Starting Folfiri Monday

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dmj101
dmj101 Member Posts: 527 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Ok.. new oncologist.. suggests starting on Folfiri and is running a battery of tests on my blood and pulling all my tests and pathologies to look for genetics and resistences..

I did the 6 weeks prior to surgery of 5FU and Radiation and after surger I did about 6 months of FolFox and still the metatasis are alive.. so she told me exactly what I had been thinking about the Xeloda my original oncologist was giving me.. hadn't I take almost 8 months of 5fu already and this rectal cancer was still alive in my lungs. So Monday we are starting Folfiri.. 5fu, lucavorin, and Irinotecan.

Can anyone give a suggestion or ideas about what to expect on this protocol..
I did the folfox everyweek on my own .. no one took me to the treatments,, today I spoke to the nurse about this treatment and seemed concerned I was going to be along on my own.. will I be able to do this alone.. I really hope so as I have no one to take me..

Wish me luck..

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  • idlehunters
    idlehunters Member Posts: 1,787 Member
    #2
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    Howdy.....
    I did Folfiri alone for a few years. Always took myself to chemo as there was no need for anyone to go with me. If I did take someone with me it was just for company. The biggest side effect for me was diarrhea. I lost all my hair too. However, Imodium and a good wig took care of both of those! I have never done Folfox so I can't compare but Folfiri was not a drug that I required assistance on. Good luck to you

    Jennie
  • JayhawkDan
    JayhawkDan Member Posts: 205
    #3
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    idlehunters said:

    Howdy.....
    I did Folfiri alone for a few years. Always took myself to chemo as there was no need for anyone to go with me. If I did take someone with me it was just for company. The biggest side effect for me was diarrhea. I lost all my hair too. However, Imodium and a good wig took care of both of those! I have never done Folfox so I can't compare but Folfiri was not a drug that I required assistance on. Good luck to you

    Jennie

    Same here...
    I've been through 6 folfiri treatments and I have no problem getting around. Yesterday was day 3 and I scheduled too much and over did it somewhat, so just crashed when I got home. If I take it easy days 2-4 it's a lot easier for me to cope. If I overdo it, I pay for it. I have nausea for which I take Zofran as needed. On day 3 of the first 2 treatments I vomited some. But I've found that keeping something on my stomach has taken care of this. As soon as I get up in the morning, I have a couple of pieces of toast, and whenever I get that "empty" feeling I try and eat something. And I drink a lot of water, gatorade, and Snapple diet peach ice tea. I'm a 57 year old man, with a full head of hair, and it has thinned quite a bit but most people don't even notice. One of my balding brothers is really pissed about that...lol. I can't compare it to Folfox because I haven't been there. I already had a bit of a neuropathy problem so they put me on -firi instead. And my CEA numbers have been good so it seems to be working. As a realtor I make a lousy oncologist, but I'm trying to learn as much as I can and I've found this board to be a great place to do that. Hugs, Dan
  • taraHK
    taraHK Member Posts: 1,952 Member
    #4
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    similar
    My experience was similar to Jenny (IdleHunter).

    I did have significant hair loss. And diarrhea can be a significant side effect with Irinotecan. Like Jenny, I was able to control with just a few Immodium. Some people have more severe diarrhea.

    If you were able to drive yourself to and from FOLFOX I can't imagine you'd have any problems on this regime (the diarrhea didn't hit me till several days later).

    Good luck!!

    Tara

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