Stopping Chemo

Don_Gump
Don_Gump Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
This is a rather strange scenario, so bear with me. I live in Florida and work in South Dakota. Long commute, but I spend 2-3 weeks in SD, then back home for a week. My chemo treatment of 5-FU is 24 treatments in a 3 week on, 1 week off schedule. I just found out my job here in SD is ending, but have found another in North Carolina. There is a two week period between jobs. What happens if I miss 3-4 weeks of chemo, do I have to start over? Are the five treatments I had so far wasted? I don't know how easy it will be to find an oncologist to give me treatments in Florida, then find another in NC. Problems, problems......

Comments

  • StacyGleaso
    StacyGleaso Member Posts: 1,233 Member
    #2
    Hi Don...

    The treatments you already had are not "wasted"...
    You can have gaps inbetween treatments unexpectedly...like when your counts may be too low to get the chemo that week. You won't have to go back to square one. They'll just adjust your new format of chemo. Don't worry...

    Hope I helped,
    Stacy
  • vcavanagh
    vcavanagh Member Posts: 79
    #3
    Hello Don,
    I had the same course of chemo as you are having. The first month was very difficult, I think because of my age (then 63 - younger people can stand it better, I believe, than old goats like me). I was then asked what I dreaded to hear, i.e. " do you think maybe you should stop." I asked to continue. It was stopped for a month and then re-started with the dose reduced by 25%. I did have a difficult time after that but managed to finish the course. That was in August 2001 and I am still going well. I think it is marginally better if you do not have any breaks in treatment but continuity is not essential. I had a break and the reduced dosages. Does this story help to put your worries in context? Remember, as the lady said, "if it wasn't for the stress, I'd have no energy at all."
    Blessings, V.C.
  • Tatie
    Tatie Member Posts: 28
    #4
    My doctor stopped chemo twice, I was on the same schedule as you. One of my friend's sister in law was going through chemo recently after cc also, and he told her that they now believe you don't need chemo for so long, that the cells are dead and don't need 8 months. Has anyone hear this?

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