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Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 4:15 pm
by Achilles Torn
FOLFOX is hard on the liver so adding alcohol seems to be discouraged. I had a few beers during some cycles and it showed up in my liver numbers on bloodwork. That being said an occasional drink isn’t going to shift the needle that much.

It wasn’t until about cycle 4 that my Liver numbers started to trend up out of the norm so maybe it won’t be an issue for him.

Hope that helps
AT

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 4:26 pm
by mpbser
Thanks, everyone! Much appreciated!

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:52 pm
by cbsmith
When I was on folfox and now I’m folfiri my oncologist said I could have a couple drinks at the end of my 2week cycle if I wanted. She advised not drinking heavily and not doing it during the first part of my cycle when I was getting the actual drugs, not that I would have wanted to then.

I do have the odd drink or two as she approved, sometimes it takes my mind off everything, sometimes I just crave something to drink that doesn’t taste funny. I find my taste of water for a while after every treatment tastes different, but for some reason beer always tastes normal.

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:19 pm
by mpbser
Husband decided he wouldn't bother, for now. He's thankfully not the kind of person who "deals" with stress by drinking. He's at the cancer center now having infusion #3. Oncologist says his bloodwork looks great and he seems to be handling this one well, so far.

3 down, 1 to go (until the Spring, maybe)

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 6:04 pm
by LPL
Hi mpbser,
Your update sounds very good :-)
Best of luck finishing this ’4 chemo’ treatments.
To answer your question, my DH was not given any advice to Not drink alkohol during his treatments.
Perhaps it is different with folfox compared to the xeloda + oxi? Or maybe it is different in France :wink: We normally have vine to our dinner and hubby did not change that during the treatment periods.
Kind Regards /L

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 3:57 pm
by mpbser
Just popping in for a quick update. Husband will be completing Cycle 3 on Wednesday and he is doing really great. The only noticeable side effect at the moment is darkness under his eyes. He LOOKS exhausted but he claims to be feeling great. He has loads of energy the past couple of days. He still works 6 days a week and isn't showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

I've been making sure he gets supplements that are designed specifically to align with his chemo rounds, so maybe that is helping with his energy level.

He had blood drawn for a doctor appointment he has coming up (had to reschedule due to his work) and it all looks really wonderful.

Very interestingly, his LDL was ~60 and HDL also was ~60. I have never seen such low numbers in my life!

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 5:18 pm
by LPL
Hi mpbser,
Your update sounds good :)
I presume the worry about chemo is not so bad now when everything seams to go well. Great that it doesn’t affect his ability to work!
So what is the reference numbers at your lab for LDL & HDL? Are your DH’s numbers normal?

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 5:56 pm
by LeonW
mpbser wrote:. . . Husband will be completing Cycle 3 on Wednesday and he is doing really great . . .

Thanks for the update. Congrats that round 3 is almost under the belt.
Hope that things continue to be manageable and that you can celebrate more victories.
Best wishes, L

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 6:41 pm
by NHMike
mpbser wrote:Just popping in for a quick update. Husband will be completing Cycle 3 on Wednesday and he is doing really great. The only noticeable side effect at the moment is darkness under his eyes. He LOOKS exhausted but he claims to be feeling great. He has loads of energy the past couple of days. He still works 6 days a week and isn't showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

I've been making sure he gets supplements that are designed specifically to align with his chemo rounds, so maybe that is helping with his energy level.

He had blood drawn for a doctor appointment he has coming up (had to reschedule due to his work) and it all looks really wonderful.

Very interestingly, his LDL was ~60 and HDL also was ~60. I have never seen such low numbers in my life!


It sounds like things are well under control with his cancer and I attribute that to all of your hard work in the early days and I'm sure that it's still a fair amount of work managing things.

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:46 am
by mpbser
Thanks, everyone. Re: the question about his labs, his total cholesterol was 150 mg/dL (RANGE < 200 mg/dL), LDL was 61 mg/dL (<100 Optimal), HDL was 65 mg/dL (RANGE 40-60 mg/dL). I don't understand why his medical center uses that range for HDL as I believe the higher the better for HDL. My doctor uses a bottom threshold of some number like 90 or 100 for HDL. If mine falls under that, he reminds me of the risk associated with low HDL. I will be looking at my medical records later today to see if the measuring unit is mg/dL because I am very curious about this rather wide discrepancy.

Chemo is said to be hard on the liver... and since the liver is the CPU for cholesterol, my husband's numbers are showing one of the ways chemo can affect it. Very interesting!

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:25 pm
by sdino
Wife was on Xeloda (3000 mg/day) + Avastin IV since 8/2/17. Been through 6 full treatments. CT scan showed slight growth in lung mets.

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:46 pm
by mpbser
Just stopping in for a quick update. Husband saw his primary care doctor today. He wasn't alarmed by his A1C being a 7 and attributed the diabetes setback primarily to the chemo. Husband has gone off his strict diet somewhat in the past couple of months, but I suppose not horribly. All the rest of the bloodwork is looking phenomenal for someone who has had three rounds of chemo. His doctor was extremely optimistic and told husband he is going to beat this.

Husband has his fourth infusion on Wednesday, just in time for 18 degree F temperatures to hit our region. He had cold sensitivity the last round which lasted a few days, so he will be very careful this round. I have reserved the day to take care of him and the rest of week for my work will be kept light.

