Scan back moved to lymph nodes

I had the Auxumin PET this week and it showed cancer in my lymph nodes in the groin area and lower back. I guess that is better than Mets or organs. My oncologist has me scheduled for Taxtere and Eligard every 30 days, starting after Thanksgiving. I will be searching all of the great chemo tips. 6 rounds, every three weeks. The saddest part is I am more worried about going to work or not, missing too much work, or going to work and being worthless. I have LTD and certainly protected by MLOA, but nervous not knowing if I can handle the chemo combo. What have y’all done when in this situation?

[Schwah]

It’s not at all as bad as I expected. My dr had me chew on ice and put my finger tips on ice so I had no real issues with mouth or finger nails that done do. I had 1 or 2 kinda bad days every time (days 3-4 usually) where it felt like the flu. But no bad nausea. I could work,exercise and golf and live my life. Oh yea. Make sure they give you neulasta shots to keep your blood count up and avoid infections. And have some good meds around for constipation. The anti nausea drugs they give with the chemo can really tie things up a bit. I even did a thing to freeze my head during chemo and four hours after and didn’t lose my hair. Not vanity but more that I didn’t want to look the cancer patient part. All in all tho No where near as tough as my wife’s chemo for Breast cancer.

[Hidden in reply to Schwah]

Thank you! That is encouraging! Did you combine with hormone therapy?

[Schwah in reply to Hidden]

I did (and am still doing ) it all. Chemo, lupron , Zytega and radiation to my three mets. Also doing Celebrex and zometa too since that combination reduced deaths by 22% in a recent clinical trial. Neither Celebrex nor zineta alone made a difference for some reason. Down to .02 PSA for about 8 months now.

Schwah

[Jollyjill]

Very sorryto hear that it has spread. My SO is in a similar position. He had a sodium fluoride PET that showed spread to 2 LN,neck & hip but diagnosis isn’t conclusive so he has scheduled the Axumin. Could you share your experience with cost (Copay after insurance), reliability, side effects any & other relevant features? Thanks for your time & hang in there!

[Chubby42 in reply to Jollyjill]

I felt ok the first 3 to 4 days then felt horrible for the next week then got better and generally went back to work the 3rd week just before my next cycle.

Had horrible tinny tast in my mouth for about 2 weeks each treatment, my toe nails fell off, they only offer a head pack in the UK nothing for fingers & toes.

Hope it goes well m8

[Hidden in reply to Chubby42]

Did you get worse after each cycle?

[Chubby42 in reply to Hidden]

The First & Last where the easiest the middle cycles where the worst, they say each cycle is different but that's what I found.

[Hidden in reply to Chubby42]

What did you do to eliminate the tinny taste in your mouth??? Thanks, Joseph S.

[Chubby42 in reply to Hidden]

Not much really it cleared up each time after a week or so.

Tried mouth wash & brushed my teeth a lot.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I heard it helps to mix baking soda and saltwater to gargle. Keep it in the fridge.

[Hidden in reply to Jollyjill]

I had not satisfied my out of pocket so the total was $11,000 and my out of pocket around $5,200. My insurance got some discounts. The prep was no food or water four hours leading up to the appt. They don’t want you to work out 48 hours in advance. They put in the IV solution immediately before the scan and the scan took 25 minutes. Drink lots of water afterward. No side effects except the cost.

[Jollyjill in reply to Hidden]

Thank you! That’s a pretty steep out of pocket amount. I’ll post details of the outcome.