cocktail change ups

fighting for mom
fighting for mom Member Posts: 96
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Well- Mom has made it through her small bowel obstruction and things are now 'moving'. She met with her surgeon last Friday- Mom has had such a rough go with the chemo and 2 of the oncs said she didn't have to finish. Her surgeon said 'you need to finish'.

The surgeon said that the tumor that was removed had some cells that were concerning- whatever that means. I am pretty sure she is worried that if chemo is stopped the chances for recurrance or mets may be greater.

So at oncology clinic today they got rid of:

5FU push
Oxyplatin
Decadron decreased from 40 to 20
No more shots for low WBCs- neulasta I think
No bag of 5FU just the pump for 2 days and keeping the leuvocorin

Quite the change from what she had originally started with. All the trouble she has had with her potassium and they didn't even check it! I told her to have them check it on Thursday when the pump is taken off to be sure all levels are ok.

I feel that you just have to tell them what you want done- or sometimes they don't do it. I really hope that this med change allows Mom to keep fighting the good fight to keep the odds in her favor. SO---This was #6/12- it is a countdown from here on out. She will be finished with chemo July 9th.

We went up there for Easter and my Dad reminded me that many years ago my Mom's Dad- my grandpa- was diagnosed with lung cancer with mets to brain at Thanksgiving and he passed away around Easter. This has been on my Mom and Dad's mind a lot- as Mom was diagnosed right before Thanksgiving as well. It is a lot to process and it has been a hard battle for her. I just keep trying to encourage her to get through the last 6 and be done with it.

I pray she does well and the worst is behind her--no pun intended.

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter!

Susan

Comments

  • kimby
    kimby Member Posts: 797
    #2
    Confused
    Ok, so they changed your mom's chemo cocktail to only be leukivorin? They dropped the 5fu and the oxy? I'm confused because leukivorin is not chemo, it just facilitates the 5fu. What chemo are they putting her on? Did I misunderstand?

    Kimby
  • fighting for mom
    fighting for mom Member Posts: 96
    #3
    kimby said:

    Confused
    Ok, so they changed your mom's chemo cocktail to only be leukivorin? They dropped the 5fu and the oxy? I'm confused because leukivorin is not chemo, it just facilitates the 5fu. What chemo are they putting her on? Did I misunderstand?

    Kimby

    5FU
    Sorry about that- they took away her 5FU push but the 5FU 48 hour bag/pack remained. They are hoping that the leukovorin will keep the 5FU in her system long enough on its own without the oxy.

    It is all so confusing exactly what they are doing. She seems to be doing much better- she was able to drive to/from work and be at work for 6 hours. She is so much better. Her neuropathy side effects are going away/better too. My guess is that the oxy was the culprit of that.

    I just wonder if the leukovorin will do the job or if the combo with oxy would have been better to stay on? At this point she just couldn't handle all of it- it was so hard to see her in such bad shape. Quality of life is important too- I must give her onc that- they take that into consideration.

    Thanks,
    Susan
  • kimby
    kimby Member Posts: 797
    #4
    fighting for mom said:

    5FU
    Sorry about that- they took away her 5FU push but the 5FU 48 hour bag/pack remained. They are hoping that the leukovorin will keep the 5FU in her system long enough on its own without the oxy.

    It is all so confusing exactly what they are doing. She seems to be doing much better- she was able to drive to/from work and be at work for 6 hours. She is so much better. Her neuropathy side effects are going away/better too. My guess is that the oxy was the culprit of that.

    I just wonder if the leukovorin will do the job or if the combo with oxy would have been better to stay on? At this point she just couldn't handle all of it- it was so hard to see her in such bad shape. Quality of life is important too- I must give her onc that- they take that into consideration.

    Thanks,
    Susan

    chemo change
    Susan,

    Yes, oxy is nasty stuff. It is most likely that her problems were from that. I ended up with a reduced dosage and still completed only 10 of scheduled 12 dosages. It may be that they give her the 5fu/leuk and leave it at that or that they add the oxy back in on a reduced dosage. It is my understanding that either approach would be advisible depending on what your mother wants and her toxicity rating. There is a magic number of adjunct treatments. No one knows if 12 is right or 6 is right. (maybe a number in between?)

    Don't be afraid to ask questions of the doctors, but it sounds like your mother is getting good care. And you are so very right, quality of life is very, very important.

    Kimby
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #5
    Potassium
    Keep on them about the potassium, okay?

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • fighting for mom
    fighting for mom Member Posts: 96
    #6
    tootsie1 said:

    Potassium
    Keep on them about the potassium, okay?

    *hugs*
    Gail

    thanks
    I couldn't believe with all her trouble with potassium and they didn't even check it on Tuesday. What were they thinking? And let's face it- her chemo brain just doesn't allow her to remember. And I wasn't there to help her remember.

    I told her again last night to have them check her level today when she goes in to get the pack off.

    Sometimes it seems the oncs are looking at the whole picture and then it also seems they missing some of the biggest things.

    Thanks for the encouragement!

    Susan

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