New treatment plan
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Rick,
As I posted earlier today at the site of Gem/Cis, I am now taking this combination, with very little side-effects, so far. My doctor is giving me this instead of Gem/Oxali because he says there are fewer side-effects. So hopefully, you will find this to be true, too.
Theresa
Rick,
Congratulations on the good news of your post. I have had Gemzar / Cisplatin combo. and did pretty good on it. I can’t say that either one of them were more difficult than the other because they were at the same time. I absolutely didn’t like Oxaliplatin due to the cold sensitivities. Here’s hoping that the Gem/Cis DOES help with the new growth and the ascites problem.
Also, I wish a wonderful vacation for you and your lovely wife. Bring back many, many memories and photos! A vacation sounds wonderful right now. I will be heading for Mayo Clinic in the next couple of weeks too, so I hope that they will be able to help me out like they have you.
Prayers for a safe, memorable journey to Atlantis and back!
Linda
Hi Rick,
My heart goes out to you man. I’ll be praying that the Living God will take away the current symptoms and fulfill your desire for a special time with your wife. God bless you and your family…bob
Rick, so very sorry about the trip. Hope its a better day today. Stay strong and I am so sure your wife understands, if you feel bad then I think shefeels just as bad knowing how much you wanted this to be a good trip. Hoping for a good day and safe travels.
Just a quick update here as we are ready to head out. Things aren’t going very well. Ascites is getting worse. I’m not able to enjoy the trip as much as I’d like. And my wife is getting frustrated with me as the ascites is both bothering me and causing some amonia buildup which in turn is causing a little bit of confusion.
I wasn’t sure when I booked this trip if it would be one of our last big trips together as husband and wife so I was praying very hard that it would be a good one. So far, it hasn’t been super great. Only a day left – I hope it gets better fast!
Rick
Hi Rick,
I was diagnosed in April 2010 and was having a lot of pain due to the ascites and enlarged liver. I started on Gemzar/Cisplatin and after 2-3 weeks I definitely felt an improvement and decrease in my bloated abdomen. After 6 weeks I had lost most of the ascites and fit back into my clothing. So for me the regimen was working well and I feel a lot better.
I just booked a cruise with my family for April next year to go to the Bahamas including Atlantis. I do hope you are able to enjoy the trip as it looks beautiful — for me, sometimes changing my location even for a long weekend helps with my rollercoaster of emotions. Also, having a break from the constant visists to the doctor’s office and blood draws helps too.
I wish you all the best and hope you enjoy Atlantis!!
Jane
Rick, I don’t have experience with Chemo or Asecites but I do have experience with attitude! One can rant and rave and still have good attitude and I think you have shown that. I am sure that the minute you board that plane you will leave all the uninvited stuff at home. In our little house here when we are all alone the word of hte day is now Honeymoon. Pretend you are going on your Honeymoon. Only think positive thoughts and when you leave to come back home lett the Atlantis know that you will be back again. Wish I was going with you both but guess you don’t need a Chaperone!
I have had some time to reflect more upon the news from this latest trip to Mayo. Overall, I have to say that I’m a little bit upset yet. I can’t seem to shake the bad news of advancing cancer in the peritoneum and the slight buildup of ascites. Although I did have some ascites at my original diagnosis a year ago, it quickly went away with chemo. Now I am back at the same point and it really frightens me that it has returned. Normally ascites is a poor prognostic sign and often indicates that the end is nearing. I can’t seem to shake that, even though I know that the upcoming Gem/Cis chemo treatment might help bring it back under control. I hope. I pray. I plead!
So, I guess this is a rant of a post. I can only wait and see what happens after chemo starts back up but it sure would be nice to have some more evidence now. I leave for our much anticipated vacation to Atlantis on Thursday and I want desperately to enjoy my time there with my wife so I really need to kick this depressed mood to the curb. I lost a few good days to it already I’ll be damned if I let it tarnish a vacation of a lifetime. My wife deserves so much more than that.
I wish I could learn better from so many of you here who have battled adversity and still have been able to enjoy yourselves and your special times. Maybe my funk is going to be short lived and I just haven’t had enough time to process it all, who knows. Blah!
Thanks for letting me rant on. If any of you have positive experiences with ascites resolving itself or with chemo, please forward that to me. I could use some positive stories!
