Search Results for '5fu'

Sonja, I don’t recognize the name Herceptin, but I don’t know all the drugs she has tried. I know that she has taken Sorafenib, 5FU, Gemzar and several others. You can check them out on her blog. She’s pretty much been on some type of chemo since she was diagnosed. Her problem is that she has allergic reactions to almost all of them. Chemo may have prolonged her life, but the quality has certainly suffered.

Sara, in response to your comments about Dr. Canady, he is in the Pittsburgh area at Monongohela Valley Hospital. I’d like to think of his approach as visionary, and at this point, my friend is about out of options. We’ll know next week if he is the answer, but she’s tried almost every chemo there is for this type of cancer over the past 20 months and is getting weaker by the day. He may be financially motivated by his invention, but who wouldn’t be proud of something they invented that might save lives? I just hope he’s the answer! There’s also a thread discussing Dr. Canady on cancercompass.com.

Good luck to all who are battling this horrendous cancer. It has been an emotional roller coaster the past 20 months, and this is just a good friend I’m watching suffer with it. May God bless all of you whose loved ones are affected – I hope a cure is right around the corner.

so glad to hear that he had success with this chemo; the “at bay” is what my husband is liviing with also. I don’t know about the option of stopping the chemo and how long the tumor would stay at the smaller size, but I do think that is an option you should ask about. From what I read and glean from talking to others, chemo patients are given breaks and monitored through scans. My hub didn’t have any success with chemo so it is good news that yours had some response, that sounds so encouraging, but it would be nice for both of you if he could take a break. I know that’s not much help but just wanted to let you know I understand about “keeping it at bay” and at this point in time my dh and I are living with that as the norm. It gets tirning and frustrating but my husband doesn’t have nausea and has some days with a bit of energy and still can drive and go on short outings. If he was on chemo I know he would not be able or willing to.

Yes my husband’s tumor was unresectable. They tried but there was too much growth into the right duct to be able to take out the tumor and have clear margins. At this point I think he is better off with the way things are since he is doing so well. Yes Xeloda is an oral form of 5FU. He did not have the davanat. As far as staging we never really asked and they have never said but there was no lymph node involvement or mets to the liver etc. Everything still looks clear. He was treated at OSU, the James Cancer Center in Columbus Ohio. We also went to the Univ. of Pittsburgh after his treatments were over to basically get a second opinion. They took their own cat scan and confirmed that the tumor was indeed gone.They were very surprised because they assumed OSU’s scans simply weren’t showing up as well and they had more confidence in their own. We were happy to have both outstanding hospitals agree and feel that his tumor is dead. They all seem to think it will be back but hopefuuly not.Feel free to ask any questions. I think you should definitely go to Dr. Kennedy if possible. Radiation has not been given much as a treatment for this cancer but I personally think that is a mistake. It did not cause any real side effects. Like our radiologist said, a little scar tissue is better than cancer!!

Is anyone who visits this site enrolled in the Davanat/5FU trial? I know there are only a handful of patients enrolled. We are considering it for my dad and was hoping to get some insight from someone who is on it.

Any info would be appreciated.

Seamus,
My husband was on the pump of 5FU with a combo of radiation after 6 weeks of Gemzar and Oxlyplatin. At the time he was on the pump and even the chemo they were not treating tumors. They were using this for “wipe up” of any stray cancer cells. Everything seemed to work for awhile but unfortunately the cancer returned. Best of luck to your wife.
Joyce

Dear Cambell_Zoe,

My dad is currently on this regimen. His protocol is as follows,

allermin
Erbitux (CETUXIMAB, C225)
decadron
Gemzar

he has three weeks of this (once each week), with the 3rd week having a double dose of ERBITUX, then one weeks rest, before starting again.

Before he was on Oxaliplatin / Leucorvin / 5FU, but that was not working very well. Before starting this regimen, his CA 19-9 marker was at 1450, but after one cycle (3 treatments), CA19-9 dropped to 134. He has had another cycle and we will continue to monitor tumor markers / and MRI later this month.

This regimen has some minor side effects, acne like rash (but apparently the more you have the better response), fever, hiccups, general weakness. Usually for 2 days after chemo, my father has these symptoms and by the 4th day he is back to normal. This protocol was recommended by our oncologist, but also as in the UK, our insurance does not cover any costs. Will update MRI results in due course and best of luck.

Hello, I’m Kate, and my husband Jerald had a Whipple May 7. We have opted for chemoradiation treatment, with continuous 5fu infusion and radiation 5x/week. We haven’t yet met the radiologist–that’s next Thursday. We are wondering how to expect Jerald to feel during his treatment, and whether he needs to avoid crowds while his immune system is compromised. Everything we’ve read says that chemo alone is not helpful, but that radiation is effective in the region of the surgery. We just wanted to take every opportunity to knock out all the seeds if we can. He feels very well right now, and we sure hope he can continue to feel well. ‘Sounds a bit optimistic, doesn’t it?

Today Sandi had her 1st dose of 5FU. Tomorrow she goes in for them to redo her drainage tube. It’s not been draining to the inside for almost 2 weeks now. Last night it even stopped draining to the bag. Her bilirubin has went from 4-6 since last check and her liver enzymes where also high today. White cells were ok. They also changed her chemo cycle she had 5FU today next week it’s Oxaliplatin then 5FU again different each week till 6-14 then she has a scan. She was scheduled for a scan 5-31 but they changed it due to her missing the last two weeks of chemo.We are all praying tomorrow brings a better day.

Jeff the OMEPRAZOLE seemed to help. Thanks!

I am on 5FU at the minute (I actually finish it tomorrow after 30 doses) It did make me quite sick at times, it was strange as some months were better than others. I also got:
Bad taste usually lasts about a week
Sore mouth i.e. gums etc you can get good mouth washes for this
Sore lips they seemed to blister and can be sore but you get a very good paste for this
Skin dried up on hands and fingers, not much of a problem a good hand cream sorts this out although the tips of my fingers sometimes get sore but all in all not a big issue.
You also tend to get an upset tummy and run to the toilet quite a bit this seems to get worse as the months progress but you can get very good tables to sort this out.
My hair thinned but I still have a good head of hair.
Tiredness is a big problem but you have deal with it as best you can again it gets worse as the time progresses, you just do what you can, if I have plans in the evening I tend to rest alot more during the day.

My Minister advised me that I needed to be selfish and to look after myself first, that is hard espically as I have a wife and 3 year old son, but at the end of the day you have to be selfish so to speak and take care of yourself first. 6 months seems along time but it does go in quicker than you might think. I hope this helps and does not put you off I am glad I went through with the treatment.

Andrew

My husband took Xeloda which is the pill form of 5FU. He really didn’t have any side effects. Others here have though. I think it depends on dosage. The larger dose you are given the more intense your side effects will be. Mary