First oncology appointment..

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hi all

am off to my first oncology appt this afternoon and I've no idea what to expect

i'm going alone as my partner can't take any more time off work

as I'm Her2+ I'm pretty certain chemo is on the cards- do they make you decide?

will I be weighed etc, and do they keep an eye on your weight throughout treatment ( need to lose!)

how soon is it likely to start

sorry to ask, guess everywhere's different

and just to be childish- why can't we just enjoy this lovely summer- I don't want to be b*****ky poisoned!

  • Thank you Toxophilite, lots of useful information

    the C part is carboplatin or something!  It's about reducing the heart risk as I've had A Fib and flutter which was treated with a cardiac ablation two years ago

    the other drug is Docetaxol ,not really sure, I'm such a novice

    do feel slightly paranoid about it all tho, imagining all sorts

    am seeing surgeon again soon so will have to ask why only one node

    many thanks for your reply

  • Ah that makes sense  Yes the posnoc trial is about whether clearance or radiotherapy is necessary when there is spread to only one or two lymph nodes. To be eligible for the trial you must have only that small amount of spread. 

    Yes learning about all this stuff is challenging but I found it was a way to feel more in control of what was happening to me, and to make sure I was comfortable with the treatment. One thing I did learn very clearly is that you need to be an assertive patient - keep asking the questions until you're satisfied with the answers and don't let any doctors get away with not being open with you. I found it helpful to write down all my questions in a little notebook as I thought of them as your mind goes blank as soon as you walk into that office.

    I still don't know why your onco has chosen to do the tumour marker tests but do ask him and let us know. I'm always open to learning new things. 

    And finally, my apologies for two similar earlier posts. I wrote the first one and it didn't look like it had stuck - disappeared into a black hole and the site froze. Same thing happened with the second one and I gave up, otherwise you'd have received three lol. Clearly some minor technical issue that's beyond me.

    Lynn xx 

  • I'm not surprised they're ordering carboplatin instead of epirubicin or its sister doxorubicin. I had doxorubicin and got atrial fibrillation and pulmonary embolisms as a special reward and, like you, had to have a cardiac ablation. I'm quite jealous but this has given me another piece of info that will be useful if I ever have a recurrence. I had already decided I would refuse to have either of those two again but now I see there's a real alternative. Thanks and I of course hope I'll never need to use this info. 

    Lynn xx 

  • Hi Phaedra

    It may be the T part is actually Paclitaxel or Taxol for short , this is what is generally given with Herceptin if you don't need the other type of chemo. I had this and had it weekly for 12 weeks , it is the same dose overall as if it is given three weekly but weekly it's smaller amounts and doesn't cause as much sickness (or none at all in my case)

    Jo x

  • I haven't seen oncologist yet but I had 9mm left breast lump and then the lymph node looked abnormal so it was biopsied and then it came back positive as cancerous so I had lumpectomy and lymph node clearance. I'm seeing oncologist 14th which I just want to get on with it really. I have had a ct staging scan already so I'm hoping on 14th we will discuss treatment and start ASAP. Good luck with your treatment