Topic: IXEMPRA INFORMATION PLEASE

I am back and really need to know about the newer Ixempra Chemo.  I need to hear peoples experiences with it.  Does it seem to work well for most?  What about the side effects? I am hoping that this is an easy an effective chemo.  but I need to hear from those of you that may know.  As many of you know my mom got so sick on the Xeloda she was taken off of it after I think about 4 or 5 rounds of it.  She was a mess.  Sleeping all of the time, hands and feet so sore and purplish black and all she wanted to do was sleep.  She did stay on the Tykerb/Herceptin.  About 3 weeks out of chemo.  She was still skinny, weak and somewhat confused.  Then came the falls.  She would try to get out of the shower and fall, then she fell into my mom and dad's woodstove and got second degree burns on her chin, and wrists.  Terrible.  Well after about nine or ten weeks of of Xeloda, her counts had been looking good still, her liver mets were shrinking and the pleural effusion in her left lung was stable.  She finally started to stay awake a little more and started acting a little more alert. Still week and skinny,  but, she was actually starting to get bossy, which was good.  Means she was feeling better.However, last Dr. visit shows tumor markers up again so the need to start the Ixepra right away is important.  I am just wondering, my mom eats more than she has eaten in a very long time.  It is not alot.  But it is food and she does eat.  However, each time she goes to get weighed she loses.  A couple of months ago (if that) she weighed 121lbs(and was super skinny.  As of yesterday she weighed 109lbs.  I am very afraid if she get's that nasty metal chemo taste in her mouth she won't want to eat or drink for days, and she can't afford to lose anymore weight.  So, I am hoping and praying to hear good stories of this chemo.  but I also want to know the not so good stories too.  Because regardless of what is said, I am praying for the best and preparing for the worst with my mom.  I don't want to see her die.  I want to see her get better ASAP, as she has so many times before.  However, I need to look at the whole picture.  Can a 109lb(her normal and good healthy weight is about 125 to 140) 64 year old woman who has been fighting this God awful disease for 8 years (almost), can her body handle this and fight it again.  She is just so tired and weak I don't know anymore.  I am not going to give up on her though.  I will continue to encourage her and support her and if the decision comes to quit chemo, even though I don't want to support that, I will.  As much as I want to keep my mom here with me,  I don't want to see my mom suffer.  Please tell me your Ixempra stories, so I can maybe have a heads up on what is possible with this type of medicine.

Thank you and I am so sorry for sounding whiny and grumpy!  I just want to help my mom and fix her and I can't and it is making me so upset.  Plus, I have a cousin just a few years older than me, I think he was 37 or 38.  He had 2 children, that were like 13 and 15 I think.  Well his 15 year old daughter lived with him and last week she got up to go to school and found a letter in the kitchen to call her grandma and have her check for something out in the garage. When her grandma brought the key they went to the garage and he had hung himself.  He let his mom and his 15 year old daughter find him.  How awful.  That really has messed me up because I am sorry he had so many problems.  But physically (not mentally) he was strong and healthy and wanted to die. Then, I see my mom who is young to me at 64 and she wants so badly to live and she struggles to make it through each day.   I am mad about that. 

Oh, well, enough of that.  Thank you for any input on the Ixempra and if you think that it could be possible that it helps my mom even though she is currently so tired and skinny and weak.

Hugs to all of you,

and again, sorry I sounded so bi_ _ hy.  I have been sick with bronchitis and a sinus infection this weekend, and it makes me grumpy.