Mike 49 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi to all, My name is Mike I live in Colorado. In was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung in September I did 18 weeks of chemo with Gemzar,Taxol,and Avastin. The therapy kept the cancer from growing or spreading. They have me on Alimta now. If anyone has experience with this please let me know Thanks Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recce101 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi, Mike, welcome to the group! I haven't had Alimta yet, but it's one of those waiting in the wings for me when and if Tarceva becomes ineffective. A number of people here have had it and should be checking in with you. Some have received great results with very few side effects, some had little or no response but bad side effects, and everything in between. It's supposed to be a good drug, but I get the impression it's not as predictable as good ole Toxic Taxol. You can get plenty of authoritative information by going to onctalk.com and typing "alimta" in any search box. There's a wealth of information on OncTalk, primarily on lung cancer, constantly updated by a Seattle oncologist who is an internationally-recognized expert on lung cancer and who gives high priority to promptly answering questions from people like you and me. A lot of us have "dual citizenship" so to speak, and have the same usernames there as here. Best wishes and stay in touch. Remember, stable is good! Aloha, Ned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsC1210 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi Mike I have no information or advice for you but wanted to say hello and welcome to the "family" I am sure that there will be plenty of folks here that can and will offer you some great advice shortly. Let us know how else we can help you out and know that we will do our best, Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muriel Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Welcome Mike. I haven't had any experience with alimta, but have had gemzar (w/ cisplatin) and taxol (w/ carbo). There are a number of people here who do have alimta "experience" and I'm sure you'll hear from them soon. Glad you found us. Muriel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley (MLC) Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi Mike, My mom has had two Alimta treatments so far. No side effects, but too early to tell how well it's working. I think they'll do at least one more cycle before doing a CT. Good luck to you. Shelley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernrol Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Mike, I am now taking Alimta. I have Gemzar and Avastin with it. My reactions would probably not be the same. Keep us posted. Stay positive, Ernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leela Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Welcome, Mike! My mom just had her 3rd Alimta treatment last week. She hasn't had too many side effects - she does get a dull headache for a few days after and some general achyness. She is scheduled for a scan next week, so we don't know how well it's working yet either, but hoping for the best. Keep us posted! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvillella Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I was on Alimta for a sshort time. It was to hard on my body and put me in the hospital for a week. Don't let that worry you though my ONC says some people can't handle it. I had less trouble with the carboplatin/taxol cocktail for the first line of treatment and know a few people who couldn't handle that. I hope Alimta works for you. It's supposed to be a good drug. Ralph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welthy Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Welcome Mike, Sorry you have to be here, but it's a great place for information. Read profiles -- they help a lot in the general scheme of getting familiar with this disease and different treatments. Alimta is either a cakewalk or hard on people. It's a well proven line of therapy and should work either way. My take on it being hard for my husband was that he had heavy tumor burden in the lungs and already had problems with his breathing, so he had breathing issues on Alimta. Like I said, this is my own personal observation, based on the tons of chemo poured into my husband during his treatments. He flew through all of them with no serious problems (he was pretty unusual--in a good way!), but Alimta kicked off his pleural effusion issues again. His lungs were really touchy though and he was always on oxygen. That was the only side-effect he really had from the Alimta (some fevers too) and this was his 5th line treatment. Just watch for SOB (shortness of breath), because this does happen for some on Alimta and keep your oncologist updated. Not sure that there is any rhyme or reason to how or why it affects each person differently. Good luck and hope this line sends the cancer packing. Welthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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