Facial Hair, NE"A"D, Lombardi Cancer Center

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Peaches
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 5:16 pm
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia

Facial Hair, NE"A"D, Lombardi Cancer Center

Postby Peaches » Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:20 pm

Hello everyone. As you can tell I have a few things on my mind!

First of all - I'd like to let everyone know, especially those that are Stage IV, that 2 years ago I was weeks away from complete liver failure and am now NEAD (no evidence of active disease)!!! You can do it, too. I see so many posts in here asking if it's worth it and if there's any hope and I say YES! It's always worth it and you always have to have hope! :D

Second, what's with the facial hair after 2 rounds of Camptosar and Erbitux? It's baby fine and very light blond but I actually trimmed it with a pair of scissors - it was getting out of control! I don't want to risk shaving and have it grow back thicker and darker. My eyebrows and eyelashes are crazy. They go every which way and my eyebrows that used to match my hair color are now very dark. I won't even go into the darker hairs that are now on my upper lip. My hair thinned to the point of having to wear a wig or a hat when I went out of the house and is now starting to grow back in. (My last chemo was the end of August.) Any words of wisdom on the facial hair?

Third, has anyone gone to Georgetown Cancer Center in DC? *** It's actually the Lombardi Cancer Center located on the Georgetown University campus. ***My onc recommended I go there to see what clinical trials they have. He has a patient that had very similar symptoms to mine, CC with liver mets and now NED, he got in a vaccine trial and has been cancer free for 2 years now. I said sign me up!!! Anyways, I have an appointment there Wednesday and I'll let you all know what's going on there. I just wondered if anyone else has gone there and could give me an idea of what to expect.
Thanks for listening! Peaches
Last edited by Peaches on Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
cc with liver mets (too many to count at dx - now NEAD!!)
systemic chemo from 10/07 - 1/08, 3/09 - 8/09
HAI pump installed 3/08
pump chemo finished 12/08
Last liver tumor had RFA 9/09
43 when dx'd

User avatar
Terry
Posts: 5536
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:36 pm
Facebook Username: Terry Minor
Location: Silver Cliff, Wisconsin

Re: Facial Hair, NE"A"D, Georgetown Hospital

Postby Terry » Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:54 pm

Welome peaches and I'm glad your doing so well!

Yes, please let us know what's going on at Georgetown. I'm curious about the vaccines and how well they work.

If you have any questions or just need to vent, this is the place.

Again, welcome!
Terry

Oh yeah, the hairs. Part of it may be menopause if your in it. I pluck mine on my upper lip and chin. My eyebrows and eyelashes have not gone wild and my hair hasn't thinned so I can't help you with that. You could get it waxed. It lasts for weeks, it's cheap and doesn't hurt much.
DX 7/3/07
Chemo, radiation, 20 mo. chemo, IMRT, cyberknife, 6/11 lobectomy.
1/16 resection perm. colostomy intraop. rad.
PET 2/12 nose, thyroid, liver, lngs
Folfox 3/12
Lord I know You'll keep me here until
you know I cannot suffer any longer!

Lifes2short
Posts: 549
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:54 pm
Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Re: Facial Hair, NE"A"D, Lombardi Cancer Center

Postby Lifes2short » Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:53 am

I've got the facial hair thing going too, but mine only started after I stopped treatment. My eyebrows have turned dark and thick, my eyelashes are thick and curly (they were always thin straight and almost invisible). It's wild. I kind of like the new eyelash look. I do have some fuzz on my face and upper lip. Not so excited about that.

Cancer treatment, go figure.
Age 45; Stage IV, mets to liver, nodes and bones.
Dx 12/05; Chemoradiation, surgery, Folfox, Folfiri, Folfiri, Folfiri, Folfiri
Intrathecal pain pump 3/09 (works great!)
Irinotecan / Erbitux 5/09 - ?
Two wonderful kids ages 7 and 5

PeterHW
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:48 pm
Location: Northern Virginia

Re: Facial Hair, NE"A"D, Lombardi Cancer Center

Postby PeterHW » Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:18 pm

I was at Georgetown/Lombardi two weeks ago, seeking clinical trial too. They didn't have any good match for me at that time, so I went to Johns Hopkins. Hopkins has a clinical trial of AMG655 and AMG479. I pass the screening and are going to start the trial this Thursday.
The oncs at Georgetown think that my chemo (Folfiri plus Avastin) is still effective, so they recommend continue chemo for a few more months. But my onc seems to think it is failing, so he wants me to look for clinical trial. Hope you have better luck at Georgetown.

When you get to Lombardi, drive all the way to the cancer center and use their valet parking. It is the same price as self park. Their parking garage is a mess. You don't want to park yourself.
05/2008 DX Stage IV Rectal Cancer, liver mets not operable
11/2008 Finish 12 Folfox+Avastin
1/12/09 Rectal Surgery, Scan shows spots in lung
3/3/09-8/18/09 Finish 12 Folfiri+Avastin
10/2009 Start 1st clinical trial
01/2010 Start 2nd clinical trial

Peaches
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 5:16 pm
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia

Re: Facial Hair, NE"A"D, Lombardi Cancer Center

Postby Peaches » Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:43 am

"I've got the facial hair thing going too, but mine only started after I stopped treatment."


That's exactly when mine started and I was on the exact same medication as you. My last dose was the end of August. I'm hoping things will calm down on my face and get back to normal.

Thanks for the input on Lombardi. I'll take your advice and park at the valet. I wish you luck at Johns Hopkins. Have they mentioned anything to you about the HAI pump? It's a method of delivering chemo directly to your liver. It worked miracles for me.

Thanks everyone for your help...Peaches
cc with liver mets (too many to count at dx - now NEAD!!)
systemic chemo from 10/07 - 1/08, 3/09 - 8/09
HAI pump installed 3/08
pump chemo finished 12/08
Last liver tumor had RFA 9/09
43 when dx'd

DebbieBale

Re: Facial Hair, NE"A"D, Lombardi Cancer Center

Postby DebbieBale » Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:54 am

I had the exact same hair issues, thick dark eyebrows and great looking lashes. My last treatment was July 14th, eyelashes are back to normal, and my eyebrows are still thick and dark. I'm getting them waxed next week because I am going on a cruise, and I don't want to have a unibrow!! They used to be blonde, I also have lots of peach fuzz on my face and I am plucking the chin hairs. I also have sparce hair on my upper lip, I'm afraid to get it waxed, so I will try a hair removal cream.

Debbie in Jacksonville


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