they just switched my treatment

victor53
victor53 Member Posts: 97
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
i went and camped out at doctors till he looked at me then he sent me to radiation onc because of rapid growth of tumor and lymphnode (see previous post)
Well now they switched me to just cisplain (sp)
everyday, weeks 1, 4 and 7 and radiation every day and twice on friday. They said just cisplain alone no chemo mix. So now i need to find out about this treatment. The erbitux carboplatin and taxol i was on shrunk my stuff in half but then aftre 10 days of my 2 week rest period it has blown up again.

Comments

  • train-nut
    train-nut Member Posts: 101
    #2
    I also had three component induction chemo. It's intent is to attempt to shrink the carcinoma. It often takes radiation to completely kill the cancer. The platins (carbo and cis) sensitize the cancer cells to the radiation. It is a one-two punch that worked well for me. You are on solid ground with the new tratment regimen. That big damn machine is going to zap all the bad guys! Rich
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #3
    I had a similar plan as well, accompanied by rads five days a week (but not twice on Friday). While people react differently to different chemotherapies (and I know this because others warned that my current chemo tx, precautionary after a lobectomy would make me very sick, and it has done nothing of the sort), I will admit that the cisplatin diet caused me severe nausea for a couple of days.

    Train-nut is not indicating such a problem in his post, so maybe it was just me. Again, everyone is different.

    I am glad that you took SOMEONE'S advice and repeated your attempts for immediate medical help.

    I would like to add to train-nut's advice about how to kill cancer that there IS at least one other possible solution, depending on type and location, I suppose, and that is to REMOVE it.

    Take care, and good luck with the new tx.

    Joe
  • train-nut
    train-nut Member Posts: 101
    #4
    soccerfreaks said:

    I had a similar plan as well, accompanied by rads five days a week (but not twice on Friday). While people react differently to different chemotherapies (and I know this because others warned that my current chemo tx, precautionary after a lobectomy would make me very sick, and it has done nothing of the sort), I will admit that the cisplatin diet caused me severe nausea for a couple of days.

    Train-nut is not indicating such a problem in his post, so maybe it was just me. Again, everyone is different.

    I am glad that you took SOMEONE'S advice and repeated your attempts for immediate medical help.

    I would like to add to train-nut's advice about how to kill cancer that there IS at least one other possible solution, depending on type and location, I suppose, and that is to REMOVE it.

    Take care, and good luck with the new tx.

    Joe

    Joe, You're right...I had a little nausea with carboplatin, moderate nausea with the cisplatin. Anti-nausea meds helped a lot. One of the nurses told me I was getting enough chemo to make most anybody barf some. Victor has said that he felt well after his induction chemo...he will probably handle the concurrent stuff without great difficulty (fewer drugs and lower dosage). Best of health to all, Rich
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #5
    train-nut said:

    Joe, You're right...I had a little nausea with carboplatin, moderate nausea with the cisplatin. Anti-nausea meds helped a lot. One of the nurses told me I was getting enough chemo to make most anybody barf some. Victor has said that he felt well after his induction chemo...he will probably handle the concurrent stuff without great difficulty (fewer drugs and lower dosage). Best of health to all, Rich

    Actually, Rich, Vic was taking carboplatin and taxol (and i think erbitux) prior to now. I am now taking carbo and taxol :).

    These meds are not taxing me at all, while the cisplatin laid me out. It may be that this was in combination with starting immediately upon release from the hospital following a significant surgery and sucking all my food through a tube and stuff like that.

    But again, it is amazing how one person can say that something is killing them while another says no problem, and vice versa.

    In the beginning, I might have attributed this to pain threshholds, tolerance levels, that sort of thing, but I have been on both sides now and am convinced that I know nothing about all of the factors involved, and that it comes down to individual traits.

    I will say this: you are one lucky dog, Rich :).

    Take care.

    Joe
  • train-nut
    train-nut Member Posts: 101
    #6
    soccerfreaks said:

    Actually, Rich, Vic was taking carboplatin and taxol (and i think erbitux) prior to now. I am now taking carbo and taxol :).

    These meds are not taxing me at all, while the cisplatin laid me out. It may be that this was in combination with starting immediately upon release from the hospital following a significant surgery and sucking all my food through a tube and stuff like that.

    But again, it is amazing how one person can say that something is killing them while another says no problem, and vice versa.

    In the beginning, I might have attributed this to pain threshholds, tolerance levels, that sort of thing, but I have been on both sides now and am convinced that I know nothing about all of the factors involved, and that it comes down to individual traits.

    I will say this: you are one lucky dog, Rich :).

    Take care.

    Joe

    Hello Joe, True...I am a lucky dog when it comes to most of this. However, when it came to nutition in general and the PEG tube in particular it was quite another story. As you say, it varies widely from person to person. Rich

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