WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS

[Myhubby58]

Hey can someone tell me how Docetaxel is administered.

[Hidden]

It's administered by IV infusion, typically 75mg/m2 of body surface area. There are generally 6 cycles, one infusion every 3 weeks. Your blood numbers are checked before each infusion.

[Myhubby58 in reply to Hidden]

Ok that’s the next step for Myhubby58..zytiga didn’t work..Psa still going up.. now at .67

[Hidden in reply to Myhubby58]

I went through 6 cycles. The side effects were tolerable as they are for most. I never lost my appetite (I actually gained weight). Had some nausea, but never enough to take meds. Other things like diarrhea, watery eyes, lost some hair, had some edema in the legs and ankles mainly when it got hot outside. All of was tolerable. No neuropathy which I am happy for. All the side effects were gone after a month or so. I would definitely do it again if it's needed.

Wishing him the best.

[Gary94 in reply to Hidden]

Lucky guy!

[Hidden in reply to Gary94]

There was some small amount of suffering, but it helped psychologically knowing the cancer was suffering too. I felt like I was actively fighting back against the cancer and then there was the goal of getting through each cycle that helped keep the focus. I know it might sound strange, but I found value in that and actually missed those aspects of it when I stopped. At the same time, I was pretty much tired of it by the end.

[MarkBC in reply to Hidden]

My experience was similar to yours and I agree with this assessment.

[Myhubby58 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Gregg57..God Bless

[monte1111 in reply to Myhubby58]

Much the same as Gregg57. But ended up with foot neuropathy after chemo was done. Suggest icing. I'm wondering if some of those Gel bandages would work?

[NPfisherman]

You may wish to consider the MM-310 trial--a liposomal docetaxol which may have less side effects and better tumor specificity--Phase 1/2... otherwise, several forum members have placed ice on their hands and feet to help decrease peripheral neuropathy, scalp as well... I can not vouch for it....have been blessed by God not to need it so far....

Don Pescado

[Gary94]

Did it most of last year. Wasn’t too bad. Didn’t loose my hair because I got it cut real short. I could pull it out but brushing and blow drying is the main culprit for hair loss. Lost my eye lashes which is a real pain in the summertime. Have bad neuropathy in my legs and feet. It got worse after treatments were stopped but never got better.

[AlanMeyer in reply to Gary94]

Gary,

Did they give you any treatments for neuropathy? Did they give you any preventives like cold socks on your feet, cold gloves on your hands, cold cap, or ice chips in your mouth?

Thanks.

Alan

[Gary94 in reply to AlanMeyer]

Was told to take a certain vitamin and nothing else. The place I was sent to was a real money making mill.

[AlanMeyer in reply to Gary94]

What a bummer. Sometimes I wish that doctors made less money than they do so that people would go to med school because they love the idea of helping sick people, not because the love the idea of making money.

[Gary94 in reply to AlanMeyer]

Do you ever get the idea that the only thing the doctor knows about you is from a glance at your record a few seconds before he comes in the examining room?

[AlanMeyer in reply to Gary94]

Yes. I walked into my urologist's office a week after the biopsy. He rummaged in a pile and pulled out a sealed envelope, opened it, read it, and said "Hmmph. You have cancer."

[RangerTug]

Docetaxel is administrated as an infusion, Judy ally takes about an hour.

[Ian54]

Hi

Had 6 cycles last year used cold cap to prevent hair loss. Allied 30 minutes before during and 30 minutes after total about 2.5 hours.

I found I needed to focus on work to not think about the cold on your head, so take something to focus your mind and warm clothing for upper body.

Cycles 1-4 ok a high from the steroids next day played golf etc. then 3 days of tiredness. Cycle 5 & 6 same but sleeping a lot in the 3 days.

Not a walk in the park but the anticipation of the unknown was worse than reality. When you see how many are having chemotherapy you appreciate yours is not so bad.

Hope helps

Ian

[Patrick-Turner]

You must turn up at hospital on time. You are seated in a chair, and a nurse installs a canula or a medium size needle to a vein in an arm. This is tested to be correct with a saline solution ( purified clean salt water ) from a bag on a pole that has a stand with wheels. Then the dose of Docetaxel and maybe other things are brought to your chair and fed slowly into your blood stream over a an hour and half, and you can sleep, read, watch TV, talk to the ppl in next chair along, or remain glued to your smart phone, wotever.

During the process you can wander off to a toilet isolated from the rest of hospital and guide the trolley and bag along with you. All very easy, IMHO.

