence it made me miserable. I decided to see another chemo doc to do my treatments since the first one doesn't seem to listen. I also decided to see a rad onc this week to start rad therapy instead of chemo. Apparently my body can not tolerate chemo.

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  • smalldoggroomer
    smalldoggroomer Member Posts: 1,184
    #2
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    Welcome to the forum Getmehealthe,
    I'm so sorry for what you have gone through. You should talk to your Dr and see if they can change the drugs or dose. Chemo is very important to treat cancer. I hope everything works out for you. We are all here for you when ever you want to talk or vent. Take care and keep us posted. Have a great day Kay
  • bluwillo
    bluwillo Member Posts: 113
    #3
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    To quote from your post "it
    To quote from your post "it made me miserable". I had to smile (sorry, nothing personal) as my whole chemo treatment (Oct-Feb) made me miserable. Your reactions sound just like mine...which my docs said was proof the drugs were working. Think about it. The chemo is poison for the cancer...which means it's not so great for the rest of our body.

    If your docs have given you the choice between rads and chemo, then, yeah, I'd do the rads...but did they give you that choice? Only being a survivor of my own BC, I don't know that much about how others have been treated.

    But, if you're thinking you have a choice between chemo and rads, I really hope you talk to your medical oncologist first. You may have misheard during the part of his talk where he outlined your treatment plan (Lord knows, I "misheard" a few things...kinda important things, too..like I heard "non-invasive" when it was really "invasive"...boy, did I get ticked when I heard that!)

    So, in short, chemo is designed to make you feel like crap. It is also designed to save your life. So, talk to your doctors first, and if you're one of the lucky few who can choose between radiation and chemo, enjoy the radiation!! :)
  • Skeezie
    Skeezie Member Posts: 586 Member
    #4
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    bluwillo said:

    To quote from your post "it
    To quote from your post "it made me miserable". I had to smile (sorry, nothing personal) as my whole chemo treatment (Oct-Feb) made me miserable. Your reactions sound just like mine...which my docs said was proof the drugs were working. Think about it. The chemo is poison for the cancer...which means it's not so great for the rest of our body.

    If your docs have given you the choice between rads and chemo, then, yeah, I'd do the rads...but did they give you that choice? Only being a survivor of my own BC, I don't know that much about how others have been treated.

    But, if you're thinking you have a choice between chemo and rads, I really hope you talk to your medical oncologist first. You may have misheard during the part of his talk where he outlined your treatment plan (Lord knows, I "misheard" a few things...kinda important things, too..like I heard "non-invasive" when it was really "invasive"...boy, did I get ticked when I heard that!)

    So, in short, chemo is designed to make you feel like crap. It is also designed to save your life. So, talk to your doctors first, and if you're one of the lucky few who can choose between radiation and chemo, enjoy the radiation!! :)

    I agree with Bluwillo,
    Chemo made me horribly sick, constipated the first time and then uncontroable diahrrea the rest of the time. Couldn't eat, food tasted disgusting, lost 30 lbs. (that part was great, but now I have found mostof them again,) Too sick to leave the house except to go to the onc and chemo and the hospital for 4days once. But my onc had a whole arsenal of drugs which helped all of my symptoms. Some here have only slight symptoms, somek of us are sicker than dogs.

    But you know what? It's only for a short time and then we strt feeling better. And I'm glad I went thru it....we all have moments, lots of moments when we think about recurrence and then are glad we treated our bc agressively with everything tht's possible. Is it hard? You bet! Is it doable? Yes.

    The purpose of chemo is to kill cancer cells in your body, even with surgery it is possible for some tiny, undetected cancer cell to still remain...either at the site or somewhere else, chemo treats the whole body killing any stray cells that mite be lurking, waiting to grow again. That is why we are so sick, it attacks the fast growing cells in our body first, which is why we lose our hair, our mouths and digestive tracts, finger and toe nails are first affected..they are fast growig cells. Radiation is meant to zap any cancer cells that mite be remaining at the surical site. They have two different jobs.

    Talk with the onc about how sick you are, there may be Rx's out there to help you. My comfort foods were pickles, pickle juice, acidic fruits, not your typical comfort foods. If you have a metallic taste, use plastic silverware.

    Everyone on this board is ready to help you get thru this...there are many helpful suggestions everyone here may have to help you. Most impoortantly talk to your onc. The decisions you make now will affect the rest of your life. Cancer left untreated will win the battle.

