elkiesmom Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Gary will have completed his third round of Chemo next friday. He has started having problems with his white and red blood cell counts. Our question is since after surgery he was told that there was no signs of cancer would it be ok to have only three rounds of Chemo instead of the four. I don't like what the Chemo is doing to his red and white blood cells and that the extra round of chemo might be more harmfull then if we just stopped with the three. Any thoughts? Lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay A. Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 If his counts are too low there are medications that can be given to help with this. If it were me I would take the last round of chemo. I know because I was faced with the decision, and I opted for the last two cycles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 The cancer is not always visible since it can be microscopic. Taking the extra chemo gives a chance to get it all. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shineladysue Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Lorrie, Many people experience changes in blood during chemo, but the shots given to build red and white blood cells usually a do a great job. I would opt for the last treatment of chemo. My husband elected not to take the chemo after his surgery and had a recurrence 3 years later. We don't know if chemo might have kept this from happening or not. I only know that it makes sense to do everything you can to try to prevent a recurrence. Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Do everything that you can to kill the disease, you may only get one chance to be at this point. Take the chemo!! jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindi o'h Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Hi Lorrie. I was faced with pretty much the exact same scene as you are. I think that my counts were okay, I don't remember now, but in my gut, I was crying ENOUGH! I truly felt that if I had one more chemo that it would kill me. And I am serious about this feeling. I am not one to refuse treatment, and I put on a face of superwoman while going through the whole thing. But, that last one, I scared me bad. No one could see how bad my body felt and the impact it was having on me. I discussed it with an onc. He disclosed to me that there was no scientific evidence that showed any difference between 3 treatments and 4 treatments. He said that the decision was mine, but that if I made the decision, I would have to stand by it and if my cancer were to return then I would have to say that I did the best I could. I appreciated this conversation. For me, it was a relief to hear this. It gave me permission to trust what my body was telling me. No more chemo! Good luck. Cindi o'h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryanne Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 Joel was having problems with numbness in his legs. The Onc wanted to lessen his last treatment, but Joel refused. He just wanted to get all he could without having to lessen it. So he tolerated it. But Joel never had the problem with his white or red blood cells getting low. Many many people have and the got a shot to bring it back up. You should discuss this with his doctor to see what he thinks. Maybe they could give him the shot and he can be off a week from the chemo, that would give him a break. Then the following week he could resume the last treatment. I don't know if breaking the routine is feasable or not. You probably would have to ask the experts or his doctor. Keep us posted. Maryanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 27, 2005 Author Share Posted November 27, 2005 I am not one to refuse treatment, and I put on a face of superwoman while going through the whole thing. But, that last one, I scared me bad. No one could see how bad my body felt and the impact it was having on me. I discussed it with an onc. He disclosed to me that there was no scientific evidence that showed any difference between 3 treatments and 4 treatments. He said that the decision was mine, but that if I made the decision, I would have to stand by it and if my cancer were to return then I would have to say that I did the best I could. I appreciated this conversation. For me, it was a relief to hear this. It gave me permission to trust what my body was telling me. No more chemo! Good luck. Cindi o'h That is the same way Gary is feeling. They gave him Aranesp for his red blood cell count but to me it seems that his body has just had enough though he hasn't missed a day at work and he even started traveling again. Though knowing Gary he will most likely do it all. I am just trying to find out 3 vs 4 rounds does it make a difference?????? Lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindi o'h Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 Hi again, Lorrie. I had gone through rad with concurrent chemo...then tx planned for 3 or 4 (or 4 or 5) more cycles of chemo.. I forget now the numbers. Anyway, although Gary's and my treatment plans are similar, there is a difference in that he didn't have the rad/chemo and I didn't have the surgery. The doc gave me information that was based on my rad/chemo treatment. He said that there was no evidence that the additonal chemo (not even one cycle) showed improvement! Tell you what. It is a good onc. who will keep up with the studies that will leave some hint as to where you will need to go with this. Try Dr. Cunningham. Or asking a doc at a good