Rick
I’m glad to hear the good news on the Therasphere treatments and not so glad to hear your other news. I was on Cisplatin for a while and did not like it. Gemzar is not so bad.
Have a great vacation with your wife!
God bless,
LisaRick….your Therasphere treatment appears to have worked. I am thrilled to hear it and I am looking forward to the scans to confirm the good news. You must be so excited about your upcoming trip. Have fun and know that you will be missed on this board.
Best wishes,
MarionRick,
I’m presently taking Gemzar/Cisplatin and have a post of my experiences with it plus helpful input from others.
My chemo experience Gezmar/Cisplatin by kathyb (I know Gezmar is the wrong spelling, but you can’t edit the titles.)
Kathy
Hi Rick, gee, talk about a good news bad news day but sounds like you are on track and your attitude is still good and that is the best RX.
Special plans for your vacation? Have a glorious week and we are keeping everything crossed for luck on the new chemo cocktail. Of course our prayers and hugs will help as well.Now I have some more hard evidence of how the treatment has worked for me. The primary tumor in the liver is showing signs of necrosis. It has stayed about the same size, but it is less defined on imaging and not as dense. All of this adds up to a successful theraspheres treatment. Apparently, it will take several more months for all of the results of treatment to be visible but as of now it looks like it is inducing tumor death. I am hoping that it will kill of the whole thing or at least most of it and we should know that after my next scan in 3 months.
Now on to the other news of my appointments at Mayo this week. I had a stent change and that went well. My billirubin was creeping up a little bit because the stents were getting blocked and it should now resolve itself. The not so good news is that the Oncologist that I met with here believes that the cancer in the peritoneum is growing/spreading. Not a lot, but it is gaining steam. There was some evidence of this on the CT scan and some of it he is using other evidence to draw the conclusion. I was not thrilled to hear this.
My chemo regiment of Xeloda is going to get changed out. It was causing too much diarrhea, dehydration, etc. and combine that with the fact that the peritoneal cancer might be advancing and it is time for a treatment change. They are recommending Gemzar/Cisplatin. I was on Gemzar/Oxaliplatin last year and developped a reaction to the Oxali so I had to discontinue it, but it was working. I’ve heard that the Cisplatin is quite a harsh drug (more harsh than Oxali) so I am not looking forward to this new regiment. I am hopeful that it will be effective as it is for so many others but I am really dreading getting started with it. Right now I’m able to work a bit and feel a little bit productive and I’m concerned that starting this therapy is going to rob that from me. But nonetheless I will be getting started with it after I return from the vacation my wife and I are taking next week. If any of you have any experiences you wish to share about Gem/Cis, please feel free!!
The last piece of news from my visit to Mayo is that I also have a little bit of ascites buildup next to my liver/gallbladder. It isn’t a significant amount, but it is there. I’m really concerned about this because it backs up the theory of peritoneal cancer growth and I really don’t want to deal with it. So I hope that it will resolve on its’ own – or at least it will resolve with chemo or diuretics.
Rick
Thanks for the update. I do remember you in my prayers every day. I’ll pray for positive results on your scan. With all you have been through you deserve some good news!
Day 42:
Feel relatively normal now. Actually, I think I feel a little bit better in the RUQ area where that primary tumor is located. I made appointments for my followup afte the TS treatment. They are September 29 and 30 – so just 19 days from now I should know a lot more about the effectiveness of the treatment. My gut instinct is that the TS treatment was very effective with the primary tumor. I think that I’ll probably not need to have another treatment to keep that under control. However, I am slightly concerned about the metastases to the peritoneum. I’ve had some issues recently with nausea and dehydration – but those could be related to a number of things including the chemotherapy that I am still taking!
I did wind up in the ER again last weekend to get rehydrated and for pain contol. I still find that I have a lot of pain in my belly area which is probably from the peritoneal cancer and also some in the Lower RUQ probably from my distended and diseased gallbladder.
I am taking a new medication called Sandostatin which is an injection that I give to myself twice a day. it is supposed to help with the crazy diarrhea tha I have been having. I hope it works.
I guess that is about it for the update. I’m anxious to give you the full scoop after my Mayo appointment and scans. Please keep yoru fingers crossed and keep praying for great results!
Rick
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