Almost Finished

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Sandi1
Sandi1 Member Posts: 277
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Well, my husband is almost finished with his aggressive chemo treatments, 1 left. He will get a month off and then do all the tests and then will go back on maintenance chemo. We have already been told by the oncologist that he will be on chemo for the rest of his life - a small price to pay to be here with his family. Anyway, she (the oncologist) has given him the choice of either coming to see her every other week for 24 hours of infusion through his port (which is what he does now) with Avastin, or he can go on the chemo pill Xeloda for 14 days and a week off and back on the pill. She told him that the pill makes the side effects worse. So he is trying to decide which to do, has anyone had bad side effects with Xeloda? and what kind of side effects were they?

Any help would be grateful.

thank you
Sandi

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  • pcs1453
    pcs1453 Member Posts: 75
    #2
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    Hi Sandi,
    I'm glad to hear
    Hi Sandi,

    I'm glad to hear your husband is doing well. Chemo for the rest of your life is kind of hard to hear but you do what you have to do, as you said, to stay with the family. My best wishes to him. My treatment for stage 3 has been, day one oxaliplatin infusion through my port and day one through 14 1500 mg (3 pills) of xeloda twice a day, a week off then start over. I tell you, the xeloda hasn't been too bad for me. My stomach feels a little off most of the time but each time I take the xeloda I also take a anti nausea pill (zofran). I also have compazine for nausea but have only taken a couple. I have never thrown up. The xeloda can cause diarrhea but the zofran can cause constipation, so, I tend more to the constipation. A stool softner at night helps with that. I haven't had any mouth sores or the hand/foot syndrome that can occure with xeloda. I do have a some red spots on my arms and the back of my hands but it doesn't bother me other then looking bad. I know everyone reacts differently and there are some folks on this site who have not done well with xeloda but I hope I have been of some help to you and your husband. Take Care! Paula
  • johnnybegood
    johnnybegood Member Posts: 1,117 Member
    #3
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    pcs1453 said:

    Hi Sandi,
    I'm glad to hear
    Hi Sandi,

    I'm glad to hear your husband is doing well. Chemo for the rest of your life is kind of hard to hear but you do what you have to do, as you said, to stay with the family. My best wishes to him. My treatment for stage 3 has been, day one oxaliplatin infusion through my port and day one through 14 1500 mg (3 pills) of xeloda twice a day, a week off then start over. I tell you, the xeloda hasn't been too bad for me. My stomach feels a little off most of the time but each time I take the xeloda I also take a anti nausea pill (zofran). I also have compazine for nausea but have only taken a couple. I have never thrown up. The xeloda can cause diarrhea but the zofran can cause constipation, so, I tend more to the constipation. A stool softner at night helps with that. I haven't had any mouth sores or the hand/foot syndrome that can occure with xeloda. I do have a some red spots on my arms and the back of my hands but it doesn't bother me other then looking bad. I know everyone reacts differently and there are some folks on this site who have not done well with xeloda but I hope I have been of some help to you and your husband. Take Care! Paula

    xeloda
    hey sandi im glad your husband is doing so well.sorry to hear he has to do this the rest of his life i just cant imagine.i did xeloda when i was first dx with stage3 with a tumor in my rectum. along with radiation i took xeloda m-f for 5 weeks.i had a hard time going into my 4th week.dont know if that was due to taking them both.only side effect i had with xeloda was the skin om my feet peeled real bad.i put a good cream on them then a pair of socks.so,good luck i am to start my 12 treatments on tuesday with oxy and 5fu and am very scared.if he made it thru that he will do fine on xeloda but thats my opinion.God bless.....johnnybegood
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #4
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    What to Do
    Well I just came off of six weeks of Xeloda pill form and each was 500 mg so I took 2,000 mg a day. I had no side affects whatsoever. No mouth sores, no hand or foot syndrome. The only thing I had was like little welts or rash spots on my arms and legs (the arm welts itched so bad but the leg rash didn't bother me at all). I started using cortizone cream for them and they are clearing up. I hope that he does fine in whatever form of chemo he takes. This can be so frustrating to determine what is best.

    Good luck!
    Kim

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