Thank God for Oxiliplatin & Xeloda

pjenks57
pjenks57 Member Posts: 112
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
First let me wish you all a wonderful holiday season. My husband just got his results back from his first CAT scan after starting Oxilaplatin and Xeloda and the cancer is 50% gone!!! Thank God and friends and support from people like you. I am so excited I don't know what to do. There is hope and I want each of you to know that. Our Dr. said that Chemo is your friend, maybe not a nice friend but a friend just the same and we are believers for sure. I know there is always room for setbacks but I am basking in the good news. We both lost our Mother's during the last couple of months and we have had our share of BAD things so this is just that much sweeter. Thank you to all for your support. I don't mean to go on an on or to be so up but THANK YOU and MERRY CHRISTMAS

Comments

  • aleftina
    aleftina Member Posts: 102
    #2
    Oh, WOW! What doses and schedult is he on? I just started on it and had a very hard experience. Looking for better way so I can tolerate it better. And what do you use for nausea and other side effects, do they give anything to him before the infusion and for how long does he take Zeloda?
  • pjenks57
    pjenks57 Member Posts: 112
    #3
    aleftina said:

    Oh, WOW! What doses and schedult is he on? I just started on it and had a very hard experience. Looking for better way so I can tolerate it better. And what do you use for nausea and other side effects, do they give anything to him before the infusion and for how long does he take Zeloda?

    I don't know where to begin. He takes a small amount of an antinausua drug before infusion of the oxliplatin. He gets that once every three weeks. His Xeloda is 2000mg in the morning and 2000mg in the evening for 14 days then off for 7 days before he starts all over with the Oxliplatin. As for nausua he says it is pretty bad for about 7 days. They did prescribe him a pill to take but I do not know the name and he doesn't really take it much. He complains and goes on. Mostly he sleeps ALOT and seems to have a LOT of confusion. He can't remember anything for a while and he can't tolerate cold for about 7 days. He complained a lot for the first two treatments and last one not as much. (especially when I reminded him of my morning sickness with pregnancy for 7 months!) He is not real sick but he does have a lot of problems with getting his bowels right. He is working hard on that. This news today should help with the treatment today. His Dr. is a STRONG believer in positive thinking. I have had trouble getting him to tell me anything but really he didn't know anything. Hubby does today and 2 more treatments then another CAT scan to see how much more he has to do. We will take it one day at a time and be SO very thankful for what we have and how far he has some in such a short time. Please keep a positive attitude and make sure you have a Dr. you can talk to. That has been hard on me and hubby but our relationship is getting better. Hubby is a large man that was fairly healthy prior to this. Well kinda (he had heart by-pass in April 2002) but it makes a difference in size and resistance I have been told. Good luck to you and may God bless you.
  • aleftina
    aleftina Member Posts: 102
    #4
    pjenks57 said:

    I don't know where to begin. He takes a small amount of an antinausua drug before infusion of the oxliplatin. He gets that once every three weeks. His Xeloda is 2000mg in the morning and 2000mg in the evening for 14 days then off for 7 days before he starts all over with the Oxliplatin. As for nausua he says it is pretty bad for about 7 days. They did prescribe him a pill to take but I do not know the name and he doesn't really take it much. He complains and goes on. Mostly he sleeps ALOT and seems to have a LOT of confusion. He can't remember anything for a while and he can't tolerate cold for about 7 days. He complained a lot for the first two treatments and last one not as much. (especially when I reminded him of my morning sickness with pregnancy for 7 months!) He is not real sick but he does have a lot of problems with getting his bowels right. He is working hard on that. This news today should help with the treatment today. His Dr. is a STRONG believer in positive thinking. I have had trouble getting him to tell me anything but really he didn't know anything. Hubby does today and 2 more treatments then another CAT scan to see how much more he has to do. We will take it one day at a time and be SO very thankful for what we have and how far he has some in such a short time. Please keep a positive attitude and make sure you have a Dr. you can talk to. That has been hard on me and hubby but our relationship is getting better. Hubby is a large man that was fairly healthy prior to this. Well kinda (he had heart by-pass in April 2002) but it makes a difference in size and resistance I have been told. Good luck to you and may God bless you.

    Thank you so much for all the info. Do you know how much Oxa he is getting, we seem to be on the same schedule, and I thought I was overdosed or something the way I felt, I am also noxious all the time and throw up often and can't take Xeloda at times. I am glad you mentioned the confusion, this is one of the hardest parts for me, I was so confused and I am alone, I am afraid of the next dose. I was going to tell the doctor to give me less or something, I could not recognize my own mind and was thinking about stopping the treatment alltogether. It took 3-4 days for my mind to clear up but still not to ful capacity. IT's so scary.
  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    #5
    Woo-Hoo! Doing the happy dance for you!

    You onc is right, chemo is your friend - consider it tough love. Yeah the effects suck, but the alternative is even worse.

    Keep 'er on course and be well.

    Have a great holiday season and a happy and healthy new year!

    - SB
  • pjenks57
    pjenks57 Member Posts: 112
    #6
    aleftina said:

    Thank you so much for all the info. Do you know how much Oxa he is getting, we seem to be on the same schedule, and I thought I was overdosed or something the way I felt, I am also noxious all the time and throw up often and can't take Xeloda at times. I am glad you mentioned the confusion, this is one of the hardest parts for me, I was so confused and I am alone, I am afraid of the next dose. I was going to tell the doctor to give me less or something, I could not recognize my own mind and was thinking about stopping the treatment alltogether. It took 3-4 days for my mind to clear up but still not to ful capacity. IT's so scary.

