Taxol/Gemcatibine?

I had the results of my CT scan and they are not good. The tumours in my liver and lungs are still growing. In fact, in her words…the liver is badly affected. She wanted me to take a 2 month break from chemo and then, if I am still around, we could have a look at my blood and see if we can start another chemo. Even though it will have a very small chance of working. I asked her what chemo and she said Taxol/Gemcatibine. But that one is very hard on the liver, so she isn’t sure what would be best. If it was down to me I would start the chemo now, but she said I have to give my body a break first. Finally we agreed on one months break and then I need a blood test and if that is good then we will start the taxol. But she said this one is very hard on the liver and she isn’t sure if it wouldn’t shorten my life. one thing is sure…if I don’t try it it won’t get any better, so what choice do I have?

This Taxol/Gemcatibine will be the 5th chemo. Only the FEC showed any results. She has given me a prescription for Femara, hoping it will slow down the growth rate of the tumours. So now I’m in a bit of a fix, not knowing what to do. Has this Taxol/Gemcatibine badly affected anybodies liver? I don’t want to leave my kids yet, they’re only 4 and 3, so i feel as if i should try anything I can. And I’m not ready to give up yet! Could anybody who has had this combination tell me how they got on with it? And did anybody else have so many different chemos fail where this one then did the trick for a while?

love Maroke

Hi Maroke,
Oh hell, you poor thing. I’m sorry you’ve had such crappy news. I can’t help you with any info but just wanted to reply and offer what support I can.
It does sound as though the doc doesn’t really know what’s best - whether it will help, or harm an already strained liver. At least she has time to consult with others before the decision is made.
It’s going to be a tough Christmas for you, with this going on in the background.
Wish i could say something useful…
Is there any chance of going back on FEC as it was such a time ago?
Hope you get some useful answers very soon!
love and hugs
Jacquie x

hi Jacquie,

I’m not sure i could go back on FEC. I had it from september-october 2007, so really not long ago
But I do hope I can try the taxol, people seem to have good results with it

love Maroke

Hiya,
I had 2 or 3 doses of FEC, then switched to Taxol/herceptin as my blood count was really struggling, and I found I was Her2+ve and had secondaries in my liver. That was summer 07 so about the same time as you. Please tell me you haven’t had 4 types of chemo since the FEC?!, or were they before that?
Your kids are very young - do you have a good partner to support you?
love Jacquie

Hi Maroke

Really sorry to read of your progression…know how scary that is and how scary when numerous chemos fail.

I’ve had taxol and gemcitibine but not together. Gem. is hard on bloods. I don’t know about effect on liver. I had it with carboplatin and had to cut the doses of gemcitibine so only had it once a cycle rather than on Day 1 and Day 8.

You can never tell which drugs will work for your cancer until you try them…but I don’t see declining treatment options as necessarily ‘giving up’…I think its all about weighing options, thinking about quality of life etc…a short chemo break may be the best thing right now particularly if you’ve had so many chemos in such a short time.

Hope you’ve got some good support around you…I find my local hospice nurse (MacMillan in most areas) really helpful for talking through heaps of stuff.

Must be so hard with young children…so very hard…

very best wishes

Jane

Hi Maroke,
really sorry to hear your news I cant help with the tax/gem concoction as I have not done that combination. As you know I have liver secondaries and I am amazed at how much stuff my liver has coped with. I have gone back on tax and hope to have good results as earlier this year I had really good shrinkage 60% in the liver so this bought me a bit more time. Doesn’t your onc think tax will work on it’s own? There are so many questions that we all have to ask, it is so infuriating that so much money is raised for cancer research and we are running out of effective treatments.
Sorry this is not much use to you all I can really say is how very sorry I am that you are in this situation. Hope someone else will come along with advice.

