Some Info Please.....

apache4 said:

I am curious and trying to relate your experience to mine. I have been off chemo two months and will get results from scan Wed. I am Stage IV...mets to liver. Is the usual thing to start another chemo if something changes in the scan? I am pretty sure any of the radiation things won't work for my too many tumors...I am asking onc. though. Can't hurt to ask. I am also carrying a list of all the chemos mentioned here...not keen on Eribitux...this Irinotecan is one I hadn't heard of yet...will be looking it up. good luck to you.

Apache, I was told of my liver mets about 4 months after completing my first chemo last summer. I was told that it was inoperable. I went to a hospital here in Michigan and had SirSpheres treatment, to try and shrink the lesions. It has done that, and my CEA went down from 22 to 5.1. I still have activity in my liver, so my new Onc. says we will treat it aggressivly with chemo, in hopes of taking it out surgically later. That is if I don't have any mets outside of the liver. As of April, that was the case. I an having another PETScan this week to see if things have changed. I hope they haven't, but who knows....I am "cautiously optimistic" Good luck with treatment to you, as well.

Mary

claud1951 said:

Mary,
I was changed to Irinotecan and 5fu pump 3 treatments ago. For me, it is better than what I was on..Oxiplantin, Xeloda.

The first 2 IV's of Irinotecan wasn't a problem. They say it can cause bad diaherra but I tried not to eat the stuff that can cause diaherra and if I had it..took imodium.

The 3rd time I did side effect while on the IV. Sweeting, eyes watering, nose running, diaherra and Nurse gave me a shot of Atropene (sp) and it stopped that side effect in 30 seconds.

Yes.my hair is thinning..lots and I do get tired (but all chemo makes you tired) but this "cocktail" is better than the other. I can do more .

Hope it works for you and best of luck

Claudia

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'm not looking forward to it, but, I think I can manage it. About the hair....I have very thick hair. Last year, on 5FU, it thinned out a lot, by about half, but nobody really noticed it but me. I can handle that. But, if CPT-11 is stronger, do you think it will thin out more? I am trying to find out, because if it is, then I think I'm just going to shave it off, and get a wig. The more normal I look, the better I can cope with all of this. But, I don't want to go that drastic if it's just going to do what the 5FU did. I know it sounds silly, but, for me, looking normal is key to my well being. I hate the thought of people thinking that I look like someone with cancer. The nausea can be controlled with meds. Zofran worked very well for me last time. I hope it does this time, too.
About the SirSpheres....I had 2 treatments done, one to my right lobe, and one to my left. The left side was only able to get 2/3 of the treatment, because of some stubborn arteries. But, it did shrink the lesions some. I don't know if I'll do it again. I have been told that it can continue to shrink lesions for months after treatment. I'll see what they look like now after my scan on Thursday.
Have a good day, everyone....

Mary

StacyGleaso said:

I had 5 FU, CPT-11 (Camptosar), and leucovorin. No side effects from any of it. I know I'm not "normal" when I say I had no side effects, but I simply cannot explain it. Did not lose my hair, either. I filled the Rx for the campozine, but never took it for nausea, as there wasn't any.

Hope you have my luck!

Hugs,

Stacy

Wow, Stacey! I want to be just like you! :-) I'm hoping for the best!!

Mary