Passed Xeloda undissolved

[srwl21901]

I think I passed a Xeloda 500 tablet in my ostomy bag undissolved. It was green but the same size and shape about 45 min to an hour of taking them. I think the top coating is all that i actually benefitted from. Anyone else have this happen?

[Guinevere]

I never did and it would have freaked me out! You might want to call the onc in case you've started having something going on with you GI tract. Let us know what they say.
God bless ~
Guinevere

[srwl21901]

Ok thanks, I will post after I find out.

[srwl21901]

I did call the on call oncologist who said not to worry, no consequences what so ever. Glad I called though incase it happens again.

[Tmitchell]

I am glad to hear that everything is ok. Just out of pure curiosity, does this mean you did not benefit from 500 ml of xeloda?

[srwl21901]

I'm afraid it might and it happened again tonight. I talked to the on call oncologist earlier but mine is supposed to call tomorrow. I will post after talking to her.

[Tmitchell]

Looking forward to hearing what your primary onc has to say. Xeloda is not an easy drug to choke down, it would be terrible if your not getting the full benefit of it!

[Guinevere]

Looking forward to hearing what your primary onc has to say. Xeloda is not an easy drug to choke down, it would be terrible if your not getting the full benefit of it!

You said a mouthful there!

Hope it's something simple and you and your onc can figure why this is happening.
God bless ~
Guinevere

[srwl21901]

I talked with my oncologist today. No explanation for why it happened and not sure if I mentioned it earlier but I passed a third one today, but she said sometimes with pills you can pass the matrix which I think is the casing but your small intestine could have absorbed the contents before reaching the ilium to be passed but whiteout knowing for sure if any or how much I actually received, I was told to stop the Xeloda and come in Wednesday to get the port and the pump to get the remaining 2/3 of this round of 5-fu. Then on the 22nd when I am scheduled for my next oxyaliplatin I will receive folfox through the port and every time there after. I'm wondering how the side effects will differ from my treatment with the pills, pump and then the pump. Thanks for everyone's response, made me call in the first place and keep calling.

[laneylou]

I had something similar - I had Xeloda for my neoadjuvant chemorad, but while I was recuperating from the LAR, I had the same issue with seeing pills in my ileostomy bag. My surgeon said I had a pretty quick transit time, and felt very strongly that I shouldn't do Xeloda with the ileo for the very reason you're talking about -- the possibility of not absorbing the Xeloda. My onc was totally on board. I gather that ileos don't always do well with pills that have heavy coatings. I'm on baby aspirin right now since I got a blood clot right at the end of chemo, and I'm taking an actual chewable children's baby aspirin instead of the enteric coated adult low-dose version, just to be safe.

So, I did 12 rounds of 5-FU via the pump - the pump is annoying, I won't lie, but it was very doable. Not terrible. I didn't have any nausea with the pump (they dosed me up with anti-nausea drugs and sent me home with 2 or 3 more); to me, the only difference with 5-FU vs. Xeloda side effects in my case was that my white blood cells took a bit more of a hit and I had one or two 1-week delays. Silver lining is that you can worry a lot less about hand-foot syndrome; my skin got kinda dry, but nothing a good heavy lotion couldn't handle.

Hang in there,

Laney

[srwl21901]

Thanks Laney, your post was very encouraging. I can pretty much handle anything but I'm not liking all the change of plans. My daughter would say she's been telling me I'm a control freak. Lol. I'm ready to get it rolling on down the hill. Thanks again.

[hannahw]

This isn't directly related, but when you said you don't like the change in plans it reminded me of two things that happened to my Dad a while ago. He had a PEG tube (basically direct access to the stomach) and was on coumadin for a previous blood clot. After a while he didn't need the PEG tube but no one told him to remove it so it just stayed, doing nothing. It wasn't harmful or helpful, it was just there. Finally, one of his docs was like, "why do you still have the PEG tube? Lets take it out." And in my mind I was like, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." In a way, I think I was afraid that if we took it out, he might need it but wouldn't have it. Then, is oncologist started asking about the coumadin. He told us that the standard is to take it for 6 months following a clot. It had probably been about 2 years. It wasn't harmful (although it's a hassle to make sure that's the case) and it wasn't helpful. Doc said to stop taking it. In both cases what the docs were saying made perfect sense and yet in my mind I really didn't want any changes of any kind. I guess there's something comforting about routine. There had been a plan. I just wanted to stick with it. Even though, in my Dad's case, the plan was totally outdated and ineffective. And a change of plan was totally in order

Of course, my Dad had the PEG removed and stopped the coumadin. Never needed the PEG tube again, never had another clot. Probably took 6 months before a day went by that I wasn't stressed about whether that was the day that making those changes would bite us in the ass. Even though it was actually safer for him to not have either of them.

Anyway, for what it's worth, I totally get not liking a change in plans. But a lot of times it's for the better.

[srwl21901]

I think you are right about change. I've been reading a lot and am settling in on the "new" plan. Ready to get it going. Getting the port tomorrow as the schedule changed. Lol and the pump for the remainder of the 5-flu missed by not tolerating the Xeloda. Then it's my understanding that on the 22nd I will start getting folfox all through the port. Thanks everyone. Love this forum already!

[srwl21901]

Hey everyone. I got the port yesterday and 2/3 of a dose of 5-FU in a pump to finish my first round. So far so good. I had a good night. Took pain and nausea meds and slept with a travel pillow around my neck for support. Except for getting up to go to the bathroom without taking the pump bag off the nightstand drawer knob, TWICE, lol all went well. Thanks for all the support.

[srwl21901]

For anyone who doesn't have a port, I'm loving my port. Really considering leaving it in after chemo since I have veins that don't seem to want to help me. Haha. I have not had oxy through the port yet and I'm assuming I have some side effects to come from getting the 5-FU through it the past couple of days. I'm taking the pump back today but so far I can't imagine why they would do it any other way except maybe if insurance won't pay for the pump until you try the IV first.