Gemzar vs Zeloda

wweens

My sister has breast cancer gone to bone (pelvic and vertebrae). She can barely walk. Her last chemo a couple of weeks ago finished with Xeloda or Zeloda. She was nauseous throughout and had other complications. Her new onc. wants to start her on Gemzar, a drip once a week. Her redblood was deficient so they gave blood transfusion last week. She's contemplating going off chemo entirely and does doing nutritional supplements if the Gemzar will have the same or worse side effects as Zeloda. Any advice? I tried doing a search on this, but the search here isn't apparently specific to this subgroup of breast cancer so sorry if this has been discussed before.
Thanks,
Louis

jmears

Sorry to hear about your sister. I actually have the same dx. I had BC in 2000 and it came back to my spine and pelvic/hip. My Dr found it very early and we did a bunch of stuff to starve it ... I am estrogen positive and HER/2neu positive. I have taken Heceptin for a years and had radiation to both the hip and spine. All of that slowed it down but I still had some hot spots. I started Xeloda 2 months ago and am actually clear at this time. I know that doesn't help you to understand what your sister is going through ...just that diffent things work for different people. If your sister is HER/2nue she needs to be on Herceptin. I have heard of Gemzar and if the Xeloda didn't work perhaps the Gemzar will. Has your sister had radiation. I found the radiation to releive pain. It is also relatively easy and side effects are minimal ... but you can only do so much radiation. Well ... I wish you and your sister all the best. She is lucky to have you to support her. God Bless Jamie