I posted on here a few months ago. My mum is stage 4 lungs and on Taxotere.
Out of my mind with worry. She is in hospital and they are taking it day by day. She has inflammation on the lungs. The cancer is stable but her heart is racing. They have told me she is very poorly and need to monitor the next couple of days. She had fluid drained from her lungs yesterday but still breathless. They think she could of had an allergic reation to the Taxotere. She has had blood transfusion. Just don’t know what way it’s going to go at the moment she is stable.
I am sorry to read that your Mum is so poorly, I am sure you will receive lots of support here today, in addition, please feel free to call our helpline team for some one to one support on 0808 800 6000. The helpine is open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm and Sat 9am-2pm.
I’m so sorry to hear this news Holly, I’m stage 4 but have also been in your situation, daughter to a Mum with advanced cancer…I hope your Mum will feel the benefit of the blood transfusion soon.
Take Care, Best Wishes to you both…Belinda…xx
Mum has been stable for a few days and starting to pick up now. They said she has had a very serius reaction to the Taxotere. She is still in Christies. They said that she had heart failure and was very poorly. They told me they didn’t know if she would pull through. I was devastated. She is having a chest xray today so waiting for results.
It’s going to be hard. Think she will have to sleep downstairs and have oxygen all the time.
I’m glad ur mum is stable and is slowly starting to pick up. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for her. Mum mum is very poorly with this disease too and I can relate to things ‘going to be hard’. Keep us updated!! xx
Mum is getting stronger every day and hoping to come home next week. We have got her a bed downstairs and the macmillans will organise a commode. At the moment her breathing is alot better. She starts her new chemo on Thursday it’s tablet form Xeloda. Just frightened myself reading the side effects.
Anyone done or taking Xeloda at the moment would like to hear from you?
I’m glad to hear your Mum will be coming home soon, and that she’s getting stronger every day. A lot of us with secondaries are taking Xeloda – I have been on it for almost five years (along with an aromatase inhibitor and a bisphosphonate) for my liver (and bone) mets, the last few years at a relatively low dose. When I started taking it, I was on 2000mg x twice a day, two weeks on and one week off. It was several cycles before I experienced any side effects, but then started to get hand/foot & various digestive problems – had some “chemo-breaks” and dose reductions – now on 1000mg x twice a day and have almost no side effects. Do get your Mum some nice hand & foot creams, and advise her to use them when she starts the Xeloda; my onc also recommended 50mg VitB6 x three times a day, to counteract side effects – doesn’t work for everyone, but worth trying. You might like to do a search for “Xeloda” on these Forum posts – you’ll find a lot of advice and information. For most of us, it’s a relatively “easy” chemo – no needles or long hospital visits, no noticeable hair loss – helping us maintain a pretty good quality of life.
This drug has worked really well for me – reduced and/or got rid of most of my liver tumours after just a few cycles, and has helped to keep me stable for almost five years. I hope your Mum will also get great results, without too many side effects.
Hi Holly…I’m on Xeloda, it’s my first chemo, I had all hormonal treatments before this…Marilyn gave me all the above good advice when I first started the tablets…I’ve had no side effects and have just finished my 6th cycle…the last 4 cycles have been the max dose but to be honest I don’t feel I’m on chemo at all. Good Luck to your Mum…x
Holly - sorry to hear about your mum. I hope she gets home nxt week. I was oxygen dpendent Nov/Dec 07 but with the chemo I was soon able to stop it during the day and only used t at night and been Ok since.
What awoorrying time for you all.
Thinking of you
Love Kate
Mum has been taking Xeloda for 5 days now. She fainted a few days ago but when we saw the onc he was surprised she was still taking beta blockers that they gave to her when she was in hospital. He also told her to reduce her steroids. Mum went from taking 8 steroids(16mg) DAY TO 4mgs. Her breathing was really bad yesterday. I called th doctor and she said that you need to do it slowly until your own steroids in your body kick in. Has anyone else taken steroids and will her breathing go better coming off them slowly?
Sorry to hear your Mum is struggling with her legs – I also had some problems with leg strength in my first year of taking Xeloda, and I think others have reported this as well, especially those on a very high dose – think it’s part of the fatigue many of us experience with BC mets and our treatments. Can she (or you) speak to her Macmillan nurse about getting her some help? The physio-therapists at our local hospice (I live in Bolton) have been very helpful, and I know there’s a really big physio team at Christie’s who might be able to help – can your Mum’s oncology team refer her to them? Mine (Dr Welch & team) recently referred me to them for support with my lymphoedema – great team, great support.
How is your Mum doing otherwise on Xeloda? Hope it’s working for her, that she’s not experiencing too many other challenging side effects, and that you’re both satisfied with her care & support.
I’m just about to start my 7th cycle of xeloda and have definitely noticed recently some problems with my legs - particularly when getting up from a chair etc. Seem to be ok once I get going! Interested in what you say, Marilyn, as it sounds as if the leg problems improved for you after the 1st year - is that right?
Hope xeloda is working well for your mum in other respects.
Sorry to hear you’re also having leg problems with Xeloda. My legs became quite weak and wobbly in that first year of Xeloda – had a lot of trouble getting up again if I squatted to get things out of a cupboard or pick something up off the floor, and it was a real challenge to get into & out of the bathtub. But this did pass after a while, and I’m much better now in terms of strength – like you, better once I get going – but stairs and/or strenuous or long walking continue to be a challenge because of my bone mets. I wondered if my leg weakness could have been connected with losing weight at that time – dropped 10 kilos pretty quickly when I was on the higher dose of Xeloda.
My leg problems are with the tendons/bursas/ligaments or whatever is at the back of your knees. I had to have one (knee) strapped up for 2months (doc couldn’t diagnose) till it improved and the other is pretty wonky now. I had previously attributed these symptoms to age but having read of so many Xeloda leg problems, I now wonder is there may be another cause? Don’t suppose this sounds familiar to anyone??
Just wanted to way that what you are describing, Marilyn, is exactly what I am feeling - no strength in the knee joint. Glad to hear it improved - everyone keeps telling me it’s due to age! My knees do occasionally give way as well but I’m not aware of any particular problems with the bits at the back of the knee, Jenny. And no acute pain - just slight ache and weakness. Really annoying as I would like to do more walking (feet allowing) as that has always been one of my ways to deal with stress but coming down any hill is really difficult (going up isn’t any better either plus I get so out of breath!).
Haven’t seen it written down as a side effect though one of the nurses (when I mentioned it to her) didn’t sound at all surprised.