    Please do NOT give up on oxli or xeloda. They have saved my hubby so far and I have high hopes that it will continue and get better. There are many support groups for you and I am sure your onc has a support staff that can and will help you in any way that they can. Do talk to him (or her) about a smaller dose but just PLEASE dont stop. It takes about a week for hubby to clear his mind and then it doesn't go away until the week that he is off of all chemo and then we start again. I was very scared because of the alheimizers (sp?) in his family but I am sure it is the chemo (my new best even tho not nice friend). Be strong and remember you have friends and support here in this board and if you ever want to e-mail me PLEASE do so. I would be honored to talk to you and give you what ever help I can. God bless you take care and HANG IN we need you..
  • aleftina
    aleftina Member Posts: 102
    #7
    pjenks57 said:

    Please do NOT give up on oxli or xeloda. They have saved my hubby so far and I have high hopes that it will continue and get better. There are many support groups for you and I am sure your onc has a support staff that can and will help you in any way that they can. Do talk to him (or her) about a smaller dose but just PLEASE dont stop. It takes about a week for hubby to clear his mind and then it doesn't go away until the week that he is off of all chemo and then we start again. I was very scared because of the alheimizers (sp?) in his family but I am sure it is the chemo (my new best even tho not nice friend). Be strong and remember you have friends and support here in this board and if you ever want to e-mail me PLEASE do so. I would be honored to talk to you and give you what ever help I can. God bless you take care and HANG IN we need you..

    I meaant I was thinking giving up when I wasn't in my right mind and it's scarey what it does to your head. I am going to be alone next infusion and it is very scarey how I am going to go through the side effects on my own. How does he take Xeloda when he is noxious for the 7 days and how much Oxa is he getting and is it all at one "sitting"? They gave it to me "fractionated" - for 3 days: 50, 100 & 100, I think it was too much and started the Xeloda the first day too. I do want to share someting good I think: they gave me B6+B complex to take on top of the vitamins I am already taking and I think it is helping the neuropathy in my fingers. I also take mega fish oil and green tea extract (when I can get it down, it's light capsules). Does any one take something that helps them for something you can share?
  • aleftina
    aleftina Member Posts: 102
    #8
    spongebob said:

    Woo-Hoo! Doing the happy dance for you!

    You onc is right, chemo is your friend - consider it tough love. Yeah the effects suck, but the alternative is even worse.

    Keep 'er on course and be well.

    Have a great holiday season and a happy and healthy new year!

    - SB

    The fact that we are discussing the side effects and how best deal with them doesn't mean we are negative about the treatment, we must learn how survive. I know some poeple go for chemo and hate the thing and I know it's not helpful to them, but we must put it in perspective: we are receiving a powerful agent that kills cancer cells (hopefully) and we need to learn the best methods to counterattack the side effects, as they are horrific, at least for me: the nauzea and the confusion are very tough to deal with and I am serching, searchin, searching for ways to ease them up.
  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    #9
    aleftina said:

    The fact that we are discussing the side effects and how best deal with them doesn't mean we are negative about the treatment, we must learn how survive. I know some poeple go for chemo and hate the thing and I know it's not helpful to them, but we must put it in perspective: we are receiving a powerful agent that kills cancer cells (hopefully) and we need to learn the best methods to counterattack the side effects, as they are horrific, at least for me: the nauzea and the confusion are very tough to deal with and I am serching, searchin, searching for ways to ease them up.

    And here I thought being dazed and confused was a normal state!

    (of course we sponges never feel sea sick - RIGHT!)
  • aleftina
    aleftina Member Posts: 102
    #10
    spongebob said:

    And here I thought being dazed and confused was a normal state!

    (of course we sponges never feel sea sick - RIGHT!)

    Bob, I appreciate your sense of humor, believe me, but when a person leaves a stove on or a car door wode open for the night, it is not funny. I lost so many bills, it's scary.
  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    #11
    aleftina said:

    Bob, I appreciate your sense of humor, believe me, but when a person leaves a stove on or a car door wode open for the night, it is not funny. I lost so many bills, it's scary.

    Believe me, al, I've been there. But it was the door to my apartment. The little old lady next door actually came over to check on me. It was more embarrassing than disturbing. It sucks to go through it alone.
  • aleftina
    aleftina Member Posts: 102
    #12
    spongebob said:

    Believe me, al, I've been there. But it was the door to my apartment. The little old lady next door actually came over to check on me. It was more embarrassing than disturbing. It sucks to go through it alone.

    Big time. :(
  • cmcl
    cmcl Member Posts: 78
    #13
    aleftina said:

    The fact that we are discussing the side effects and how best deal with them doesn't mean we are negative about the treatment, we must learn how survive. I know some poeple go for chemo and hate the thing and I know it's not helpful to them, but we must put it in perspective: we are receiving a powerful agent that kills cancer cells (hopefully) and we need to learn the best methods to counterattack the side effects, as they are horrific, at least for me: the nauzea and the confusion are very tough to deal with and I am serching, searchin, searching for ways to ease them up.

    I am nearing the end of my Oxil regimen. I also had a very hard time with nausea. My doctor kept trying until something worked. I have pre meds of Kytril, Decadron, Emend and recently started Ativan. I also have those meds to take at home, if needed. I also have Zofran and a homeopathic called Ipecacuanha found in the Health Food store. I hope this is helpful.
    Keep strong!
    Carolyn

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