Dave has been on the full dose of Nexavar (daily oral chemo pills) for about six months now. It has been shrinking his liver tumor and bringing down his AFP, but the lung mets are stubbornly still growing a bit. Because of that, the doctor just switched him to a new oral chemo called Stivarga. He thinks it will better target the lung nodules.
Dave's main complaint on Nexavar was persistent diarrhea. He finally got that under control by soaking chia seeds in water and taking a tsp three times a day. He also noticed, toward the later part of treatment, his taste buds were dull and food did not taste very good. He lost about 20 pounds in that six month period.
They're easing him into the Stivarga, and he just started it this week -- two pills, once a day. Next week, assuming all goes well, he'll move up to three pills per day, then the full dose of four pills the next week. After that there is a one week break before the next cycle. (Nice to get a break, because the Nexavar was every. single. day. for months!)
So far it's just been good -- his appetite has returned with a vengeance! He's not getting too complacent though, he knows this is a low dose. But it was still nice to see him have his low-fat/under 600 calorie breakfast with the Stivarga this morning, then we went to the gym and worked out for 90 minutes, and when we came back he had another full breakfast afterward!
Keeping the faith in Michigan,
Wendy (and Dave)
Dad with HCC started Lenvima 3 weeks ago, looking for encouragement
Experiences with TARE?
