Chemotherapy forever - stabilizer??

Hi! you didn't mention what Stage you are, etc., but I have been told that. I am stage IV, many mets in liver, had colon resection,
port put in and started chemo in 7/06. I had 16 treatments of 5Fu, Oxaliplatin and Avastin. Counts pretty good the entire time. Dr. said I needed to stop chemo, had NED PET scan in 10/07, 3 month CT scan showed new tumors in liver so started on Folfiri. I started that in mid-Dec and am on my 7th treatment as we speak. I have been told it is "treatable but not curable" and that it is manageable to a point (just being realistic). I always get scared when I have to miss a treatment (platelets have been low) and figure it is the beginning of the end...like what if I can't have chemo anymore? I am lucky that it has stayed in my liver so far as the other reality is more spread. Not to bum you out, but these are my daily thoughts. Meanwhile, I am very active when not tired. I go to Taekwondo class three times a week when not on chemo, garden alot, visit with family and I do live alone with 2 huge dogs, one small one and four cats. My love for these guys really keeps me going and, of course, family. Hope this helps a little. When I am "on the pump" I am not thrilled with the situation and when I can't have it, I am not either. Whew! My best to you.

Hi J,
I know a lady who has been on a variety of treatments, including various "cherry picking" of tumors as she calls it, for 9+ years at this point. She has only been in remission breifly, for 3 months I think during this entire time. She has been treating this as a chronic illness. And think about it, the first 4 years or so of her treatment they didn't even have anywhere near the technology that they have today. I don't know what all mets you have at this point either. Just think, when I was diagnosed, six years ago, they didn't even have Oxy or Camptosar, Xeloda, Erubitux, or Avastin. They didn't have Sir-spheres, and I don't think they had the Gamma Knife either. My doctor at MD Anderson is working on these radioactive nano-tubes that will be injected into a patient, hook up with liver tumors, and then are activated somehow wherein they zap the cancer cells, but don't harm surrounding cells. They then, I believe will be peed out. This has already been tested to work in animals. So, there are all kinds of nano-tech things that are going to come to be here shortly, little microscopic robots that carry chemo directly to cancer cells, etc.
So, you just have to hang in there, because the "rest of your life" is really a lifetime when it comes to medical progress.
Best wishes,
Susan H.

Hi -

I was told to expect chemo forever and that with good luck we could manage my Stage IV disease as a chronic disease. That was in early December 2005 after my 6th treatment with Xeloda / oxaliplatin / Avastin (diagnosed May 2005). (I had previously had scans after 2 cycles of chemo that showed almost complete resolution of liver metastatic disease, so we thought I was doing as well as possible.) Our plan was to take a 2-month chemo break to allow some recovery and resume. My mid December PET and CT scans were clean. I have had 10 PET and CT scans since then (plus a couple of MRI's) and all is still clean! So, I am still on that break.

I'll grant I have a personal perspective here, but I think being told this might be a manageable chronic disease is actually pretty good news.

Take care,
Betsy

chemo as a stabilizer

i was told the other day that i will be on chemo forever.  I freaked out.  i was hoping to go into remission.  I have a two spots and they

have both shrunk and are partially neucrotic.  That means partically dead.   So i was hoping to not be on much longer.  That is when the

doctor told me i would be on chemo for a long time.  if you have to do it every week,  i wonder if is any easier dosage wise,  cause the chemo

just wipes me out.  If i could take a pill or do a lighter dosage where i could still live,  i think i could handle this.  But i have troube driving,  i have

to have a care taker.  if i am going to live with this ,  i am going to have to get back to being a little like myself.  Anybody ever get back to sort of

normal living on chemo?

tonya12 said:

chemo as a stabilizer

i was told the other day that i will be on chemo forever.  I freaked out.  i was hoping to go into remission.  I have a two spots and they

have both shrunk and are partially neucrotic.  That means partically dead.   So i was hoping to not be on much longer.  That is when the

doctor told me i would be on chemo for a long time.  if you have to do it every week,  i wonder if is any easier dosage wise,  cause the chemo

just wipes me out.  If i could take a pill or do a lighter dosage where i could still live,  i think i could handle this.  But i have troube driving,  i have

to have a care taker.  if i am going to live with this ,  i am going to have to get back to being a little like myself.  Anybody ever get back to sort of

normal living on chemo?

Welcome to the Boards

Sorry you are here Tonya, but it is a good place for help and support.  This thread is very old, last posts from 10 years ago.  You can start a new thread and introduce yourself at the link below if you like. (Sometimes older threads that get bumped do not see as many responses.)  As to chemo, I am going back on it Monday and it looks like it is for the rest of my life also.  Thought I was done with it, but nope. Sigh.  I made it through the first time every other week fairly well.  The week on chemo so-so, the week off chemo a mini vacation   Try to plan for the good weeks to enjoy them as much as possible.  Also discuss the chemo with your doctor.  Perhaps a different mix, certain steroids in the mix, etc may help with the issues.

https://csn.cancer.org/forum/128