karenb Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 I'm new to this board but have been lurking around for some time now. My dad, as you can see below, was diagnosed in Sept. 03 and has been on chemo/rad ,then just chemo, ever since that time. His test results are due this Tues. 3/9. My question to all of you is how have any of you ever known that your chemo is doing its job or not??? I;ve seen some of your profiles saying tried a certain chemo and it wasn;t working so had to try something else. How did you know it wasn't working; was that based simply on your scans or did you have no side effects from it (hair loss, wbc problems) or too many side effects. How did you know. I know there probably is no one good answer for this question but I'm desperate to hear some hopeful news from at least some of you. I admire all of you so much and you have no idea how much you have been helping me and my dad and rest of the family with the info I've gotten from you on this board the last few months. If his doctors can conclusively find that the lymph nodes have been reduced to almost nothing then they consider him a candidate for surgery. It was so depressing after his first PET when the nodes were still glowing although they just weren't sure if it was scar tissue or not so just to be sure they sent him off to chemo again just to try and seal the deal I guess!!! So now we are back to scan time and I'm needing input from anyone on how they figured out there chemo was or was not working. I would appreciate any info you can share with me on this topic. Thanks to all of you!!! "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear. The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadstimeon Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 Hi Karenb, Sorry to hear about your dad. You find out if the chemo etc. works by getting [in my case CT Scans. prior to my treatment(s) and after the treatment(s)] different (CT, MRI, BONE, PET) scans. I myself could not tell one way or the other. I did not have hair loss, loss of appetite or lose weight and only had to get 2 platelet transfusions from the first 2 treatments, which they adjusted to eliminate that problem. Everyone reacts differently. People were also surprised I was getting only one chemo drug (see my signature) instead of two, but as it turned out that one I had great success with. People have different treatments and results. They also keep track of blood (red, white, platelets) counts which the chemo does effect and also has an affect on how we feel. Best to take one step and one day at a time. Stay positive and focused. Be pro-active. Learn as much as you can. Hope this helps. My prayers are with your father, you and your family. Peace, take care and God Bless. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norme Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 Hi Karen, Just a note to tell you that your father must be very proud of you to come on here and try and seek out info to help him with. I did the very same thing for my husband and it was of tremendous help. In my husband's case, scans never told the story correctly most of the time. the chemo dr told him that 10% of patients don't scan good and he was one of the 10%. He would have a scan done and it would show nothing, then another scan would show new mets. It was really bad on him and the drs at the time. The only thing that did work and worked well was the whole head radiation. The mets to the brain never came back. Good luck with your father. Give him a big hug from all of us.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathy Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 Hi Karen, I dont have the answers to your questions because my dear father never went on chemo.. I just wanted to welcome you here, you will find answers to your questions because there is usually someone who is in the same situation. There is so much knowledge and a great deal of support here as well...Welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAnn Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Hi Karen, Like everyone else has said, you find out if the chemo is working by having CT scans, and sometimes even x-rays, pet scans, bone scans..... you get the idea. Because I'm on a clinical trial, I get a CT scan after every chemo, usually 2 weeks after. Now that I'm done w/chemo, I will continue to get scanned once every 3 weeks for monitoring. So, when you go to the dr. for the results of your latest CT scan, the doctor will be able to tell you if the tumor has shrunk, grown or remains stable. Hope this helps, and welcome to the boards! TAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carleen Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Hi Karen, Keith and I only knew the success or lack there of to his treatments by getting CT scans. He received scans after every two rounds of chemo. However, the new chemo regimine he is on, they decided to run a bunch of blood work tests to test various hormone and chemical blood levels so that they will be able to track his progress partially on his blood work that gets run prior to each treatment. I know how much waiting for tests sucks, but for us that is our only way to know. His first rounds of chemo he did not lose his hair and handled it really well. It didn't work. His next rounds he did lose his hair and had side effects. They didn't work. There is no way to tell from side effects. Some people know that the chemo is working if some of the sypmtoms they had from the cancer such as shortness of breath and pain were decreased. Really it is all dependant on the individual and there is no good answer. Sorry I wasn't much help Carleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenb Posted March 7, 2004 Author Share Posted March 7, 2004 I guess my question I posted didn't come out the way I meant it (I must have stage fright or something because I've never posted on a message board before!!!! ) I know that the scans are the ultimate authority (in most cases) as to whether or not chemo is working. I was just curious if some of you, who have been on a few different types of chemo drugs, knew that the drugs were not the right one for you even before you had proof of it on the scan. For instance was there just maybe a lack of side effects from the drugs or perhaps to many side effects that made your doctors decide not to give you that drug anymore. Does that question make any sense??? I'm just trying to brace myself one way or the other for the results of this scan based on how my dad has tolerated this particular combo of chemo drugs. He has lost all of his hair, he has been weak(not terribly weak but weakened,)and is WBC has taken a nose dive and so has his RBC. So I'm just wondering if this means anything at all or should I just not go there on trying to predict the completely unpredictable!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 I think the simple answer is no, there is no way to tell without the test results. There may be exceptions, of course, but in general I think it is possible for the chemo to be handled very well by the patient and it work or not work, and the same when the chemo is not handled as easily. When my wife has scans, I try to think through ahead of time all the things I will tell her if the results are bad; the shelf still has other drugs; you are still strong; .... If I can keep her from breaking down for one day, then she can keep me from breaking down for the rest of them. We have been at this long enough to have gotten good news from scans plenty and bad news plenty. I wish I could be of more help. Good luck with your dad, and please keep us updated. Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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