The First 21 Days Of My Side Effects On Taxotere and Cytoxan Chemo Treatment
I started chemo treatment for breast cancer on March 20, 2009. The chemo drugs they gave me were Taxotere and Cytoxan. You can read about my first day here. This treatment is done once every three weeks. I have documented the side effects from each day for your reference. If you are undecided about whether or not to do chemo, I hope this will help you.
Day 1: Full of Energy, Hiccups at night before bed, lasted about 45 minutes.
Day 2: Woke Up Full of Energy, Sleepy by 8 PM, but feel good otherwise.
Day 3: Feel good, head a little foggy
Day 4: Woke up feeling good, energetic, head a little foggy, feeling tired as day goes on.
Day 5: Very tired. Food doesn't have much flavor.
Day 6: Tired. Achy Body, Food doesn't have much flavor.
Day 7: Stomach pains after eating, itchy scalp, itchy back, stomach/back pain at night
Day 8: Stomach pain after eating - but not as bad as yesterday, itchy scalp, itchy back
Day 9: Feel Good
Day 10: Feel Good, started getting sore on tongue. Feels like when you eat too much sugar.
Day 11: Feel Good, tongue still sore. Bought Dr. Katz TheraBreath Oral Rinse & started using 3 times a day
Day 12: Feel Good but woke up with mouth/jaw pain - like I'm wearing a retainer, hair starting to come out?
Tongue feels better.
Day 13: Feel Good, Woke up with mouth/jaw pain again, I'm pretty sure I'm losing more hair than usual.
Tongue sore gone.
Day 14: Feel Good, Hair comes out when I brush it.
Day 15: Feel Good, Hair comes out when I wash it. Received a Nuepogen shot today because of low white
blood cell count
Day 16: Feel OK, throat started hurting in the afternoon, possibly from the shot. Temp of 99.9, Hair is very thin now.
Day 17: Very tired, sore throat, high temp of 101.9, low temp of 99.0 all day. Hair coming out a LOT. Cut it shoulder
length.
Day 18: Temperature back to normal but now have a cough. Looks like I got a minor cold. Hair even thinner today.
Day 19: Still coughing but don't feel too bad. Hair falling out without help of a hand or brush
.
Day 20: Coughing but feel OK. Hair is soooooo thin. I'm starting to feel self-conscious about it.
Day 21: Coughing but feel OK. The part in my hair is larger than normal. I have a bald spot in the top back of my head.
Please remember that everyone reacts differently and these side effects may not happen to you. Also, you may have side effects that I have not had. You can read about all the side effects for these drugs from my earlier post.
I start my second round of chemo tomorrow if my blood counts are good. I will keep track of those side effects, too. I have heard that the side effects could be different with each cycle. I am doing four cycles and will update my blog with side effects after each round.
Please feel free to ask me any questions or to make a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you. If you would like to talk to others or share your story, I have created a forum for discussion.
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I created some Breast Cancer Shirts that I have for sale on my site at YouDeserveIt.com
I created these after being diagnosed with breast cancer. I tried to find shirts for sale on the internet and was shocked at the high prices. So I decided to make some myself. Your purchase of any of these shirts will help me in my battle of breast cancer. If you have a suggestion of a shirt I will try to make it. Please let me know what you think by submitting a comment.
$20.00 $23.00
$20.00 $18.00
Day 1: Full of Energy, Hiccups at night before bed, lasted about 45 minutes.
Day 2: Woke Up Full of Energy, Sleepy by 8 PM, but feel good otherwise.
Day 3: Feel good, head a little foggy
Day 4: Woke up feeling good, energetic, head a little foggy, feeling tired as day goes on.
Day 5: Very tired. Food doesn't have much flavor.
Day 6: Tired. Achy Body, Food doesn't have much flavor.
Day 7: Stomach pains after eating, itchy scalp, itchy back, stomach/back pain at night
Day 8: Stomach pain after eating - but not as bad as yesterday, itchy scalp, itchy back
Day 9: Feel Good
Day 10: Feel Good, started getting sore on tongue. Feels like when you eat too much sugar.
Day 11: Feel Good, tongue still sore. Bought Dr. Katz TheraBreath Oral Rinse & started using 3 times a day
Day 12: Feel Good but woke up with mouth/jaw pain - like I'm wearing a retainer, hair starting to come out?
Tongue feels better.
Day 13: Feel Good, Woke up with mouth/jaw pain again, I'm pretty sure I'm losing more hair than usual.
Tongue sore gone.
Day 14: Feel Good, Hair comes out when I brush it.
Day 15: Feel Good, Hair comes out when I wash it. Received a Nuepogen shot today because of low white
blood cell count
Day 16: Feel OK, throat started hurting in the afternoon, possibly from the shot. Temp of 99.9, Hair is very thin now.
Day 17: Very tired, sore throat, high temp of 101.9, low temp of 99.0 all day. Hair coming out a LOT. Cut it shoulder
length.
Day 18: Temperature back to normal but now have a cough. Looks like I got a minor cold. Hair even thinner today.
Day 19: Still coughing but don't feel too bad. Hair falling out without help of a hand or brush
.
Day 20: Coughing but feel OK. Hair is soooooo thin. I'm starting to feel self-conscious about it.
Day 21: Coughing but feel OK. The part in my hair is larger than normal. I have a bald spot in the top back of my head.
Please remember that everyone reacts differently and these side effects may not happen to you. Also, you may have side effects that I have not had. You can read about all the side effects for these drugs from my earlier post.
