Hi, I’m a 49(F) halfway thru my chemo in Canada, and wondering if anyone ever asked their doctor if they could take a break from the biweekly chemo routine for a few months? If so, did you decide to and what was the pro/con of your choice?
I started Paclitaxel end of April (treatment #5 of 8) and my body hates it. I had the acute response that required the center to stop treatment, flush my system, pump me full of steroids and then start over slower. I was a physical wreck after and the next began and an avalanche of new terrible symptoms. Day 2-9 intense full body joint ache, fatigue, blue moons at the base of three fingers, intensely itchy palms for days, then surprise two old injury sites flared up on opposite sides of my body. My oncologist and team know all about it, I communicate everything and try new routines, over the counter and Rx meds - it seems every day is a new terrible discovery of what my body can’t do.
The Oncologist decided to delay my next treatment for a week to help me recover, I was grateful. Despite being “young” for cancer (as the team likes to tell me) my body was getting worn out. During treatment #3 I started developing a greater sensitivity to the IV and bloodwork needles (the last infusion took three tries).
When the clinic called with my next treatment appt I suddenly started crying, and kept crying all day. I feel like I’ve lost my life to chemo. My partner (is amazing) and I have a small business, I have not been able to do my front desk work there for months. We can’t afford staff. June-Oct is our peak season and we’ve just entered our third year with a business award and grant. It’s been so hard to put that on ice and my partner has never made me feel bad about that, but I miss it. I miss waking up with energy, I miss participating with the world. Most cycles I’ve not been strong enough to even take myself on errands.
I’ve reached out to my Oncologist to discuss pausing. I think it would be a relief physically and emotionally, and would invigorate me to participate with our community this season.
Has anyone ever done that?
I had my lumpectomy in late Dec 2025. My tumor was “slow growing” and despite finding signs of cancer cells in 2/3 of the removed lymph nodes all full body scans and imaging showed no metastatic spread. I’m also hormone responsive, so they plan to do radiation and hormone suppression therapy (5yrs) after chemo. I apologize for not knowing all my technical terms, it’s written down I just am too worn out to check.
I stressed Canada because I’m under the impression the US healthcare approach is much more a la carte than the commonwealth healthcare systems.