Docetaxel Chemo – the highs and the lows - - Page 7Advanced or metastatic cancer

User

Posted 19 Mar 2017 at 23:09

Not sure about the beer , toenails and porkscrathing advice but 😆 But way to go Dave you are almost there I have got so much respect for you . Keep going.
BFN
Julie X

NEVER LAUGH AT A LIVE DRAGON

User

Posted 21 Mar 2017 at 17:35

David,

Infusion 7 Day 1:

Back on the Docetaxel bus today after my short lived "final" 6th Chemo session on 14th Feb. Very limited side effects so far, but my PSA has shot up to 2.4 from 0.3 in just 5 weeks from my last "final" chemo session which is a bit of a worry to say the least.

Onco says not to worry as these new Chemo sessions (likely to be 4 more to bring it to 10 as yourself) will likely bring the PSA right down again, but based on the PSA jump, a longer period of remission for myself, that you talked about looks quite a hope from where I am sitting.

I would value your thoughts or anyone elses on this

It looks like you new thread that you will be starting after the Chemo is over 'From docetaxel to ??? - the interregnum' will be most interesting and I cannot wait to join it

Regards

Dave

"Incurable cancer does not mean it is untreatable and does not mean it is terminal either"

User

Posted 21 Mar 2017 at 18:13

Dave,

What confuses me is how the scans show such dramatic reductions in the mets and yet PSA has jumped. Que? Does not compute.

Hopefully, the remaining 4 sessions will bring it down again but I think the challenge for me as well as for you will be how long it will stay down after chemo ends.

I was hoping that the 'From docetaxel to ??? - the interregnum' thread would cover quite a long period of time, I will continue to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

I'll post my Infusion 7 Day 1 thread later on this evening.

David

User

Posted 21 Mar 2017 at 18:29

Thanks David,

I'll hold on to the fact that I saw the pictures from the PSMA Pet Scan and they showed a real reduction in the mets from last time and hopefully the PSA jump is just a blip.

I am reminded of that wonderful quote from John Cleese in the film Clockwise at moments like these:

"It's not the despair, Laura. I can take ... despair. It's the hope I can't stand"

Ha ha.

Look forward to your report later.

Regards

Dave

"Incurable cancer does not mean it is untreatable and does not mean it is terminal either"

User

Posted 21 Mar 2017 at 19:36

Infusion 7 Day 1

The days of the 'down' tunes are over, my PSA has dropped from 3.16 to 3.12 and all other bloods results were good. So the best I think I can hope for now is that the PSA results bump along the bottom until the end of chemo and, this is really pushing it, don't start to rise for at least the rest of the summer after chemo ends.

Still, it's an ill wind that blows no good. I was having real trouble finding suitable 'down' tunes. Most I was finding related to .... cough .... intimate sexual practices .... cough.

Infusion 7 has had it's challenges. All went well up to the commencement of the 1 hour docetaxel infusion. It started and I settled down to suck my 18 ice cubes and 7 pineapple cubes. Nursey took great interest in this and wanted to know why. I explained that I'd been tipped off that sucking ice and pineapple cubes helped prevent taste changes and that so far for all 6 previous infusions food and beer had continued to taste great. I said that I couldn't be sure that this process had indeed prevented taste changes but that I was going to continue it for the rest of the infusions because I didn't want to prove whether it did or didn't work.

Anyway, having consumed 18 ice cubes and 6 pineapple cubes I popped the last pineapple cube into my mouth right on the hour mark, glanced up at the docetaxel bag and thought that looks rather full. Called over Nursey and she looks and says "it's only delivered 1mg of the 180mg dose". Oh says I, "that means I've had 20 seconds of the 1 hour dose". Now I confess at this point I nearly said loudly, 3 times, the name of a Muslim sect (clue, it's not Sunni) but I have a tendency to mispronounce and thought I'd better not. Instead I said "Oh golly gosh, I've just finished all my ice and pineapple cubes and there's still nearly an hour to go, wooops". Quick as a flash Nursey comes back with "at least now you'll be able to find out whether your measures really do work or not". To be fair Nursey was really apologetic but I did say that if this meant that me beer tasted bad for the next 21 days then she had better start running when she next saw me.

