Postponing chemo….would it be a problem ?
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Dear Jemima,
I noticed that your original post was on June of 2010. I have had some of the same questions. Would it hurt to wait a while? I’d be interested in knowing if you did wait. If so, were there any serious repercussions?
Best wishes for you and your Mom.Ritchie
Hi Kate
I would rather she start as soon as possible as well, especially as it has taken so long to get to this point. However, as she has not had chemotherapy before we have no idea what side effects she will have and how tired she will feel. If she started next week then she would essentially do one cycle and then have to stop for a week or two. I presume that chemo does better if you carry on rather than stop or start but maybe I am wrong.
We’ll see what the oncologist says when he comes back from holiday next week !Thanks
Jemima
Jemima,
Have you thought about asking if she can start the chemo and then have a break for the trip to france? I don’t think they particularly have a problem with these kinds of request. If it was my dad I’d prefer him to start as soon as possible – if it works well you might wonder if it could have worked even better?
I think it sounds so important that you go to France, it will work wonders for your mum’s spirit.
KateThank you Lainy for your message. Yes, it has to be Mum’s decision, as in your case it has been Teddy’s to make. She is just at the beginning of what you have been through these past 5 years. I hope that you have an amazing summer seeing all your friends and family and enjoying the time together.
If we do go to France then the week that we spend will be so special, whether the chemo works or not it will provide her with emotional support which is invaluable.
All my thoughts and best wishes go to you and TeddyHi again,
No they haven’t mentioned surgery. From what I can gather even though it is a small tumour there are too many risks with regard to arteries/veins. Dad also had a big operation 9 years ago and had most of his colon removed so not sure if that effects the decision too.
Our oncologist is hoping the Chemo will keep it the same size but a shrinkage would be a huge bonus!
I have been in touch with a Dr Gaya at the London Oncology Centre regarding Cyberknife and he has agreed to look at Dads scans once he has had Chemo. This is something I will be keeping in mind, Dad wants to go one step at a time and have the Chemo and results from that first. As you know Cyberknife will be expensive but you never know the local PCT may fund it if pushed as I have read that they are recieving NHS referrals at one of the Cyberknife centres in London.
I’m glad they are both feeling well but I know what you mean about making it seem unreal. I dread the day that he starts being in pain or loses his appetite.
I will update you with how my Dads chemo goes and let me know what Professor Lodge says, I have heard very good things about him.
Keep positive.
Big hugs back to you and yours.
Hi, Jemima. Your Mom is the same age as Teddy and he just made his decision yesterday. It is the hardest decision he has ever made in his life. He has opted for NO Chemo. Once the decision was made we just felt renewed and at ease. He wants that trip to Milwaukee so bad and he weighed all the things he has been told and went over and over it and made the final decision. I think what turned him was it would only buy him 1 – 3 months extra and he feels very strongly that is not worth the possibility of having life versus a no quality life. I can fully understand now the depth of this decision that many of our members go through. It is a very personal decision and I kept telling our family that, so all would let it be his decision.
Bottom line? What does Mom want to do? Have you asked the ONC about a delay? So much good luck and best wishes to you and your Mom.Hi Andie
I know what you mean about not knowing that he is ill. Mum is the same in that she looks well, feels well, no pain or anything, but just gets tired a bit more easily than before. She was/is such an active person despite being 77. She has more of a social life than I do !
It is great that they feel this way but it makes it seem all the more unreal that they have something which is inoperable and devastating. Have the doctors said anything about using the chemo to shrink the tumour to make surgery a possibility ? I did mention it to our oncologist but I guess they don’t want to make any promises and it does not always happen.
I guess we just have to keep hoping and praying for the best outcome. In the meantime having a week or so surrounded by family back in her home country will be such a positive event.
We are getting a second opinion from Prof Davidson at the Royal Free in London regarding surgery, and are also looking into Cyberknife although no-one seems very positive about it, because it is quite new in the UK I suppose, and only available privately.
I hope your Dad’s chemo goes well and that he doesn’t get too many side effects. I will be very interested in how it goes for him, although I know that everyone is different.
Please keep us posted.
Best wishes and hugs to you and your Dad
Jemima
Hi Jemima,
If this was my Dad I would want him to go on holiday, enjoy being with family and have a good time. Like you say it was already planned and it would give your Mom something to look forward to before she starts treatment.
My Dad is due to start his first cycle of Gem/Cis on Friday. Like your Mom he started having symptons in February and was diagnosed April 10th. He was badly jaundiced and luckily his stent has worked. We have had to wait for his bilirubin level to come down before he started his treatment. My Dads is inoperable but we are hoping this treatment will work.
If you don’t mind me asking, how is your Mom? My Dad still has a good appetite, his jaundice has gone and apart from being a little tired now and again (mainly due to doing too much in and around the house) you wouldn’t know he was ill.
Best wishes and enjoy your holiday.
Hello
Just a quick question (if there is such a thing ?). Mum has finally seen the oncologist and he has suggested 4 cycles of gem/cis on a 2 weeks on 1 week off basis.
He was talking about starting it in a couple of weeks. However, Mum and I had planned (before she was diagnosed) on going on holiday to France at the end of July to see family.
Do you think it would be a problem to delay the start of chemo for what would essentially be a month ? I feel that the benefit she would get from seeing all her relations, plus my brother and his son as well, would be such a boost that it would outweigh the delayed start.
The oncologist is away for a week so we can’t ask him for a while and it would be good to make the decision so that Mum has something to look forward to.
Any thoughts anyone ?
Thanks
Jemima
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