Chemo 2 day 20

Chemo 2 Day 20

Went for my 3 weekly Oncologist check up today, my bloods are all ok and I can have chemo 3 on Friday as planned. My tumour is responding very well to chemo so my Oncologist decided I would only need 6 sessions of chemo. So Friday is my last FEC which includes the "Red Devil" cocktail, which is the one that's given me thrombus and lost my hair. Then my next 3 sessions will be the T part of FEC-T. So as long as all my sessions go as planned my last chemo will be 3rd July 2015. Then I will have a month rest from any treatments for my body to recover and get strong enough to cope with surgery hopefully in August 2015.

I finally got my HER2 status today which was borderline at +2, so the hospital sent it of to FISH and my result came back as HER2 Negative. This is great news for me as I now won't need the drug called Herceptin. :-D

My thrombus is no better and I'm having to continue with the Fragmin injections to thin my blood for 3-6 months. I'm told that it will get better and go away altogether.

I now have really dry, flaky sore skin on  my face and neck, I've never used so much moisturiser in my life. Still have the sore mouth and using a special antiseptic mouthwash 4 times a day.

Chemotherapy can cause temporary infertility, your periods may become irregular or stop during treatment. But they will go back to normal once your treatment is over. I thought mine had stopped but just turns out I'm 2 weeks late. Mother Nature is a bitch! So yesterday I woke in total agony, the pain was so bad I had a panic attack. I dialled 111and they helped me and told me what medication to take as I couldn't take my usual ones as it interfered with the Fragmin injections. So I finally fell back asleep and woke up feeling much better.

So much for 4 good days before my next chemo eh! But I'm still very positive after today's good news and I will beat this. xx

FEC-T is a combination of four chemotherapy drugs. It takes its name from the initials of these drugs: 5 fluorouracil (also known as 5FU), epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (FEC) plus docetaxel. The 'T' of FEC-T is taken from docetaxel's branded name Taxotere.
                         
HER2 (human epidermal growth factor) is a protein that can affect the growth of some cancer cells. HER2 positive breast cancers tend to grow more quickly than HER2 negative breast cancers.

FISH (fluorescence in-situ hybridization) measures the amount of a gene called the HER2/neu gene, which is responsible for the overproduction of HER2 protein in each cell. About 1 in 4 people (25%) with a 2+ result will have a positive FISH result.            
The result will be either:

• FISH negative, which means there are normal levels of the gene present
• FISH positive, which means there is at least twice as much as the normal level of the gene present (the cancer is HER2 positive).

HERCEPTIN is usually given once every three weeks for a year.  You will have it as a drip (infusion) into a vein in your hand or arm. Side effects tend to be mild and include flu-like symptoms, diarrhoea and headaches.