Radiation and chemo together?

I had chemo & radiation prior to my surgery. After my surgery, I had more chemo. Been clear over 6 yrs from stage 4, with liver mets. I was also very fortunate, never missed a day of work, no nausea, no nothing. I had a continuous pump of chemo through my port-a-cath, and radiation zap every morning @ 7 am for 6 weeks.



Best wishes,
Stacy

Dear changing,

I was diagnosed with rectal cancer following my first colonoscopy at age 60 (male) in Sept. 2004 [Lesson: Don't wait until age 60 -- have it at age 50!]. After tests, etc., I started a 6 week combination continuous infusion of Fluorouracil (5 FU) via portacath and radiation 5 times a week in Oct. I believe this was, and may still be, the accepted protocol. Thankfully, I responded well to radiation/chemo because when I had low anterior resection surgery in Jan. 2005 that removed 19 cm of my rectum/colon, the surgeon found that the 4-5 cm tumor was destroyed leaving only a small ulcer. Lab results showed no involvement with lymph nodes or other signs of spread.

The first few weeks caused no serious problems and I continued to work. The effect of the combination is cumulative, so by the end of Nov. and into Dec. I started having symptoms of diarrhea and very painful bowel movements. In fact, towards the end of my treatments in Dec., radiation was skipped for several treatments because my rear end was so tender and painful. It was not pleasant. I was very depressed and just about broke down in my radiation oncologist's office and remember very clearly him telling me that I had to persevere and that there was no reason in the world why I would not be able to live a full and active life once I got through this bump in the road.

He was right.

Following surgery and a few months with an ostomy, then reversal surgery, a week in the hospital for dangerously low potassium levels and then 32 weeks of adjuvant chemo with 5FU/leucovorin (6 weekly sessions, then 2 weeks off, times 4) ending in Dec., 2005, showed positive results when my first post-op colonoscopy and CAT scan came back clean in the Spring, 2006. NED in 2007, and my yearly CAT scan is scheduled next week to be followed by colonoscopy in March.

I still have problems, after all, my rectum is gone and my storage capacity is less resulting in more frequent daily bowel movements and at times incomplete movements. Often my feelings of urgency can be annoying and bothersome. But, hey, it's good to be alive and there is no reason I can't live a full and normal life.

I didn't mean to go on and on about myself, but I'll never forget how down I was when the pain was unbearable. I needed the pep talk from my doc. I hope my story helps you for the road ahead. I don't know much about your situation, but 5FU and radiation treatments at the same time-5 days a week for 28 treatments sure did the trick for me and there is no reason why it won't work for you too.

changing said:

Thanks everyone! Me and chemo have never done well together but I'm hoping the lower dose will be better. Hats off to all who have beeen able to work. WOW! I was always too sick with the chemo treatments, to work. One last question. Did the chemo run 5 or 7 days a week?

Mine was a continuous infusion (24 hours a day using a small portable pump in a fanny pack) for 5 days a week. I did this on week 1 and week 5 of my radiation. I was told that the purpose of the chemo was to help the radiation work better. I interpreted that to mean that the radiation does the heavy lifting; the chemo mostly works to make the cancer cells more vulnerable to the radiation.