Low Counts = Postponing 4th Chemo = Neupogen Shots to Start Later Today

s SirenSong

I am sorry to read of the chemo delay. I know how we plot everything out ahead of time. My last treatment was almost delayed. But I pulled it off.
Relax. Hopefully your full strength taxol and carbo will continue, but at a slightly slower pace. I wuold get another opinion before I allowed them to change drugs midstream. Taxol is the gold standard for ovca.
In the meantime, be extremely careful not to be exposed to anything contagious.

karenann

MoeKay --

I burst out laughing when I saw your "ice cream good for bones" subject line. Thanks for the laugh! :-) I went for the full-fat, full-calorie, full-chocolate variety. But today, I had miso soup with soba noodles. I can't get too made at myself over the occasional treat. I should, however, make it a bit healthier. Your idea sounds great!

In terms of chemo and lower doses, do you know where I can find more information about that? I thought I'd once read that lower doses over a longer period of time might be more effective, but everywhere I turn seems to have the exact same info about six cycles. I know that my HMO does not do low doses over longer periods of time unless a patient is A) having problems or B) part of a clinical trial. But . . . maybe I'll fall into the "having problems" category and thus get those lower doses for longer. I'll keep you posted.

Karenann --

So, so happy to hear that Tim is moving all his limbs and that his mindsight is already starting to shy away from adventure. I was adventure girl, too -- until I broke my arms four times (car accident, roller skating, vaulting, skateboarding). That experience knocked a healthy doses of caution into me. :-)

Thanks so much for the warning about not getting off the Taxol. I will be sure that that doesn't happen. I'd rather just keep doing the Neopogen shots throughout than have to stop the Taxol and Carboplatin.

By the way -- Is Cisplatin stronger that the Taxol/Carboplatin combo? I met someone at the Wellness Community who said she asked for the "strongest" thing they had, so they gave her Cisplatin. I was wondering when it was used.

s SirenSong

Thanks for Tim's well wishes. So you were an adventure girl as well? Somehow I have gotten that feeling from you! If you were a tiny bit younger, I'd put Tim on this thread. LOL. He is a little hottie!!!
Cisplatin is the early sister of carboplatin. However, cisplatin has a much higher incidence of peripheral neuropathy when used in combo with taxol. They are both platins and I think about equal in terms of strength.
Carbo is just easy on us side effect wise.

karenann

Hi Siresong,
I am very sorry to here that your chemo treatment has been set back today. I can only imagine how frustrating it is... I am keeping my fingers crossed that you dont have to much pain and the rest of you chemo goes with out any trouble. As i was reading your post this poem came to mind . I hope that it bless you today and reminds you that you have many Tinny Angels here at hystersister looking after you. When you need us just take a look in your pocket and we will be there just like the poem says. Talk to you later Bunny_Rabbit

I am a tinny angel.... I am smaller than your thumb; I
live in people's pockets,That's where I have my fun ...

I don't suppose you've seen me
I'm too tiny to detect
Though I'm with you all the time
I doubt we've ever met

Before I was an Angel
I was a fairy in a flower
God, Himself, hand-picked me
And gave me Angel power

Now God has many Angels

That he trains in Angel pools

We become his eyes, and ears, and hands

We become his special tools

And because God is so busy
With way too much to do
He said that my assignment
Was to keep close watch on you

Then He tucked me in your pocket
Blessing you with Angel care
Saying I must never leave you
And I vowed to stay right there

I'm so sorry this has happened to you, I know how aggrevating it is when things don't go to schedule. But you are a strong woman, and I'm sure you'll get through it.

I don't know about less dosage and longer times either, but it kind of makes sense doesn't it.

Anyway, hope your numbers go up, and you can stay on your schedule.

's and ers to you

Bunny_Rabbit --

Thanks so much for the sweet poem. I love having so many HS angels watching out for me! I hope I can also be a watchful angel for others on this board. :-)

TammyDW --

Actually, I did some research yesterday and wasn't really able to find anything specific to Taxol and Carboplatin. I did find some other studies using other drugs, though, which noted that the higher-dose women survived longer. So the issue remains confusing. I'm hoping that the Neupogen just gets my counts back up and I can continue down my merry path of Taxol and Carboplatin. If I have to take Neupogen each time, so be it. But I want to finish the full course of treatment . . . and do those extra two rounds.

