Next phase ... Chemo on Monday
Hi, After the lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy op, then next op of total axillary clearance of my right arm, I am now up to chemo. It starts on Monday. I am HER2 positive, grade 3, so will be havi...
Forum Discussion
@viking1, I am 6 days post mastectomy, and feeling good.
Todays path results were all good, clear margins and 20 negative lymph nodes.
The FEC and Docetaxol chemo regime I had was the same as you are scheduled for.
It can be heavy going the first two weeks but the third week I had my taste buds back, the mouth felt more normal, the nausea was okay, the energy levels were better and although my legs were leaden all the way through, week three was so much better because I felt human.
I had a little neuropathy in the middle fingers of both hands with Docetaxol, and that is still a minor issue, I expect it may get slowly better. The tongue neuropathy cleared by about day 14, and has gone.
Legs aren't back to the preChemo strength, but we are getting there.
If you get constipation, try using prune juice mixed with whole pears, kiwi and apple ( remove cores but skin only on the kiwi fruit) and blended to a juice. It really helped me with the addition of Movicol for the first week and the night before chemo. I had the juice mixed in the fridge and drank it all day, it helps the fluid levels and the regularity.
For diarrhoea you can use the Gastrostop constantly, also avoid foods that will aggravate it, stick to a bland diet (everything will taste bland anyway) apparently bananas, toast, rice and broiled chicken are good, avoid fruit with skin, whole grains, and anything else you are recommended to avoid for your IBS. Mind you, finding anything you can taste is an issue. I did enjoy hot chips, they didn't seem to aggravate the diarrhoea.
My diarrhoea started the day of the first Docetaxol and did not ease until the week after I finished, 10 solid weeks of it, keep your fluid levels up.
Gastropstop helped.
My gut is still very sensitive, so it may take a while to settle down, some other ladies have said the same thing.
Good luck with the next few months, don't worry about having anxiety attacks, bouts of depression or times when you feel you can't cope, just come on here and vent away. You will probably find most of us have gone through the same. Jennie
Todays path results were all good, clear margins and 20 negative lymph nodes.
The FEC and Docetaxol chemo regime I had was the same as you are scheduled for.
It can be heavy going the first two weeks but the third week I had my taste buds back, the mouth felt more normal, the nausea was okay, the energy levels were better and although my legs were leaden all the way through, week three was so much better because I felt human.
I had a little neuropathy in the middle fingers of both hands with Docetaxol, and that is still a minor issue, I expect it may get slowly better. The tongue neuropathy cleared by about day 14, and has gone.
Legs aren't back to the preChemo strength, but we are getting there.
If you get constipation, try using prune juice mixed with whole pears, kiwi and apple ( remove cores but skin only on the kiwi fruit) and blended to a juice. It really helped me with the addition of Movicol for the first week and the night before chemo. I had the juice mixed in the fridge and drank it all day, it helps the fluid levels and the regularity.
For diarrhoea you can use the Gastrostop constantly, also avoid foods that will aggravate it, stick to a bland diet (everything will taste bland anyway) apparently bananas, toast, rice and broiled chicken are good, avoid fruit with skin, whole grains, and anything else you are recommended to avoid for your IBS. Mind you, finding anything you can taste is an issue. I did enjoy hot chips, they didn't seem to aggravate the diarrhoea.
My diarrhoea started the day of the first Docetaxol and did not ease until the week after I finished, 10 solid weeks of it, keep your fluid levels up.
Gastropstop helped.
My gut is still very sensitive, so it may take a while to settle down, some other ladies have said the same thing.
Good luck with the next few months, don't worry about having anxiety attacks, bouts of depression or times when you feel you can't cope, just come on here and vent away. You will probably find most of us have gone through the same. Jennie