Met Oncologist

Kathleen808

Hi,
We just got back from USC and our meeting with Dr. Lenz. He was very good at talking with us. He recommended FOLFOX "6", without 5 FU bolis. (is that the right word, bolis?) He said 46 hour 5FU, LV 20mg IV p, Oxa over 2 hours. He recommended 1 g of Calcium and 1 g of Magnesium before and after the start of the chemo. He said that should take care of some side effects. We do not have the results back from the KRAS test but he will add Erbitux if appropriate. He said every 2 weeks for 6 months. This sounds kinda standard if I am not mistaken. He also will do a CAT scan before Chemo and CAT scan every 3 months for 2 years, even during Chemo. So...... there it is. My guess is **** will start in about 3 weeks. He and the nurse said **** needs to keep weight on and said he should eat whatever he can during Chemo and worry about a strictly healthy diet after Chemo.
Any commments?
Aloha,
Kathleen

beachinmom

Good Plan!!
Sounds like a standard, good plan. I am curious about one thing. What is the thinking behind not doing a bolus of 5FU...just curious. I haven't seen any studies one way or the other, but I got a bolus, so I am curious.

Dr. Lenz is really renowned. Many people follow his blog, so you are likely in GREAT hands. Hope **** is recovering well.

dixchi

Erbitux
You might check Shayenne's post on erbitux being added to the mix of chemos.
Recent article in New England journal of Medicine says adding Erbitux to
the cocktail mix is doing more harm than good. All of it is posted in Shayenne's
"I don't think I will be in that study now...." or better yet go to the NEJM
website and read it there. Dr. Lenz is well known and respected and maybe he
did not mean adding Erbitux to the mix or maybe he is not aware of this study.
He is so revered I would not question very much of what he says.

Kathleen808

beachinmom said:

Good Plan!!
Sounds like a standard, good plan. I am curious about one thing. What is the thinking behind not doing a bolus of 5FU...just curious. I haven't seen any studies one way or the other, but I got a bolus, so I am curious.

Dr. Lenz is really renowned. Many people follow his blog, so you are likely in GREAT hands. Hope **** is recovering well.

5FU bolus
Hi,
Dr. Lenz said that 5FU bolus can make you really sick. He said there is no benefit to it being bolus. I really don't even know what that "bolus" means. We have a lot to learn.
Aloha,
Kathleen

msccolon

Kathleen808 said:

5FU bolus
Hi,
Dr. Lenz said that 5FU bolus can make you really sick. He said there is no benefit to it being bolus. I really don't even know what that "bolus" means. We have a lot to learn.
Aloha,
Kathleen

bolus
just means it's injected from a syringe into the IV tubing instead of dripped from a bag.
mary

Kathleen808

msccolon said:

bolus
just means it's injected from a syringe into the IV tubing instead of dripped from a bag.
mary

thanks
Thanks for the info. **** will have his 5FU over a 45 hours period. Dr. Lenz says this leads to less nausea. We'll see.
Kathleen

Kathleen808

dixchi said:

Erbitux
You might check Shayenne's post on erbitux being added to the mix of chemos.
Recent article in New England journal of Medicine says adding Erbitux to
the cocktail mix is doing more harm than good. All of it is posted in Shayenne's
"I don't think I will be in that study now...." or better yet go to the NEJM
website and read it there. Dr. Lenz is well known and respected and maybe he
did not mean adding Erbitux to the mix or maybe he is not aware of this study.
He is so revered I would not question very much of what he says.

clarification
Hi dixchi,
Thanks for the info. The test was on the combo of Erbitux and Avastin. **** would be taking the Erbitux with FOLFOX. We are still waiting for the KRAS test to see if he will be given the Erbitux.
Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge.
Aloha,
Kathleen