Taxotere Times Two

The second Taxotere treatment went much better than the first. When I met with my doctor a few days before the treatment, I told him of all the things that had happened to me with the extreme pain and burning in my feet, my hands being burned from the inside out, etc. He lowered the dosage of the Taxotere by 50 milligrams, approximately 25%. He said I do not need any blood draws in between treatments, only the day of the next one. Some of the remedies for my side effects were: Benadryl for my hands, salt water for my mouth sores; and he approved of Eucerin Calming Cream for hands and feet. He also approved my request for a temporary handicap placard for my car, in case the pain came back in my feet again. Since I was having such a heart-to-heart with the doctor, I went ahead and asked him what would be next. He said that I would start Herceptin, and as a matter of fact, he would just start it with my next Taxotere treatment. Herceptin would be every week for one year. Now, I always knew that this was in my future, but I hadn’t thought that I would start it until I was finished with the eighth chemo treatment in November. Over the weekend I pondered starting a new drug, weekly at that, and I decided to call the nurse on Monday. I explained that I didn’t really want to start another drug on top of my second Taxotere treatment, not yet knowing if lowering the dosage would make a significant difference in my side effects. I was also concerned about a once-a-week treatment for a year…how would I fit this into a 7:30-4:00 job? The nurse said the doctor was out of the country, so let’s just not start the Herceptin and wait until he comes back; and, also, perhaps the Herceptin regimen could be every three weeks instead of once a week. When I went for my treatment on Wednesday, I felt better after talking to Mona, the chemo nurse, because she said she would take me as late as 3:30 for the Herceptin treatments. This sounded more doable. I know that my health and treatments are more important than my work, but I do have a job; and I don’t want to use all my sick days for treatments. Following the second Taxotere treatment on a Wednesday, the side effects were minimal in comparison to the first. By Saturday afternoon I felt unsteady with fatigue setting in. Both Saturday and Sunday I suffered from extreme fatigue and stayed home Monday, hoping for it to pass. On Monday, John came over, and he always makes me feel better. On Tuesday I went to work. I got off to a rough start feeling hazy and tired; but as the day progressed, I felt better. I took a brief nap when I got home and then made it through my 7:00 class. The next day was a much better day. My mouth started to act up, sensitive to heat with the beginnings of mouth sores; but I was functioning without feeling off center.