erbatux, anyone on this chemo?need info

buttons1
buttons1 Member Posts: 22
in Colorectal Cancer #1
erbatux, i hope im spelling that right? anyway nasty stuff.. my brother is on it, he is so sick, anyone out there have stage 4 and need some answers,i need some advic. involveing his care. thank you

Comments

  • IIIBinSouthDakota
    IIIBinSouthDakota Member Posts: 2
    #2
    http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/index.php?id=495&cHash=07101
    wow, I wish I could help, this is one of the drugs they want me to start his coming Monday (2/7) and i am STRUGGLING so very hard to decide if I will do chemo again. I was diagnosed with Stage IIIb colorectal cancer in July of 2009; had chemo and radiation from September through February and in October 2010 after PET scan found it had metastasized to my liver and had a partial hepatectomy at Mayo in early December. I don't know if I can handle the chemo again after the last time :( and now that I hear about your brother it is swaying me to decide not to. I truly don't know if it will help and/or if I can physically and mentally handle it. I feel small as I know there are many out there going through so very much more, but this is where I am at this moment.
  • pattyspals
    pattyspals Member Posts: 12
    #3
    Tough Chemo
    I had this drug at one point leading up to my surgery but I could not handle it for long as it made me break out in a major rash, thinned my hair really bad and then started to bleed on top of my head. I hope I have not sacred you but it was very hard on me. Not saying it is hard on everyone but it's a doozy....

    Patty
  • ktlcs
    ktlcs Member Posts: 358
    #4
    pattyspals said:

    Tough Chemo
    I had this drug at one point leading up to my surgery but I could not handle it for long as it made me break out in a major rash, thinned my hair really bad and then started to bleed on top of my head. I hope I have not sacred you but it was very hard on me. Not saying it is hard on everyone but it's a doozy....

    Patty

    Can be managed
    Hubby was on Erbitux, rash was the most difficult part. Dr prescibed doxycycline and it cleared up sustantially after that he managed it very well

    Kathy
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #5
    IIIBinSouthDakota said:

    http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/index.php?id=495&cHash=07101
    wow, I wish I could help, this is one of the drugs they want me to start his coming Monday (2/7) and i am STRUGGLING so very hard to decide if I will do chemo again. I was diagnosed with Stage IIIb colorectal cancer in July of 2009; had chemo and radiation from September through February and in October 2010 after PET scan found it had metastasized to my liver and had a partial hepatectomy at Mayo in early December. I don't know if I can handle the chemo again after the last time :( and now that I hear about your brother it is swaying me to decide not to. I truly don't know if it will help and/or if I can physically and mentally handle it. I feel small as I know there are many out there going through so very much more, but this is where I am at this moment.

    Erbitux
    I would beg you not to make your decision about whether to try a chemo by what buttons1 has stated, he hasn't been attending his brother's onc visits according to him because he works full time, his brother according to him hasn't really spoken to his own onc,because his once doesn't tell him much, and that his brother doesn't say much about what his onc says because he holds his feelings in and is very quiet, so it's very hard to blame the Erbitux as all his brother's problems without actually hearing from the brother or the oncologist.
    buttons1 also stated that the Onc stated "that the diarrhea and vomiting had nothing to do with the chemo"
    We have all heard about a rash that Erbitux can cause, and many have had that rash, but there are countermeasure medicines for that. The sores on the body of his brother that buttons1 speaks about (please note though, I've only been on here for a year) I really haven't heard that on this forum before, so you have to consider that a rarity. (I've heard about mouth sores, but again, there are countermeasures to combat that).
    Please talk to you onc a little more, ask him more questions about the AVERAGE persons side effects and go from there with your decision.
    My own opinion, I would at least try it, and if then I decided I couldn't handle it any more I would stop. But that's me, and I of course would respect any decision that you choose to make concerning your own body. I'm just asking that you don't make your decision based on ONE PERSON'S experience with his brother.
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #6
    IIIBinSouthDakota said:

    http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/index.php?id=495&cHash=07101
    wow, I wish I could help, this is one of the drugs they want me to start his coming Monday (2/7) and i am STRUGGLING so very hard to decide if I will do chemo again. I was diagnosed with Stage IIIb colorectal cancer in July of 2009; had chemo and radiation from September through February and in October 2010 after PET scan found it had metastasized to my liver and had a partial hepatectomy at Mayo in early December. I don't know if I can handle the chemo again after the last time :( and now that I hear about your brother it is swaying me to decide not to. I truly don't know if it will help and/or if I can physically and mentally handle it. I feel small as I know there are many out there going through so very much more, but this is where I am at this moment.

    Erbitux
    I have been on Erbitux for the better part of 4 years. It has worked fantastic for me. There are side effects but they tend to be more in the line of skin issues like a rash (I take minocyclin for it, others take other antibiotics) and I also get very dry cracked skin on hands and feet that is hard to make go away even with creams. I do not have the nausea or diarrhea like I had when on the regular chemo. It's sort of "Chemo Lite" in a way. It's done a very good job of keeping the spots that I get in my lungs under control.

    I would definitely consider trying it at least.
    I doubt I would be here if I had not taken it.
    -phil
    PS: your link to an article on the http://www.internalmedicinenews.com site did not come through if you were trying to post one.
    ALSO - VERY IMPORTANT - Check the date of articles you might be reading, the data is usually way behind the real-life results
  • buttons1
    buttons1 Member Posts: 22
    #7
    IIIBinSouthDakota said:

    http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/index.php?id=495&cHash=07101
    wow, I wish I could help, this is one of the drugs they want me to start his coming Monday (2/7) and i am STRUGGLING so very hard to decide if I will do chemo again. I was diagnosed with Stage IIIb colorectal cancer in July of 2009; had chemo and radiation from September through February and in October 2010 after PET scan found it had metastasized to my liver and had a partial hepatectomy at Mayo in early December. I don't know if I can handle the chemo again after the last time :( and now that I hear about your brother it is swaying me to decide not to. I truly don't know if it will help and/or if I can physically and mentally handle it. I feel small as I know there are many out there going through so very much more, but this is where I am at this moment.

    erbatux
    the erbatux is showing good results with my brothers psa reading, we did not know anything about this chemo until he started it 5 weeks ago, we are praying it works. allthough he has bad sores[ they call it acne] ha! it is sores.. and we are taking it one day at a time. please dont give up you need a sister like me, im driven and well my brother is a fighter.. you and he are at the same stage 4? and diagnosted the same time. .did you have colon surgury? you and my brother should talk.. please lets keep in touch. i will keep you in my prayers in south dakota. do you have a good support team family? please keep up the fight. buttons1

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