Chemo meds

desnee2029

Are Avastin, 5fu, Oxaliplatin and Leucovorin first line treatments of stage IV colon cancer with liver mets?  I believe the onocologist said every two wks for 12 rounds.  Cant get my husband to go for diet/or other helps........What are your experiences with these Chemo meds.........

NHMike

Just started

I started Xeloda, which is oral 5FU, on Monday, so I've taken two days of doses. It gives me the sensation of losing some level of sensations, like my feeling is dulled 5 or 10 percent. It sometimes makes me tired and removes quite a bit of anxiety. I can feel the effects waning as I get closer to my next dose.

There are lots of stories here of experiences with the drugs and you have to find them and read through them to get a feel for what a lot of people go through with these drugs. For my situation, I have 28 days of Xeloda and radiation, then surgery, then likely six rounds of XELOX which is Xeloda with Oxapilatan infusions. The type of cancer and the treatment plan can mean that treatment plans vary quite widely. I find it good to find others with similar diagnosis to mine to read their experiences.

bobby66

hi

my husband is under the same treatment, not sure about Leucovorin. The side effects he gets is sensitivity to cold, can't touch or drink nothing cold. Some nausea, but he gets medicine for nausea. The avastin was giving him a lot of stomach pain, so we decided to stop the Avastin. Everyone's tolerance is different. Good luck    

PamRav

Hello

if you look around this forum there are plenty of posting about the chemo side effects.  we all have them but to varying degrees.  for me the FU gives me a sour somtach , farther than out and out nausea, there's a metallic taste in my mouth and food just dorsnt taste good, even the taste of water is yucky ..    the "oxi" gave me tingling in your finger and toes, the inability to touch any thing cold , used gloves for getting food out of the frig ,  drinking cold beverage was like drinking shards of glass.   It can leed to neuropathy so be sure to report and all side effects to the doc.  Avastin , think, is giving me a funny nose     And my eyes get really dore and irritated but eye drops help that nicely   

And alo there's a general fatigue and malaise. I tried to fight it the first couple rounds but have found I recover quicker if I just listen to my body and hibernate for a few days. 

Youll get through this, stay strong and positive   And as a caregiver take good care of yourself too!

Wish you both well. 

Pam

lizard44

It is pretty standard

for stage 4.  I had  eight rounds of FOLFOX plus Avastin as initial treatment. As Pam siad, everybody reacts differently.  I was one of those lucky ones who didn't  have   too many nasty side effects. I was warned not to drink anything cold and to wear gloves when  touching anything cold because of the oxaliplatin- I kept a pair of gloves next to the fridge and even wore them in the grocery store for reaching into the refrigerated cases. I also wore socks  all the time- even to sleep in, since the oncologist warned me to not let my feet get cold. I do have some lingering neuropathy from the Oxaliplatin two years later, but  it's not  too bad. My worst side effect was   low white blood cell counts which began after the second infusion.  One or two treatments were delayed but Neupogen shots allowed the rest of the treatments to  go on as scheduled. Fatigue   was  one of the side effects, but like Pam, I just listened to my body and rested when I needed to. The fatigue usually hit after the pump was unhooked ( I wore the 5-FU pump for 46 hours  following the  infusion in the clinic) and I would occasionally feel a little dizzy when I went to lie down or bend over. For the most part the fatigue and dizziness only lasted a day or two and I was able to continue  with  activities pretty much as I had before. I also had some joint pain after the first couple of treatments, but  that went away as treatment progressed. One of the stranger side effects I had was  that I would lose my voice and sound  really hoarse but  my throat never  hurt. I was presctibed medication for nausea but never needed to take it.  I did modify my diet, avoided fried and greasy foods, raw fruits and vegetables (except for bananas, melons, avocados) .  I think the worry there was the risk of infection from  raw  fruits and veggies because of my low   white blood cell counts and the amount of herbicides and pesticides used on a  lot of   produce. I   did eat a lot of cooked veggies and frozen and canned fruits  that didn't have any added sugar. I also avoided red meat. I tried to eat a  nutritious, high fiber diet, ate yogurt every day and took a probiotic.  I hope your husband tolerates the treatment well and that you  are able to take good care of  yourself as well as him, and stay as positive and stress free as possible.

Grace/lizard44

Betsydoglover

Standard treatment for Stage 4

Hi -

 

The standard initial treatment for Stage 4 is oxaliplatin, Avastin and either 5FU/leuk or Xeloda (also called capecitibine)

 

Things may change depending on the progression or lack therof.

