Mom with CC

I have a few more questions for anyone out there who may have had similar experiences. We posted about 8 weeks ago.

But first a summary: Mom diagnosed with Stage IV CC approximately 10 weeks ago, she is 71 years old. She has now undergone 8 weeks of chemo (avastin, gemzar and 5-fu — as we understand). The only complication she had was between week 5 and 6 they did not do a treatment due to a urinary tract infection. This was cleaned up within a week with antibiotics and she finished the 8 week protocol. Other than the infection she has responded remarkably well physically. After the first 5 tratments she did feel some symptoms of upset stomach and tiredness but for the last 3 treatments mom was actually feeling rather strong and experienced few symptoms. She felt strong enough to get up to do more household chores etc.

To my questions: Now that she has completed the first “round” of chemo she is waiting for a scan to see what effect the drugs have had. One of my first concerns is that from the last treatment to scan will be 17 days. Doesn’t this seem like a long time frame with such an aggressive cancer as CC? Also, now that the chemo has stopped she is beginning to complain of being tired and having less energy – and she has trouble sleeping at night so she naps during the day. It seems to me she is getting more shaky in her ability to balance, she has to be assisted to move around. She does eat some (dad would say she is eating well) but from the beginning of chemo to now she has lost around 20 pounds. Can anyone tell me for my information, she and dad don’t want to know this themselves, what to expect from this point on? Do some of these symptoms indicate the CC is now at end stage? Could the liver be showing indications of failure? Or does this seem normal for these chemo agents and CC – a period of seeming successes followed by period of seeming setback? What other things/symptoms should we look for to try to pass along to the oncologist so she can stay on top of this?