4 AC finished now 4 Taxol to be done

Just been reading someother posts on Taxol and neuropathy scary stuff. Just wondering if this is quite common i.e. does it happen most people it sounds awful

Hi Dee

Well done on completing your AC treatment. I was not on Taxol but Taxotere but it is my understanding( i could be wrong) that they have pretty much the same side effects. I got neuropathy but to be honest it really only kicked in when I was finished all the treatment so it was probably an amalgamation of all the chemo and also Herceptin. Not everyone gets it and for most people it can be very mild and you may not even notice you have it until you pick up something that is very cold or very hot. The first time I noticed it was when I went to the shop to get milk and when I put my hand on the carton I nearly hit the roof with the pain but once I knew I had it , I started to use gloves if I was handling any thing hot/cold. If it gets bad they will give you something for it. I am taking lyrica but most of my problems now are more related to nerve damage caused by the mastectomy and axilliary clearance. Try not to stress too much about it, it really is minor compared to everything else you have been through. I would however recommend that you get a good nail protector, I use Sally Hansen miracle cure , as it can cause damage to your nails. I used it all the time and my nails were fine.
Try not to stress too much about it as it is no where near as bad as AC . Before you know it will all be finished.Let us know how you are getting on with it and if you have any questions just shout. We are all here for you.
Love and Light

Sx

I'm starting to worry here now as I endure my 'black Sunday' in chemo land. This with the help of God will be my last 'black Sunday' but now I hear you talk of neuropathic problems when chemo finishes. I am wishing for tomorrow I feel awful today but mainly no energy and horrific taste on my mouth. I scent suffered from any pain during chemo except for neulasta effects. Please tell me I'm going to feel ok when this crap feeling passes next week?

Hi WicklowLady

I am so sorry, I didnt mean to scare the be-jasus out of you. Believe me when I tell you that the minute you stop chemo you will start to feel much better every single day. Your taste buds will come back, you will enjoy food every single day , have no nausea and no pain from what I used to call the bone shaker - neulasta. Your energy will improve vastly and your hair and nails will grow. No more nasty taste in the mouth or loo issues( if you had them) . It is all light at the end of the tunnel so please dont be worrying. You have come this far, and are nearly out the other side of it. I am back shopping, going to the gym, getting my hair done regularly and starting back to work next month. So keep positive. It is all good from here on in

Love and Light

Sinéad x

Taxol (taxotere, a sister of taxol) was a walk in the park for me. Felt sort of normal on it compared to AC. No nausea, much less tiredness, my hair even started to grow back on taxotere (which can happen). My taste buds were still a bit off but I could manage to move from the plain feed regime I had been on while on AC.

Hopefully it will be easy enough on you.

By the way it was not all plain sailing. I did have an allergic reaction on session 2 of T (again this can happen). Nurses had anti allergic stuff on standby which they administered pretty quickly and I was fine to resume with loads of steroids!!!

Best of luck. Nearly there.

Lindylu

Oh thank you shinners I'm just feeling really crap today and it seems to be the longest day of my life the taste on my mouth is horrific. I'm just hoping when I wake in the morning ill be out of this for the last time. Yes I've had loo issues one minute severe constipation then the opposite, it consumes your days. I really can't wait to get back to cherishing and enjoying the little things in life. I will forever appreciate being well, for the rest of my life

Hi Wicklow lady,

So glad that chemo is over for you.

Today is rough but for sure it is upwards and onwards now!

Hugs

Kathleen

Hi Dee,

I had 9 sessions of weekly Taxol and it was way easier than the previous treatment (very appropriately called FEC ).

I did get bad neuropathy however and still have it though it's improving slowly. Not everyone gets it, I promise. Most of the ladies I met over the last year or so did not.

Take good note of how your hands and feet feel and report anything odd when you see your doctors. Keep your hands warm especially outside and stay as active as you can to stimulate the nerve endings.

Thanks for the blog. You are an inspiration.

Good luck with the next stage of the treatment

Hugs

Kath

Thanks a million all for the replies - my mind is more at ease now broke the golden rule and started googling last night - NO MORE GOOGLING - gonna stick to this forum ONLY

Thanks Shinners for the advice on the nail stuff from Sally Hansen.

Hope it clears up for you soon and you get back on the road. Auxillary Clearance I keep seeing this dreadful to say I dont know what it is was just about to Google but didnt want to break the rule. Can somone explain what it is?

Your all doing great girls keep it up and thanks a million for the great support

Dee

Auxillary clearance is where the surgeon takes away all your lymph nodes on your affected side. I had one fully positive nodes with cells in two others at SNB. He took away 24 others which were clear. They call it a stage 3 clearance also.

The arm feels sore/ numb/ tingly after the op but gets slightly better in time, although most people never regain full normal feeling under their arms - well I haven't met one yet!! The scar from mine is tidy. The numbness is irritating at times But it's very doable - you just gave to keep the arm as active as possible and eliminate all lymphodema risks - which if you have an anc are lifelong!

