I was diagnosed in October with HERT 2 grade 3 agreesive invasive breast cancer. I have just had my second chemo session, and wondered if anyone would share any tips with me. thank you
I’ve recently been diagnosed with Stage 2 HER2 breast cancer - an approx 6cm lump. I’ve started immediately with chemotherapy (EC) at 2 weekly intervals and just had my first chemo yesterday.
I would love to share tips/experiences with you. How were your reactions to your first 2 sessions? My first day has been ok, but I understand it is typically worse in the following days. Did you try the cold cap?
Thank you so much for sharing your diagnoses with me and the start of your journey.
I had the cold cap for my first session as I wanted to try to keep my hair. However, just before my second chemo session my hair started to fall out. After a discussion with my children I decided to shave my head, which we have just done. The cold cap might work better for you though.
Like many people I was really worried and anxious before my first chemo session, but surprisingly it went ok, the first 3 days I just felt like I had a hangover, with a fuzzy head, and was very tired in the afternoons. On day 5 I did feel quite sick, and just took metaclopramide. The feeling subsided after 2 days. Then on day 8 when the injections stopped I was virtually back to normal.
How are you feeling now?
Please keep in touch, and keep me updated with your journey.
Hi Desert Orchid, sorry you find yourself here - it is a shock to the system to suddenly find yourself in this whole new world! I also have a grade 3 (but not her2). I never knew before my diagnosis that there were so many variations of breast cancer! I am having Chemo every 2 weeks. I started on EC (4 cycles) and have now just switched to Paclitaxel for 4 cycles ( I had the first of these yesterday)
I found EC ok - certainly not as bad as I was expecting. I got heartburn on the first cycle so got a prescription of Lanzoprazole and have not had any problems since.
I also got a prescription for Difflam mouthwash as my mouth did get sore on first cycle thankfully this never happened again either
EC was also very hard on my veins so had to get a picc line after third cycle - veins were really good to start off with but sadly they went on strike after cycle 4. I think having blood taken & chemo every two weeks was just too much for my poor veins & they downed tools & refused to cooperate after that!
Some tips that helped me include taking loratadine (over counter antihistamine) just before the filgrastim injections which seemed to really help with bone aches. After the first cycle of EC & Filgrastim I never got these as bad again.
MooGoo moisturiser is really good. I also use nail oil & paint my nails black & have had no problems with mail ridges or discolouration. I think Paclitaxel is supposed to be harder on nails so not totally out of the woods on the nail front yet!
Good luck with the rest of your treatment & I hope you don’t get too many side effects
It’s so great to hear such reassuring progress. I had my first white blood cell booster injection (Lonquex) last night. I thought I might get achy, but not so far - I’m not sure when that is supposed to happen. I hate taking so many pills all the time, but I can tell that they are reducing the nausea.
I’m sorry you didn’t feel the cold cap worked for you, but I think you’ve taken a positive step to shave off your hair. I suspect I might do the same, I’m just concerned about possibly upsetting my children as they are 7 and 10.
The injections you mention - were they prescribed specifically because you started to feel very nauseous? At the hospital they only gave me a single Lonquex injection to take home.
Hi Sarah, Someone recommended Victoria Derbyshire’s chemo diaries & they are really informative & worth a watch. She was on a different chemo regime but mentioned that she painted her nails black & managed to avoid nail problems so I thought why not give it a go - can’t do any harm anyway!
I got the nail oil tip from one of the forums. Some people recommend polybalm which is available on Amazon but after reading the reviews I decided to give that a miss & use Sally Hanson nail oil instead (Superdrug) & a lot cheaper!! Polybalm itself got good reviews but the difficulty seems to be getting it out of the container & at >£30 a pop for a tiny amount I thought I’d go with the cheaper option first! my nails have held up really well so far which is great so fingers crossed this continues through Paclitaxel!
Good luck with your treatment - I see you are having EC every two weeks too - glad your first one went ok & side effects are not too bad! I found it ok overall - some days I felt a bit tired & hungover. I had one afternoon on my third cycle where I felt as sick as a dog & mentally hit a very low point (felt really sorry for my self :( ). Overall though it was not nearly as bad as I was expecting so really hope it’s the same for you xxx
