How are people with liver mets doing?
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Lvin, look at the last 6 posts or so. Those ladies are discussing it, and someone will come along with a explanation.
Hope all had a good weekend, with a day to enjoy friends & family. I went to a BBQ, nice weather, had a hot dog. I know they are the worst, but these were quality & excellent.
I had a PET/CAT scan. One machine, does it both. The liver has responded to chemo......😀
They found another bone met, fractured T6, found a compression fracture on T10 the week before. I have my last 2 chemos in June. Not sure what's going to happen with the spine mets. I have a bone scan, this Friday. So looking forward to Aug. But, enjoying as much everyday as possible. Don't want to wish time away.
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living- cyber knife is a very specific form of radiation treatment using gamma rays directed at the tumor using a computer. It requires s special machine that looks kinda like an MRU machine. I had this treatment on my brain mets and have been clear ever since.
I was told that it could have been used for my solitary liver met but only if regular radio frequency ablation wasn't an option. It would have involved inserting gold chips to be used as markers first, followed by the actual gamma knife/ cyber knife treatment.
Others who will be having this treatment might be able to be more specific. My only reference is my brain treatment and consult for my liver treatment.
Hope that helps
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holeinone- great news about response to treatment. Sorry to hear about the bone mets. Many are on a separate treatment for those and have been successful. I hope you come up with a plan to help with those and which helps keep you out of pain.
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Ok I goofed gamma knife is different than cyber knife. In general they at every precise ways to deliver targeted radiation treatment to a tumor.
Gamma knife is supposed to be more accurate but is used almost solely on brain tumors.
From what I understand cyber knife uses real time x rays and is therefore able to treat more than brain tumors. Gamma knife used a fixed frame that is attached to your head via screws for brain treatment.
Cyber knife is done using a robotic arm and can have multiple sessions.it is s single beam. The robot arm moves from place to place using real time x rays for guidance. Gamma knife is done in one session ( due to fixed head halo) and uses multiple beams at the same time. A CT image is used to program the computer to guide those beams.
That's my best try at explaining this advanced treatment stuff.
Sorry for the confudion
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Livin my eyes are also watering like crazy, and sometimes really sore like I've been peeling onions. Optrex eye spray helps a bit but only short term. Let me know if you come up with anything! Is yours caused by Xeloda?0
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Lvin, I have normal watery eye problems on Xeloda but nothing extreme. When I was on Taxotere, however, my tear ducts closed up completely due to scar tissue from the chemo. The watering eyes would run down my face all day long. For a month straight, my eyes hurt and itched from so much from excessive watering. I had to carry tissue with me all day at work and dab my eyes throughout meetings and client one-on-one discussions. It looked like I was crying all day. I was prescribed steroid eye drops by my oncologist (I believe it was dexamethasone). When those didn't work, I had to go to an opthmalogist that deals with chemo patients. He had to manually reopen my tear ducts with an ice-pick type device. It sounds creepy but didn't hurt and only took 15 minutes or so while I was awake with some type of local anesthesia. Good luck finding a solution. I would suggest starting with steroid eye drops. I believe that is enough to solve the issue for most people.
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Had chemo today but I bet I won't next week. Platelets only in the 90s and they usually take a big hit between days 1 and 8. I meet with my doctor on Friday as she was not available today. Someone here and I'm thinking, and kind of hoping Isy (b/c of trip neg similarities), took maybe a 6 week break from gem/carbo. I am wondering how that went for you. Did it help achieve a lasting recovery or did it work for just a short spell?
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And I am very sorry to hear about so many of you having this watery eye side effect. I have not heard of that one and it does not sound nice at all. Livn an Isy, I hope you find a solution soon.
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my eyes water like crazy and I feel like the water gets stuck in my eye and won't drop down my face. Sometimes they burn like crazy... But only when I'm driving...
