chemo before v. after

ipetrou

As some of you know, my husband had chemo and radiation recently - the chemo was Xeloda (oral version of 5-FU). After surgery, he'll be having just chemo - probably Xelox or Folfox (which are similar) and maybe Avastin. Have any of you done this? Was chemo just as bad after or not as bad since there wasn't also radiation?

KrisS

I had more trouble with the chemo that I got with radiation, but I was on CPT 11 and 5-FU, and got complications with a stricture from the radiation.

Everyone's response to chemo is a bit different. I have had 5-FU/leucovorin/oxaliplatin previously and 21 treatments with Xeloda/oxaliplatin on my recent course. Although I rarely vomited, I initially experienced nausea until I found a few antinausea medications that worked for me. My oncologist gave me a small amount of a variety of these to try out to see which worked best. For me that is Emend. That drug works best on late occuring nausea 3-4 days after treatment which is most a problem for me, occasionally supplemented with lorazapam. Diarrhea can be a problem, but having an ostomy that is less of a disruption for me.

I did get enough irritiation from hand foot syndrome from Xeloda that my oncologist reduced my dose of this twice.

Cold sensitivy is a very common problem for people getting oxaliplatin. Drinking cold things and handling cold things without gloves is annoying for the first week after treatment.

I have lost a moderate amount of my taste but not my appetite.

All and all, for me this has been quite doable for me. I have had some fatigue but have worked as well as traveled during treatment without problems.

Best wishes for a smooth and sucessful treatment,

Kris