Love Debsxxx

Hi Jacuie and Jane,

I had 3 types of chemo after the FEC, Taxotere, Xeloda and Navelbine. My partner is in Gambia, they have refused him a visa and as they don’t have to say why they refuse we don’t know. But we have agreed on the children going to one of my sisters once I’m gone. Belgium is a better place for them to be than Gambia.
Jane, I’m sorry if that sounded as if I was giving up. I’m the last person to do that. But the way my oncologist said…if you are still here in 2 months, then we can try…
I’m worried that if I wait I might be too weak or ill to try the Tax/Gem combination. I really do need to know that I have done everything possible to be as long as possible with my children. I am glad of the break, especially around Xmas. I do have my family around me (2 sisters, a Brother and my Dad) but most of the time I put on a brave front as they get so upset. I find a lot of strength and support here and I think you are all wonderful!

Love Maroke

Hi Debs,

I’m sorry, think still in shock after getting the news. How many different chemos have you been on again? I do read the Taxol thread on here too, so know a lot of people had good results with it. But my main worry is that if I wait too long it’s gonna be too late to try it! I’ve read the fact sheets on both Taxol and Gemcatibine and both can have an influence on how your liver works, but it’s a temporary one. So I am gonna take the risk and have it, if I’m still well enough in 5 weeks to start it!

love Maroke

Hi Maroke,

A friend of mine who had had many different chemos was offered oral cyclophosphamide as it is easier on the kidneys and liver than some chemos. Perhaps this may be an option for you? I think if you have a break over Christmas (and take Femara) your body will be much better able to tolerate something new in the New Year.

Your oncologist has got a way with words, hasn’t (s)he?..

I do hope you have a good Christmas break and come back fighting fit in the new year.

Jenny
x

Hi Maroke…I can’t help with your chemo question but just wanted to wish you luck…I hope the Femara works well and you start chemo after having a good Christmas. Take Care…xxx

Hi Maroke, I am so sorry to read your news. I can’t help much with your chemo question, but I am glad you have come to a decision. And really, who knows at this stage whether something is going to do the trick or not.

I don’t know whether you can push your doctor to seek another opinion - can they contact the Marsden, for example, to see what their recommendation might be?

I have been off all treatment now for five weeks while I wait to start a trial. It is scary wondering what is going on in my body while I fight with absolutlely nothing but I do feel so much better now I am off all drugs. Maybe you could see this break from chemo as being something that is going to bring you a reward in terms of some well time while you prepare yourself for your next chemo?

Deirdre

Hi Deirdre,

I live in Belgium, but I did say to my sister tonight that I have lost all faith in my oncologist. I’m not saying she is wrong or anything like that, but she seems so very negative to me and she hardly tells me anything either. Would like to see another one, maybe he or she will tell me the same, but hopefully in a nicer way and maybe explain things a bit better too. I’ve come to see the break as building my body up to be ready for the next chemo. But it is scary, I just hope I will be able to try the next one

love Maroke

Hi Maroke

Sorry to hear your news it news that we all dread. My Onc was thinking of taking me off Xeloda and putting me on Taxol in the New Year she seem to think that the body can sometimes fight the cancer itself for a short time and gives your body time to recover after chemo, I hope thats her or his thinking some of these Onc dont seem to come across very well.

All the very best

Beli x

Hi Belinda,

I hope my body is going to make a better job of it than the last 3 chemos did. But yes, I am hoping that’s why she said to take a break and not because she has given up on me. But I have decided to go to another clinic and ask for a second opinion if she should refuse to give me the tax/gem in January. It may look as if I’m fighting against windmills but I really feel I should try anything, especially for my kids.

love Maroke

maroke

I have been away for a couple of days and missed this news, I am sorry to read it it really is awful, I would definitely go for another opinion as soon as you practically can as you need to have a really honest and full discussion with your oncologist. I don’t like it when they don’t really explain why they make their decisions, I think they all do that to some extent but if you lose faith in their decisions it makes things even harder if that is possible,…I am sorry that this has come for you at christmas to deal with and hope that your family is helping you,

