DCF treatment

jpturn4
jpturn4 Member Posts: 19
in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hi

Paul started chemo today (at last) and his regime is as follows;

D- Docetaxel

C - Cisplatin

F - Fluorouracil

The nurse told us today this was a NEW combo and Paul was her first patient to receive this. He's having ALL of the above in one day, except for the 46 hours of F at home, we have the lovely bag safely positioned between us.....at least it won't fidget like the kids used to when they came in with is. They still don't know if he will be having 4 or 5 cycles?

The Oncologist also confirmed that Paul's latest diagnosis is T3N3M0. They continue to be concerned over the 6 plus nodes confirmed through EUS lower than his celiac junction, this is just causing so many complications.

So far he feels fine, we were laughing tonight as he was a whopping 5lb heavier tonight due to the constant munching and I guess fluids.

he best advice we have been given is NOT to lose weight and drink plenty. At 44, it was sad to see other people receiving chemo who were of a simular age to us, although lets be honest NO AGE seems fair especially when dealing with this "club" that no one wants to be a member of.

We know we have to wait until the next PET and CT scans now, but their hesitance and indecisiveness of what to do with Paul is certainly daunting.

Be good to hear any thoughts on his drugs or hear how anyone else did on the DCF?

Oh and we've been reading about "dumping"....what is that?

Julie and Paul

Comments

  • nancyann3
    nancyann3 Member Posts: 173 Member
    #2
    Hi
    My hubby had that combo his first round of chemo. His diagnoses is T3N1M0. He responded to the treatment well. The most important thing is to stay hydrated. The cisplatin is hard on the kidneys, so keep them flushed. If you can get iv hydration during and after infusions, that helps a lot. Take nausea meds before any nausea my start. They probably set you up with some before treatments. Hubby never got nausous, so dont just automatically think you will. Also contipation or diarrea can present itself, always have meds on hand for that. Hair loss can start around two weeks into treatment. But again may not happen at all, everyone is different. Chemo is cumlitive, so, each treatment is more taxing. Hydration always seemed to be the biggest issue with him and I have heard others say it to. Staying hydrated just helps them feel better during treatment.

    The 5fu and cisplatin are big drugs and very capible of "kicking cancer butt". Always have hope, never let the doctors "wishy washy" attitude slow you down. We went through that too. Drive, determination and belief will carry you through. Remember, no matter what the statistics say or the doctors attitude is, their is alway hope and it IS possible. Hubby made it to surgery 8 days ago and is recovering nicely. We know that the remainder of the eshophagus is now cancer free. We are waiting on path report from nodes removed. Some of our docs didn't think we would ever get here, but we proved a lot of them wrong.

    I wish you the best of luck and if I can ever answer any questions let me know.

    Nancy
  • cher76
    cher76 Member Posts: 292
    #3
    My husband was diagnosed at
    My husband was diagnosed at stage IV ec in October '10. He completed his first round of DCF treatment (4 treatments, one every two weeks) in December and had scans in early January. The scans showed that the tumors had shrunk somewhat and he was able to eat better than before. Also some of the bone mets seemed to be gone, however others had appeared in other spots. As the onc said, the cancer was just moving around. He advised us that he could tweak the chemo treatment and add another drug or suggested a clinical trial we might want to do. We decided to join the clinical trial and have been on it for 6 weeks. Will get scans this weekend and see how that has worked on Monday. My husband tolerated the DCF treatments well, with only slight hair loss, sensitivity to cold and constipation being the major side effects for him. At times we think maybe we should have stayed on the DCF, but this is not a battle where you can second guess yourself. Good luck to your husband. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Discussion Boards