Colon Cancer Support Group

High Splash, sorry to hear that, but gosh glad your hearts okay. They might re-evaluate your chemo regime. Let us know what happens. ;}

Is good to hear your ticker is still ticking and as CM says maybe they will re-evaluate the chemo regime. Did your oncologist do this or just the docs at the hospital??

If just the doc might be good idea to talk to your oncologist.

All the best

G8

Went on Xeloda a week ago and I went to my cardioligist for a 24 test for crazy racing heart and stuff. I m glad you re ok..
I know my Onc said he had a patient with a heart reaction to 5FU which is what Xeloda is replacing in the pill form and they somehow adjusted his amount and he was able to finish.

All of this is stressful, so try to relax, all these drugs react differently and all of them are hard on our bodies. It does take some adjusting to figure out the amount we can tolerate.

I started with 3 drugs.. and by 4 months, I m down to 1.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Big hug..
mpnc

Hi gr8ful, it was the oncologist took me off them. I see him again in 2 weeks. My body hated the xeloda. As soon as it touched my stomach up it would come again. As soon as my eyes saw the pills coming out of the packet I'd start to heave, even though I was up to speed with anti nausea meds. In the end I had to trick my stomach by eating slowly and popping in a pill now and then like it was part of the meal.
Wasn't looking forward to that for 6 months, but he may put me back on at a lesser dose, we'll see.

Some people do better on the 5Fu IV ... I may ask to finish up on the 5 Fu IV for my last doses... The Xeloda is making my feet hurt miserably, I love my hikes and walks... There are other options to discuss with your Onc.. I sent mine a link to a study on people on Xeloda vs 5Fu and how they did switching the two treatments.
I can send you the link if you wish.

MPNC

Thank you, I would like to read that.

http://fightcolorectalcancer.org/r...

Here is the article on switching drugs from 5fu to Xeloda or visa versa... My doctor found it interesting but switched me to Xeloda from 5FU anyway ?

What an interesting article. It is good to be educated about what is going into our bodies. How are you doing on the xeloda so far?

Xeloda has been horrible for me... I have hand and foot syndrome. It came as quite the surprise. I keep nudging my doctor to reconsider the 5 FU IV.. in the end it is my choice... but he insists this is the better route?

I have heard theory that using multiple drugs, hits the cancer from all angles, but the Avastin study with FOL/FOX was an abject failure. I think it was the Avastin study, I have to check. The trial is being continued in the US but the results from abroad showed negative results. NCI is conducting the study.

I got onto the NCI web site early on because I was in a trial at the beginning. Being Stage Three with my tumor's KRAS testing Wild Type, my doc was really excited to get me into the Erbitux trial. I had a horrible reaction to that... and I would have kicked myself if I didn t try it. But, I am still suffering from the rash 4 months later.

So... lots to learn. I am my own advocate and I challenge my doctor on every turn, which he doesn t seem to mind. But, at the end of the day, he has been living and breathing this stuff for 15 years... he doesn t want to bury his patients... he really wants to save us. So, I have chosen to trust his choices.

He is an assist prof at UCSF med.. as well as having his own practice at CAL PAC in SF and I bounce my results off a doc at Stanford. So, I get the best input I can ...

They have both been sweet and patient with a pretty high maintenance inquisitive patient.
So, with all of that... I don t know why he is pushing the Xeloda? I know he chose 5 FU when I was taking the Oxiliplatin because, that regime allowed for a smaller dose but every 2 weeks of the Oxy instead of a bigger bolus dose every 3 weeks. He was able to control the Oxy side fx that way.

Sorry to be so wordy... I hope this helped a little bit.

You go, girl. We need to be as high maintenence and inquisitive as we want to be. Even though we trust and respect our oncologists, at the end of the day it is our decision, our body, our life.