[Absolut Speed]

Chemotherapy sucks ass. I'm not sure which is worse... going through it or wathcing your spouse suffer through. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[sgarnett]

Denice did not have the port yet when she received Taxotere, but she does now. Chemo is rough on the smaller veins in the arms and legs, and it becomes more difficult to find a good vein each time. In hindsight, getting the port from day one would have been a lot smarter. However, she had surgery twice in two weeks, and started chemo only a few weeks after that, so more surgery to install the port wasn't very appealing at the time.

Taxotere is quite potent until it gets diluted in the bloodstream. If it leaks out around the IV needle (which can happen if you move your arm) into the surrounding tissues, it can cause burn-like tissue damage. Denice saw some people with the burns, sat very still, and didn't have any trouble with it.

That shouldn't even be an issue with the port anyway, and because it goes into a much larger vein the drugs are quickly diluted which greatly reduces vascular problems. Overall the side effects of Taxotere weren't nearly as bad as the Adriamycin anyway.

This post has been edited by sgarnett: Sep 19 2005, 01:10 AM