Jim updates us how his son’s secondary liver cancer treatment even surprises his oncologist… Jim’s son is one of our 4 secondary liver cancer survivors we recommend you read about at how to survive secondary liver cancer.
Jim summarizes his son’s secondary liver cancer treatment as follows:
- My son is staying positive and we are looking after him so he can get well.
- His aunt also treats him with relaxation procedures three times a week.
- I think the complimentary treatment is helping with the chemo.
- I don’t know but something seems to be working.
A holistic cancer treatment involving:
- positive attitude,
- known cancer chemotherapy treatments
- the more care-takers the better (his aunt is a professional cancer nurse who nursed herself through breast cancer) and
- relaxation procedures!
Stress is a killer
It suddenly strikes me that mother started burning aroma-therapy oils in water over a tea-light candle when father was nursed inside the living room.
Question for Jim: please explain more about the relaxation: what kind of relaxation therapy is it and why exactly is it used?
I mentioned in how to survive secondary liver cancer that stress is a killer and that mind matters when treating cancer, treating any disease or being in survival situations.
When father was diagnosed with cancer he was both angry and utterly sad: 2 feelings that could be dealt with in a positive way with relaxation. But the main thing in treating cancer is:
use all help you can get:
mental help, physical help and lots of help from loving care-givers.
Help secondary liver cancer awareness
The more people sharing their secondary metastatic liver cancer stories, the more you will be inspired on your metastatic liver cancer journey.
Please comment your secondary cancer story HERE
- When more people share their secondary liver cancer experience
- you will tap into more every day real life experience to learn about secondary liver cancer
Because cancer is best explained by the people that have experienced it up close.
Is Xeloda ‘the’ new cancer treatment?
- Jim’s son is undergoing chemotherapy with Xeloda and Oxaliplatin
- Xeloda was suggested by our father’s as a "smart" chemotherapy pill
Xeloda seems to be a new cancer treatment (FDA Approved in 2005 for the treatment of stage 3 colon cancer).
It was the last oral cancer treatment drug father’s GP suggested saying:
"you could most likely be doing your father a favour using Xeloda".
Our GP had another patient who was using Xeloda as an oral colon cancer chemotherapy with ‘positive’ results. Positive meaning that his cancer patient was feeling better using Xeloda, although I have no clue whether it has cured him or not.
Xeloda sounded very promising as a new cancer treatment when the doctor explained us how Xeloda works:
Once Xeloda finds a cancer cell, only then "it will transform" and attack the cancer cell.
I imagined it was a kind of "Pacman": a smart drug that knows which cells to kill and which cells not, resulting in better cancer treatments with lesser chemotherapy side effects.
The cold shower came when the oncologist said:
Although you can take Xeloda orally, it’s a chemotherapy pill.
In other words: Xeloda is still a chemotherapy with most likely disastrous side effects of the chemotherapy for your already weak father.
After this cold shower we went back to Google and found out that Xeloda is not as "Pacman" nor as "smart" as we imagined it to be:
Xeloda is a chemotherapy pill that will be changed in the body to 5-fluorouracil ( 5-FU).
Oral colon cancer chemotherapy Xeloda sold by Roche is
capecitabine that gets enzymatically converted to 5-fluorouracil in the tumor.
Xeloda undergoes three enzymatic steps and
two intermediary metabolites (5′-DFCR and 5′-DFUR)
to form 5-FU.
At this point, the oncologist’s cold shower explanation made suddenly much more sense:
5 FU was the anticancer drug father would have been given by the oncologist when father would have agreed in the first place.
In some patients with colon, rectum, or breast cancer, 5-FU does stop cancer cells from growing and does decrease the size of the tumor.
Father’s last cancer joke was more in the sense of: 5FU? F… you…
Xeloda and Oxaliplatin cancer treatment questions for all
We would love to get feedback from Jim and all other (Xeloda) chemotherapy users about:
- the Xeloda results, both from the chemotherapy pill as from the intravenous chemotherapy
- the chemotherapy results (how long was the chemotherapy treatment to reach which positive result?)
