Struggling through Chemo

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  • Coastiejas
    Coastiejas Member Posts: 27 ✭
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    Hi Ladies 
    I've now had 4 paclitaxels after a week off and now on a reduced dose.... hopefully my liver levels keep being low enough for the lower dose. I'm pretty tired after each dose and feel like I have a bad hangover for 2 days after but the come good! I worked 2 days from home over the last 2 weeks. I haven't had mouth or nail issues thankfully but I still have altered taste......Hope you are all going well and have a relaxing long weekend and manage to be able to eat some chocolate 🍫 😀 
  • Katie46
    Katie46 Member Posts: 91 ✭
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    Hi @Rona how are you doing? I had my 6th dose today, so half way through. 
  • Rona
    Rona Member Posts: 37 ✭
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    Hey Katie, I’m going ok thanks. Apart from fatigue and bad taste, I’m coping well.
    Half way there, congratulations, was scary to start a new drug but we all did it!
    I have 2 to go, I had one yesterday, slept through the whole lot 😂, nurse had to wake me up.
     I’m full time working, pretty much crash when I get home. I’ve got a day off today so tending to my garden 😊. 
    Chemo just seems to be the norm now, it’s going to feel weird not going….. oh well, there’s radiation to fill in the day 😩. 
    Hope you all had a great Easter, I couldn’t manage the chocolate. I’m living on cheese and tomato toasties. When this is over I am going out for Chinese….. can’t wait to taste food again! 
    How’s the finger/feet numbness? My doc said it gets worse for the last 3 doses. I’ve lost the hair on my arms now too but it still growing under my mastectomy arm?? I can’t even shave as I have a large lump filled with fluid that needs operating on after chemo 😂. Oh well I’m enjoying the rest of my super smooth body. 
  • Katie46
    Katie46 Member Posts: 91 ✭
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    Glad to hear you are doing ok Rona. I'm slowly losing my eyebrows, I expect them to be gone in the next few weeks. My finger tips and nails are still sensitive, but ok, my feet are completely fine. I'm working 2 days a week in the office, and it's great doing something normal. I get tired sometimes, but nothing like on AC. My taste is still ok, a bit deminished, but ok, although I prefer savery to sweet things, apart from dark chocolate. My mouth feels a bit odd, and I've had some mouth ulcers, but I think I'm on top of those now. I am still craving Meredith goats cheese, and will be eating it with a spoon when I'm allowed soft cheese again.😀🐐 at my last meeting with the oncologist she mentioned getting me an appointment with the radiology team for the next phase, so I really feel there is light at the end of the tunnel now.
  • Paris_24
    Paris_24 Member Posts: 15 ✭
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    @Katie46 @Coastiejas @Rona just want to say thanks for sharing your experiences - I am weeks behind you on a similar trajectory.  It is good to share the good, the bad and the ugly of treatments.  Your support to each other is also encouragement.  Look forward to the celebration when each of your chemo is finished and then the next phase of radiation.  I am early days still on the AC cycle, half way mark achieved though.
  • Coastiejas
    Coastiejas Member Posts: 27 ✭
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    Hi Ladies 
    I've had my 5th paclitaxel today and my liver levels came back down after the reduced dose again this round. I've been doing lots of liver focused qigong so maybe that helped too....
    @Rona and @Katie46 glad you're both going well... @Rona you're almost there, definitely cause for celebration when you're finished! I've got 7 rounds left now so counting down!  My hair has started to grow back over the last week too..... just a bit of fuzz at this stage, not quite enough to tell what colour it is yet!
    @Paris_24 well done on the AC halfway point.... you have to celebrate all the wins, and the bad stuff will be over for you soon,  and hopefully you too will find the paclitaxel bit easier!

  • Katie46
    Katie46 Member Posts: 91 ✭
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    Hi @Paris_24, hope you are doing ok on AC, paclitaxel really does seem generally much better for most people once you get the heavy dose out of the way. It did seem like a long haul at the start. I set myself little milestones along the way (like half way through AC) which helped. I reached 2 of my milestones recently, half way through paclitaxel and reaching April, when I could say I finish chemo next month 😀 
  • Katie46
    Katie46 Member Posts: 91 ✭
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    Oh wow @Coastiejas, your hair is growing back! Mine has been fuzz since AC. After it all came out I was left with about 1cm fuzz, never fell out and hasn't grown at all. After all this time my eyebrows are disappearing 🤷‍♀️ 
  • Coastiejas
    Coastiejas Member Posts: 27 ✭
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    Hi @Katie46
    I have been without eyebrows for a good while now... but I didn't have much to begin with!  I've got some good strong glasses frames that disguise my lack of eyebrows until they grow back!, I've still got a few scrappy tufts of my original hair so might have to get my hairdresser to do a tidy up now that I've got some fuzz!, My eyelashes are only just hanging in there....not much left either! But I'm having fun with different coloured wig caps and hair.... if you don't have hair you might as well have some fun with different colours and styles.....plus it keeps everyone guessing 😉! 
  • Rona
    Rona Member Posts: 37 ✭
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    Awww, had a good laugh at some of your comments. It’s truly an experience, no hair, fuzz, no eyebrows…… not having eyelashes is really weird….. I know where they’ve all gone too…… in my eyes! 
    Welcome Paris, AC is not fun. My Oncologist told me after I had finished that it’s the strongest chemo and she congratulated me on seeing it out as many don’t, so well done, hang in there and be kind to yourself ♥️.
    I spoke with the Radiation oncologist today, I finish chemo on the 16 th of April then I have 4 weeks off till Radiation starts!! Oh boy, I was thinking bout my Chinese dinner I’m going to have when I get my taste back today whilst driving home 😂. 
    I have my bell ready to ring on the 16th, hopefully I can stay awake for the last infusion. 
  • Katie46
    Katie46 Member Posts: 91 ✭
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    You can see the Chinese Restaurant at the end of the tunnel @Rona!
  • Katie46
    Katie46 Member Posts: 91 ✭
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    Anyone else getting nose bleeds? Never had them all my life, but I've had a couple now.
  • Rona
    Rona Member Posts: 37 ✭
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    Hey Katie, I’ve had a small amount of blood leak, wouldn’t call it a nose bleed though. My nose is super sensitive to the cold……water.literally drips out. 
  • Katie46
    Katie46 Member Posts: 91 ✭
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    So far they only last a few minutes, but a new experience for me. I have to make sure I have tissues with me now, I've had to improvise with a face mask recently.
  • Afraser
    Afraser Member Posts: 4,385 ✭
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    @Katie4

    My oncologist told me paclitaxel is particularly hard on soft tissue - eyes, nose, mouth. I had no problem with my eyes but my nose oozed blood very easily ( I used nose oil, from the chemist) and I lost my taste buds. All resolved very quickly when I finished treatment! 

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