love
Cathyx

Hi Maroke,
sorry I have taken 2 days to get back to you.
I had 6x FEC May to Oct 2004 my liver had lots of clusters all over the liver and my function was poor. This worked and shrunk them all back so I was able to recover from chemo and I started to feel a bit strange as if I was going to pass out so had a scan and it showed they had all grown back I was given the choice of taxol or capacitabine as I was feeling a bit vain I chose capacitabine as you dont lose your hair again I had really good shrinkage and stayed on it until December 2007 my tumours were growing fast so I was busy campaigning for avastin which I was granted by my trust in Feb this year so I had taxol and avastin after 12 tax and 6 avastin I had 60% shrinkage so was able to have a chemo break and as you know I am now back on taxol. I have just had my treatment to day and my onc always comes in to see me. I am very lucky that I have a good relationship with my onc, but my feelings are that we should all have that. If I were you I would be seeking a second opinion. Have you been shown all your scans? I always ask for them and get a print out so maybe you could ask for yours and have a chat about them with your onc. Please dont give up I am sure they can do alot more for you.

Love Debsxxx

Hi Cathy and Debs,

would you believe I haven’t seen any of my scans yet? Would you believe me if I said they have never told me how high or low my tumour markers are? Not even when I asked. They just say they’re not good, stabbilising or good. Not that I’ve had many good ones. My onc said last time she feels that the tax/gem might actually shorten my life. And the “if you are still around in 2 months time we might try it” really upset me. See the problem is that I feel good. My liver is not swollen, I am not sick and apart from my nails falling off after the Taxotere I haven’t had any bad side effects, just fatigue with any of the chemos I had. Every blood test I have had came back good for both red and white cells, only with taxotere did they have to give me an injection to get the white blood cells up. My gut instinct says I should try the tax/gem. If it doesn’t work then it doesn’t work, but if it does it could keep me with my children a bit longer. What also upsets me is that they told me from the start the tumour was hormone receptive. So after the Fec she put me on Nolvadex but it didn’t work. After that she hasn’t tried anything. So when she said I HAD to take a break I asked her what about other hormone tablets. So she grudgingly prescribed Femara, but added that there was only a slim chance that these would slow down the growth rate. I am sorry, but aren’t they supposed to try everything? I said I don’t care…just give me the b…y things. Lol. And now that I am on this chemo break I feel like I did before all this started. So it’s hard to get my head around the fact that this might be the end of the line for me. I just can’t accept that, I feel I am strong enough to try whatever else is available. And you know what makes all this even worse? Thinking about all these poor women who just accept what they been told because they don’t know about this forum. Since I came here I do ask things, I do tell her I don’t agree with what she says and I feel as if I can decide. Before I came here I wouldn’t have dared ask about the Femara for example, but there are other examples I could give. I just wonder how many woman just give up when there could be other things they could try. Sorry, I am ranting, but the more I think about how this woman deals with me the angrier I get.

love Maroke

I do find that hard to believe but maybe not that hard as I once had a conversation with my onc who told me that in certain countries people were not told the full story about their cancers - maybe in Belgium they take this attitude as well that they won’t discuss the full details.

On the hormonal treatments - it could slow things down, there are people on this list that it has worked for so you are right to press for this - becasue side effects and cost are small so why not try ?

I really think you might want to line up a second opinion if you can, if you can have a full and frank discussion with someone on the whole thing at least that would help,

love
cathyx

Hi Maroke,
treatments vary in this country but they are not that different, plus when we read about other options on this forum we can tell our onc we would like to give such and such a go. We have in laws from Belgium and they really rate the health care, so maybe you need to ask for a second opinion sooner rather than later. I would give your onc dept a ring so they can make the arrangements, also ask for a copy of each scan report to be sent to you as you would like to visualize what is going on in YOUR body. If you sound like you are taking control she may be more co-operative, my onc does not do tumours markers as they can be unreliable he prefers scans and patient input. Also when another forum member this year was told a similar thing she was told by her onc that in younger women often there is no pain in the liver, hers did swell though. Please Maroke think about it and if you can make that call and get the ball rolling.
Here to help if we can.

Love Debsxxx

hi Debs,

yes I do think the health care in this country is good, it’s just my onc i’m not happy with and I did call the doctor who refered me to her and said i wasn’t happy and I would really like to see another oncologist. When i explained why he agreed with me i should so he is going to arrange it for me. He was the surgeon who did my mastectomy and the last time I saw him…about 3 weeks ago to check the scar…he said he was really surprised about how well i was doing.

love Maroke