Hello - just finished 4th of hopefully just 6 chemo's of Docetaxel. PSA was 30, now 0.34. I'm getting all my nutritional value from plant based foods, grains, flax seed, chia and hemp seeds - also, on Xtandi. The last infusion hit me pretty hard and has slowed me down a lot. MO says I'm slightly of ahead of where he expected me to be in a positive way. According to him I'm in 'dense remission' and I don't really know hat that means, except he says no signs of cancer from markers. Anyway, sure do miss FOOD and a darn cup of coffee in the morning and god forbid a glass of wine at night with my wife.
Was also thinking to ask the MO if we could skip the 5th infusion to help me recovery a bit from fatigue - good idea or not do you think?
Any thoughts to help me out?
Thanks a lot - Ken
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ken12491
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It sounds like your having an excellent response to the chemo. That's good. Hopefully it will last for a significant time and will work again if it has to be repeated.
I don't know the answer to your question about skipping a dose. If the doc doesn't like that, another technique that is sometimes used is to reduce the dose, possibly increasing the frequency if desired. Some docs give 2/3 dose every two weeks instead of the full dose every 3 weeks, or 1/3 dose weekly. A guy I knew took the 1/3 dose weekly and claimed that he had hardly any side effects from it. He, like you, had a really good response. And of course one could stretch out the intervals. Hopefully your oncologist has some experience with these approaches and has read about them. You might also do some research on your own in Pubmed ( ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ ) and bring him printouts of any articles that strike you as relevant.
Are you getting good treatment for chemo side effects? Ice on hands, feet, mouth and head during infusions can be helpful against neuropathy. Ondansetron (aka Zofran) may help a lot with nausea and vomiting.
I haven't had chemotherapy but I have read that some patients have a cup of ice chips while they're in the chair and they periodically put some in their mouths.
My understanding of the use of ice is that, when some area of the body is chilled, the blood flow in that area is reduced. That also reduces the amount of the chemo drug (Taxotere/docetaxel in this case) to which the chilled tissue is exposed. If there are parts of the body that don't have any metastases they don't need the chemo and, by reducing chemo exposure via cooling, they can reduce the side effects, for example on damaging taste buds, that could occur.
Why no coffee in the morning and wine at night? I had no issues with either....If the doctor hasn't forbidden it please continue to enjoy those things in life that have meaning and bring you pleasure, such as food and drink!
My husband ate high protein during his chemo along with lots of veggies. My personal opinion is if you are eating plant based because it makes you feel good or in control, continue doing so. If you are doing it because you think it will cure or stop the progression of your cancer - protein is going to help with muscles and recovery during chemo. You can return to plant based after the treatment if you choose to.
He also had coffee every day and at least one glass of wine at night (his chemo was at the beginning of his treatment and we both probably drank a little too much).
He also used ice chips during the chemo sessions which really helped keep his taste buds intact. The last session he decided he wanted coffee not ice and had the horrible metallic taste for several weeks. I never once told him "I told you so". LOL
Oh and we had the MO reduce the taxotere dosage. He did the first one full strength, the second one at 20% reduction and the remaining four at 10% reduction. This was so he could skip the Nuelesta injections as we were trying to reduce the number of meds he was suddenly put on. He was diagnosed as a Gleason 7 (4+3), PSA 74, with lots of lymph node involvement, 1 large and 3 small bone mets. Current PSA is undetectable after three years of Lupron, 2 years of Zytiga and Provenge.
My PCa treatment: Lupron, Zometa, Abiraterone/Prednisone and recently completed 6 infusions of Taxotere, last one on Nov 1st, 2019.
My mouth sores are gone and taste buds back in action. For the mouth sores, I gargled with Himalayan salt crystals mixed with baking soda in water, twice a day- this worked amazingly well.
The taste buds tapped out on the second infusion. The only foods could enjoy were salads and fruits with plenty of water. Expresso everyday and occasionally tried IPAs to test the taste buds.
Fatigue was an issue at first, but kept going to the gym and logging 8000 daily steps with the dogs.
"Was also thinking to ask the MO if we could skip the 5th infusion to help me recovery a bit from fatigue - good idea or not do you think?"
I never considered this, since you're already committed to Chemo, get the full effect
Cheese and crackers. Some frown on cheese. Pickle spears. Anything that sounds good. Just 6 weeks (plus 2 weeks of feeling like crap at the end) and you're done! Keep on kicking it!
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