Wk 8 but 7th treatment

Hi Kat1234 

I am sorry you are finding treatment tough. I have metastatic TNBC and had 4 cycles of EC followed by 12 weeks of Paclitaxel initially, then later on I had Pembrolizumab every 3 weeks with NAB-Paclitaxel 3 weeks on, one week off. On the 12 weeks of Paclitaxel I felt a bit like I was on a merry go round I couldn’t get off, just about bouncing back from one week’s treatment before the next one went in. I missed 2 due to infection, and eventually got the dosage lowered for the last set of 3. I remember describing it as Paclitax-hell. Do talk to your oncology team about your side effects, they may be able to give things to help.

Chemo side effects do tend to be predictable - I found by keeping a symptom diary I had a pretty good idea what to expect one treatment to the next. Immunotherapy is different in that it mostly doesn’t cause any obvious side effects beyond a bit of tiredness, unless and until it leads your immune system to attack healthy cells. If you feel anything that’s significantly different to how you usually feel, it’s important to contact your 24 hour health line as immunotherapy adverse effects need rapid treatment with steroids. 

Thanks so much for the reply. Yes, up until now I had an idea in my head of how I was going to be each week as I kept notes but this week has hit different!  I’m not due a clinic appointment until 2 weeks time so do you think it’s worth phoning my nurse before then? 
it’s definitely like a merry go round too! 

If in doubt it’s always worth phoning them. You should have a 24 hour number for acute oncology. I would go to them rather than your nurse. At my hospital it runs like a mini A&E. They triage you over the phone and if appropriate either have a doctor call you back or ask you into their assessment unit. I ended up in the assessment unit 4 or 5 times during my treatment, twice going on to be admitted to the wards and at other times given scans or treatment. 

Thank you so much, that’s really helpful.