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Since we are talking about sex....
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Apr 19, 2010 - 8:56 pm
I received an info packet pertaining to chemo when I first started going to the cancer center.In the printout on Sexuality it states... "Chemotherapy is excreted by the body mainly through urine.It CAN be excreted through any body fluid which includes urine, saliva,vaginal secretions, semen, stool and blood. It can take up to 48 hours after treatment for all the chemotherapy to be gone from your body, so it is within that period of time that sexual activity should be avoided or protection be used to prevent exposure to the body fluids." Now, my question is this....what about the poor folks like me who are on Xeloda..14 days on/7 days off? Are we toxic for 16 days? That only gives us 5 days to get our groove on! And, my Onc.nurse tells me this stuff builds up in us so why would we not be 'toxic' ALL of the time? I've tried to research this but have come up with nothing about Xeloda except that it can dry up your sex life (if you have one ). I could ask my onc this question but I think you all can probably give a better answer. -Pat |
Joined: Oct 2009
Pat
Sorry I have nothing useful to offer. I didn't even know that about Xeloda. I had taken 500 mg. tablets, 3 pills in a.m. and 3 in p.m. every day that I had radiation, which was on weekdays, none on weekends (total: 3000 mg oral, daily). No one had told me to avoid sex while taking Xeloda (although the effects of radiation was so painful by the 3rd week, that just the word/thought of sex would make me groan, and not in an amorous way). Perhaps that concern is for higher doses/IV dose?
I think you should bring your questions to your oncologist. The things I would want to know are: 1. What exactly does it mean to be toxic? 2. Just what is the risk to our partners? 3. Are condoms (male/female) protective? (I would think so, for those who are not aversive to using them)
~Aud
Joined: Jan 2010
the info
that I quoted was given to me when I first started chemo. I was on Folfox then but was changed over to Xeloda after 5 tx of Folfox. I am just wondering if it applies to Xeloda also.The info sheet didn't specify any particular chemo...just said 'chemotherapy'.
Thanks for answering.
-Pat
Joined: Mar 2010
Nothing was said to me
Nothing was said to me about protection during chemo. I must have missed that class. Husband and I are doing fine.
Joined: Jan 2009
I was
...Told to not have sex during chemo week, and to use condoms chemo week off, just to make sure and keep safe of any chemo getting on my hubby through sex.
Joined: Jan 2007
Pat -
Re:
"my Onc.nurse tells me this stuff builds up in us so why would we not be 'toxic' ALL of the time?"
That's why they make contraceptives/condoms!
Isn't life wonderful? This is just another reason not to get cancer.
John
Joined: Jan 2010
John
Yes, life IS wonderful. I promise you, I didn't mean to get cancer. If I knew what or IF I had done anything to get cancer I would never do that thing again......but I am clueless as to what I might have done or didn't do. Sounds like a riddle, doesn't it :)
Hope you are doing well.
-Pat
Joined: Mar 2010
re: Onc.nurse tells me this stuff builds up
I think that the onc nurse means that the effects of the chemo builds up. One reason that they give 5FU in a 46 hour infusion is that it's active half-life is very short (14 minutes comes to mind, but I may be making up that number). In order to increase exposure, the infusion time is increased.
I understand that most of the toxins from chemo are out of your body fairly quickly; however the damage builds on damage done, hence the increasing side effects.
Thus I'd assume that shortly after completing a chemo cycle, our secretions are once again "safe". We've certainly used no precautions. (Heck, between my hysterectomy and his clip job, pregnancy is not an issue!)
Funny anecdote re birth control: some years ago at my annual gyn checkup, the nurse remarked: "I see he's had a vasectomy, so that's your birth control method." I replied: "No, that's HIS birth control method. Mine is monogamy!" The nurse gave me quite a look!
Joined: Oct 2009
Turn off the lights, mine glows in the dark......
but thats about all it does.....I attribute my malfunction to surgery more than to chemo or rad as it woked all right before op......steve
Joined: Dec 2008
wow...
I hadn't actually heard any of that before - oh no too late! I actually still got my groove on DURING chemo - and I haven't noticed Nick glowing in the dark - yet....
Joined: Jan 2010
You know what Steve?
You totally crack me up...LMAO !!!!!
Joined: Aug 2008
Glows in the Dark.......LMAO.......
Jaylo.......Being perfectly honest...KY Lotion is amazing what it will allow to happen...I think it would be an answer to dryness. Works very well with the wife and doubles as something else to aid in foreplay to enhance moods for both men and women. Like rolling in oil dependent on how much is used. The chemo especially the 5fu if you will notice the 5fu hazmat package is simple soap and warm water clean up...Now, the oxy made be a different story.....but...bodily fluids do not have to be introduced into anothers body to have the sexual pleasures that most of us achieve...so that way the hazardous part may not be as warranted...again though , the hazardous side would be for someone in that field to answer...Buzz
Joined: Mar 2010
5FU hazmat
Buzz - the Hazmat kit I was given to have at home during my home infusions included paper coveralls, gloves, yellow chemo hazmat discard bags; warning signs to post in the area of the spill. I looked at that and cringed; the stuff can go in my veins, but heaven help me if it touched my skin!
Much more than soap and water. Clothes post-spill had to be washed separately.
Joined: Jan 2010
Precautions
When I was being given the bolus of 5-FU at the end of my infusion some of the onc nurses would put on space gear ( paper robe, gloves, mask ) and some of the nurses did not.Kind of sends out mixed messages if you ask me.
-Pat
Joined: Jan 2007
On the plus side........
If you have sex with another cancer patient, they'd be getting free
chemo treatments!
Man, I wouldn't mind doing chemo -that- way!
(see U later, TCM..... Hellllloooo boink-boink)
Joined: Dec 2009
I specifically asked my onc regarding chemo and sex....
It was one of my 60 questions that we talked about.
He told us just to use condoms. So we do. Any body part that isn't covered shall not touch me down there in happy land. I'm not sure what others couples do, but I definitely don't want Dave getting anything chemo on him.
My onc told me a story of a couple that he knew. They came in and humorously, the man had a full head of hair. After a few months, her husband came in to one of his wife's appointments. He was bald as an egg. He asked if he shaved his head and he said no, it just fell out "somehow".
Joined: Aug 2009
HollyID
That made me laugh. Lord knows I needed a good laugh.
Marie
Joined: Jul 2009
I don't get the joke
I don't get the joke
Joined: Jun 2009
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