Struggling through Chemo

@Coastiejas thank you so much for that information. That will help me to know what I can expect. Congratulations on getting through everything, must be a nice feeling. Hope you are feeling back to normal very soon.

Hi everyone, 
I hope you are doing well. Today, I finished my radiation treatment after 3 weeks, and it went well. In two weeks, I have to start Letrozole. However, today I was offered the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial. I received information about the medication, which is CAMBRIA-2. I am nervous because I feel it will be a difficult decision to make. Has anyone had any experience they can share? Thank you 

Hi Ladies 
@CeeCee congratulations on finishing the AC chemo 🥳 
I found the paclitaxel a bit kinder....I had the worst symptoms after I finished it.  My toenails went black in the corners and I had a strange feeling in my feet, like I'd walked 500 miles but I hadn't.  It's starting to get better 2 months post chemo, still feels a bit weird occasionally,  but Ifind wearing comfy shoes helps a lot. I also had steroids and antihistamines for the first 5 rounds of the paclitaxel,  they tapered them off each round. I didn't have much nausea with the paclitaxel but was offered Maxalon each round,  which I didn't need. I did get a bit of heartburn with it though I took pantaprazole which made it bearable.  Also all of my hair fell out including eyebrows and lashes on the paclitaxel as well as all my nasal hairs so I had a constant runny nose and sensitive to everything sneezingall the time!  My eyebrows and lashes are back now (hooray! ) My liver enzymes went a bit haywire on the paclitaxel too so they had to tweak my dose and I was able to have 12 rounds. Thankfully they are now back to normal! 
Hope everyone is going well! 

@Rona I did get a fair bit better from what I started out with, now I just suffer from some neuropathy sad to say. Only as in I feel like I have gunk under my finger nails as for the feet. A little bit worse my toes and sole of 1 foot. My fault as I didn’t recognise what the funny feelings were. Theres no pain involved I just have to watch what Im doing on uneven surfaces and check my feet properly, if I bang them in that area on anything I don’t always realise how hard I have hurt them. Its actually only happened twice in 6 years. So thats pretty good. Among all the other crap that goes with getting old and a mets diagnosis the neuropathy is not much. I’m still working part time so thats a plus keeps the brain functioning. 

Hey Katie, it’s all relatively minor to the AC treatment in my mind but it does appear to be getting worse for me. It’s a very weird sensation, not painful and it doesn’t stop me doing things (no falls 😂), that question always makes me laugh when visiting the Oncologist. I work in Aged Care……. When does it change from “falling over” to “having a fall?” 😂, there’s a big difference 😂
Hope you enjoyed your getaway. 

Hi @Rona, that's awful, I have some minor peripheral neuropathy in my fingertips and although it's improving my oncologist told me it's a slow process that will take months. Thankfully my feet don't seem to have been affected. 

Congratulations @CeeCee on finishing AC, I felt better on paclitaxel. They gave me antihistamines and dexamethasone on the day of the first dose and then gradually stopped them all once they were happy I wasn't going to have a reaction. 

Thank you all for the comments above.
I am very happy to have completed AC but now have the fear of the unknown again but the majority of people here have said it’s easier to handle with different side effects. Good to know nausea is not a big one as I’m a bit over that. My Oncologist told me that most people don’t make the 12, so we’ll see how we go.
Thanks again and good luck to you all.

Hey Cranky Granny, interesting your treatment stopped due to peripheral neuropathy. My taxol treatment stopped and started due to this (although I finished the 12 rounds). 

Hey Cee Cee, congratulations on getting through that horrid treatment, that AC is a tough gig!

Im sure you will find the Taxol so much easier, the side effects are so minimal as far as nausea etc goes.

I never had anti nausea meds with Taxol, I did have antihistamines that the Clinic gave me prior to treatment (as in, on the day).

Good luck.

@CeeCee though it was a quiet a while ago I didn't get nauseous on the taxol just the AC even that was manageable with the anti nausea pills i went home with.   I did feel tired with the taxol I only made 8 round due to peripheral neuropathy. Just watch out for that it didn’t start straight away. Its a numbness in the toes fingers and feet. Just let the chemo nurses know about anything you’re not sure about they get all sorts of questions and because they’ve seen it all.