On 7/18/2008
trehouse60 wrote:
I'm not real familiar with Herceptin and haven't had time to research it, so I'm not going to comment on the blood counts and leg pain.
I do, however, have a thought about the cold extremities. Do you have a port, and if so, are you getting blood thinners (either IV heparin or coumadin by mouth, or one of the other blood thinners) to keep it open? If so, that could well be what's making you feel cold.
Unfortunately, if that's the case, there's not much I know of you can do about it, other than bundling up. Increasing you iodine intake just a little (kelp tablets, maybe) and eating more thyroid healthy foods might help, but you really need to ask your doctor if that is ok, first. Also, ask the nurses if they know of any tricks to keep yourself warm. Sometimes support staff will know stuff the doctors don't.
Sincerely,
Tre
Thankyou Tre, for responding. I never thought about the heparin till you have mentioned it..that is probably what causes me to be so chilled. I do have a port and recieve heparin to keep blood clots at bay. That does explain alot about that complaint.. no I'm sure there isnt anything to be done about that. I was told that the leg pain is probably neuropathy from the taxotere treatments I had last fall..my last ending in January. I hope that isnt the case as I have been told that, that means that my nerve endings are dieing off..that isnt a good thought either? I was kind of wondering about it being possibly bone pain from mets from my br. cancer to my legs..I had a good pet scan in May which showed no problems any where for now..but this pain has been recent in occuring and it seems to be worse when I have been on my feet alot or up and down the stairs or just carrying my grandson around.. can anyone tell me what if any pain is associated with mets to bone..so far my mets has been localized to the lung area..but I know it is always possible now for it to show up in these other vulnerable places. Are you a cancer fighter/survivor? I have stage lV br. cancer..my fight began in 01 with just a tiny cancer removed from my left breast. Had 6 year remission time..then last May it showed up in my lung..I had 6 months of chemo..taxotere and avastin...and I am now having the herceptin treatments for a her 2 positive situation. I was seeing the dr. once a month but now it is every three months since I was put into remission in May. I dont like running to the dr with minor issues, especially if they are just minor complaints they cant do anything about. I dont always want a pill for the problem either, I just like knowing what is causing it? Anyway, thank you for your response..the heparin is definately the deal that could be causing both the low red blood cell count and the fact that I am cold all the time.
My best to you as well.
Jodie