    I hope you are feeling better, please keep us posted.

    Hugs, Judy :-)
  • GregStahl
    GregStahl Member Posts: 188
    #5
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    bluwillo said:

    To quote from your post "it
    To quote from your post "it made me miserable". I had to smile (sorry, nothing personal) as my whole chemo treatment (Oct-Feb) made me miserable. Your reactions sound just like mine...which my docs said was proof the drugs were working. Think about it. The chemo is poison for the cancer...which means it's not so great for the rest of our body.

    If your docs have given you the choice between rads and chemo, then, yeah, I'd do the rads...but did they give you that choice? Only being a survivor of my own BC, I don't know that much about how others have been treated.

    But, if you're thinking you have a choice between chemo and rads, I really hope you talk to your medical oncologist first. You may have misheard during the part of his talk where he outlined your treatment plan (Lord knows, I "misheard" a few things...kinda important things, too..like I heard "non-invasive" when it was really "invasive"...boy, did I get ticked when I heard that!)

    So, in short, chemo is designed to make you feel like crap. It is also designed to save your life. So, talk to your doctors first, and if you're one of the lucky few who can choose between radiation and chemo, enjoy the radiation!! :)

    I agree with bluwillo too
    My wifes first treatment was bad, but when we saw the Dr before her second, they gave her the meds to help combat the side effects and 2nd go around was much better....same with the 3rd.
    Talk to your Dr, the nurses, the nurses at the treatment center they will know whats works best to beat the side effects.

    Drink tons of water as well, it will flush everything out of your body faster. Dont drink sports drinks as those contain salt and your body will retain fluids....was a big problem with Ruby after first treatment.
  • ms.sunshine
    ms.sunshine Member Posts: 707 Member
    #6
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    Get me healthy
    Sounds like you had a normal chemo reaction. Others have gone thru much much worse. I wish you well with your treatments.
  • shy violet
    shy violet Member Posts: 167
    #7
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    ms.sunshine said:

    Get me healthy
    Sounds like you had a normal chemo reaction. Others have gone thru much much worse. I wish you well with your treatments.

    Not lecturing, just speaking
    Not lecturing, just speaking from experience...it could be very very dangerous and extremely harmful to just stop the chemo...try to work it out with onc...We had to make adjustments and tweak here and there to get it right...
    Chemo makes you sick and you feel like crap...but it is far better than the alternative...love shy
  • Double Whammy
    Double Whammy Member Posts: 2,832 Member
    #8
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    shy violet said:

    Not lecturing, just speaking
    Not lecturing, just speaking from experience...it could be very very dangerous and extremely harmful to just stop the chemo...try to work it out with onc...We had to make adjustments and tweak here and there to get it right...
    Chemo makes you sick and you feel like crap...but it is far better than the alternative...love shy

    Chemo just plain sucks
    and my side effects haven't been horrible. What I do know, tho, is every time I've had a surprise side effect (most have been anticipated), oncology has been Johnny on the Spot with something to help. Some we just have to get through (fatigue, aches, nail problems).
    I had my third chemo on 09/02, when you had your first. I'm just now beginning to be feel almost myself - and I was at a point that I said "I can't do this again" a few days ago. The effects are cumulative and this cycle the side effects were more pronounced (with some of those new surprises). By the time of my next (and last) infusion on the 23rd, I should feel really good - just before they load me up with the poison again.

    My first cycle was fraught with anxiety and the side effects I had then I believe were exacerbated by that anxiety and fear. Oh, I had real side effects, uncontrollable diarrhea, temperature, aches, no appetite,fatigue, etc. I now have meds to control the diarrhea better, and know what days to expect and accept the side effects that are what they are. I just resign myself to being "down" those days. They were worse this 3rd cycle along with the addition of a new one.

    I did not have a choice for chemo, but of course, I could have refused. My decision if I had had a choice was to do it because I wanted to give this sucker everything I could.

    Please discuss this with your oncologist before making a final decision. Your diverticulitis may be an issue/problem - but maybe there's a work around. Let us know what you decide. It is your decision. Just wanted to let you know that the oncologists usually have some thing up their sleeves to help side effects, especially the severe ones. And, of course, there are patients who simply cannot tolerate chemotherapy.

