Nurit Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 My 58 year old mom has stage 4 lung cancer. She was diagnosed in April 2008. At the time she was given 2 month to live. She had 5 radiation treatments that shrank the 5 cm tumour in her left lung. Then she was put on chemo carbo- gem which worked until Nov 08. Her doc said she should take a break from chemo. Cancer got worse= found out it spread to bones, stomach and worse in the lungs. Put on Tarceva for 2 weeks and that made things worse. Now the doc wants to put her on Alimta but I have a bad feeling about it. He says the side effects and tolerance is better than taxotere. My mom is very weak Hemo is 100 Platelet is 25 and White blood cells are 3.5. Please give me some advice if u know anything about taxotere or Alimta nuritmosko@hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraL Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi Nurit. I am sorry to hear about your mom and your need to be here. For most patients, Alimta can be quite tolerable, especially when compared to other drugs. For myself though, it kicked me big time. Took me down for days...very tired, etc. But then I would bounce back. I am praying that it is tolerable for your mom and even more so that it has a positive effect. Take care and keep us posted Sandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley (MLC) Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 My Mom tolerated Alimta very well. I think she had 6-7 cycles of it before being switched to a different chemo due to slight progression. Good luck. Shelley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadstimeon Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi Nurit, I had Alimta , had very good results with it and only side effect was fatigue. Worth trying and your mother can always stop if it is to much. Also I have ITP (Blood Disease) and when my platelets are low I get very tire/weak. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyside Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi, Nurit. I was diagnosed the same time as your mom. I had 8 cycles of Carbo/Taxol/Avastin with about a 40% response then progressed on Alimta, had radiation therapy for painful lesions in my spine and had my first Alimta last Monday. Had to have Neupogen today for a low absolute neutrophil count but I'm still at work, still helping the kids with their homework and didn't feel nearly as awful during the days after the Alimta as I did after Carbo/Taxol/Avastin. I hope your mother tolerates it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coni Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 my husband started out on taxol/carbo until it stopped working and he is now on Alimta and his last CT scan showed his tumors are stable. he has had 3 treatments so far and his only complaint is how tired it makes him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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