I've been a pretty passive cancer patient when it's come to looking up info about my type of cancer and getting second opinions and researching the type of treatment that I signed up for. So everytime someone who's more informed about cancer stuff asks me what kind of chemo I'm on, I say, "Uh, a combo called FEC, then something else that starts with a D." Yesterday, Lisa asked me a question about the chemo, which prompted me to look it up on the web and see what kind of info is out there. So I thought I'd post the links here, in case anyone else wants to know what the treatment entails and its side effects.
The treatment that I'm doing is a trial chemo course, which is seeing what happens when two different chemo combinations are administered. The first chemo combo is called FEC. FEC is given every three weeks through an IV for two hours. I will have four cycles of FEC (my second one is on Wednesday).
Then I'll take a month off for my body to recover (sometime between October and November).
Next, they'll start me up with the XT, which is a combination of Docetaxel and Capecitabine. XT is administered in the same manner as FEC. I've been told that it's stronger than FEC.
The oncologist said that the drugs are cumulative, which means the build-up should cause me to feel more and more like crap as we go along. That sucks. But I hope I feel well enough to make the trip to PA for American Thanksgiving in November. I haven't been home in a while.
During all these treatments, I get tests to see how big the tumour is and other stuff. When it's all done, the current plan calls for mastectomy and then radiation. We have a surgery consultation in September to discuss our options.
So this isn't exactly a fun post, but I guess it could be fun if you're into looking up this stuff!
2 comments:
I went to San Diego when my huband had a business trip in between chemo rounds. I was worried that I wouldn't get through the border wearing my long sandy brown wig when my picture of me has medium length black hair. Everyone said they couldn't stop me so I wore it and had so much fun. Just before the end of my chemo I flew to Boston using my airmiles that I saved up. Yeah it's free but it only cost me $95,000 after saving for 15 years!!! LOL! So don't let the chemo stop you from flying off and having fun.
Pat
Buy some bright colored nail polish to paint your fingernails and toenails. Mine went black but nothing that nailpolish couldn't cover up. And don't worry it all goes back to normal afterwards.
My hair grew back in no time although it came in curly but my normal hair has a wave to it anyway. Funny thing is the hair you want to drop off doesn't and the hair you want to keep does. Hair today gone tomorrow. LOL!
Pat
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