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Kaayborg, I had a wonderful six week break from gem/carbo but mainly because of Christmas/new year/holidays though my onc is all for giving breaks every now and again to give body a rest. I think it's a great idea as long as things relatively stable. I had to come off it eventually because of progression in bones, bit it did work well for my liver. Even a weeks delay to your chemo will mean your platelets recover without compromising the treatment. Hope you manage to stay on it long time I found it an easy chemo to take.0
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lvinaz,
Cyberknife is a targeted radiation treatment, usually done 5 days in a row. I just had it done for my pituitary gland tumor. It is painless, you just lay on a table and the camera moves around you making clicking noises. It is state of the art and a precise radiation therapy. I live in AZ also! Who is you Rad Onc? I went to Dr Youseff at Barrow's Insitute at St Joe's. I also have a liver spot that I might do Cyberknife to.
God bless,
Kathy
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lsy, i am currently on javelin? That's possibly spelled wrong. I have tried 4 different scripts nothing works. May go to eye dr.
Kathy I am in the boonies in Maricopa. My doc is at ironwood in chandler. I like him he starts positive and is very nice great bedside manner. I guess Summer is here, 118 on Sat? Awww 😭
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Wanted to share. Xeloda is doing its job. CA 15-3 went down from 46 to 32-in the normal range at last!
CA went from 12.7 to 8.6 close to normal
Babs
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Babs, Excellent !
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Great news Babs! I will find out how Xeloda is going for me when I get scanned in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile bloods have all been good so fingers crossed I get good results too!
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Babs, great news! I am happy for you!
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Babs wonderful news 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
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yah, Babs, love hearing good news! Happy dance, indeed!!
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Thank you all
Bab
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Rejoicing with you, Babs! Go Xeloda! Go normal! Go YOU!
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Congratulations, Babs!
You've worked long and hard for this!
Hope you're out celebrating.
btw, thanks for your post on how you live well as a young, engaged woman with advanced cancer. It touched my heart.
warm wishes, Stephanie
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Thank you Stephanie! I wish I were young!!! I'll be 67 this year but I don't want BC to take over my life. Whatever time I have on this earth I wish to enjoy. My Mom was 42 when she died of BC and she always lived life to the fullest! I still miss her EVERY day but I have so many great memories. Thank god!!! And I want to leave those I love with great memories too- hopefully not for a long time!!!
Babs
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Hi Babs6287,
My bad, I was mixing you up with Becs who is also a wonder woman.
And I so agree, life is greedy for more life, even when the going is hard.
I too celebrate a milestone birthday soon and was recently looking at my bald and skinny photos from 20 years ago. Amazing what can and does happen for us. Life IS what happens when we're busy making other plans. May we en-joy what time we do have and en-rich others' lives too.
Babs, using your mother's short, but invaluable, life as a gauge, you've managed 25 more years - how awesome is that!
Congratulations again!
warmest wishes, Stephanie
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Thanks Stephanie!
Babs
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ahhhhhhh! the wait. Tomorrow will be having third round of navelbine, herceptin and perjeta and Dr will be scheduling scan to see how's working (I was diagnosed with liver Mets and ~3 involved lymph nodes)
Scans aren't even scheduled and I'm already anxious!!!!! Woke up at 2:30am last night...and today trying to stay awake at work with coffee. ..ayayay I may need to consider the advice of many ladies in this site and consider anxiety meds!!!
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gramen,
my MO scheduled my scan after the 3rd round of Taxotere, several weeks later. Closer to chemo #4. That way it had time to work.
Anti anxiety meds are nice to have on hand. They take the edge off, if our mind is going overtime, or to the dark side.
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Heloinone, good to know! now I won't be shocked when it's scheduled for month later!!!
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Mine are scheduled every three months, one coming up in a week. Super scanxiety! I think I need to follow the med advice as well just for periodic "freak outs".
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I also usually get scans every 3 months but this time we stretched it to 4 months since my TMs are falling and they've been reliable thus far.
Babs
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great news Babs! You and my mom were diagnosed around the same time and it's nice to see you (among everyone) with improvements.
Xeloda didn't work well for my mom unfortunately and liver mets are now extensive. She qualifies for a trial with Dana Farber and will be starting on Sapacitabine (oral chemo drug) days 1-7 twice daily than seliciclib (cdk inhibitor) for days 8,9,10 than week off. Beginning in a couple of weeks.
Fingers crossed she can join the improvement and ideally NED club soon.
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