- is it true that Xeloda and Oxaliplatin induce hiccups and if so, are there any treatments for that?
- what other side effects of chemotherapy did you have and how did you deal with them?
Jim’s son secondary liver cancer treatment
Read Jim’s first contribution at : Colon cancer spread to liver. Thanks for updating us Jim and:
We wish you well Jim and family!
I would like to post an update on my son.
He is taking Xeloda and Oxaliplatin intravenous. He was recently told that the tumour in the bowel had shrunk from 1.4 to 1.1cm and the liver cancers were receding.
The oncologists were extremely surprised (they actually said the improvements were significant) and have now decided to give him a second round of chemo.
He was originally told that if the first round of chemo made no improvement that would be it.
He is on the second round now and after these three he will be going onto Xeloda orally for a time (we don’t know how long).
The other thing is that the oncology dept and hospital have been marvelous and very caring.
Conclusion from report of last scan:
“Internal improvement post chemotherapy in the form of decrease in the size of lung lesions as well as liver metastasis and primary site at sigmoid colon”.
He is still gaining weight and eating well and has no sickness whatsoever and no hair loss; he even looks healthier now than he
did prior to diagnosis- albeit he gets tired sometimes.
He is also staying
positive and we are looking after him so he can get well.
His aunt also treats him with relaxation procedures three times a week.
I have to admit that I think the complimentary treatment is helping with the chemo. I don’t know but something seems to be working.
I will keep you posted.
I have so much faith that
this is going to work.
Jim
Jim’s son is our 4th metastatic liver cancer survivor sharing his secondary liver cancer treatment above.
Dear Nicole,
Jim’s son lost his battle with cancer 22nd 11 2010, see comment “Jim on November 22nd, 2010 6:05 pm” at http://www.metastaticlivercancer.org/2008-08-29-cancer-treatment/can-chemotherapy-cure-metastatic-liver-cancer/
At this moment Bill Owen is updating his battle with metastatic liver cancer from the colon at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bill_owen .
Hugs,
Kim
My aunt was recently diagnosed with secondary liver cancer from breast cancer. Your story is very encouraging. How is your son doing today?
Update on Jim’s son,
Yesterday we got the results of his PET scan and they showed that there was no further cancer growths in his liver, lung and bowel or anywhere else. The bowel cancer is dead and the lung and liver are now very small; so lets say he is remission! He is has started another round of Xeloda and will probably have another two of Oxalyplatin after this. His cancers have redued by probably 95%.
We have decided not to operate on the bowel tumour for the moment as he needs to gain more strength and put on more weight; the surgeons agreed with this as they said the bowel cancer is not now a problem. We want him to get stronger so he can have the operation and hopfully reverse the stoma. He has gained one half stone in weight over the last three weeks and has today driven himelf and his mother to his aunt for his relaxation therapy.
Given that last September he was given no hope and only six weeks to three months all is good at the moment. He looks good too, back to his normal self with a good sense of humour.
He still takes the alternative therapy remedies and these seem to be helping in a geat way. His aunt is treating another patient with similar conditions to his and her cancers have reduced a phenomenal amount, so much so the oncologist asked if she was taking anything esle with the chemo, and she just said health food!
He takes so many type of remedies that I can’t keep up with them all as they are taken at different times of the chemos cycles.
I will say if you are looking for alternative treatment stay away form the ‘shonks’ and look for someone who has has an oncoloy background with medical certification as they are the only ones who understand the complete picture of both treatments.
Good luck to all of you; I will keep you posted on his porogress.
Best wishes,
Jim
Many many thanks Jim for your update.
We featured your son’s improvement at Successful colon cancer treatment.
We wish you and your family well!
