Re: Re: Oxaliplatin & 5FU - Ingrid/Deb

[Guest guest]

Thanks Ingrid and Deb for your input on this issue. I don't throw up but I

am very nauseated and extremely fatigued for the entire week that I have

chemo. I usually have an elevated heart rate (about 140 beats per minute

resting) which may be from the steroids that they give me as part of my

pre-chemo

medication (so I can tolerate the Oxaliplatin). I can't eat although I feel

hungry - nothing satisfies the sick feeling in my stomach. Water tastes like

poison. I am just very weak and I look awful!

Hi , when you say your sick from it do you mean vomitting /nausea

sick , or just allllllllll over sick?

When Joe had his treatment ( same as yours ) he got treatments Monday and

was S.I.C.K. til Friday at least. This went on for 5 months with them trying an

assortment of anti nausea meds until FINALLY they gave him Emend, morning

before treatment he would take a adavant, compazine and Emend , that was

before he even left for the chemo place, there he got anti nausea meds / plus a

booster shot of one , then his chemo , he was still sick til friday but minimum

vomitting on that

Deb

brencolinmom@... wrote:

Ingrid:

I was getting the 5FU bolus shot and then the 48 hour pump. However, they

have reduced my chemo 2 times: first they reduced it by 20% after I was in

the emergency room; then they took out the 5FU bolus shot because I was

still

too sick. That was done for the first time last week. I just finished

chemo

round 4 of 12 and I am so sick from it I can't get out of bed for at least

5

days. Then I am still sick until around day 7 or 8. Is this unusual??

Just a thought. But when I did chemo they usually gave a shot of 5-fu

before they started the pump. Did you get the bolos shot before they

forgot to start the pump? Ingrid

> Hi everyone:

>

> Last week was chemo week for me. It is supposed to be a 5 hour

> infusion at the oncologist's office beginning with pre-meds, then

> Avastin, followed by Oxaliplatin/Leucovorin. After that, I am

hooked

> up to the 48 hour pump with 5FU which I wear at home for the next 2

> days. Last Tuesday, they forgot to turn on my 48 hour pump when I

> left the office so I wore it thinking it was working for about 28

> hours. At that time, I saw something flashing in the upper right

> side of the pump and called the pump manufacturer only to find it

had

> not been turned on. I turned it on then and had to stay with the

> pump until 6 p.m. on Friday night.

>

> My question is this: I understood that Oxaliplatin/Leucovorin

needs

> to work together with 5FU to fight this cancer. That is, if used

> separately, Oxaliplatin doesn't work. If I went 28 hours between

the

> infusion of Oxaliplatin and the 5FU, what is the effect? Has this

> happened to anyone? Has anyone done any research on this?

>

> Thanks as always for your help.

>

> in California

[Guest guest]

Ingrid:

I couldn't help but laugh when you said your neighbor brought you a cake and

you couldn't tell whether it was lemon or banana. I can relate to that.

Nothing tastes good to me. I love ice cream but I can't handle the coldness

and, even when it is tolerable, it just isn't the same. I eat it anyway and it

helps keep my weight on (I drop 4 pounds every chemo week). Thanks for the

laugh.

In a message dated 9/28/2005 9:30:17 PM Pacific Standard Time,

lowenco@... writes:

It does sound like you need to talk to you onc about getting a

different anti-nausia medication. And you need to force yourself to

drink a lot of fluids.

I found that gatorade helped me alot. They have a lot of good

flavors out. The stronger flavors helped me since the 5-FU ruined my

taste buds. Nothing tasted good to me. Stronger flavors were better

since at least I could taste them. Gatorade Extreme Flavors were what

I liked.

My taste was so bad that when my neighbor brought over a cake I

could not tell you if it was lemon or bannana. I was very upset not

being able to taste things. Hope you get some relief with this. Ingrid

> > Hi everyone:

> >

> > Last week was chemo week for me. It is supposed to be a 5 hour

> > infusion at the oncologist's office beginning with pre-meds,

then

> > Avastin, followed by Oxaliplatin/Leucovorin. After that, I am

> hooked

> > up to the 48 hour pump with 5FU which I wear at home for the

next 2

> > days. Last Tuesday, they forgot to turn on my 48 hour pump

when I

> > left the office so I wore it thinking it was working for about

28

> > hours. At that time, I saw something flashing in the upper

right

> > side of the pump and called the pump manufacturer only to find

it

> had

> > not been turned on. I turned it on then and had to stay with

the

> > pump until 6 p.m. on Friday night.

