Mine was ER-, PR-, HER2+, Stage 2a, Grade 3, about the same size tumor as yours with clear lymph nodes. I opted for the mastectomy (I wish they would still do MRIs for those of us getting the mastectomy, but that's a different issue). But because I opted for mastectomy, we went surgery first, then chemo. The cocktail I was given was a combo (TCH) Taxotere, Carboplatin, Herceptin. Mine was 6 sessions (commonly referred to as "rounds") on a 3 week schedule. The first round took the longest, because they go slow, and keep a close eye on you for any drug reactions. Most people do fine. A lot of oncology sites, will give you a pre-chemo tour and go over the procedure with you. For me, it was:
- check in at the desk, then sit in waiting area
-CNA comes to get me, takes weight, temp, blood pressure
-I was assigned a comfy seat
-wait until pharmacy mixes your meds in the iv bags (they are based on the weight the CNA just took.
-Nurse flushes the port, then hooks it up to the iv, between the difference drugs they will run a few minutes of just saline to flush everything.
-after first saline, they infused Benedryl, to help offset any allergic reactions (rare but this is a precautionary step)
-next infusions were ant-nausea
-then the TCH, one drug at a time, with the flush inbetween
-a final flush, and your're unhooked.
-Neulasta Onpro attached (though some people come back the next day for a regular shot). The Neulasta prompts your bone marrow to make more white blood cells (the infection fighters) since chemo will try taking out the ones you have.

Lab work- for me, lab work (which the blood draws can be done through the port as well) was done on Weds after work, and then my chemo was on Fridays.

I was also given (fill your RX ahead of time) two oral drugs for nausea, and steroids to be taken before and after each round.

Any other questions, ask away! It is no where near as bad as we imagine. You are going to do great!

I had thrush with 3 surgeries. I took a Monostat pill. It’s for yeast infection but also works for thrush. It’s the only thing that worked for me. It worked fairly quickly. Mouthwash didn’t work for me. Good luck.

My sister was hormone negative and HER2 positive so her chemo may be more similar than mine as I was Her2 negative and hormone positive. She had herceptin, perjeta, carboplatin and taxotere. She had more diarrhea than I did but otherwise similar with fatigue, low white counts and low platelets. It is manageable if you take it as it comes. Any side effects can be diminished if you tell your medical team. They will keep a close eye on you too. You will be fine.

@A MyBCTeam Member: me at chemo 😁👍

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@A MyBCTeam Member: Chemo doesn't necessarily affect everyone the same- that being said, what you're imagining is far worse than what the reality will be. It's not like what you see in the movies and on TV. They are very good now with pre-meds and such to help tackle any side effects before they even start, so vomiting and all that sort of thing is the rarity now, not the norm. Not gonna lie its not the most fun you'll ever have, but its definitely manageable. I would say the worst of it is the fatigue - fatigue will be your enemy for a while but you'll learn to listen to your body and rest when you need to.

I did two types of chemo, 4 dose-dense rounds of each, AC (otherwise known as the Red Devil) and Taxol. For AC I was in the chair for about 3.5 hours a treatment, and for Taxol I was I the chair for about 5 hours per treatment, because with that one the pre-meds were done via I.V. You really don't feel much of anything at the time (if you do the nurses are right there to adjust the drip or increase pre-meds, whatever you need) - bring a bag of things to keep you comfy and happy (blankie, books, iPad, snacks, drinks) and just sit back and let the nurses do their thing. It kicks in differently for different people - for me days 3 and 4 after chemo were the most tiring and then I'd slowly bounce back in time for the next treatment. I wore unicorn pajamas to every treatment - may as well be as comfy as possible!

I did AC first and my hair fell out immediately after treatment #2 within 2 showers. You know its coming because your scalp tingles/burns a bit as the hair follicles die, but as soon as the hair falls out it feels much better.

After each treatment you'll likely get a shot called neulasta- its a shot taken the day after chemo that helps keep your white cell count up to protect you from infections. They allowed me to do my own shot at home (I made my husband do it because I'm a wuss lol). The neulasta can give you bone achiness but I found heat (hot baths/heated blankets) the best for that.

Above all else, go in with a strong, positive attitude and you'll be just fine. Eat as well as you can but don't stress over diet- it takes a lot of calories to rebuild all the good cells that get killed along with the bad, so if you crave something and it tastes good (chemo can make some things taste weird for a while) - go nuts! And hydrate hydrate hydrate before, during and after - the more you hydrate the faster you flush it through.

You are going to do fantastic, ok? Go kick that cancer's sorry ass and you'll be done and ringing that chemo bell before you know it! 💕🦄💕🦄

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