Hello all -

My father has stage c colon cancer and had the tumor removed the end of July. Cancer was found in a few nodes. He starts chemo this coming week. He's in his 60's. He's lost weight but is keeping active.

I was just wondering what I should expect. I work full time and have young children, and feel overwhelmed w/ how to help him. He will have chemo every other week for next 6 months, I will have to find out what kind of chemo it is. I will be there when he starts it so I will find out.

He is being treated at MDAnderson, it is a long drive but it is reassuring that he'll be going there.

Thanks and I appreciate any advice.

KG

I am just getting ready for my surgery and have only had pre-surgery chemo with 5fu, which most folks tolerate fairly well. I had some mouth sores but was spared nausea and diarrhea and didn't have much fatigue.

Others here will be able to give you more info. What is his chemo regimen going to be ? The side affects will be different according to the regimen he will be getting ---

Jeni

He is having Eloxatin in combination w/ the 5-FU-LV, if that helps anyone to give me some feedback. Any advice or insight would be appreciated!!

KG

I can only say that if he's at M.D. Anderson, he's in very good hands. I've heard nothing but good about this facility. They are one of the foremost colorectal cancer facilities in the world.

The chemo will likely cause fatigue, possible diarrhea, possible mouth sores. He should try to stay well hydrated, eat well and as often as possible and stay as active as possible.

Good luck!

Hi and Welcome:wave:

I was diagnosed in March, surgery in April, chemo started in May. I'm stage 3C and on Folfox. Started out every 2 weeks but now every 3 weeks because my WBC was affected badly. I'm on Neulasta for that and doing quite well. I am to have 12 treatments. 7 down and 5 more to go. Number 7 was the easiest one yet. The only time I had diarrhea was with the first treatment. I've had only a few mouth sores, and very little nausea. Treatment #2 was followed by a lot of fatigue. I'm 62 and retired but go about doing my normal daily routine. I live on a farm and have lots of animals. The doc told me I cannot clean out horse stalls:) I have changed my diet.... no white refined sugar, no white flour or greasy foods.. I'm eating healthier than I ever have in my life and I think that has helped me a lot too.

I hope your Dad will do fine.

BAMc

Whenever someone asks this I recommend popsicles to suck on during the chemo treatments. This keeps blood flow lower in the mouth area during infusion and reduces the incidence or mouth sores. Ice works too but after a while I found that ice tasted bad, actually made me nauseous. It was a year after chemo before I could even stand to have ice in a drink. But posicles, in my case orange flavored, were just fine.

Stay hydrated, I know everyone says that but that is because it is a major cause of fatigue. Sports drinks rock, as far as I am concerned, for combatting dehydration. I liked Powerade over Gatorade and again, it seemed like orange flavor was best for me.

If I haven't said this already, my doc prescribed an oral paste for mouth sores that is just awesome, it has a steroid in it and you heal up fast.

If anyone wants the name, let me know -

Jeni

If I haven't said this already, my doc prescribed an oral paste for mouth sores that is just awesome, it has a steroid in it and you heal up fast.

If anyone wants the name, let me know -

Jeni

Jeni,
What is the name of the oral paste?
Thanks
Impactzone

Thanks for the advice about the popsicles, is this for any kind of chemo or just specific kinds? We go tomorrow for his first treatment.

The good news is that he found out yesterday that his post surgery Pet scan showed no cancer, so they got it all and it has not spread! :angel:

Eloxatin is Oxaliplatin. I WOULD NOT recommend popsicles or ice chips with Oxaliplatin. It has a strange side effects that makes most people extremely sensitive to cold. He will need to be careful about handling cold things (like grabbing a frozen dinner from the freezer or a carton of milk from the 'fridge). Chances are, he'll want to drink room temperature liquids.

From what I understand, this is a very common side effect. So don't jump into the ice chips or popsicles until you know for sure how he'll respond.

Do make sure he drinks lots of water though.

Thanks for the warning - I will wait and see about the ice etc. I appreciate all of your advice.

Well he starts tomorrow so we'll see how he responds - hopefully he'll do OK.

KG

Impact Zone, the name of the steroid paste is Triamcinolone Acetonide Dental Paste USP 0.1%. Ask your doc about it. You dab it on the sores with a q tip about 4x per day. Great stuff, helps the hurt but also heals them. The last time I got the mouth sores, I only had them a few days due to this paste - time before ( this was in my chemo/radiation phase, I had bookended chemo at the beginning and end rather than all the way thru) I had them a week.

Jeni