    Suzanne
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #9
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    Double Whammy said:

    Chemo just plain sucks
    and my side effects haven't been horrible. What I do know, tho, is every time I've had a surprise side effect (most have been anticipated), oncology has been Johnny on the Spot with something to help. Some we just have to get through (fatigue, aches, nail problems).
    I had my third chemo on 09/02, when you had your first. I'm just now beginning to be feel almost myself - and I was at a point that I said "I can't do this again" a few days ago. The effects are cumulative and this cycle the side effects were more pronounced (with some of those new surprises). By the time of my next (and last) infusion on the 23rd, I should feel really good - just before they load me up with the poison again.

    My first cycle was fraught with anxiety and the side effects I had then I believe were exacerbated by that anxiety and fear. Oh, I had real side effects, uncontrollable diarrhea, temperature, aches, no appetite,fatigue, etc. I now have meds to control the diarrhea better, and know what days to expect and accept the side effects that are what they are. I just resign myself to being "down" those days. They were worse this 3rd cycle along with the addition of a new one.

    I did not have a choice for chemo, but of course, I could have refused. My decision if I had had a choice was to do it because I wanted to give this sucker everything I could.

    Please discuss this with your oncologist before making a final decision. Your diverticulitis may be an issue/problem - but maybe there's a work around. Let us know what you decide. It is your decision. Just wanted to let you know that the oncologists usually have some thing up their sleeves to help side effects, especially the severe ones. And, of course, there are patients who simply cannot tolerate chemotherapy.

    Suzanne

    I agree with the ladies, I
    I agree with the ladies, I had symptoms like skeezie, and developed a rectal fissure HUGE required surgery after chemo and before rads, It was so painful and I was in my house all the time. I did not think I could do it but I did it and like these ladies and glad I did. See what your doc can do for you to make this tolerable before you give up.
  • najely99
    najely99 Member Posts: 11
    #10
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    HI MY NAME IS NAJELY AND
    HI MY NAME IS NAJELY AND RECENTLY MY MOM WAS DIAGNOSE WITH BREAST CANCER IN JUNE, SHORTLY IN THAT SAME MONTH THE DOCTOR DECIDED THAT IT WILL BE BETTERIF SHE HAD A MASECTOMY SINCE WE HAVE A HISTORY OF BREAST CANCER IN OUR FAMILY, WELL AFTER THAT HER ONC DECIDED THAT SHE SHOULD HAVE FOUR ROUNDS OF CHEMOTHERAPY INCLIDING THE DRUGS TAXOTER AND CYTOXAN BUT MY MOM HAD AN ALLERGIC REACTION TO TAXOTERE AND WAS GIVEN ONLY CYTOXAN FOR HER FIRST TREATMENT, THEY ALSO DECIDED THAT SHE WILL CONTINUE HER LAST THREE CHEMO WITH A PORTER AND NOT THRU THE VEINS, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF ANYONE HAS HADA EXPERIENCE WITH THIS PORTER AND WAT ARE SOME SYMPTOMS? HER SIDE EFFECTS FROM HER FIRST CHEMO HAVE BEEN MILD SO FAR, SHE DID FEEL NAUSEUS AFTER CHEMO AND WAS TIRED ALL DAY THAT DAY, SHE HASNT LOSS HAIR YET BUT DOES HAVE SENSITIVE SKIN WHICH ITCHES ALOT AND SOMETIMES BLEED A LITTLE BIT. IM KINDA SCARED BECAUSE THIS IS ALL NEW TO ME AND THE WORSE PART IS SHE LIVES TWO HOURS AWAY FROM ME SO I DONT GET TO SEE HER THAT MUCH MAYBE LIKE TWICE A MONTH BUT WE TALKED EVERYDAY AND I ALWAYS TRY TO KEEP HER POSITIVE AND TRY TO GIVE HER ADVISE TO DRINK LOTS OF WATER SINCE I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING ALOT ABOUT BREAST CANCER....
  • Angie2U
    Angie2U Member Posts: 2,991
    #11
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    smalldoggroomer said:

    Welcome to the forum Getmehealthe,
    I'm so sorry for what you have gone through. You should talk to your Dr and see if they can change the drugs or dose. Chemo is very important to treat cancer. I hope everything works out for you. We are all here for you when ever you want to talk or vent. Take care and keep us posted. Have a great day Kay

    I am sorry for all of the
    I am sorry for all of the side effects you had. That must be horrible. Perhaps the new oncologist can help with a different kind of chemo that you could tolerate better?


    Sending hugs and prayers,

    Angie

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