Rotterdam regimen

[5gems]

Hi. I would like to ask anyone if they have been on this mix of drugs and if yes how did it go.

It looks like this is to be my 2nd line treatment.

Thanks in advance and hope you are all taking care of yourselves.

[angeladale]

I had this regime over the first half of 2013 , having been on carboplatin and taxol , carbo and gemcitibane ...so my third strike !

Cisplatin and Etoposide make up the Rotterdam regime . Heavyduty sickness pills go with the Cisplatin , a regime in themselves ; as it happens I coped very well with it all , losing my hair again but he , what's hair ? The etoposide pills were fine too .

The usual tiredness , the usual weariness but whilst retired , I managed a few weekends away , and continued pretty much as normal .

The sickness pills do cause awful constipation , so before that happens you need a laxative strategy that works for you !

This regime gave me the longest remission , if you include the period on the drugs , which I now do . In other words , I no longer look for periods of remission , I see it all as a whole , knocking my cancer into the long grass before it sashays back !

Since then , I have been on weekly taxol ( first half of 2014 ) and now on Carboplatin again ,(after reaction to Caelyx) A pattern has emerged of 6 months on , six months off approx ...but the bugger is under wraps for the moment which is a bonus .

Hope this helps and any other info I can provide , do ask , or Clinical nurses .

Very best wishes .

[5gems in reply to angeladale]

Thankyou so much for that. I really appreciate it. How many weeks in total if all goes well? My hair has just grown back but loosing it again is the least of my worries. I will take your advice and try not to get constipated as that would be a problem for me. I would love a long remission as am platinum resistant. Are you by any chance"? My OVC is inoperable due to where it is .

I have been enjoying the sunshine today here in Aberdeen. Hope it's nice where you are.

[angeladale in reply to 5gems]

I have been off platinum for over two years ; but not sure if I am resitant ; we are trying again on carboplatin . Caelyx caused a bad reaction , although a sail for others . So now trying to waylay allergic reactions to chemo which I seem to be experiencing .

Surgery removed much , but not all in 2011 .

Sunny in London but too windy to hang the washing out !

We must keep smiling .

[5gems]

Thank you for that and yes smile we must and sure will continue to do. I hope they find something to help with the allergic reactions and you continue to improve. I am inoperable unfortunately so it's really just maintenance for me unless I gat a very good response with particular chemosynthesis but will keep at it.

Dull and damp here in Aberdeen though we have had 2days of beautiful sunshine.

Take care.