has anyone had carbo/gemzar for their first recurrence, and if so, how hav you fared?

maggie_wilson
maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1
sisters,

i expect to be having chemo either on the 11th march or 18th, and will be on one cycle of carbo/gemzar together for first infusion, then gemzar alone for second the following week, then third week off. and so on for 6 cycles. my doctor said it was fine to take vitamins during chemo, plus this great, organic supplement filled with proteins and vitamins called orgain, during chemo. says there is no evidence that vitamins interfere with chemo; she's very evidence-driven, and is up on all the latest trends, meds, etc., in chemo, so i really trust her.

if you've had this chemo combination or are having it now, can you let me know how you're doing? mostly i'm concerned with not feeling too sick or tired to work, at least one of two weeks a cycle.

thanx,

sisterhood,
maggie

Comments

  • Kaleena
    Kaleena Member Posts: 2,088 Member
    #2
    Maggie:
    I initially was to
    Maggie:

    I initially was to have the carbo/taxol but was allergic to the taxol. So I was put on the carbo/gemzar. Had the same treatment as you. Both one week, off one week, gemzar one week off one week for 6 treatments. I really didn't need the presteroids stuff and also I didn't lose my hair. My treatments were usually on Tuesday or Wednesday. And it wasn't until Friday that I was totally exhausted. Kinda hits you like a brick. I did still work, but it is our own business and mostly I worked in the morning.

    I did get a few moments of queasiness and I also got the full head feeling at times when I was sitting at my desk.

    I hope this helps.

    Kathy
  • maggie_wilson
    maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
    #3
    Kaleena said:

    Maggie:
    I initially was to
    Maggie:

    I initially was to have the carbo/taxol but was allergic to the taxol. So I was put on the carbo/gemzar. Had the same treatment as you. Both one week, off one week, gemzar one week off one week for 6 treatments. I really didn't need the presteroids stuff and also I didn't lose my hair. My treatments were usually on Tuesday or Wednesday. And it wasn't until Friday that I was totally exhausted. Kinda hits you like a brick. I did still work, but it is our own business and mostly I worked in the morning.

    I did get a few moments of queasiness and I also got the full head feeling at times when I was sitting at my desk.

    I hope this helps.

    Kathy

    kathy
    i appreciate your response, and it was great to hear that you didn't lose your hair! wow! and good to hear what your reactions were to the drugs. that's great you didn't need the presteroid stuff, how did you know you wouldn't need it? my treatments will be on a friday, so that gives me saturday, sunday and monday to recover, so i possibly could work on tuesday. we'll see. sounds like you tolerated the treatment quite well. so reassuring. thanx kathy. btw, sounds like your protocol was slightly different: i have both one week, then gemzar alone the second week, then off the third. is that what you meant?

    sisterhood,
    maggie
  • Kaleena
    Kaleena Member Posts: 2,088 Member
    #4
    maggie_wilson said:

    kathy
    i appreciate your response, and it was great to hear that you didn't lose your hair! wow! and good to hear what your reactions were to the drugs. that's great you didn't need the presteroid stuff, how did you know you wouldn't need it? my treatments will be on a friday, so that gives me saturday, sunday and monday to recover, so i possibly could work on tuesday. we'll see. sounds like you tolerated the treatment quite well. so reassuring. thanx kathy. btw, sounds like your protocol was slightly different: i have both one week, then gemzar alone the second week, then off the third. is that what you meant?

    sisterhood,
    maggie

    Actually my treatment was
    Actually my treatment was both one week, then I was off a week, then just gemzar, then off.

    So it was like I was bi-monthly for six months.

    Also, the nurse told me that because of my dosage that I wouldn't need all the pre-steroid stuff. However, I did have the little "cocktail" that they give you at the infusion center which I believe had benadryl in it and a relaxant.

    May your treatment be well tolerated. My best to you.

    Kathy
  • maggie_wilson
    maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
    #5
    Kaleena said:

    Actually my treatment was
    Actually my treatment was both one week, then I was off a week, then just gemzar, then off.

    So it was like I was bi-monthly for six months.

    Also, the nurse told me that because of my dosage that I wouldn't need all the pre-steroid stuff. However, I did have the little "cocktail" that they give you at the infusion center which I believe had benadryl in it and a relaxant.

    May your treatment be well tolerated. My best to you.

