Taxol Round 8 of 8 finished. Im Done...

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Mon, March 24, 2008

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Hi all,

After 2 weeks of up and down counts (very frustrating to be poked with needles these days) as you know in one arm only....more white blood cell miracle booster shots ant my wbc count was a whopping 34...even the doc was laughing. She thought I should frame the last results...

Cheesy Anyway, I hope Taxol was worth the effort...and now onwards to radiation...Im feeling a bit uneasy about that, so if anyone has any comments on what it "feels" like, I would very much appreciate it...and especially the US protocol on how long to wait from Taxol to Rads. Over

here, it seems a whole month wait before proceeding. Can rads be started sooner or not? Can you tell, I wanna hurry up and finish this "stuff" and move on?! Heart Big Smile Blink

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Maria Gifford

3/26/08 12:20am

Hi Tina,

Congratulations on being done with Taxol. Here's to continued success as you move on to radiation. A bit of info for you:

Taxol Effectiveness: Tempest in a Teapot?

http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/78/14877/taxol-teapot/

Radiation 101: Your Guide to Radiation

http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/coping-with-treatment-1497-5.html

I hope this is helpful to you, but more importantly that you hear from other community members who can better answer your questions through sharing their experience and advice.

Be sure to keep us posted on your progress, Tina. We love hearing from you.

Best,

Maria

jean

3/27/08 11:59pm

Hi Tina, your post brought me back to my last chemo. It was one of the happiest days of my life. No more poking with the needles. And as everyone knows, chemo makes those veins harder to find, so it got very difficult in the end. Congrats for making it through! I started my radiation a month after too.

We react to radiation differently so my experience might be much different from yours. What I didn't know about the process was that they decide where exactly to focus the radiation and mark the area which tattoos -- in my case 3 tiny black dots on my chest. I was a bit surprised when it was time to get it. They do this with injected dye. Tolerable since I was used to needles by then. They also mold you a cast to hold your body in place while you are under the radiation machine. The best thing is -- radiation procedures are short - you'll be in an out in 30 minutes, even less. A great thing after hours and hours of chemo.

I tolerated the radiation very well, just redness and tenderness in the area, like a bad sunburn. The oncs and nurses recommended Aloe Vera, PURE Gel and I applied it religiously right after every radiation treatment. I was also advised friction in that area. Not wearing a bra would have been best, but since I was going to the office at that time, I bought one of those bra extenders they sell to pregnant women. Whatever you do, avoid underwired bra as those tend to be tight and rub against your skin. Look for loose comfortable shirts (easy to get in and out of) to use during rads.

Anyway, I thought I was going to get away with having minor effects from rads, but I got blisters under the armpit on my last day of radiation. Your onc would have meds for that as well.

Congratulations again Tina! I know you're impatient to get your treatment over with. I was too. And I'm so happy you're in fighting form. But I think it helped to recover a little from chemo first before radiation. Meantime, celebrate finishing chemo, pat yourself in the back for being a brave strong woman who ENDURED! and hang out with us here:)

jean

3/28/08 12:04am

Oh my. Sentence in 3rd paragraph should have read: I was advised AGAINST friction in the area.

PJ Hamel

3/28/08 4:34pm

Tina, I think Jean had a lot of good advice for you. Not much I can add other than that don't be surprised if your breast begins to feel kind of hard - actually, kind of like a bagel that's been microwaved too long! Don't worry, that goes away eventually. I didn't have any bad effects from radiation AT ALL - not even a sunburn. No fatigue. I was lucky, I guess. And yeah, I started about 5 weeks after chemo. Don't rush it; you need to recover from the chemo. And, as Jean said, radiation is a lot easier (hopefully you live fairly close to where you'll be getting it - that's the hardest part, taking part of your day 5X a week to do it.) Best of luck, Tina - we're with you! - PJH

KayeD

4/ 9/08 2:32pm

Tina:

First, congratulations on that last Taxol - phew, I know I was relieved when that baby was over. I had such horrible body pain.

Radiation ended for me on March 3. It wasn't too bad, other than going there every morning. I did not have tatoos to mark my breast - the technicians wrote all over me in black sharpie markers! WOW - such a nice look! Anyway, yup, black sharpie markers and tiny adhesive markers. I wasn't thrilled about the adhesive markers because I usually blister when adhesives are used on my skin, but these didn't, so that worked out.

I did get pretty bad burns in my right armpit (which is now the most tanned armpit in Chicago!) and underneath my breast. With some great creams from my Doc, the burns healed up quickly.

I am; however, left with extreme fatigue. Now, this might just be from surgery in August, chemotherapy Sept - Dec and then jumping right in with radiations. And this is a fatigue like none I've ever experienced - bone, dead-dog, laying in a heap, can't move T-I-R-E-D. I think I've finally succumb to the whirlwind that is cancer treatment. Doctors tell me my strength will slowly increase. I take my walks every day before work and after work and sometimes if the weather is decent in the Windy City, I walk on weekends. I don't get very far - but at least I'm still alive and walking.

Congratulations and hang in there!

KayeD

Taxol Round 8 of 8 finished. Im Done...

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