Eyelids Twitching

abita said:

Capecitabine

I don't get capecitabine, so maybe that is why. My at home infusion is the 5fu, I think. I get the device that administers it when I finish the in hospital treatment. I wear it for 46 hours, then go back to have it removed. My anti-nausea in the drip lasts for 3 days. I have a "cousin" of it in pills at home, just in case. 

This forum helps a lot. I have a good support system, but they can't help me with my fears and questions the same as people who are going through it or who have been there. 

you are getting what my husband is the odanestron is Zofran my husband takes it even if he isn't feeling nauseous  until about Wednesday just to be safe. He gets connected on Thursday and Saturday morning he starts the zofran he also takes oral steroids Friday and Saturday. He said he feels a little uneasy in the morning so eating helps as well. I hope you continue to feel well!

ps

your cat in the picture has beautiful colors! I am a huge animal lover. 

Lily Flower said:

Capecitabine is the pill form

Capecitabine is the pill form of 5FU. I chose the pill regimen for the convenience. I don't want to go back after 48 hours to disconnect the pump. Also if I do get a reaction or too sick I can just stop taking the pill, not have to worry about rushing to the ER. The pill also gives you less side effects of mouth sore, hair loss, nausea, diarrhea and constipation. I take capecitabine for 2 weeks then 1 week off. On my week off I have to call the CVS Specialty for my next cycle refill and they deliver to my house. 

This is a wonderful forum. We get advice and support from one another. We are there for each other.

I am hoping not to lose much hair. Sounds so vain when there are so many bigger issues to think about.

abita said:

I am hoping not to lose much

I am hoping not to lose much hair. Sounds so vain when there are so many bigger issues to think about.

I lost most of the hair from my body. I kept a few patches on my legs, which looked totally weird. About 90% of my head hair fell out, so I ended up looking like Gollum. No kidding!  Thats when I shaved my head, and the picture you see was taken  (from a video) the day I shaved it off. 

Before my hair fell out, I was of the attitude 'It won't matter', but when I saw it falling out in clumps, I was devestated. It was a real gut punch. I got over it though, and rocked the shaved head. 

My hair grew back curly, then fell out and grew in dead straight. I've never had dead straight hair before. But alas, I'll take straight hair and life. 

Tru

Trubrit said:

Not to scare you, but

Here is a picture of me during treatment (FOLFOX with 5FU pump).  So yeah, it doen't happen to everyone, but I went from a nice thick head of hair, to a Gollum like do. 

Sorry, but worth it since you made it through. The Saturday before i was admitted to the hospital, I told my hairdresser that I felt my hair was finally long enough. How sadly ironic. It is just above my waist and a beautiful shade of red. The worst was when I was in the hospital and nurses kept telling me they loved my hair. I could only think, "for now", when they said it. Did you go the wig route. I am not sure that I will. I don't even think about it that much though. Right now my thoughts are only focused on praying that the lesions shrink enough in the first 4 rounds to be removed with surgery. My doctors suggested I only think about one step at a time. While I do know and think about the whole picture, keeping with the one step really seems to help me keep a positive attitude.

Lily Flower said:

I know some chemo combos are

I know some chemo combos are likely to cause hair loss.  Also different doses can cause from either hair thinning to complete baldness. I'm not sure about other cancer but seems that almost all breast cancer patients always lose hair from their chemo. Both my surgeon and oncologist told me that there is a small percentage of colon cancer patients do lose their hair completely but most just have hair thin out. I noticed my hair thinned out a bit since my treatment started. 

Also I read that chemo can cause the change of hair texture.  Curly to straight, thin to thick, vice versa. 

Tru, you are much prettier than Gollum! 

I have them, Gollum doesn't 

Thanks Lily. 

Here is a picture of me during treatment (FOLFOX with 5FU pump).  So yeah, it doen't happen to everyone, but I went from a nice thick head of hair, to a Gollum like do.