    Kathy

    kathy
    thanx for your good wishes. i'm hoping i do as well as you did!

    sisterhood,
    maggie
  • Ro10
    Ro10 Member Posts: 1,561 Member
    #6
    Maggie good luck with your treatments
    I wish you well with your new chemo regime. I hope it will work for you and you can again be treatment free. I hope your side effects are minimal. In peace and caring.
  • maggie_wilson
    maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
    #7
    Ro10 said:

    Maggie good luck with your treatments
    I wish you well with your new chemo regime. I hope it will work for you and you can again be treatment free. I hope your side effects are minimal. In peace and caring.

    thanx , ro
    for your good wishes. how are you doing on your chemo regimen at this point? i know the first one was difficult. i sure hope it's gotten easier.

    sisterhood,
    maggie
  • upsofloating
    upsofloating Member Posts: 466 Member
    #8
    maggie_wilson said:

    thanx , ro
    for your good wishes. how are you doing on your chemo regimen at this point? i know the first one was difficult. i sure hope it's gotten easier.

    sisterhood,
    maggie

    Re Carbo/Gemzar for recurrence
    I was treated with Gemzar alone so can't address combo however I believe a number of sisters on Ovarian site have had this combo so for more feedback you may want to check there. Even just search for relevant posts.
    Hope it goes well with few side effects.
    Annie
  • maggie_wilson
    maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
    #9
    upsofloating said:

    Re Carbo/Gemzar for recurrence
    I was treated with Gemzar alone so can't address combo however I believe a number of sisters on Ovarian site have had this combo so for more feedback you may want to check there. Even just search for relevant posts.
    Hope it goes well with few side effects.
    Annie

    thanx, annnie
    how did you do on the gemzar alone? did you have flu-like symptoms? hope you're doing well now. i will check out the ovarian cancer site for relevant posts. thanx for the tip.

    sisterhood,
    maggie
  • upsofloating
    upsofloating Member Posts: 466 Member
    #10
    maggie_wilson said:

    thanx, annnie
    how did you do on the gemzar alone? did you have flu-like symptoms? hope you're doing well now. i will check out the ovarian cancer site for relevant posts. thanx for the tip.

    sisterhood,
    maggie

    I fared well on the Gemzar.
    I fared well on the Gemzar. It is a fairly easy to tolerate chemo. I rarely got my full monthly dosage due to issues with low neutrophils. Some people have platelet problems with this chemo but since I have no spleen, counts tend to be high -- gave me lots of leeway for dropping :) I made numbers for one 3 inf./per month cycle out of eight and on a lower dose per inf, as well. It worked well and put me in NED status. Main issue was queasiness which got progressively worse as the cycles went by, hardly any in first few cycles. It was the weekly schedule that got tiresome but I'll gladly restart if I need to.
    My gyn onc uses this alone quite often and he said best to stick with just one since my bone marrow was sometimes slow to bounce back and it would be worse with more agents. Since it worked, didn't have to address adding other drugs.

    Hope you have as good success with treatment!
    Annie
  • maggie_wilson
    maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
    #11
    upsofloating said:

    I fared well on the Gemzar.
    I fared well on the Gemzar. It is a fairly easy to tolerate chemo. I rarely got my full monthly dosage due to issues with low neutrophils. Some people have platelet problems with this chemo but since I have no spleen, counts tend to be high -- gave me lots of leeway for dropping :) I made numbers for one 3 inf./per month cycle out of eight and on a lower dose per inf, as well. It worked well and put me in NED status. Main issue was queasiness which got progressively worse as the cycles went by, hardly any in first few cycles. It was the weekly schedule that got tiresome but I'll gladly restart if I need to.
    My gyn onc uses this alone quite often and he said best to stick with just one since my bone marrow was sometimes slow to bounce back and it would be worse with more agents. Since it worked, didn't have to address adding other drugs.

    Hope you have as good success with treatment!
    Annie

    annie,
    so glad to hear the gemzar worked so well for you, though i hate the idea of queasiness that gets worse. still, it worked, and that's the best news. not clear exactly what numbers were for the infusions. did you mean you were able to tolerate one infusion per 3 in cycle per month, and on a lower dose? i'm not so good with the numbers. i get that there were eight cycles, just not clear how many in each cycle you were able to tolerate or ended up having.

    thanx and sisterhood,
    maggie

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