> >

> > My question is this: I understood that Oxaliplatin/Leucovorin

> needs

> > to work together with 5FU to fight this cancer. That is, if

used

> > separately, Oxaliplatin doesn't work. If I went 28 hours

between

> the

> > infusion of Oxaliplatin and the 5FU, what is the effect? Has

this

> > happened to anyone? Has anyone done any research on this?

> >

> > Thanks as always for your help.

> >

> > in California

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Pat,

As I read these messages I worry most about you. I

think you are suffering a lot more than you should

with your chemo. I am no expert but my nurses have

told me that the newer regimens do not cause the

extent of nausea that the old ones did. I have had

one instance of nausea that lasted three days and

found out that I could have stopped it at any time

just by drinking enough water. My temperature had

dropped way down because the chemo had thickened the

blood and it couldn't get to the places it needed to

fast enough to keep them warm. My heart started

pumping faster, also, to try to push this thick heavy

blood around the body. Just by drinking more water we

can avoid that. I know that drinking water is

unpleasant but there are supposed to be ways to make

that better too and we are working on some of them. I

just started carrying a water bottle with luke warm

water around and that is much better than trying to

drink from a glass. I just take little sips at a time

but do it every time I think about it.

Is there an american cancer society office near you?

Maybe they can supply a chemo coach that can monitor

your activities and help you get along better. Don't

let this get harder than it needs to be. It's tough

enough as it is.

Good luck,

Len

--- brencolinmom@... wrote:

---------------------------------

Thanks Ingrid and Deb for your input on this issue. I

don't throw up but I

am very nauseated and extremely fatigued for the

entire week that I have

chemo. I usually have an elevated heart rate (about

140 beats per minute

resting) which may be from the steroids that they give

me as part of my pre-chemo

medication (so I can tolerate the Oxaliplatin). I

can't eat although I feel

hungry - nothing satisfies the sick feeling in my

stomach. Water tastes like

poison. I am just very weak and I look awful!

Hi , when you say your sick from it do you

mean vomitting /nausea

sick , or just allllllllll over sick?

When Joe had his treatment ( same as yours ) he got

treatments Monday and

was S.I.C.K. til Friday at least. This went on for 5

months with them trying an

assortment of anti nausea meds until FINALLY they

gave him Emend, morning

before treatment he would take a adavant, compazine

and Emend , that was

before he even left for the chemo place, there he got

anti nausea meds / plus a

booster shot of one , then his chemo , he was still

sick til friday but minimum

vomitting on that

Deb

brencolinmom@... wrote:

Ingrid:

I was getting the 5FU bolus shot and then the 48 hour

pump. However, they

have reduced my chemo 2 times: first they reduced it

by 20% after I was in

the emergency room; then they took out the 5FU bolus

shot because I was

still

too sick. That was done for the first time last

week. I just finished

chemo

round 4 of 12 and I am so sick from it I can't get

out of bed for at least

5

days. Then I am still sick until around day 7 or 8.

Is this unusual??

Just a thought. But when I did chemo they usually

gave a shot of 5-fu

before they started the pump. Did you get the bolos

shot before they

forgot to start the pump? Ingrid

> Hi everyone:

>

> Last week was chemo week for me. It is supposed

to be a 5 hour

> infusion at the oncologist's office beginning with

pre-meds, then

> Avastin, followed by Oxaliplatin/Leucovorin.

After that, I am

hooked

> up to the 48 hour pump with 5FU which I wear at

home for the next 2

> days. Last Tuesday, they forgot to turn on my 48

hour pump when I

> left the office so I wore it thinking it was

working for about 28

> hours. At that time, I saw something flashing in

the upper right

> side of the pump and called the pump manufacturer

only to find it

had

> not been turned on. I turned it on then and had

to stay with the

> pump until 6 p.m. on Friday night.

>

> My question is this: I understood that

Oxaliplatin/Leucovorin

needs

> to work together with 5FU to fight this cancer.

That is, if used

> separately, Oxaliplatin doesn't work. If I went

28 hours between

the

> infusion of Oxaliplatin and the 5FU, what is the

effect? Has this

> happened to anyone? Has anyone done any research

on this?

>

> Thanks as always for your help.

>

> in California