Folfiri with Avastin questions

[heidym21]

my mom is on folfiri with avastin. My question is her hair is falling out a lot, she was on folfox with Oxaliplatin and with that her hair thinned but with folfiri with avastin her hair is falling out a lot, I read that it only thins. Has anyone with folfiri with avastin hair fallen off completely? She started folfiri with Avastin on August the 3rd, and yesterday was her chemo day but her blood counts were very low. Another question what can she do or eat to raise her white cell counts?


Thanks

[midlifemom]

Hi,
I have been on folfiri for 6 months now and my hair has been thinning. I just added avastin this last treatment. From what I recall reading, hair does fall out for some. Everyone reacts differently to chemo.

Regarding wbc, the only way I know of to increase it is with injections of Neupogen or Neulasta. This might be recommended if low wbc becomes a recurring problem.

[smalltownmess]

When my mom was on irinotecan her hair started falling out in chucks so she decided to just shave it off, and we found her a wig that she loved! It worked out a bit better because it was in the winter and not sizzling hot (at least where we live in CA it gets super hot). She had so many people giving her compliments on her wig (no one knew it was a wig!) that I think she didn't really mind.

Hope your mom gets her counts up and feels well soon!

[daniel.qin]

When I was on oxaliplatin, my hair did not fall out. When I was on folfiri, my hair was thin. There was no appetite when the pump was on, after the pump was off, the appetite will become better. Try to eat more when the appetite was back. Fish(Silver sea perch) is my favorite one.

Good Luck!

-Daniel

[Sams wife]

Another question what can she do or eat to raise her white cell counts?


Thanks

I will type these so I don't have to bug crguy : )
It's out of a book "eating well with cancer"

Shopping list for neutropenia:

Bread, butter, cheese, canned broth, eggs, canned fruit, grits , skim milk, oatmeal, pasta, potatoes, skinless boneless chicken breast, vegtables- canned & frozen. Fresh must be cooked. Dried seasonings and spices.
Yogurt

Points to remember:
NO RAW FOOD
Cooked fruits & veggies
No fresh, frozen, or dried fruit
No honey - use molasses
Avoid uncooked herbs & spices
Processed cheese acceptable
Canned or cooked fruits acceptable
All cooked or baked goods, jello, syrup, ice cream, sherbert made from pasteurized products are acceptable.
Yogurt
Cooked hot soups
All breads, rolls, crackers in wrappers?


After chemos, the no raw food part scared me so I always made scrambled eggs or fried egg sandwich. I know he got tired of them but raw is raw yellows to me

[Nik Colon]

After just 2 weeks of Folfiri, half my hair fell out in one day! I ended up shaving it off cuz there was no way to cover it up as there were too big of bald spots. My hair was actually a little longer than in the first pic (it's wet cuz I wanted to show length cuz my hair was curly). I had it in a braid for a couple days then took out my braid to shower and it was extremely tangled by my neck, I finally got a section brushed and chunks came out so I cut it (as u can see in the one pic) cuz I knew it was falling out and needed to get the snarls out cuz it was so bad, the hair on the floor was the result minus what I had to cut off! I really had no choice but to shave it off after. I was shocked that much fell out at once. On folfox I had no hairloss, but had to switch due to bad se's.