Herceptin & Navelbine (Vinorelbine)

11 Jul 2012 - Had heart function (MUGA) test before starting herceptin.

16 Jul 1012 - I started herceptin and navelbine.

Since 2008, this is the third round of chemotherapy that I am having and the second by iv.

My second round of chemo is Xeloda and is taken orally.

This is the second time I am on herceptin.  It is usually recommended for a 1 year course, but I had it for about 9 to 10 months in 2008 before I stopped.  I was given steroids before the chemo, and I had Benadryl before Herceptin.  I hated the effects of Benadryl.  It made me so drowsy that I had to close my eyes and yet I could not fall asleep.

That night, I could not sleep at all, although I was so exhausted after the chemotherapy that I had a 2 hour nap when I reached home.  I found out later that the steroids is the cause of insomnia.

It is slow going for the first dose of herceptin in case of possible adverse reactions and takes 1 1/2 hours.  If all goes well, subsequent doses will take only half an hour.

Vinorelbine (navelbine) comes in a small packet and if it runs smoothly should take only about 6 mins.  However, navelbine infusion needs a good sized vein and no pain, no matter how slight is acceptable.  Usually the nurse would be with the patient throughout the time that navelbine is running (at least mine was).

I experienced a very slight pain when the navelbine infusion started running.  The nurse stopped the drip and the pain was gone.  She re-started at a slow pace and the pain came back.  As the pain was very mild, I told her that I could tolerate it, but no, the drip had to be stopped and the needle re-sited.  After re-siting, the infusion went smoothly.

It was only a short while and yet the first injection point was red and became blue-black.  I had the infusion on Monday and by Wednesday, a stretch of this particular vein turned red and was painful.

Subsequently, my left forearm was tender and painful to the touch.  I checked with a friend who had this before and was told that navelbine is one chemo drug that most breast cancer patients are afraid of as it can cause pain in the muscles and along the vein where the drug was injected.

I could only have chemo drugs injected into my left arm as the mastectomy is on my right and I had lymph nodes remove.  I also have lymphedema on my right arm as a result of the chemo I received in 2008.