university. There must be a statistical answer to your question. Best of luck for the best decision you can make. Once you make the decision, it feels good. Cindi o'h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 Tbere is an older study that indicates 3 rounds may be sufficient. http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/re ... atment0301 Get as much info as you can and you just have to decide for yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 27, 2005 Author Share Posted November 27, 2005 John thank you for that link. I just finished reading it but it doesn't talk about adjunctive Chemo which Gary is getting after his surgery in July.My thinking is that he has already had chemo 8 times. Every week with the third week off and after next fridays chemo treatmentit will have been chemo 9 times. We will be seeing the onc next friday also and I want to see why have the last three chemo treatments.After next weeks Chemo Gary will have another week off and then the last three will start. My feeling is that the last three might cause more harm then good. Lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 Support....don't force. The decision is Gary's. Wishing the best jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloesmom Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Lorrie, Just my two cents here, but he's a Stage 1B, just like I was. Chemo is a newer recommendation for stage 1 and 2 people. Until 2003, no chemo was recommended at all for early stage. My surgery came just days after a study was released showing a benefit for chemo in early stage cases. At the time, my surgeon said that as a group, their clinic was 'mildly endorsing' the chemo protocol for early stage people. And this was one of the top cancer treatment hospitals in the country. With that advice, and knowing I only had one chance to get rid of this once and for all, I decided to get the chemo. There were a lot of options in terms of drugs because no one knew for sure exactly what worked best, so I opted for cisplatin/gemzar and ended up with three cycles and nine treatments all together. Of course, the decision is his, but I just wanted you to know that I only had three cycles too. Since 2003, studies have shown more and more benefit to having chemo after early stage surgery, so I'm glad I did what I did. Good luck to both of you, Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloesmom Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Lorrie, Just my two cents here, but he's a Stage 1B, just like I was. Chemo is a newer recommendation for stage 1 and 2 people. Until 2003, no chemo was recommended at all for early stage. My surgery came just days after a study was released showing a benefit for chemo in early stage cases. At the time, my surgeon said that as a group, their clinic was 'mildly endorsing' the chemo protocol for early stage people. And this was one of the top cancer treatment hospitals in the country. With that advice, and knowing I only had one chance to get rid of this once and for all, I decided to get the chemo. There were a lot of options in terms of drugs because no one knew for sure exactly what worked best, so I opted for cisplatin/gemzar and ended up with three cycles and nine treatments all together. Of course, the decision is his, but I just wanted you to know that I only had three cycles too. Since 2003, studies have shown more and more benefit to having chemo after early stage surgery, so I'm glad I did what I did. Good luck to both of you, Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 28, 2005 Author Share Posted November 28, 2005 Support....don't force. The decision is Gary's.Wishing the best jim Jim I would never force a decision on Gary. In fact I have never told him what my opinion was or if it was me what I would do.These are all of Gary's questions and I am only playing devils advocate. This way I can give him all options. lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 28, 2005 Author Share Posted November 28, 2005 Lorrie,Just my two cents here, but he's a Stage 1B, just like I was. Chemo is a newer recommendation for stage 1 and 2 people. Until 2003, no chemo was recommended at all for early stage. My surgery came just days after a study was released showing a benefit for chemo in early stage cases. At the time, my surgeon said that as a group, their clinic was 'mildly endorsing' the chemo protocol for early stage people. And this was one of the top cancer treatment hospitals in the country. With that advice, and knowing I only had one chance to get rid of this once and for all, I decided to get the chemo. There were a lot of options in terms of drugs because no one knew for sure exactly what worked best, so I opted for cisplatin/gemzar and ended up with three cycles and nine treatments all together. Of course, the decision is his, but I just wanted you to know that I only had three cycles too. Since 2003, studies have shown more and more benefit to having chemo after early stage surgery, so I'm glad I did what I did. Good luck to both of you, Cindy Cindy when Gary was first diag with LC we did not know what his stage was. Most of the doctors thought he was at least a stade 3 and our ONC thought maybe a 2b or 3a based on the size of the tumor. It wasn't untill 4 weeks after surgery that we found out it was stage 1b since his results showed that the tumor had not gone into his lymph nodes but took up most of his upper right lobe. We were very lucky. Lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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