I start my second round of chemo tomorrow if my blood counts are good. I will keep track of those side effects, too. I have heard that the side effects could be different with each cycle. I am doing four cycles and will update my blog with side effects after each round.
Please feel free to ask me any questions or to make a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you. If you would like to talk to others or share your story, I have created a forum for discussion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I created some Breast Cancer Shirts that I have for sale on my site at YouDeserveIt.com
I created these after being diagnosed with breast cancer. I tried to find shirts for sale on the internet and was shocked at the high prices. So I decided to make some myself. Your purchase of any of these shirts will help me in my battle of breast cancer. If you have a suggestion of a shirt I will try to make it. Please let me know what you think by submitting a comment.
$20.00 $23.00
$20.00 $18.00
How great it is to find that you are doing this. I go to the oncologist on 5/12 to find out what my course of treatment is. What a great idea to keep a public journal for people like me to be able to read it. Keep the positive attitude and you will win. May God Bless you!
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Just read your journal for the first 21 days. Since this was my first day and I am very nervous this was a huge help of what I may except. Thank you for being so dilleigent on this. This site is so nice to read and to be able to talk to others who are about where you are now. My prayers are with all on this site.
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I WENT TO A SECOND ONCOLOGIST FOR A SECOND OPINION AND WAS ADVISED TO HAVE CHEMO AND RADIATION. MY ONCO SCORE WAS 22. HOWEVER, I HAD A 3MM TUMOR AND TWO NODES WITH CANCER IS PARTLY WHY HE ADVISED ME TO HAVE CHEMO ALSO. I WAS UNDECIDED. SO MANY NUMBERS THROWN AT ME BUT HAVE DECIDED TO HAVE CHEMO. I HATE TO LOSE MY HAIR BUT WOULD RATHER HAVE LOSS OF IT AND STILL BE ALIVE 10 YEARS FROM NOW. I WONDER IF MY FIRST TREATMENT WILL BE AS BAD A YOURS. GUESS I WILL FIND OUT. I HAVENT SET IT UP YET AS I HAVE TO VISIT THE SURGEON ONCE MORE. I HAD THE WHOLE BREAST TAKEN OFF.
YOU MAY EMAIL ME IF YOU LIKE.
LOIS
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Lois, you will be surprised at how fast the time goes by when going through chemo. My last treatment is already tomorrow! If the side effects are bad after the first one be sure to let the doctor know and he will lower the second dose. Also, get a wig sometime before your first treatment. People don't know I'm wearing one unless I tell them! if you want to discuss this with others in your situation be sure to check out the forum: http://www.youdeserveit.com/forum/
My thoughts & prayers are with you! Good Luck!
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I DONT KNOW HOW TO SET UP A BLOG. BUT I WENT TO MY FIRST CHEMO TODAY. TOOK ALL DAY BUT THEY WERE WONDERFUL. HAD MY OWN CHAIR AND T.V. LOTS OF DRINKS, SNACKS, BLANKETS, ETC. NO SIDE EFFECTS EXCEPT FOR A SMALL HEADACHE. CAME HOME AND MADE HAMBURGERS. ATE GOOD. WONDER WHAT TOMORROW WILL BE LIKE. THEY DID GIVE ME A PRESCRIPTION FOR NAUSAU MED AND CARD TO CALL DAY OR NIGHT WITH PROBLEMS. SO FAR SO GOOD. BUT I DID PICK UP A BEANIE CAP TO WEAR AT NIGHT IF I NEED IT. THE NURSE SAID NOT ALL PATIENTS LOST ALL THEIR HAIR WITH DOCETAXEL. JUST THINNED OUT SOME. HOPEFULLY I WILL BE ONE OF THOSE. BUT I AM PREPARED WITH 2 WIGS, SCARF AND A TURBAN.
MORE TOMORROW.
LOIS
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I am so glad your day went well! Hopefully tomorrow will be good, too! I know for me it took about 4 days before I started feeling tired. And I never did get nauseaus. Hopefully you won't either.
I am happy to hear that you might not lose all your hair! I wasn't on Docetaxel so I am not sure what symptons it creates. If you would like to keep replying here or in the forum I am sure it will help others who are also on it.
Take Care!
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I AM WRONG ABOUT THE SIZE OF MY TUMOR. IT WAS 3 CENTIMETERS. ALSO I AM 69 YEARS OLD.
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This is such a wonderful blog. My mother is beginning chemo this Thursday -- same regimen: decadron, cytoxan, and taxotere. She is 54, stage 1, had mastectomy, clear lymphnodes and is ER+, Her2/Neu negative. The oncotype Dx score was 20, like you, so we spent quite a bit of time deliberating over what to do. I shared your blog with her and it made her feel so much better. I know that she is terrified of the word "chemo" like so many. I hope you continue to do well. Best wishes.
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I start cytoxan and taxotere on Monday
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Hi, how did you do on your first treatment? I started same thing on Wed (Sept. 23rd)
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I took only two of the chemo treatments as I could not handle the next 2. It was an option left up to me in the first place to take any or none. The drugs made me very sick but they attributed that to my age. I did take the radiation and it went okay but I was really sunburned but I could stand that. I am now just taking a cancer pill every day for the next 5 years. Doing okay so far. I am also in a clincal trial that the cancer center offered. I take a pill every day to help my bones as the doctors said if the cancer should come back, it would show up in the bones. The doctor did say everyone is different and reacts differntly to every drug.
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It was highly recommended that I have the chemo...the fatigue is the worse thing for me...I'm thinking about bailing out
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Please don't bail out!! You can get through this! You will be amazed at how fast the time goes by. Please keep me updated and let me know how you did.
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