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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / September 2004Gemzar side effects?
Hi, family - I'm asking this here because there isn't a newsgroup available other than alt.support.cancer and I figure the answers I get here will be just as good. I know Gemzar is about fourth-round chemotherapy for breast cancer, so here's the deal: My father-in-law was diagnosed last Friday with Stage IV pancreatic ca - and Gemzar is first-round chemo for that disease. Dr. Smiley (isn't it hell to have a family oncologist?) has given him about three months and started him on Gemzar last Friday. To make a long story short his tumor is unresectable and his CA19.9 is up over 2000 - normal is >40. They've found four secondary tumors in his abdomen and things look pretty grim. The guy was healthy as a horse three weeks ago. Anyway, here's my question - currently my FIL is in the hospital with a pleural effusion; they drained about 1200cc of fluid out of his chest and the lab reports on the fluid aren't back yet. He seems to be having a tougher time with Gemzar than I remember reading. Can those of you who've done Gemzar relate some of your experiences with the drug? Seems to me this chemo is a little tougher than it should be. hugs to all - allan Unfortunately, the gemzar is not kicking in immediately and that may be his biggest problem. My experience with Gemzar was that is was a very easy chemo. I slept the day of treatment. My appetite was reduced, but present. I had increased fatigue in general, but nothing too noticeable. I hope it kicks in soon for your father-in-law. Chris > Hi, family - > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > allan > Hi, family - > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > allan Thinking about you and Deb, Allan ... Mary Thanks, Chris and Mary ;-) My FIL is still in the hospital - his sodium levels are pretty low so they won't let him go. We expect the path report on the fluid they took out of his chest today - they told him they had two options, depending on the path report. One was just installing a JP drain in his chest and the other was putting in a "glue" through a chest tube to make his lungs stick to his pleura (this sounds an awful lot like sclerosing to me). He's still a bit constipated but I understand the nurses were going to give him a bit of relief after we left the hospital last night. MIL is still in pretty deep denial and Deborah has borrowed my Elisabeth Kubler-Ross book to help understand what her mother is going through. We're about a week or so ahead of my MIL because as soon as we saw the CA19.9 results we started researching and had a pretty good idea what his prognosis would be. hugs to all - > Thanks, Chris and Mary ;-) > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > we saw the CA19.9 results we started researching and had a pretty good > idea what his prognosis would be. Let us know - not because we know your fil or mil but we know and care about both of you. You could do without this. Hugs, Mary > hugs to all - Sorry to hear about your FIL...Yes the glue does sound alot like sclerosing. Best to you and Deborah! > Thanks, Chris and Mary ;-) > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > hugs to all - Allan wrote << We're about a week or so ahead of my MIL because as soon as we saw the CA19.9 results we started researching and had a pretty good idea what his prognosis would be. >><BR><BR> {{{Allan}}} I am so very sorry that you and Deborah (and families) are dealing with this. My best thoughts and prayers to you both. {{{HUgs}}} Allan wrote: << hey've found four secondary tumors in his abdomen and things look pretty grim. The guy was healthy as a horse three weeks ago. >><BR><BR> YIKES!!! I can't answer your question re Gemzar but wonder if you had any info. re use of cyberknife and pancreatic cancer... If interested...here is what I found doing google search using wds: "pancreatic cancer" cyberknife http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=cyberknife+%22pancreati c+cancer%22&btnG=Google+Search > YIKES!!! I can't answer your question re Gemzar but wonder if you had any > info. re use of cyberknife and pancreatic cancer... > If interested...here is what I found doing google search using wds: "pancreatic > cancer" cyberknife > http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=cyberknife+%22pancreati > c+cancer%22&btnG=Google+Search Thanks, Kaye - but at Stage IV I don't know if cyberknife is gonna be much use :-( We got the path back on the pleural fluid yesterday - it came back positive for cancer cells. We're waiting for his sodium levels to get back up but I expect he'll have the pleurodesis tomorrow. Rather than a talc slurry they'll use bleomycin or some other chemotherapy agent. My MIL is a smart, strong woman - and is handling things as best she can. Deborah is doing lotsa research and is a bit amazed at the difference between being a cancer survivor and a caregiver. Anyway, everyone's doing as well as can be expected. Things are gonna be okay, but it appears they're gonna suck mightily before they get better ;-) hugs to all - allan Allan, I just got a liter drained from my left lung. What are the the pros and cons of this talc vs. the other option you mentioned, if I have to do this again? Please answer at your leisure, because I don't plan to do this again soon and I realize that your father in law is in the middle of a lot of stuff right now. Thanks, Chris > Allan, > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > this again soon and I realize that your father in law is in the middle > of a lot of stuff right now. The recommendation is going to depend on the pathology of the fluid they took out of you, Chris - if it contains cancer cells it's called a malignant pleural effusion and the option to install a temporary drain pretty much doesn't exist, because it does nothing to resolve the problem - it only relieves symptons. If the fluid contains cancer cells the fluid will just reaccumulate so a more permanent solution is in order. Hopefully your path will come back clear and they can just install a drain for a day or so and be done with it. The only real option for a malignant pleural effusion is a procedure called pleurodesis - they put a slurry of talc and sterile water into your pleural cavity through a chest tube and have you turn every ten minutes to make sure the mixture is evenly distributed. After they do this they connect a vacuum pump to the chest tube to inflate the lungs so they stick to the pleural wall. My FIL had this procedure about twelve hours ago and I saw him as soon as they got him back to his room. He looked like he wasn't quite at his best, but once the nurses, the respiratory tech and my wife and MIL quit hovering over the guy he seemed to be resting fairly comfortably. Here's a link if you'd like to read more - http://www.cancersupportivecare.com/pleural.html Good luck! allan Damn, thats what I thought. Well, hopefully, it won't come back! Thanks for the info. Chris > The recommendation is going to depend on the pathology of the fluid > they took out of you, Chris - if it contains cancer cells it's called [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > allan As I nurse, I have assisted in this procedure many times. I have not seen talc used in years, mostly I have seen a form of tetracylince since it is easier to instill. I can't remember one patient who regretted having this done. Alex Alex, I read somewhere recently that tetracycline has not been approved for use in the USA. Or maybe that it is no longer approved for use in the USA--don't remember exactly. When my lung mets were discovered one year ago I had plueral effusion in right lung but onc. didn't seem concerned. By March 2004 Xray showed it was gone, but Xray in August showed it had returned to right lung. Onc said if drained it would just come back again. CMF I was on wasn't working so I've started Arimidex recently and I'm feeling less shortness of breath and more energy so I hope it's reabsorbing. Kathie > Alex, > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Kathie I did a bit of research. Tetracycline-class antibiotics are not approved in the US for children under 8 but can be used in older kids and adults. My MIL asked the surgeon what she used - it was talc. Anyway, my FIL had the procedure on Thursday, got his chest tube removed on Saturday and went home on Sunday. He's still on oxygen, but he feels a lot better. |
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