Traditional Chemo and Abdominal Chemo

jamilou

Hi Everyone
My husbands cousin has recently been diagnosed with stage IIIc ovca. Her treatment is Taxol/Carbo split into 2 treatments. Half of the dose on Monday and the remainder on Wednesday every 3 weeks. Her doctor treats everyone like this and says that most people handle it better. After 6 treatments he will then start her on abdominal treatments for 6 treatments. Has anyone had their chemo split up like this? Has anyone had abdominal immediately after 6 treatments by IV? Also does your body respond the same with the abdominal as it does to the IV chemo? Thanks for all of your help. It has been a while since my treatment and I don't recall seeing anyone talk about back to back chemo even if she has a good CA125.
My thoughts and prayers are always with all of you brave and wonderful women!
Jami

BonnieR

Hi Jami, I haven't had the chemo this way but have heard of it. I have never had IP either but know it is a bit harder on your body but they say even if you can tolerate one of the doses your chances have survival are greater.

Hugs N Prayers to you and your cousin. Bonnie

floridajo

Hi Jamilou,
I have no exp in this however I have been seeing more and more chemos being given in 2 and even 3 doses, to help minimize with the side effects. I have also never heard of IP after 6 carbo/taxol tx. It sounds like he is a very agressive DR. Let me know if this works out for her. Joanne

collins

I had 6 cycles of 2 treatments of IP chemo right after surgery.
I had taxol, cisplatin (sp) and doxil. My treatment was split into day 1 and day 8. It was a hard go doing IP but it got better to tolerate with each treatment. I had a lot of trouble with my blood counts. I recommend the IP treatment. I stuck trough all 6 cycles and am glad I did.

Good luck and I hope this treatment works for you
eleen

Kathy-Girl

Yes, I have had Ip a few months after Iv chemo at John Hopkins. I had A LOT LESS side affects. I am doing very very well after a whole year.
Godd bless!

duckcreek

Hi Jami, I had IV and IP chemo (taxol & cisplatin). My last treatment was Feb 27. I would go into the hospital and have taxol IV for the first 24 hrs. then do IP with cisplatin. Then go back on the 6th day for another round of IP only using taxol. It was tuff. I was very sick with the IP. I got through 3 1/2 treatments before by body couldn't take anymore. Then I finished up with IV. I started out with a CA-125 of 805 and when I was done with chemo it went down to 4.7. Next week we will see what my CA-125 is after 3 months. I hope your husbands cousin gets along fine with her treatment. She will be in my prayers too.

groundeffect

Hi Jami,

One of the women in my support group had peritoneal IV chemo after her surgery and diagnosis more than 12 years ago. Although she was never given a stage at that time, she thinks it was probably IIIc. She had her first recurrence last year, and is being given a maintenance chemo to hold her CA125 level steady.

The only reason I mention this is that she feels the IP treatments are why she's had such a long run of "free" time, and we've all wondered why we haven't heard of more of it being done.

I know this woman has a great ally in you, and will benefit from it. Good luck to you both!

JanQ

Jami, Sounds like a great doctor to me. I know when I spoke with Cancer treatment center, that is how they do chemo in two tx with lower dose, it is a great idea. I agree your doctor sounds very aggresive which I think is great, kick it in the butt to start with!
Good Luck and God Bless, Jan

kris43

IP Chemo
I too had IV/IP chemo. When I was diagnosed in July of 2007 the plan was to do IV taxol and IP cisplatin on day one and I would be in the hospital, then back on day 8 to get IV taxol again. We found I was allergic to the taxol so we went to IV Taxotere and IP Cisplatin. I could only tolerate 2 of these treatments and went back to IV Taxotere and IV Carboplatin for the remaining 4 treatments.

I am so jealous of all the women who said they didn't have very many side effects. I was so sick, shaky, weak, confused for 14 days after the IP treatments that I would pray for someone to put me out of my misery. My blood counts were crazy low and I was bumped a couple of times so my body could recover.

But the good thing is that I've heard they are changing the dosing protocols so it's not so harsh and it is said to give you up to 16 extra months survival and even one dose is of benefit.

So if it's offered - I'd say do it. And best of luck to your cousin. I'll be thinking of her. Take care!
Kris

Shelley Hawk

Split Treatments/Abdominal Treatment
I have not heard of splitting up the IV treatment but it probably is a good idea to avoid reactions. I had one my first treatment and it was pretty scary when my throat started to close not to mention the nausia and bone aches. Luckily I have a great team and they were there in an instant and my symptoms subsided quickly. They were able to start me back up slowly and I was able to finish the treatment. The second time I had no problem.

I had heard about getting the treatments in the abdomen and asked my oncologist about this. He said it was a good idea for someone with a more advanced stage of cancer (stage III or IV). I read that it did work very well in keeping away further recurrances. My oncologist did say that the draw backs were that some cannot tollerate it and in some cases it has caused kidney problems. So have her keep watch for/ask about these issues. But, it sounds to me like she is being treated well and agressively which is good with this disease.

TracieK

Peritoneal chemo
I completed 6 rounds of iv and peritonel chemo with taxol and cisplatin in July. At my appointment with the gyne-onc yesterday my CA125 was 18. I found that tons of water and fluids were the key. I had minimal side effects and I truly believe it was because I stayed hydrated