Karenann --

Too bad Tim's too young. I accidentally dated a 23-year-old two years ago, but that was only fun for about two months. I now have an "30 and older" rule. I appreciate the matchmaking sentiments, though. So many people on this board have husbands or fiances or boyfriends. I have been feeling a bit lonely, but hopefully I'll meet someone nice when my hair comes back. ;-)

Everyone --

A nice person that I met at the Wellness Community mentioned that she'd just been given a surprisingly good cookbook. It's called The Betty Crocker Living With Cancer Cookbook. Just wanted to pass it along, even though I haven't personally seen it.

Siren:

Hope your Neupogen shots are going well. I finished mine on Friday. I didn't experience the same bone pain from the shots as I did from the chemo. I experienced moderate pain in along my spine with a little bit of muscle spasming. No where near the pain I, too, experienced from my first chemo.

Hopefully you'll be on a short course of shots. My white count went from 1.0 to 11.7 with 5 shots. I'll pray that yours shoots up too.

SirenSong,

I wish I could remember where I read about the lower dose chemo. I do know it was not specific to ovarian cancer, but a comment about chemo in general. I've done so much cancer reading over the past four years that it's hard to remember half of it anymore!

I do recall that I chalked it up to one more area of uncertainty to add to my list of uncertainties. The uncertainty started with my case when I couldn't even get my gyn-onc and pathologist to agree on the stage of my cancer. My gyn-onc clinically staged it as a 2B, while the pathologist staged it as a 1C. I tried to get the gyn-onc to change his stage since endometrial cancer is a surgically staged disease, but you can imagine how well that went over! And he is really the best, so I am the only person I know to date with two cancer stages: clinical and surgical. I have other uncertainties or "differences of opinion" about my case as well, so I've come to realize over the years is that very little is written in stone in oncology (or elsewhere).

In any event, if I should have any flashes of light about the source of the lower chemo information, I'll let you know.

Best regards,

MoeKay

QuiltCrazy44 --

That is an amazing jump! I will be thrilled if my counts shoot up that high! I'm also having bone pain and lower back pain that wakes me up in the middle of the night, but it's bearable. My mom is driving down to show two of my friends how to give me the shots (so I don't have to drive an hour to have her do it), and I asked her to bring some Darvocet. I've been avoiding taking pain meds, but I might make an exception this week. I agree: It's nowhere near the chemo bone pain. It is annoying, though.

MoeKay --

How odd that they can't agree! LenaSepeil had a similar problem -- only her first pathology report said she had no cancer, whereas the second opinion was that she did have a rare cancer. So I guess not knowing your stage is better than people not being able to decided what you have. Thanks for sharing your story, though. I didn't even realize that that could happen. I will ask my chemo doc (when he's back in town) about the high- vs. low-dose chemo. He seems very informed, and is familiar with pretty much any weird supplement I've mentioned to him (which I appreciate). I'll let you know if I find out anything.

Sirensong,

My experience with Neupogen comes from my treatment for breast cancer. After my first treatment, my wbc went down to 1.4. For the remainder of my chemos, I had to go for Neupogen shots for 9 days after each treatment. I took it as a bit of a blow. As though my body was letting me down again. My brother, who is a family physician, said that in a way, it is a good sign. Chemo attacks all fast dividing cells. Our bone marrow, hair, intestinal lining etc. are made of fast dividing cells which is why our blood levels fall. He saw it as meaning that the chemo was doing what it was supposed to do. I would look at it as a sign that those fast dividing cancer cells are being killed as well!

Good luck on the neupogen. I only experienced bad bone pain once. My arm where I receive the injections would also ache at times, but it was always tolerable. My insurance company would only cover the shots if they were administered at the hospital. Each injection is over $400. It was really a pain to make the 40 minute drive each way to the hospital, but it kept me on schedule for all of my future treatments.