When you have the Docetaxel dose fully delivered you are decoupled from the small hose to the bag on the pole, and the canula is removed, some band aid placed over it, and usually you're free to go after some paper work. You won't feel any different until a day or two have passed. But next day you may have to get an Neulasta injection at same place or from a community nurse and within 24 hours after the end of your Docetaxel infusion. This injection is to boost your white cell production. It is important to have this because one of the early side effects of Docetaxel is to reduce your white cells to a very low level which can allow any infection to make you sick or kill you unless you white cells are there in good numbers to fight such infections which are being fought by your white cells for all of your life. The first 8 days after chemo can make a man feel just horrible. Just not himself. A man's mouth can feel dry, skin inside is like sandpaper, and food tends to lose its taste a bit. But then a man usually begins to feel better, and the Docetaxel level in the body reduces, and is lost from the body down the toilet. After about 10 days its nearly all gone, and then if the chemo cycle is 3 weeks or 21 days, a man might feel very well before the next chemo. But the worst effects I had were neuropathy where my feet felt like they were walking on gravel, and nerves in legs were affected. This can be long lasting side effect and affect men differently and be distressing, but he should get used to it. Its over a year since I had chemo and my gait is a shuffling walk and some tingles in legs are still present. I only had 5 chemos before beginning Lu177 after the Docetaxel failed. The 5 Docets were enough to make me lose nearly all body hair, and finger nails and toenails stopped growing. But since chemo, most hair has returned, I need to shave again, use a hair clipper, and nails are growing OK but some have a wrinkle in them where they stopped, then re-started. I had no nausea but had some bowel irregularity and needed something to keep things moving along.

My mind seemed to escape the damage that chemo is renowned for doing.

After chemo 1 cycle, I cycled on every day of each cycle, doing 6km in day one and increasing to 20km by 10 days than by 15 days I was able to do 200km+ a week, and then on day of each chemo I cycled 19km to hospital and 19km home, and my exercise probably helped me recover each time.

but my hospital said they have 4 levels of chemo, Docetaxel, then Cabazitaxel, then carboplatin, and one other I don't know about and the side effects are worse, and possible complications more likely for these 4 selections.

Chemo for Pca in bones was often regarded as palliative care because of its failure rates with bone mets. But I've just had 4 x Lu177, and that's done what my chemo could not do - reduce my Psa, stop most bone pains, and so far no new mets have been seen. Side effects of Lu177 have been far more tolerable than chemo, But it is probably to give a temporary reprieve from what may be the inevitable progress of Pca to mutate and kill me, because it can become untreatable by any known agent. I might have to try Radium223, another nuclide agent that is more likely to work than any chemo. The nurses in the chemo ward presided over mainly very sick ppl who often were to die soon.

So they are under emotional stress. One Nurse said to me, "Patrick, if youse don't have a sense of humour, Get Out.." and I replied with "But Darling, I can't leave you, and I love you, I'd miss you" with a twinkle in me eye, and that cheered her up and we got on very well. About 9 months later, while getting treated for my hip, this lady was in ward and had got married to someone, and she was about 45, not beautiful but oh what a lady she was!!!.

Well, I ain't married, and have no prospect of that, but meanwhile life is good.

I have a right hip problem that prevents me cycling and it could be due to it just wearing out its cartilage. I don't really know yet. I had to have both knees replaced in early 2017. Hips may have similar fast wearing out properties to my knees.

So if Psa goes low, and docs estimate Pca threat is supressed for say 3 years, they'll give me a replacement hip if I need it. So I'll talk to orthopaedic surgeon this week to book in for a hip because there is a waiting list and it can't be done for maybe another 9 months, and if Pca flares up and can't be kept at bay then I'll just change to palliative care with pain killers.

I hope I have explained what is ahead where chemo is involved and for possible other things.

Last Friday my good acupuncturist seemed to work a miracle to relieve the daily and nightly pain in my hip. Its yet to be seen how long his fix works but in past he worked miracles on crook back and neck using a laser pointer, no needles, and he knows where the right places are to achieve the wanted outcome, and not like some who appear to know a lot, but know nothing, except to take your money.

Best of luck,

Patrick Turner.

[AlanMeyer in reply to Patrick-Turner]

Very informative post Patrick. Thanks.

Alan

[Magnus1964]

There is a new form of taxotere coming out in pill form.

[Myhubby58 in reply to Magnus1964]

My next question is, how long can you live with advanced prostate cancer when it has spread every where and is it possible to go into remission if you are stage 4 metesis?

[Hidden in reply to Myhubby58]

When you say everywhere, does that include major organs, brain, lungs? If it's bones and lymph nodes, then you can live for 10 years or more. I just read somewhere that most men with advanced PCa live at least 5 years. That's quite an improvement from 10 years ago.

Many of us here are in remission at stage 4, some for over 10 years.

[Hirsch]

When?

[Myhubby58 in reply to Hirsch]

Ok, here we go Myhubby58 has the port put in chest on yesterday..now he starts chemotherapy on Monday morning (taxotere).. his psa is 93.9please pray for us.

[Hirsch in reply to Myhubby58]

Will do