Have a good discussion on last Saturday with doctor.
It is a very frank discussion with him about how I feel and what I looking ahead .
I asked doctor whether I can work on half the dosage of the chemo drug Alimta for my next treatment and work on 6 to 8 weeks a cycle instead of the normal 3 weeks cycle.
Reason is that what I am looking for is to stable my condition and to have very minimum side effect, so that I can enjoy some quality of life during treatment.
Doctor told me, there is Metronomic chemotherapy work on low dosage , but, there is no strong evidence that it works for every patient. For my case with Alimta, he feel that the lowest dosage to work should be atleast 75% of the normal dosage base on my body mass and I may work on every 4 weeks per cycle . Then, we look into the result after 3 to 4 cycles and see whether it works to keep my condition stable .
I suggest to doctor that if after 4 cycles it works well, I would like to take a 3 months break, so that , I can give some rest to my body and meantime, It is because I need 90 days break from admission to hospital or treatment for my insurance to start a new confinement claim.
Next in discussion is about CT scan, as next week is the due date for my next 3 months CT scan. I ask doctor whether can do away the contrast agent, as I really not like it , or using MRI scan . Doctor advise that without the contrast agent, the scan image will not show clearly any new grow of cancer tumor . As for MRI , it is not suitable for lung , as image will not be clear.
I told doctor that what I am interested to know now is the result of existing tumour after the chemo on 10/2/2012 and will use the contrast agent for next CT scan by end June .
Doctor suggest that if this is the case, I can just take an X Ray to compare with the previous X Ray I took in Feb '12 and take blood test to check on the tumour marker .
After checking and a proper consultation, I decided to proceed with the X Ray and blood test.
Will meet up with doctor on coming Tuesday to go thro' the report and decide treatment arrangement.
Meantime, I request doctor to arrange appointment for me to meet up with cardiologist on Tuesday to have a proper check on my heart condition, as my heartbeat rate is anytime above 100 for the last few months, it give me kind of worry .
Wish everything goes well on Tuesday appointment and workout a proper treatment plan.
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Dear SK,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I would like to make a clarification. Metronomic Chemo (MC) is not just low does chemo like what your doctor suggest by reducing the dosage. MC is administered orally and the patient takes the drug EVERYDAY. There are no side effects like in conventional chemo (CC) which you are doing. So you get good quality of life.
Also MC does not attack the cancer cells (neither normal cells) directly but works on by eliminating the angiogenesis of the new tumor cells. MC has know to work even when CC has failed and cancers that depends on angiogenesis to grow will probably respond.
Hi CT , thanks. Yes ! I aware of it . For my case what I actually did is I want to use back the Chemo drug , Alimta, since it did works to stable my condition. Then, for the past I work on full dosage and rest about 9 to 12 months after 3 cycles.
ReplyDeleteSo, this round I plan to use lower dosage and will rest only 3 months after 3 cycles.
Anyway, today X ray show the chemo of 10/2 did works, so hv decided to proceed with chemo with alimta + carboplation with lower dosage. Will see how's the side effect to decide on next action. Also hv get Melatonin from doctor.
Thks / SK