New Treatment Schedule Alimta/Carbo

It’s been quite some time since I’ve been here but thought I would put this out there since I don’t see a lot about this combination for OVCA but it is a popular drug for lung cancer. Here is a quick summary. I was dx on 8/2006 and only had 1 short remission for a few months 1 year after the initial surgery and chemo. I’ve had many surgeries and MANY chemo treatments. So many that I stopped counting the number after I hit #40. My CA125 went below 20 after my first surgery and always remained low so it’s not a good indicator for me. My last scan showed slight progression and 1 new small lesion. I will also need another bowel resection but the gyn/onc will put that off as long as possible. This treatment schedule seems to be an easy one to tolerate from what all of nurses and my gyn/onc tells me and not to expect hair loss. First treatment was yesterday and I’ll have 5 more every 3 weeks then the ct/pet scan again. Here’s the schedule: Daily Folic Acid – 800 mg, B12 injections several weeks apart, Oral Decadron – day before, day of and the day after, Reglan Anti-Nausea Med (does not cause constipation for me like the others do), Decadron IV the day of treatment, Carbo – 1hr., Alimta – 10 minutes, Weekly blood test – Possible low white/red counts. Also, no grapefruit because it would interfere with the effects of the Alimta. So far I feel fine. No nausea and not tired. My face is just a little flush and that’s because of the Decadron. I always have that flush look the next day after any treatment. According to a lot of people on Alimta, they are very tired but I don’t know what their dose is. I’ll post more about this schedule of treatments if anything changes. Hope this helps just in case any of you have been curious about it or your doctors have brought this option up to you. Unfortunately, it is not likely that I will ever be off of the chemo treatments. At this time and for several years I’ve been in the "chronic" category and the cancer is being “managed”. I’ve been battling this for 5 years almost non-stop and hope to keep going! On a fun note, I may be able to meet up with Carlene (Miss Hissy Fitz) while she is here in NYC on Tuesday. She’s a real hoot and very entertaining! J. OXOXOXOX