Did they say you had to have one?

Thanks for that Neadi now I know. Looks like I will be getting my nodes out had one proved positive and two not but think the lotwill be taken. I presume they take the other ones that were clear for preventative measures? Stage 3 clearance - you mean taking away the risk that you will get stage 3?

Now I'm not sure , but from what I gather, stage 3 is where there are numerous nodes affected. For example, I'm classed as stage 2a coz I had the nodes affected but my lump was under 2cm. If any of the 24 they had removed proved positive that would have given me an upgrade!!!

Removing the lymph nodes aids to eliminate the risk of a recurrence. It sounds to me dee that with the chemo and the good result you had with only 1 positive node that if they do take further nodes out, you're gonna be fine! The lymphs did their job in stopping the cells spreading further.

I'm off to chemo school now to find out all the horrible stuff! From what I've read taxol isn't that bad and your hair can start growing back on it! I have to have the 3 together TAC- so we'll be in it together

Xx

Well thats one upgrade we could both do without I am stage 2 as well even though tumour is 7cm.....

Catch you on Thursday - Nollaig is lovely and the meeting is a very informative one and nothing to worry about its relaxed and casual

Hi Deeded
Best of luck with Taxol - hopefully you won't feel like you are on chemotherapy at all!

I had 12 doses, one a week and did great until the very last one which they kept putting off, and finally not bothering with it as the soles of my feet started feeling numb. And that's all that happened to me, you'll be glad to know. And after a while I got the feeling back.

Just always tell the medics if you feel anything weird or unusual. It's no biggie - it's better to be safe than sorry, and from my understanding if it persists, the effects can be quite hard on you, and tough to reverse.

Good luck, hope it goes well for you x

Hi Dee,

Well done on finishing the AC ! I found it very difficult especially with my beautiful exuberant son but he was alo great in getting me out and about when I really didn't want to!
You may have read the post below on taxol and neuropathy that was me !for the first seven weeks I was flying along no nausea a bit of constipation but nothing compared to the side effects of AC ...Then at week 8 my feet and hands started to give me trouble anyway you can read my post if you like !
All I can say is keep your hands and feet well mosturised and as Shinners advises Sally hensons miracle clear nail varnish . The nurse also told me to massgae my hands and feet with almond oil. Fortunately my pain has eased a bit since wednesday but once I get the Taxol again I know it will flare up ,Yikes .Anyhoo it only happens a few people . I wish you all the best and I'm sure it will go well for you .
oo

x S

Thanks Shinners know what you mean about the little fellah I have to go out whether I like it or not and to be honest thats a good thing otherwise would prob be a hermit.

God sorry to hear you had it so bad on taxol - I did read your post earlier thats when I start wondering about it. I always prefer to konw what "may" lie ahead instead of going in thinking its a walk in the park cos now I know more what to look out for.

Just ordered Sally Hansen on Ebay for €14 including shipping hope thats a bargain

Thanks again all

Hi Dee,

On the subject of nail care, I remembered 2 other important things today.

Before you start Taxol, to avoid breaking your nails, cut your nails short and keep them short until about 2 months after the end of the treatment. Only let them grow longer when the quality of the nail recovers and they are strong again.

Use a non Acetone-based remover.

I was advised to apply 2 coats of a silicium-based nail protector varnish (La Roche Posay) followed by 2 coats of a very dark colour to protect my nails from sunlight. Took forever each time but my finger nails were lovely again 3 months after the end of my Taxol. My toe nails have all recovered too apart from my big toes which are taking a long time to grow out the flaky yellow nail that grew during chemo. Nothing a bit of varnish won't cover at this stage.

All the best

Kath

Hi Kath thanks for that info. At the moment have quite long nails as chemo seem to suit it. Will cut them tomorrow and do as you say and put the two layers of black on (Neadi mentioned that in chemo yesterday to me).

silicium-based nail protector varnish (La Roche Posay) would I find that in any chemist? Sorry not very good with nail things - never even had a manicure !!!!

Dee

Hi Dee,

Your post made me laugh. I've never had a manicure either, nor do I usually use nail varnish. After my clumsy nail varnish jobs I used to get comments from my daughters telling me that the varnish should just be on the nail and not on my fingers too.

A useful trick is to tidy up with a cotton bud dipped in remover if you are not too handy with the varnish

Yes I got the La Roche Posay base coat nail protector stuff in a chemist. (http://www.sweetcare.pt/EN/la-roche-pos ... 854RP.aspx - the white one referred to here ).

I don't think it really matters which brand you use but use a good hypoallergic protective base coat to avoid putting the colour directly on the nail. The other important thing is to avoid ACETONE-based removers.

Hugs

Kath