Let's Talk About Chemotherapy

Anyone who has been on xeloda, I am looking for information about your experiences with side effects, hair loss, tummy problems and if it helped you with remaining stable or shrink cancer.

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

Hopefully I'm not going to be a spoiler on this one. I have just come home after being hospitalized for a month from a reaction to xeloda on my first cycle of treatment. I became neutropenic and I also ended up with a severe case of colitis, as well as significant hand-foot-syndrome as I had with taxol. For me, my trial with xeloda is over. I've lost over 30 lbs in this time and have been incredibly ill. I'm still using morphine to control the tummy pain. Since I didn't even complete the first cycle, I've had no hair issues.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Hopefulr, well, now you know it is not without risks. I will present an alternate story, so you know there are mixed results. I finished 8 rounds of Xeloda at the end of August (I had some residual cancer left after my initial chemotherapy). I was not happy with what I read about the risks of recurrence for my particular situation (everything is very individual!), and I wanted more treatment. I read about the CREATE-X trial, and saw that there was a 42% reduction in risk of recurrence for TNBC-residual patients overall, and was eager to give it a try (figuring if it was bad, I could always stop). I guess overall I can say that I sailed through. I had very manageable mild hand-foot issues during rounds 3& 4, my hair did not fall out and grew during that time, zero tummy issues or nausea. I think I had a tiny bit of fatigue and liked going to bed early, but that may just be normal for me now ;-). Loved that it's a pill and didn't need to go to infusion center--I didn't really feel like I was on chemo at all. Night & day from my ACT chemo. Of course, I have NO way to know if it helped me one iota. It may have been a complete waste. (plus I had 8 $100 co-pays and bought a fortune's worth of hand creams, slippers, etc). But for now, I can say that it has helped me mentally….I get to feel like I gave it one more fight. I obviously pray that either there was no cancer circulating in my body, or that the Xeloda took care of any remaining, but I won't know until I either recur or die of something else. It didn't erase 100% of my concern (I just had an MRI and eagerly await results, not totally stress-free), but it has helped. However, if I had a bad reaction (even MUCH milder than what poor Jacklin went through), I would have had no qualms about quitting. I just considered it a bonus option to try. I think I was a little naive or blasé about possible side effects, so of course you should really discuss those with your doctor. For many people, Xeloda is "chemo-light", but obviously not for all! All of these things are toxic, and we should keep that in mind.

Hopefulr, I can't tell from your signature if you are stage 4 or have residual cancer after neoadjuvant chemo. I believe those are the two situations where Xeloda is prescribed. I'm sure the decision process is different for the stage 4 women, and my thoughts may not be relevant there. Good luck with your decision. And Jacklin, happy healing!!

Thank you for any information you can send my way.

For me, taxol was harder than A/C, of course. Seems everything that's supposed to be easy is difficult for me. Like you, my cancer centre provided cold packs for my hands and feet, I did still peel but I hope it helped somewhat. Glad to hear you are at a cancer centre that you're happy with. Amy said it well, it's a mountain that we're all climbing and we take things one step at a time. We're all here to support each other. Sorry to read all you've been through, no fun at all. I don't have any experience with L-glutamine.

All I can suggest is do your best to keep yourself as healthy as possible (avoid crowds - we've got a flu outbreak in our area right now) and listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs.

Amy..how are you tolerating the radiation? My oncologist at MD Anderson wants me to finish the Taxol chemo in San Antonio but after that I am going back to MD Anderson for 6 weeks of radiation.

I wish you all the best and hang in there!!!!