Stage 3 colon cancer

ron50 said:

Hi Wanny

   I can't help much with oxilaplatin;. I had chemo before it was released in Australia where I live. We do tend to forget tho that neuropathy is not unique to the platinum drugs. I had infusions of 5 flourouricil every week for 48 weeks. Every second week it was enhanced with 9 tablets of levamisole. 3 a day for 3 days after the 5fu. It was also a combination known to ,at times,  produce severe neuropathy. I was dxed stage 3 c into 6 nodes in Jan 1998. I initially suffered no  neuropathy but it gradually showed up and got progressively worse over the next 5-10 years.   Levamisole was banned in 2001 . It was a dangerous drug and caused some deaths.  My neuropathy is severe and is up to the tops of my legs. I was tried on  lyrica, neurontin ,endep , fentanyl and norspan patches. I spent nearly three years on targin which is a nasty mix of oxycodone and naloxone. Naloxone is an opiate antagonist and was supposed to stop opiate induced constipation. It didn't and with every dose of targin I had to take two dulcolax and two coloxyl. It was all very unpleasant and in the end everything i took made no difference to the neuropathy... My neuropathy was officially dxed around ten years ago by a neurologist who ran nerve conductivity tests. I hate the difference it has made to my life. Just last night I had the most recent of a long history of falls. It hurt and i am not moving too well today.  To round out my long term side effects of chemo , I have auto-immune nephrotic syndrome of the kidneys, varying degrees of auto immune hepatitis , peripheral and pulmonary oedeema , seronegative poly arthritis. Type two diabetes from botched kidney treatment with high dose prednisone.  I have also been diagnosed with frequent ectopic heart beats as well as atrial flutter and atrial fib. I take cyclosporine twice a day and warfarin once a day.

              The upside is that I have survived cancer free for over twenty years, thanks to regular scopes. I wish you well. When you talk about survival you have to appreciat that there is a whole lot of different ways to survive and so far neither we nor the medical profession have much input on our survival. It is what it is. Wishing you very good luck, Regards Ron.

Thanks Ron I appreciate it and I really hope that you continue to be free from this. I pray you get through each day with not feeling bad, please keep in touch on progress.

I hope each one I have got to talk to keep in touch and we can talk freely about out conditions.