Thanks for letting me join! I had a bowel resection in January and had a very bad reaction to intravenous chemo. I'm currently not taking any medication and I'm waiting to hear from the surveillanceeam. Would be interested to see comments from other members who decided not to continue with chemo in any form
Hi Zooeymilo and a warm welcome to the board. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had such a bad reaction to the chemo. I can’t tell from your post what your reaction was but I know there can be a serious one from dpd deficiency and hopefully your team will be able to test you for this
Less serious reactions can be managed with various tablets or by amending the dosage and this could be discussed with your oncologist. Would you be able to share with us why the chemo has been recommended so people in a similar position can share their advice? Some people decide not to have a chemo but their decision is often based on the percentage benefit that they would get offset against the side effects. As everyone’s cancer treatment is individual it’s quite hard to compare outcomes but you could type some key words like ‘chemo’ or the name of the chemo that you’re having in the search box at the top of the screen and look at previous posts
Good morning my husband had bowel resection due to a blockage a large cancer that had spread to 4 lymph nodes was due 6 months mop up chemo but after 4 days pains in heart test showed it was the chemo effecting his heart so taken off went to see oncologist thinking would offer something else but said nothing can be offered because it will kill him so it is a case we got the cancer hopefully no cells have attached but it now is a case of watch and wait usual yearly test
It seems to me that adverse reactions to chemo are a lot more common than I originally thought. I saw an article about a 9 year longitudinal study into the efficacy of chemo and it seemed to conclude that over 5 years there was very little difference in outcome between chemo and surveillance. I hope in your husband's case it all turns out well
My husband had his cancer removed last January (2022). I asked about post surgery chemo as a precaution and was told it wasn't needed because everything was clear. About this time last May they found out his cancer had returned and we had an appointment with the surgeon in June last year to tell us this. He began CAPOX (Capecitabine and Oxipalatin) treatment in August last year and sailed through 3 sessions with the 4th making him quite ill. His chemo was stopped because of that and he had a break for a month or so. He was then restarted on Irinotecan and 5FU but only got to complete one session of that. This was done through a PICC line and he was admitted to hospital with low kidney function and severe dehydration. It was found out that it was the chemo which damaged his kidneys. He has been in and out of hospital with sepsis 3 times. He has just been discharged from hospital after his 3rd bout and no further cancer treatment will now be given partly I think because of the sepsis and his kidney damage and he is now under palliative care.
Thanks Karen for your very interesting and informative post. I don't think DPD was a factor in my reaction. After my resection they gave me intravenous oxi. I was expecting abnormal reaction to cold but the throat spasms just wouldn't stop and my BP went up to 250. They kept me in overnight and said it wasn't safe to have a second dose. I was due to start tablet chemo but I was very concerned because my husband was taken into critical care just after my op with kidney collapse and chronic pancreatitis. I really need to be able to look after him and the possible side effects of the tablets worried me. My consultant said the chemo treatment only makes 10% difference to the chance of cancer recurring so I decided to stop chemo and go for surveillance. Still don't know if it was the right decision but hey ho!
The capecitabine tablets are a lot more tolerable than the ‘poxy oxi’. I know Marianne26 had just the tablets but I’m struggling to tag her. You could have a look at this previous post?
It is a tough decision especially with your husbands health and care to consider. The right decision is the one that is the best for you and one that you’re happy with. You will be closely monitored and if anything was to pop up then it would be caught early
I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's experience with chemo. I really think, with such a low efficacy rate, chemo may not be the best option after bowel cancer.
I wish you and your husband the best possible outcome. When my husband's kidneys collapsed, he was told they might kick back in eventually. It's been a few months now but we live in hope
