I know that you shouldn't extrapolate from one person's experience, but it's a pretty well-known fact that many people suffer some serious repercussions from chemo.

During my second series of chemo (Carboplatin & Taxol), I had an anaphylactic reaction to the Carbo. I went from feeling perfectly fine to being unconscious in a matter of minutes. Luckily, I had mentioned to the chemo nurses that I was feeling "funny", and they leaped into action like the Superwomen they are -- shutting off the drip, injecting Epinephrine (I think), and I came out of it in 15 minutes or so.

However, anaphylaxis causes an intense, whole body reaction as the body tries to get rid of the offending agent. And in my case, it blew off some coronary arterial plaque and I landed in the hospital a couple of days later with a heart attack.

Luckily again, I was treated so quickly that the docs said that there was no damage done to my heart.

This was four years ago, and today I'm feeling as fine as I ever have.

I told her about that experience so she would be aware of what "could" happen. We're still novices at all this, but I figure we'll be experiencing a lot before it's done.

The first treatment sent me to the hospital dehydrated, confused and ready to give up.
The second treatment used fewer chemicals, but I still ended up dehydrated and had to go to the chemo center every day for glucose infusions. By week three my body decided that I needed to have shingles. That was not fair play.

I continued my chemo on a three week on, one week off schedule for six months. I lost a lot of weight because I had no appetite, but muddled through it. I stayed on heceptin (hormonal therapy) and Arimidex (pill form) until tests showed my heart function was deteriorating. The dr. stopped the heceptin last summer. He stopped the Arimidex when I began chemo again.

It was worth the discomfort to have a good year after chemo. I hope this round works as well.

This was my experience. Everyone is different, but I imagine Carol is through the worst part now. Sending cyber hugs. cmd

No one should have to live like this! I find myself having to touch her sometimes just to make sure she is still alive when she is sleeping. That takes a toll on your mental state, as if combatting the disease is not enough.

She is scheduled for chemo once every three weeks. Tomorrow marks two weeks since first chemo. Her liver functions were improving, but she seems to be accumulating more ascites now. They won't drain it because her platelet count is so low and she might bleed out. The edema in her legs and feet is pretty severe. And, for some reason, the chemo doc does not want to put her on diuretics. They gave her an IV before she left the hospital to help her pee more, but she hasn't passed more than a cup or so in the last 24 hrs. I have a home health service coming today to assess our needs. Maybe they can help.