Anyone had Vectibix/Panitumumab?

Update for futire reference. Day four. Rash is all over my chest and neck and is mostly made uo of tiny red dots. Some are eroptions like tiny whiteheads. My chin, besisde my nose and my forehead have become worse as the day has progressed. It feels like I have something stuck on my skin because there are so many. Most are tiny whiteheads. They look angry and irritated. I'm using the cream I was prescribed but at this point it's just getting worse. Totally looks like teenage acne like they said. I never had it as a teenager so I guess now it's my turn. The rest of my skin that's not affected seems very sensitive. It almost hurts to rub my scalp and brush my hair. No idea if this is another part of it. 

Phil64 said:

Jan, 

Jan, 

I did find that it lessened as time goes by. And for sure use lots of moisturizer, multiple times per day. The Sams club coconut oil 2 packs were nice as they were large and not too expensive.

In my case there was a huge reduction in tumor sizes. This was followed by aggressive surgery where 40% of my liver was removed (that was the third liver resection). The recurrences happened in close proximity. My surgeon decided to take a larger resection in hopes of removing microscopic cancer tumors, in addition to the three that were detected. 

That final liver resection was then followed by 12 monthly Erbitux treatments in hopes of eradicating any additional cancer cells. My reading about Erbitux was that it alone didn't actually kill the cancer cells; however my oncologist believed otherwise and he was certainly privy to more information than I could even hope to peruse. 

I do hope that the Erbitux will wreck havot on your cancer. 

I will share a couple of my blog posts related to Erbitux. Perhaps they will give you some better sense of how this did affect me.

https://pscamihorn.me/2013/02/14/valentines-day-02142013/

https://pscamihorn.me/2013/02/16/good-news-update-02162013/

https://pscamihorn.me/2013/06/20/treatment-6-06202013-update/  <= really funny one. 

Fast forward in time...

https://pscamihorn.me/2016/02/11/t-minus-one-02-11-2016-update/

The final Erbitux treatment...

https://pscamihorn.me/2016/02/26/no-regrets-02262016-update/

 

Thank you Phil, I read them all. At this point the rash on my nose isn't like yours got to be. Wow, that's sad. I can't imagine going anywhere like that, either. I'm getting this because they can't do surgery on me and they're hoping this will at least reduce the size of the tumours and maybe I'll be on it as a maintenance thing. Coincidentally, my oncologist has the same name as yours.

I'm starting the antibiotics they gave me for this today so we'll see if that helps at all. The cream seems to do nothing. I'm having trouble sleeping because my ears hurt with it. It feels like a sunburn. Its itchy but if I scratch it it hurts. It's on my scalp as well. I'm going to try some make up to see if I can at least tone down the look of it. I have a few days off work so I can experiment a bit. I work as a receptionist in a dental office so I have to be at work and see a number of new people every day. No way I can hide out, unfortunately.

Ugh, it feels like something is plastered over my chin, lips and nose. I feel like I want to just take my fingernails and rip away at it. And squeeze the little zit looking things. So far I've managed to leave it alone. I hope it gets to be less. This is awful. At least nothing until now made me embarassed to go out anywhere.

Okay, I'm over my tirade from a couple of hours ago. I just had a bath and am broken out in the hives I've also been dealing with before this current rash. At first I cried and then I started seeing the humourous side in this. Or maybe the ironic side. Maybe this is a life lesson. I've been very happy that at 53 years old, 54 next month, I have pretty much no wrinkles. People who know my age will ask me if I've had work done. I haven't. And I've really never taken care of my skin. It's just genetics and I've been lucky. It's something that I've been proud of even though I have no reason to be, I haven't done anything special that resulted in this. So this rash is going to teach me humility. I didn't get wrinkles by sheer luck and now I'm getting an ugly rash by sheer luck.

I actually thought of Job in the bible. At one point her suffered with pustules or boils. I don't have that but this feels bad enough. And will it shake my faith? No. I had a weird experience a couple of years ago after my cancer surgery that I have shared with only one person on here because it may be looked at oddly. But I'm going to share it now. I was feeling cocky after the surgery and was doing things like posting in a horse related group I used to go on about how cancer is from hell and basically that I cheated the devil after going through the radiation, chemo, surgery, abcesses, and the incsion infection. Then one night I dreamt of the devil. He was standing in front of me and said to me "oh, I'm not done with you yet". I woke up very upset and feeling like it was very real. 