Update on 23/01/2009. I am not sure if the last post was accepted. My son had the results of his lastest scan on Thursday. The liver metatasis has reduced by a further 65% approx. and the lung and colon tumours arre stable. The oncologoist was ecstatic with the results which he said were exceptional considering the time on chemo. He was due to have the final intravenous Oxaliplatin this Tuesday coming but they have decided to give his body a rest and are going to continue with the less invasive Xeloda.
He is still very tired and has pain occasionally but apart from that he is good ‘considering the condition’.
When he is strong enough they are are going to consider removing the colon tumour so he can be rid of the colostomy bag which is the biggest thing that worries him.
I advise anyone in this situation to seek alternative therapy along with the traditional chemo. I know we are lucky having a family member who is a prcationer but just try a few if you can’t afford them all-it wont hurt.
In anser to the question regarding the alternative therapies, they are paid for by his aunt at no cost to us. He now also qualifies for a genreous welfare pension as he can’t work for 12-24 months and therefore the cost of the prescription medicine, i.e. Xeloda only now costs us $5.00 yes $5.00. I belive the cost per 100 tablets to the government is close on $1000.00. We are so lucky with our health care system if you are seriously ill. CT Scans and consultations are at no cost either as well as hosptial adimissions of which he has had two due to infections for the stoma each resluting the three to four day admissions.
I am so angry that the US health systems ‘sucks’ the way it does and denies equality in treatment to those who need it most and can’t always afford it. Let’s hope the new adminstration may see things differently. PS I’m not politcal but see health care as being open and equal for everyone regardless of their financial situation. Health care should not be for profit of shareholders.
Hope and prayers to all others who are suffering this awful condition.
Jims son,
I would just like to make one point on the insurance aspect. We don’t have any. (You can take it out it you want but is is not mandatory). Medial support is paid by the government out of taxes and a small Medicare Levy upon one’s earnings; one percent I am sure.
I was told that the best treatment here in Australia for cancer is in the public system. The private system is good for smaller things like hip & and knee replacements and uncomplicated heart bypass surgery and other elective surgery that can avoid lenghty waits. The only thing we pay for are the drugs at an extremely reduced government subsidised cost; that was the $55 in the last post for the chemo drugs only.
We don’t even pay for a visit to the doctor most are bulk billed by them to the government. (This can be doctor dependant, but you do get most of it back if they do charge you; they do have the option to charge, but the amount is government regulated).
Hooray for Ausralian medical health; we are very very lucky.
Best wishes,
Jim
@Jim
Thanks as usual Jim for the update and your vote.
We featured your last update at Alternative treatments for cancer with some extra questions for you as usual 🙂
Hugs for you and your family.
We wish you well!
Update on my son.
He is currently into his third round of chemo. This will be the last of six. He is due to have a CT scan in a couple of weeks time. He is ok; but no where “out of the woods” yet.
His aunt prescribes him with a multitude of alternative medicines(too many to mention here) but one of the most successful we think is the Coriolus/Grifola mushroom extract compound (I belive it’s pretty expensive). It has been used by the Chinese for 2000 years and I belive that it helps make the chemo about 30 per cent more effective (only time will tell) but his results are positive. He is still gaining weight, albeit only a kilo or so here and there, but that’s sure as hell better than loosing it. He also take liver strenghteing drops (I don’t know what they actually are but his aunt assures use they will assist).
This is shown in the fact that his ‘bloods’ are always near normal.
We are all staying positive, but the main thing is making sure that he eats well and healthily.
So far he has had no sign of sickness just nromal mild nausea. I am sure the alternative therapies are helping us with this battle.
The fortunate thing we have here in Australia is that all the treatment for this is at no charge and all of the consultations are at no charge also. We only have to pay a minor ammount for the Xeloda and the other drugs; but $55 per month is not much for what you get.
I will keep you informed. But to all of you stay positive for your relatives sakes. If you want to cry yes do it, but do it alone and not in front of them.
Best wishes,
Jim