 

Take care,

Betsy

(diagnosed Stage 4 5/05, NED since 4/09)

CyniD

I am so sorry you and your

I am so sorry you and your husband are going through this. It is a nightmare. However, I believe that if you hit it and hit it hard you have the best chance. We were going to go holistic snd then got a peek of his cat scan. No way. He has the same diagnosis as your husband and will go for his second treatment on the 11th. His treatment protocol is the same as your husband's. I think that is pretty standard. The first volley was fine. My husband had exhaustion on the 3 day.  His biggest complaint is weakness and exhaustion.  We treat his pain with ibuprofen because the opioids make his terribly sick vomiting and nausea. is your husband battling Exhaustion?  I will pray for you folks and pray you have some sim Len Elmore of peace as you walk through this valley.

Blessings to you,

Please keep us posted.

CyniD

Annabelle41415

Hubby

How is hubby doing?  It would be good to hear an update.  Hope he is handling it ok.

Kim

desnee2029

CyniD said:

I am so sorry you and your

I am so sorry you and your husband are going through this. It is a nightmare. However, I believe that if you hit it and hit it hard you have the best chance. We were going to go holistic snd then got a peek of his cat scan. No way. He has the same diagnosis as your husband and will go for his second treatment on the 11th. His treatment protocol is the same as your husband's. I think that is pretty standard. The first volley was fine. My husband had exhaustion on the 3 day.  His biggest complaint is weakness and exhaustion.  We treat his pain with ibuprofen because the opioids make his terribly sick vomiting and nausea. is your husband battling Exhaustion?  I will pray for you folks and pray you have some sim Len Elmore of peace as you walk through this valley.

Blessings to you,

Please keep us posted.

CyniD

Husband is doing well

He had his fith Chemo.  He has some neurapthy in his hands with cold but the iron they have been giving him hrlps with energy.  The large met that bridges both liver lobes has shrunk 30% and others 10 but WHile dr said that was good he reminded us all small mets have to disappear for a liver resection or any futher treatment to the liver like ablation pump etc. Husband is eating well keepiong busy.   oUR NEW NORMAL.  Our doc the went on to explain at end of 12 chemos he would go on maintenence.  Can tumors shink on maintence?  then he said Chemo stopped working at some point and went on to explain liver failure............we already know the down sides.....We want to hear ned success stories etc with multiple liver mets.  I PRAY we keep finding something to shink and kill them......for everyone as well as my dh

Waterfall66

lizard44 said:

It is pretty standard

for stage 4.  I had  eight rounds of FOLFOX plus Avastin as initial treatment. As Pam siad, everybody reacts differently.  I was one of those lucky ones who didn't  have   too many nasty side effects. I was warned not to drink anything cold and to wear gloves when  touching anything cold because of the oxaliplatin- I kept a pair of gloves next to the fridge and even wore them in the grocery store for reaching into the refrigerated cases. I also wore socks  all the time- even to sleep in, since the oncologist warned me to not let my feet get cold. I do have some lingering neuropathy from the Oxaliplatin two years later, but  it's not  too bad. My worst side effect was   low white blood cell counts which began after the second infusion.  One or two treatments were delayed but Neupogen shots allowed the rest of the treatments to  go on as scheduled. Fatigue   was  one of the side effects, but like Pam, I just listened to my body and rested when I needed to. The fatigue usually hit after the pump was unhooked ( I wore the 5-FU pump for 46 hours  following the  infusion in the clinic) and I would occasionally feel a little dizzy when I went to lie down or bend over. For the most part the fatigue and dizziness only lasted a day or two and I was able to continue  with  activities pretty much as I had before. I also had some joint pain after the first couple of treatments, but  that went away as treatment progressed. One of the stranger side effects I had was  that I would lose my voice and sound  really hoarse but  my throat never  hurt. I was presctibed medication for nausea but never needed to take it.  I did modify my diet, avoided fried and greasy foods, raw fruits and vegetables (except for bananas, melons, avocados) .  I think the worry there was the risk of infection from  raw  fruits and veggies because of my low   white blood cell counts and the amount of herbicides and pesticides used on a  lot of   produce. I   did eat a lot of cooked veggies and frozen and canned fruits  that didn't have any added sugar. I also avoided red meat. I tried to eat a  nutritious, high fiber diet, ate yogurt every day and took a probiotic.  I hope your husband tolerates the treatment well and that you  are able to take good care of  yourself as well as him, and stay as positive and stress free as possible.

Grace/lizard44

How are you doing now?

How are you doing now?