Effects of fourth FLOT cycle

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Has anyone found it taking longer to get over FLOT as time goes on?

My husband had his fourth and last pre-op treatment last week. The first one was pretty tough. The dose was reduced to 80% after that and the second one was not so bad although abdominal cramps and digestive troubles continued, plus the inevitable fatigue. The third one was relatively easy so he was optimistic about the last one, but it seems to have knocked him for six this time. He's also lost weight. Is this normal?

After a week - when he would normally be perking up - the cramps are back, he's tired all the time and has lost his appetite today, having been eating quite well the last few days. He has a 'CPET' fitness test coming up in a few weeks and wants to work on his fitness but he's worried because a short (15 minute) walk at a gentle pace is about all he can manage at the moment.

Any reassurance or advice would be gratefully received!

  • Yep, sounds absolutely normal. For me, the side effects from the chemo got a little worse with each session with the last one being notably harder than the first. I was fairly fortunate in that FLOT treatment didn't cause me too many issues other than tiredness. First two sessions only really affected me for a couple of days. The third one was probably 2 days of feeling rotten followed by tiredness for a further 2 days. 4th session took me at least a week to get over and I felt totally done in for a few days.

    I'm sure he will be fine with the fitness test. 10 mins on an exercise bike going at a fairly slow and steady pace is all thats required. I didnt even break a sweat. Not sure what I was thinking when they said fitness test but in my head i was expecting it to be a fair amount more challenging than it was.

    Russ

  • Thanks Russ. That's somewhat reassuring, although I notice from one of your other comments you're over twenty years younger then he is so he might find it more challenging than you did! As it happens he's feeling a bit better today (so far) and I managed to 'persuade' him (haha) to have a bowl of porridge this morning so I'm hopeful that yesterday was just a blip. Two steps forward one step back as the saying goes. We soldier on.