I finished my 30weeks July 4th. this year I had a spread sheet in my kitchen and ticked every damn week off with avengence
I found I felt nauseous from 24hrs after …..once ondansetron wore off. Usually 3-4 days later normal ish. With hindsight it does build up over the months a little. And you don’t realise that you feel grotty until you have finished the course and a week or so later you suddenly feel wow. So I did feel blerrrrrrrr
I only threw up once in 30 weeks and worked 25-30hrs a week right through
stick at it. ….. have they given you a port?. I found the blood tests and getting the Canula in each week the most gruelling ( 2-3 tries every time each week ).
Well done Parky2170. I hope all goes well for you in the future. We have just finished Session No2, and still have a long way to go. It's nice to know someone has got to No 30.
As KathH said, it can vary from person to person with side effects. My husband Jay is just coming to the end of his 4th cycle and this one has really knocked him for six. The last 3 for him were `a breeze` and the only real side effects were the neuropathy in the fingers and toes (like pins and needles). He was doing that well that they upped both his dosage of the Oxaliplatin infusion and the Capecitabine tablets, but this cycle has really floored him in that he is really tired and lethargic and just has no inclination to do much of anything. He's slowly but surely getting back to normal, and we see the oncologist next week- his week off from treatment- so don't know if they will need to alter his dosage again. Good luck to you with your treatment. Take Care.
you can read my profile to see my 5FU journey, my liver wasnt happy 2-3 weeks in so i should add i ended up at about 88% dose for majority of the time... In hindsight i was so focussed week in week out that i really didnt realise how gruelling it actually was, ...... at the start (dec21) 30 weeks ( july22 ) seemed a lifetime away.
PattyK just my opinion but you cant really compare 5FU with CAPOX, i feel any regime with oxaliplatin in it is starting to get into big boys territory and the hardcore stuff. i didnt suffer from neuropathy with 5FU although by the end my main symptom was a runny nose. no sore gums, went off alcohol, and no sore hands....
Triple1050 i think gemmary went through 5FU , i ended up with 31 weeks due to a skipped week for liver, and i think she got through it in 33 weeks, so expect the odd hurdle here or there.
Gufitter400. Jay was tolerating the CAPOX really well up until his 4th cycle and that's when he started to feel ill. The only real side effects he was having was the neuropathy (tingling in the fingers and toes) apart from that he was fine. As I said I honestly thought that it would have been doing something as they put him on the maximum dose. Now he has to face the idea of having a nephrostomy another bag to contend with. His appetite has waned some through this as well and his mouth is extemely dry.
Yes 5FU is also capecetabine tabs, or it can be combined with either LV in an I/V form or oxaliplatin I/V.
guess it depends if you want to speed things up but side effects with oxali are more gruelling for most people with more side effects like neuropathy and temperature sensitisation (cold)
are u good with tolerating tablets? you will take about 6-8 a day with capecit and / or capox
Its the neuropathy I'm nervous about as I see with some people it can stay quite a while and affect day to day life long after chemo is finished...yet its nice and quick. Just cant decide to take the gamble of possibly getting it. I could handle it if it was just whilst having chemo then goes away..
Ive been offered 3 months of Which I agreed to but having second thoughts now after doing research.
Colorectal nurse said it could last 2 years !!!! but then said not everyone gets it.
The tablets will be 6 months so much longer but no neuropathy...
I think I could manage the tablets .I hadn't thought of the increase of tablets.
On seeing oncology nurse next week and can have a chat and see the delay if I decide to change my mind. I dont want too much delay before starting.
Sugarplum, starting on oxaliplatin plus capecitabine (Capox) doesn’t mean you have to finish that regimen. You could start with one cycle of Capox, see how the side effects affect you and change to capecitabine only, if necessary. Do you know if there is a difference in effectiveness of the two options in your situation? My oncologist told me that studies show that Capox is more effective than capecitabine alone for patients similar to me, so I went for Capox.
