Fec-d regime

Hey 
Thanks for all your insights everyone. @Piccme  thankyou for the insight into your journey and your right our bodies do react differenty. I have 6mths off work as I work in childcare so my oncol  doesn't want me around the "germ makers " as he calls it.  I understand. I miss them and we facetime. Keepng busy is key as not to sit and dwell, well for me anyway. 
Love to you all xxx

Wow really.. That's so interesting. We are so lucky to have this network to talk to one anotherxx

My oncologist also didn't mention the permanent hair loss risk. I found out three days before chemo started and totally freaked out. I had four doses of docetaxel and now have a centimetre of hair three months after my last infusion. No male pattern baldness.

@melclarity My dose was so high I had to give myself an injection 24 hours after the end of the infusion which took up to 3 hours, no sooner, no later or I'd die. That's what they said! I swear. Once we left the needle behind and were chased down the street by the nurses, lol. Another time I was so zonked and so was my daughter that we forgot until she looked in the fridge around 10pm.
We laughed then and we laugh now.

Hi @Trikki2, I’m sorry that you are having to prepare for this but you sound positive and that’s a great start. The unknown is daunting as everyone here can attest to. I totally agree with @melclarity, we all react differently. I had Fec-D and didn’t fair too well. I proved to be sensitive to all drugs throughout my treatment but this doesn’t mean you will be. I experienced nausea for the entire fec treatment, along with eye infections, oral thrush and severe constipation, just to name some of the side effects I still remember. I finished active treatment 8 months ago and it’s amazing how quickly our brains forget. Loosing my hair was a pretty emotional day, I didn’t have the option of using the cold cap so I can’t offer you any insight there. I did use the cold gloves for my hands (not feet) but unfortunately still lost 8 out of 10 fingernails and my two big toe nails 4 weeks after finishing treatment. After the first round however I got on top of my side effects, you learn as you go and the following rounds weren’t as bad as the first. To prepare I always had coloxol the night before with the dexmethosone.  I was hospitalised for suspected pneumonia but bounced back ok. I have to say that docetaxol was much worse for me. The positive was that I didn’t have any nausea which was great. But the pain for me was unbelievable. I was hospitalised after the first round due to a reaction to it and the bone and muscle pain was intense. I had a 25% dose reduction for the following cycles. The second cylcle was not so bad but my last one was really punishing. BUT I also met another lovely lady during treatment who had absolutely no problem with the same Fec D treatment that I had. She was able to work through her treatment and found fatigue to be her biggest issue. It is so important to remember that we do all react differently. I understand from your query about cold capping that you are concerned about losing your hair (as we all are). As @melclarity says fec is a very hard hitting chemo and is pretty damaging to the hair follicles however docytaxol can do permanent damage. It was only after my second cycle of docytaxol that I found out that a VERY SMALL percentage of patients can have long term or permanent male pattern baldness after docytaxol, (not Fec). Obviously this freaked me out and wished that my onc had discussed this with me before hand as I did have the option to have paclitaxol instead which isn’t known to have permanent alopecia effects. It took quite some time for my hair to grow back but thankfully it did. My intention is not to scare but inform as I wish I had have known this information before treatment. Please remember, our treatment may be similar but our bodies will each react differently. Wishing you all the best going forward during what I know is an achingly nervous wait. You’ll do great. Sophie.

AC and Fec are both the red devil, not sure if the dose is higher or less dependent on the weeks apart. I had no expectation though my oncologist said id be fine and working. He couldnt predict my genetics he said. Once you start youll feel more than ok. X

They call it red devil because its red lol 

I like how yu call it the red devil. Everyone's experiences are so different but I take something away from it all. Thanks xx

@Trikki2 - I had the Red Devil every 2 weeks instead of every 3 weeks and although I was on another planet, there were no trips to the hospital, no setbacks at all, other than being dumped by my then boyfriend between dose 1 and 2, lol. I may have had the odd delusion of grandeur, but mostly I don't remember anything. Not the good or the bad.
@melclarity is right about the nurses. You will just love them.
Onwards and upwards.

Its normal to be nervous but the nurses are amazing honestly so youll settle really quickly i promise. Everyone is different so have no expectation and you will probably smash it.. im a very positive person so it was hard that it dictated to me but its not the same for everyone.  Hang in there x

Thanks lovely. Im so sensitive to things I'm not sure what is in store . Mine is 1 day every 3 weeks for 18weeks. 9x fec and  then 9 x Docitaxol. Hmmm. So nervous and trying to think pos. I hope something better becomes avail for the future
 Xxxxx