I started chemotherapy. I had two medications, Gemcitabine and a combination of Gemcitabine and Taxotere. I would have Gemcitabine on week one. It was a one-and-a-half-hour dose. 

A week later, I would have another dose of Gemcitabine and an hour of Taxotere. Taxotere was my aggressive chemo, and it caused the majority of the side effects – the hair loss, nausea, all these different things.

Nicole B. (Sarcoma, Soft Tissue Sarcoma, Stage 3, Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma [UPS])

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I had four rounds of Herceptin, Carboplatin, and Taxotere. I had infusions every 21 days. I would get infused on Fridays. The first couple really weren’t too bad. They didn’t feel great, but it wasn’t bad.

After the first one, I went back to work on Tuesday, and I realized I had been walking around in a fog all day. We started working from home the week after the infusion. I would go to work when I was able to and just did what I could. 

I never threw up really, but I had underlying nausea all the time. The one time I threw up was after my second round.

Around that time I had violent throw up for a couple of sessions, and then that was it. It had to have been that I just did too much.

Shari S. (Breast Cancer, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC),Triple Positive, Stage 4)

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It was neoadjuvant chemotherapy, including Taxanes (Taxotere), Carboplatin, and Trastuzumab (Herceptin). 

Days 4 and 5 were the hardest: nausea or just energy, emotions.  Got better on Day 6 and got better on Day 7. It was just the drugs working their way through my system.

Week Two was always the rebuild. You’re coming back off. Week Three was I’m actually feeling pretty good and then you go right back to Week One. I had constipation, diarrhea so bizarrely both, and then the nausea.

I’m not an athlete by any means, but I could swim and I could walk. As long as I moved and tried to do those things, even though I felt crappy, I would always feel better afterwards.

Genoa M. (Breast Cancer, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma [IDC], Stage 3, HER2+)

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By the second cycle, my nausea would start as I’m getting my infusion. They started to put another chemical, I don’t know what it was, into my infusion bag so that it would help but I still was nauseous and diarrhea would start that day. So those were constant through the whole process. Only better during the third week. 

Sore throat, swallowing, that was usually first couple of days then I started using Biotene (mouthwash) the day before chemo, the day of chemo, and the day after, and  I didn’t have any issues with that after at all. 

Protein helped and exercise helped me. Actual exercise. It doesn’t have to be anything big. It’s just moving because I felt it moved the chemo through my body faster. 

Doreen D. (Breast Cancer, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Stage 2A,Triple Positive)

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Because of my oncotype and how small the cancer was, my oncologist wanted to go for TC. That’s Taxotere and Cyclophosphamide. The effects from the chemo were still the typical things though. I lost my hair and everything, but the chemo itself was not that bad. It was a big deal but it wasn’t.

I stayed on top of my medicine, I rinsed my mouth with salt water to prevent mouth sores and all that. I did everything I could. 

The only really bad side effect I had was the fatigue. I was so tired, and I wasn’t expecting that level of fatigue. 

I also lost all my taste buds. Everything tasted like cardboard, which sucked because I love to eat. The only things I could taste were sweets.

It took a few months for my taste to come back. My last infusion was in December. It wasn’t until the following year that food started to taste good again.

Amelia L. (Breast Cancer, IDC, Stage 1, ER+, PR+, HER2-)

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