virginiab

I was going to hosp every day for rad. But on my Feb mammo it showed a 6cm fluid filled mass but no one told me or said a word about it, then I guess it somehow leaked or something and I got a staph infection. I wanted to know why no one mentioned it, it could've saved me a lot of pain.

Hi Virginiab, I think I have the same percentage of help from the chemo as you. What permanent side effects do you have and how long ago did you stop treatment? I am 56.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE. I AM TAKING IBUPROFEN AND HAVE REALLY DECREASED MY PERCOCET. BUT I DID NOTICE THAT WHENEVER THE SHARP PAINS ARE GETTING READY TO START MY BREAST GET HARD, TENDER TO TOUCH AND VERY WARM. NEVER RUNNING A FEVER

Thanks for your note re: radiation. Thankfully I was feeling ok enough from the last chemo to enjoy being with family for Christmas. I could tell my blood counts were down b/c I was a lot more tired even three weeks out. I was able to have my last dose of Taxotere/Cytoxan on the 27th at the Block Center so now I have to recover from it. I am still on a boatload of supplements specifically during chemo and based on the comprehensive nutritional assessment (blood work) that I had done the first time I went to the Block Center. Apparently I will stay on these for some time with some modifications during radiation and then will have the nutritional assessment redone 4 months after chemotherapy. I have already started many of the dietary changes but it is somewhat hit and miss immediately post chemo b/c nothing tastes good and I sometimes don't feel like eating or crave things that are not on my approved list. I do have a copy of Dr. Block's book, Life Over Cancer, and an entire notebook of materials from the Block Center on dietary and lifestyle changes to help reduce the likelihood of recurrence. Once I recover from this round of chemo, I will go back to working on loosing weight and increasing my exercise. I have been able to walk 1-2 miles every day since this all started but I need to increase it to help with weight loss. I am just hoping that the treatments and the amino acids I have been taking for the peripheral neuropathy will help it to subside quickly so I can be safer during exercise. The peripheral neuropathy has been fairly severe from the beginning which is one of the concerns they had at the Block Center and part of the reason I stayed with them as they seemed to have more experience dealing with it.
So, this week I will start to look up the research on the intensive radiation. My search so far shows some positive results but I still have yet to look at the research articles. There seems to be no one in this area who does it and I am not even sure I am a candidate anyway. If I do have the 6.5 weeks, I may switch to Provena since I work there and it might be more convenient for my work schedule. I guess I just have a lot to figure out soon.

Well I typed a long response twice and accidently deleted it both times. I am headed out of town tomorrow so won't have internet access for a couple days but I'll reply later in the week. I have my last dose of chem on Thursday at the Block center so then I have to decide about options for radiation therapy since there are some newer intensice options that only are done for 1 week rather than 6 1/2 weeks.

Thanks for your response. I suspect we have the same oncologist or sort of do. I started out in the clinical trial and got randomized into TC arm, with a dose every three weeks for 6 times. I switched my treatments to the Block Integrative Oncology Center in Skokie after the first treatment so then had to drop out of the clinical trial. They are fairly secure with me only having 4 doses of TC, but statistically it looks like from the past clinical trials, that TC for 4 doses gives a 87% non-reoccurance rate where as the AC x 4 doses then weekly doses of Taxol for 12 weeks yields a 92% non-reoccurrance rate. It is all statistically probabilities and not particularly reassuring for me either way since I could just as easilly be in the 13% or 8% who do have a re-occurance. That is why I went to the Block Center for a comprehensive nutritional assessment and a consult on complimentary treatments for dealing with cancer/chemo to make it more effective and increase my chances of not having a re-occurrence. My oncologist here in C-U was sort of blind-sighted by my change, because I really did not intend to do that and hadn't really talked to her about my going for this nutritional consult. I had talked with her about nutrition for cancer and during chemo but her response was pretty standard and I knew there was more out there available which was very specific to cancer and cancer treatment. She still has been willing to order my labs pre-chemo and my Neulasta shot so for that I am grateful. I plan to stay with her for the long term and do most of my follow up here as long as she is willing but will keep consulting at the Block Center.
So, I have another question. Why did they not recommend the Adriamycin/Cytoxan every 3 weeks times 4 then Taxol weekly for 12 weeks, That's what my oncologist here would have done ( I was also Stage IIB Infiltrating ductal, ER+, PR+, HER2 Neg, with one postive sentinnel node) if I hadn't been in the clinical trial? I don't know that it would have been any easier on me or not, but 6 months of chemo might have done me in. I am still working and will have to work for many years to come. I spend a lot of time on my feet and doing fine motor activities (I am an RN in an acute care setting currently), so being debilitated by the CIPN is not a viable option. The amino acid supplements and the lazer treatments do help keep it from getting worse so I am hoping that it will go away completely once I am done with chemo.

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