hi everyone ,i have finished all my treatment now for breast cancer .my last radiotherapy session was 21st of jan09. i had chemo last year starting in july 08 on the EC regime then after three months of that every three weeks went on to pacitaxol this was stopped after my fourth cycle due to bad side effects including numbness of fingers & toes plus very bad bone pain. these symptoms have never stopped .yesterday i was talking to my macmillan nurse & mentioned the symptoms & she was quite shocked she then asked my gp to vist me which he did this morning to do some neurologial tests which included me closing my eyes while he stuck pins in me .anyway to cut a long story short he then imformed me that the numbness could be a sign that the cancer could have come back this time in my spinal chord to say i was shocked is an understatment but i am sure that i have read somewhere that chemo effects can last a long time sometimes being permenant . i would rather have the effects than the cancer back as i am sure you will all agree. i was only told at christmas that every thing was clear so to be told this now seems so unfair . so i would be gratefull if anyone out there has had the same problems with effects from pacitaxol thanks for listening love n hugs theresa xxxxxxx
FormerMember
to have the numbness this long. In fact at chemo clinic I ma hearing form a number of people who had Taxol that the numbness can be long-lasting. It's also been mentioned in the MacMillan chatroom.
I have 3 cycles of Taxol left and the numbness and coldness are distressing. TBH the coldness of my feet and hands is the worst, it's both painful and distracting.
Recovery time seems to be different for everyone but it's certainly not something to panic about.
In some rare cases there is some permanent damage but as you say that's better than a return of the cancer.
i had chemo last year (carboplatin finishing in sept) and towards the end of the treatment i started to get pain in my hip area. at the time xrays were clear so i thought it was muscular and saw an osteopath. 5 months later and the pain is worse and my mobility is rubbish. i kept on seeing the onc and surgeon and being told that everything looked fine in relation to the cancer. i recently had another xray in A and E (pain was so bad i had to go in on Fri night at 2am) and the A and E doc said it wasn't clear and the cancer could be in bones - talk about the bottom dropping out of my world. when i went to see my consultant he thought it could be some sort of reaction triggered by the chemo but could be the cancer. i know which one i'd rather it was.
anyway am waiting for MRI (which is taking forever - it's hard trying to get through each day waiting for the letter to drep through the letter box) which will apprently give more info. who knows if it will be enough for them to know what is going on. I try to remember that although they try their best doctors don't know everything and our bodies can react in such different ways to the trauma of chemo that it's no wonder there are long lasting side effects. hope your scan appt gets through soon and it turns out to be something easily fixable.