Not long after I had the blood clot that almost killed me. So now I feel a bit like Job. There have been other medical issues that I don't go into, money issues, job issues, so many other things, and now this. Forgive me for comparing myself to such a man as Job was but maybe I can compare just a little? The point is that 'this, too, shall pass' and it will only make me tougher. And my faith will not be shaken.

Love to all of you. We're the toughest of the tough, keep up the good fight. I wish you all strength and, most of all, hope.

Jan

Annabelle41415 said:

I'm so sorry

I'm sorry to hear all that is going on.  Please continue to be strong in your faith as sometimes it can get you through the most difficult times.  Hoping that things improve for you.

Kim

Tahnk you Kim, I appreciate the support.

Jan

lizard44 said:

Sorry you're going through this, Jan

I've been on  Erbitux and Irinotecan since April 6, 2016 and remember the rash only too well.  It was  nasty and itchy but eventually went away and was replaced with unbelievably dry skin, which I still have.  The   doctor  gave me Clidamycin to help with the rash but that worked for only a short while. I  wrote about it  and posted a pic of the rash on my blog, which may have some info you can use. http://roosterhen.blogspot.com/2016/05/ive-got-you-under-my-skin.html

My main problem now is  some  nail involvement ( ingown toenails and  scaly, ridged fingernails), and  the dry skin. I'm using a combination of Aveeno lotion on most of my body and a mixture of shea butter and emu oil on the extrememly dry patches and on my feet which I keep covered in socks at all times, and wear sandals all the time because of the sore toenails. Not  much fun in the winter and I look more like a nerd than ever. :-) When I take my clothes off,  a snow flurry of dry skin starts  flying about. One of the most recent developments is  having the skin crack on my fingertips-  it makes cooking or   squeezing lemons, etc. quite  difficult.  I've found that  slathering on the shea butter then  putting on   latex gloves helps more than anything- I even sleep in them. After a couple of days of the glove regimen, the cracks heal and I can  go without the gloves for awhile.

You mentioned the hives-  I got them too but the doctor  and I decided  they were probably caused by the doxycline she had prescribed for the rash.  Once we stopped that, the hives went away.

Anyway, I hope your  treatments go well enough that you can continue them without too many complications and too much discomfort.   The Erbitux and Irinotecan have worked very well for me so far, I hope they work as well for you.

Grace/lizard44

 

 

Thanky you for the information Grace. I already had the hives before the new 'chemo' so it's not related but I don't think having this now is helping with the hives. My docotr said the hives can just show up for anyone at any time and it makes the skin angry and then it becomes sensitive and allergic to things it's not actually allergic to. I was taking pills for it and it had stopped but now it's back. So I guess my skin is angry again.  

Do you know if the lingering dry skin is common? I can live with issues elsewhere on my body but having my face involved when I have to greet people and be near them all day is stressful. I'm watching for people to drops their eyes a bit and look at the rash and then I feel obligated to say something. I don't want anyone thinking I'm contagious.

lizard44 said:

Jan, I don't know how common

Jan, I don't know how common lingering dry skin is,  but I've had it throughout this Erbitux treatment. I did find a product line  that has worked wonders on my face,  Lindi Skin products. It's very pricey, but you might want to check it out, and they do have a sample pack  of products you can buy for $30. According to their website, the skincare products were developed  specifically for  chemo and radiation patients, and as I said,  the  face products   are really good- at least they have been for me.

Grace/lizard44

 

Thank you for the information! I'll check that out! Do you remember if it gradually gets better or flares up again every time you get another treatment? Mine seems to have settled down but is spreading slowly up my cheeks and on my forehead and nose. I think I can handle emotionally everything but my nose. Is it less of a reaction every time? Does it flare up again? How does it proceed? I'm wondering what I can look forward to after the next treatment which is this Friday. I'm getting them every two weeks.

Thank you!