The upside for you though is that in a few days time I can tell you whether the ice and pineapple cube treatment is effective.

User

Posted 21 Mar 2017 at 19:47

Great to see we can keep our humour through all this and good to see you PSA still coming down so the Chemo is working. Great news

Dave

"Incurable cancer does not mean it is untreatable and does not mean it is terminal either"

User

Posted 21 Mar 2017 at 20:51

I feel it's time for a little diversion on this thread once again. We've had 'down' tunes and beer reviews. Now it's music.

The thing I most like doing is smiling, not for the smile itself, it's the things that make me smile that's the important bit.

Beer makes me smile, good food makes me smile, Mrs_ColU makes me smile (lots), playing croquet makes me smile especially so when I'm giving my opponent a good beating http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif and music makes me smile.

Music is also a great pain killer. Plug the headphones into the ears, play your favorite music and get transported away from all your worries, aches and pains.

For me, Coldplay, Leonard Cohen, Mumford and Sons, Of Monsters and Men, Status Quo, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, UB40 and The Who all make me smile. But king of them all is Mark Knopfler (MK).

MK is a great, great, guitar player but what makes him unique is his song writing. Most song writers compose songs about love, it's easiest to write love songs. MK does love songs as well but he also does songs about virtually anything else you can think of. A few examples of such songs:

Imelda Marcos, Sony Liston, a journeyman boxer, a sheep farmer, Napoleon Bonaparte, truck drivers, a racing car driver, a stock car driver, Remembrance Day, a piper who died in WWI, the scrapping of a ship, a Scaffolder's wife, the Waltz, Hanging day, Pirates, the Boys from the Blackstuff, Shoes, Cartographers, the Bushes (POTUS), the poet Basil Bunting and Beryl Bainbridge. And that's just a few.

I shall include a couple of his songs in each new post I make on this thread. I hope I've whetted your appetite. Here's three to be going on with.

Just to prove he can play the guitar - 'What It Is':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAxzr9BdnkA

MK and James Taylor singing the song about Cartographers - 'Sailing to Philadelphia':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnCK2LgeIvM

And if this one doesn't get your toes tapping nothing will, the song about the journeyman boxer - 'Broken Bones':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=729ua1DRWRs

Edited by member 22 Mar 2017 at 08:06 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 00:24

Mmmm - very nice selection there young David. And I can't deny the quality of the playing or the writing. But we need something sloppy for us girls as well...

So I'll see your MK and raise you Cohen's 'I'm your man' for possibly the chat up lines ever. Though I have led a sheltered life.

And Roberta Flack 'First time ever I saw your face' for my beloved (aw - how romantic is that!)

And Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good' just to remind us that we still can.

Contented sigh...

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 00:25

I meant 'possibly the best chat up lines ever'. Too much wine and not enough sleep.

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 07:30

All good stuff, especially Nina.

And LC:

"And if you want a doctor
I'll examine every inch of you"

I dread to think how many times in my life I've thought exactly that (but I've never said it).

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 07:40

I'm having 'First time ever I saw your face' at my funeral but the Easther Bennet version.

I am sticking; with Rod Stewart's version of 'Handbags and Gladrags' in my hand.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 08:16

Dave,

One thought. Hopefully your Onco still has Abi and Enzo in his bag of tricks for you. Enzo did well by me.

David

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 08:30

Thanks David,

Yes he has.

He has told me he has up to 5 further lines of defence post Chemo if needed, so I am hoping the journey will continue to be a long one as I am sure yours will be.

Dave

"Incurable cancer does not mean it is untreatable and does not mean it is terminal either"

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 09:38

Dave,
Has he told you what those 5 further lines of defence are? I'd like to compare notes.

