FOLFIRI + AVASTIN Bi-weekly

midnte0708

Is anyone on this same schedule? My father stage IV mets to liver has a 3.5 hour infusion then goes home and the nurse comes to hook him up to a pump/bag of chemo for 44 hours.
He had his first treatment 2 weeks ago and next one tomorrow. I guess he tolerated his first one OK, the usual bad taste in mouth, weak, tired, sick feeling. I know he is very scared of the next one tomorrow because they will get progressivly worse (I think).
I know the chemo is meant to kill the cancer and slow it down but I can't help feeling like the chemo is slowly killing him.
He is depressed and if he has to leave work , that will be a big blow to him, he has never had a sick day from work in his life except for his last two colon surgerys. He never missed a day during two rounds of chemo 12 and 9 years ago.
It's very depressing watching him like this. He's 62 and other than the cancer never had any health issues. He started the chemo in OK shape, just a little weak and tired from tumors in his liver that were diagnosed via routine overdue checkup.

I know everyone has different effects but if anyone is on similar chemo please let me know if each treatment gets progressivly worse or stays about the same.

Thanks for your replies.....

Sue

joyceann619

Hi Sue,

I am on the exact same treatment as your father and so far have had only one treatment. I have the same side effects that your father describes and my oncologist said that it will get progressively worse.

But for me the side effects only lasted for a few days, now I can enjoy the upcoming week chemo free and enjoy my family.

Hope he feels better soon,

Joyce

HisJoy

I have had 10 treatments of FOLFOX plus Avastin. At first, we went every other week, but my liver is not doing so well (I also have a liver disease) and so we went to a schedule of every three weeks. After my 4.5 hour infusion (onc. added a drip of calcium and magnesium before and after my oxaliplatin to try to mitigate the neuropathy), I also get an infusion pump for another 46 hours, and then have to return the day after THAT for a Neulasta shot to build up my white blood count. The first 4 or 5 treatments went well - I would have about 3 days of fatigue, some nausea, diarrhea - the usual, but then I'd bounce back. Especially after we went to every three weeks, I bounced back pretty well, but as the treatments went on, it took longer and longer to feel good again, and now, after 10 treatments, I rarely have days where I do not experience fatigue and diarrhea. Heartburn and nausea crop up for a couple days each cycle, and chemo headaches hit after that for a couple days, but the fatigue is definitely the most pronounced symptom, along with weakness. In addition, the oxaliplatin causes neuropathy, and by this point, I have almost constant tingling down my arms and into my hands, and I have no feeling in the tips of my fingers, causing me to drop things and knock things over easily. An additional side effect from my port in the right side of my chest is shoulder pain that has increasingly become worse and worse to the point that I can't dress myself any longer and have a lot of pain daily.

Keeping all this in perspective, however, I am still enjoying life, even with limited energy and activities at this point, and have started trying to work 1/2 days again to save my sick days for later. I DO think the chemo is quite bearable and most of the side effects are manageable with various drugs. I feel like a walking drug store sometimes, but I really can't complain about how I feel most of the time.

My mistake is frequently trying to do TOO much, not getting it through my head that I have to change my style of life for a while, and when I'm tired, my abdomen aches and I feel miserable, but that's my own fault for not taking it easy.

Hang in there! This, too, shall pass!
Bonny Buffington (HisJoy)
bbuffing@earthlink.net