Also on a positive note, his work has brought him closer to home for the next couple of weeks so he won't have to commute 3 hours every day, 6 days a week for work. I feel like god is protecting him, despite my religious skepticism.

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:27 pm
by NHMike
mpbser wrote:Just stopping in for a quick update. Husband saw his primary care doctor today. He wasn't alarmed by his A1C being a 7 and attributed the diabetes setback primarily to the chemo. Husband has gone off his strict diet somewhat in the past couple of months, but I suppose not horribly. All the rest of the bloodwork is looking phenomenal for someone who has had three rounds of chemo. His doctor was extremely optimistic and told husband he is going to beat this.

Husband has his fourth infusion on Wednesday, just in time for 18 degree F temperatures to hit our region. He had cold sensitivity the last round which lasted a few days, so he will be very careful this round. I have reserved the day to take care of him and the rest of week for my work will be kept light.

Also on a positive note, his work has brought him closer to home for the next couple of weeks so he won't have to commute 3 hours every day, 6 days a week for work. I feel like god is protecting him, despite my religious skepticism.


The low in my area this week is forecast at 7 degrees. Then it warms up into the 20s. I'm pretty curious as to how this is going to feel as we're looking at a pretty cold winter and I typically clear off one roof after snowstorms. Also, clearing ice off of windshields will be interesting. I'm also planning on working from home a lot (my commute is only 20 minutes) because my office becomes an echo chamber of coughing when there's a cold or flu going around. I just got a new project that's going to keep my quite busy for the next two months and I'll need to move my home office because it's in an unheated part of the house. Or get a space heater.

There are a lot of people that commute from my area into Boston every day. It's a one-hour trip with no traffic and probably two with traffic in busy times and worst-case three. I really have no idea as to how people do that kind of commute but they do. I've seen it in my trips to Dana Farber, Brigham and Women's and Mass General. Fortunately the trips aren't very frequent and hopefully they will be fewer going forwards.

Your husband has made remarkable progress.

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:55 pm
by susie0915
NHMike wrote:
mpbser wrote:Just stopping in for a quick update. Husband saw his primary care doctor today. He wasn't alarmed by his A1C being a 7 and attributed the diabetes setback primarily to the chemo. Husband has gone off his strict diet somewhat in the past couple of months, but I suppose not horribly. All the rest of the bloodwork is looking phenomenal for someone who has had three rounds of chemo. His doctor was extremely optimistic and told husband he is going to beat this.

Husband has his fourth infusion on Wednesday, just in time for 18 degree F temperatures to hit our region. He had cold sensitivity the last round which lasted a few days, so he will be very careful this round. I have reserved the day to take care of him and the rest of week for my work will be kept light.

Also on a positive note, his work has brought him closer to home for the next couple of weeks so he won't have to commute 3 hours every day, 6 days a week for work. I feel like god is protecting him, despite my religious skepticism.


The low in my area this week is forecast at 7 degrees. Then it warms up into the 20s. I'm pretty curious as to how this is going to feel as we're looking at a pretty cold winter and I typically clear off one roof after snowstorms. Also, clearing ice off of windshields will be interesting. I'm also planning on working from home a lot (my commute is only 20 minutes) because my office becomes an echo chamber of coughing when there's a cold or flu going around. I just got a new project that's going to keep my quite busy for the next two months and I'll need to move my home office because it's in an unheated part of the house. Or get a space heater.

There are a lot of people that commute from my area into Boston every day. It's a one-hour trip with no traffic and probably two with traffic in busy times and worst-case three. I really have no idea as to how people do that kind of commute but they do. I've seen it in my trips to Dana Farber, Brigham and Women's and Mass General. Fortunately the trips aren't very frequent and hopefully they will be fewer going forwards.

Your husband has made remarkable progress.

Mike I have a big walk in closet that gets so cold in the winter it's over the garage and the vent in there doesn't do a great job. We got an edenpure space heater and it does a great job. My closet it 24 ft long and I can feel the heater all the way at the other end. Before it was like an ice box. Maybe it would be good for your office this winter. I don't think it's very expensive. Wear warm slippers, boots hats and gloves when you're outside. You may want to cover your face if you're out in the cold for long.

Re: Anyone with Stage IVa just do Xelolda or 5-fu?

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:56 pm
by susie0915
mpbser wrote:Just stopping in for a quick update. Husband saw his primary care doctor today. He wasn't alarmed by his A1C being a 7 and attributed the diabetes setback primarily to the chemo. Husband has gone off his strict diet somewhat in the past couple of months, but I suppose not horribly. All the rest of the bloodwork is looking phenomenal for someone who has had three rounds of chemo. His doctor was extremely optimistic and told husband he is going to beat this.

Husband has his fourth infusion on Wednesday, just in time for 18 degree F temperatures to hit our region. He had cold sensitivity the last round which lasted a few days, so he will be very careful this round. I have reserved the day to take care of him and the rest of week for my work will be kept light.

Also on a positive note, his work has brought him closer to home for the next couple of weeks so he won't have to commute 3 hours every day, 6 days a week for work. I feel like god is protecting him, despite my religious skepticism.

I'm so glad he's doing well. It must've felt good to hear optimism from his doctor.