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 10:05

David,

He reeled them off pretty quickly and I should have noted them down, but I will do so when I see him next in few weeks time, but he did mention further chemo (one of his patients has has 37 sessions over a period of time, can you believe that?), he mentioned Abi and Enzo and immunisation drugs, but after that my mind went a bit blank.

On a positive note he did say that there has been such a transformation over the past 5 or more years with treatments that will be dwarfed by the new treatments that are coming up in the next few years, so you and I need to hang on in there for a few more years yet David

Dave

Edited by member 22 Mar 2017 at 10:09 | Reason: Not specified

"Incurable cancer does not mean it is untreatable and does not mean it is terminal either"

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 10:56

By the way how are you feeling today David,

We are both on Infusion 7 day 2 as I recall.

i am feeling as bright as a button and am going out for a long walk.

Regards

Dave

"Incurable cancer does not mean it is untreatable and does not mean it is terminal either"

User

Posted 22 Mar 2017 at 12:19

Perfectly normal (I've just come back from the gym) apart from my bowels in lock down mode as usual. Day 2 is always OK, it's days 3 to 6 I feel crap.

User

Posted 23 Mar 2017 at 16:06

Infusion 7 Day 3

Ice and Pineapple cubes (refer back to Infusion 7 Day 1). So far I've noticed no significant change in taste. Therefore, we can conclude that one of the following must be true:

1. Docetaxel does not affect my sense of taste.

2. Completing the sucking of one hours worth of Ice and Pineapple cubes when there is still 59 minutes and 40 seconds to go does provide some protection against changes in taste.

I prefer to believe the second is true and will continue to use Ice and Pineapple cubes for my last 3 infusions.

It's day 3 and I've got no feelings of crapiness, again see previous posts. It's always cut in by day 4 at the latest in the past so I won't count any chickens yet. I just hope it doesn't mean they've given me a placebo instead of docetaxel. http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif

Bowls are still in lock down. I'm due to take the last of The Basturds, for this infusion, tonight. I don't know where that pill is going but it ain't going down my throat. In fact, I think I shall torture it and make it wish it had never been manufactured. I'll be using the Dynorod again tonight and if that hasn't worked by tomorrow morning I'm off down the Doc's for a full power wash!

So onto today's fix of Mark Knopfler (MK). It's back to our yoof! MK is a Geordie.

“Basil” is a song about MK’s summer job working for the Evening Chronicle newspaper in Newcastle, where he met the poet Basil Bunting, who was also working for the paper at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfeRBua8nGk

And then he moved to London.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR0WeuJePi8

User

Posted 23 Mar 2017 at 20:46

Hi, when it was suspected I may be getting peripheral neuropathy my consultant said he may need to reduce the amount of Docelaxel to prevent it from happening. Fortunately the numbness was only temperory and it went away by itself.

However, this is not to be taken lightly and I was shocked when looking up this condition and found this https://www.gov.uk/peripheral-neuropathy-and-driving I am not saying that you could be banned from driving, but I cannot see what other reason you need to inform the DVLA. If your consultant has not written it down anywhere and you are maybe just assuming what the numbness is, I would seriously advise not to mention it. If you have an accident your insurance may be voided.

I have just completed my 10 cycles of Docetaxel and it was eight months of Hell, so a bit envious of the way you seem to be breezing through the treatment (well done!). I get the "verdict" next Wednesday from my consultant. Stress is not a big enough word! will let you know what happens

Best regards

Norman

User

Posted 23 Mar 2017 at 21:22

Norman,

Thanks for the advice. My peripheral neuropathy, if that's what it is, does not affect my ability to walk or grip. However, I will check out the driving implications with my Onco when I next see her.

I'm sorry to hear you've had such a bad time with docetaxel but I hope it will prove to be worth it when you get your results.

David

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Docetaxel Chemo – the highs and the lows

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