Dad's story of metastatic cancer

17 years 1 week ago #4360 by Jeannette
Replied by Jeannette on topic Dad's story of metastatic cancer
Hi Tom's Son
It's been awhile since you've posted and I was just wondering, whats going on with your dad? My husband is doing pretty good for the most part.The cisplatin and gemzar cocktail didn't work for him so they tried a few others(taxol,taxotere) which he had allergic reactions to. he is now trying a different one (ifosimide?) he is admitted to the hospital for five days for treatment. we won't really see how it's working til they do another bone scan hopefully they will do that next month. anyway hope to hear from you I do keep you and your family in my prayers. Jeannette

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17 years 4 months ago #1964 by fightcancer
Replied by fightcancer on topic Dad's story of metastatic cancer
Thanks for the info Wendy, very helpful. And no, this is a different oncologist who is very good, so we are happy with that.

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17 years 4 months ago #1946 by wendy
Replied by wendy on topic Dad's story of metastatic cancer
Hi Tom's Son,

So sorry to hear how things went, but don't blame yourself or your family...we put our trust out there, we are not oncologists. I've been there so I know how you feel. I lost my sister to breast cancer, another sister got bladder cancer (she is doing very well!) then I got breast cancer too. I'm fine too, I learned a lot from my poor sister's disastrous experience...did things very differently and still here.

Gemzar is actually less toxic than Taxol or Carboplatin. The good thing is that all those drugs work for both breast and bladder cancer. Most breast cancer is HEr2 negative, but more aggressive cancers I'm sorry to say are HEr2 positive. Whichever cancer caused the liver mets, Herceptin is the drug of choice so your father's doctor sounds like he has learned something (if it is the same one who lost control of the situation in the first place). Zometa is pretty state of the art, as is Herceptin.

The rule of thumb is that once a person gets cancer their risk for developing a 2nd primary is bigger. We become cancer friendly environments, I guess. Horrible thought, I know.

I wish you and your family all the best,
Wendy

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17 years 4 months ago #1934 by Jeannette
Replied by Jeannette on topic Dad's story of metastatic cancer
OOPS forgot to say good luck to your dad hope all goes well for him on friday,, I know the zometa is suppose to be very helpful for the bone mets,, (my husband is suppose to get that with his next round of chemo)

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17 years 4 months ago #1933 by Jeannette
Replied by Jeannette on topic Dad's story of metastatic cancer
Thanks for asking about my husband unfortunately he isn't doing so well he went in for his chemo last monday (oct.30) and it made him terribly ill, he was suppose to go for his 2nd round yesterday but was still to sick to make it, he reshuduled for tommorrow but not sure if he will be up to it. I leave it totally up to him, he is the only one that can make the decission.. I'm just so heartbroken over the whole thing

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17 years 4 months ago #1904 by fightcancer
Replied by fightcancer on topic Dad's story of metastatic cancer
They have biopsied (sp?) the breast and said that the breast was a second primary site, defintely breast cancer. So what they have tried to figure out is whether it is the breast or the bladder cancer that spread to the liver and bones. They have done numerous "stains" on the liver trying to ID it and it was not conclusive. But the liver was HER-2 positive and the breast was not HER-2 positive. I think that most breast cancers are HER-2 positive. They treat it with Herceptin, so he has been on that and it may be the reason that the liver reacted well to the Herceptin.

He is feeling pretty good, now a few weeks off chemo, but still fatigued. He goes for second 3-week dose of Herceptin (and Zometa for bone) this Friday.

How is your husband doing?

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