Hi all,my husband felt unwell in April went to the doctor and after blood tests was diagnosed with anemia,as this is unusual for a man of 64 he was also booked for a endoscopy.At his appointment he was told that he had a suspicious lesion and was booked in for a ct scan which he had a fortnight ago.He was then booked in for a laparoscopy which he had last Thursday.After the operation the surgeon told him that he had cancer in his stomach which has spread to the peritoneum so it is inoperable.He has recommended chemotherapy.There is to be a meeting of the MDT tomorrow and then a nurse will phone us to talk about what happens next.We are both overwhelmed with this and absolutely terrified at what comes next.My husband is a fit and well 64 year old with no symptoms apart from the anemia
Hi I was diagnosed with stomach cancer in October and started Capox chemo in November I did 5 sessions. I won’t lie I found it quite gruelling but I had lots of issues at the same time with my blood
The team then decided to try me on Folfiri which has been brilliant fir me and today I have had my 5th session and will have the 6th session on July 20th followed by a scan to see what’s happening I can have a further 6 but will wait and see the scan result. However you feel about your treatment be honest with yourself and the team because not all types of chemo suit everyone but things can be changed or tweaked just remain positive. My treatment is palliative but I’m still making plans for the future . Look forward to hearing how your treatment goes and wishing you well .
Hi my mum did FLOT not CAPOX but the oxaliplatin is the same and the capecitabine is a derivative of 5FU so maybe I can provide some helpful advice. My mums oncologist advises walking 20 mins twice a day at minimum.
it’s important to know your husband probably wont get all side effects online and some people do really well on it!
I’ll just put down all of the lessons we’ve learnt from it in case it turns out to be helpful to you! I’d advise checking with your team if they think the same, since different people have different management.
Oxaliplatin causes severe cold sensitivity in most people so when they touch cold it can cause shocks/ pins and needles which are quite painful sometimes so avoid cold! No cold taps no fridge without gloves and wear a scarf, hot water bottles but we were doing chemo in winter! My mum also got laryngospasms which made her tongue heavy and speech slurred- made us worried about a TIA but it wasn’t that, it would come for a few hours after treatment. My advice if slurred speech is still always be cautious, in case it is a TIA and don’t ignore it assuming it’s oxaliplatin, just want to let you know that it’s something that could happen. Sometimes that lingers called peripheral neuropathy. If you get peripheral neuropathy you could also try an aqueous menthol cream perhaps, we’ve been advised to start that now so not tried it yet.
The 5fu/ capecitabine can cause peeling hands and feet which was very painful for mum, she couldn’t eat for a while, but supposedly urea cream works as a prophylactic so I’d advise starting on that before and moisturise a lot before it kicks in! But ask your team beforehand.
Mum developed a hypersensitivity to smells too, she found it unpleasant and we bought a room spray m9 Hollister unscented, as masking it with other fragrances wasn’t working for her either. It worked to a small degree but if there’s one that’s just awful (for her it was onions, but she ate them in her food and diet was a problem so we didn’t just cut them out) it might help.
Chemo can be a long day, from beginning to end so bring a book/ something to watch movies on. Sending you lots of love and well wishes 
️ xxx
Very glad to hear he’s tolerating it well! Hope you’re both doing well ️ xxx
