Jeff,

Glad to hear you are doing so well. How was radiation for you? Dad has his first appt. in the morning and then a PET scan to follow. Were you able to eat or did you have a peg tube. The Dr. would like to place a peg soon. Let me know and thanks for responding.

D'Arcy

Jeff,

Dad is on 3 chemo drugs, paclitaxel, carboplatin, and a drug John Hopkins is using Erbitux. Did you have any of these?

Thanks,
D'Arcy

My radiation was not too bad. I did not have many of the extreme side effects that others have reported. Some nausea from the Amifostene, some sores toward the end, a fair amount of fatigue, and of course the dry mouth and loss of taste. I worked throughout and drove myself to treatment. That is the exception, not the rule, however.

I had only Cisplatin for chemo -- 1 x per week for 8 weeks. Our CCC prefers to reserve Erbitux for either larger tumors or recurrence events. They did a great job with managing the chemo side effects. I had chemo every Monday, and would feel rotten on Wednesday, but not bad enough to be in bed or anything.

Our thoughts are with you and your Dad. Stay strong!

Hi D'Arcy- My husand is on Eribtux right now. He had 7 weeks of Cisplatin and radiation at the same time ending mid-December. At that time we found that he had a recurrance in his neck and mets to his right lung, hence the Erbitux. Not too many side effects except for really dry skin and exhaustion. He will be having a scan later this month to determine if it is working. Keep the faith, Sue

Sue,

Glad to hear your husband is doing well. The doctor's are now contemplating whether or not to do a radical neck. My fathers tumor is large and his head and neck surgeon at UVA will not operate. Now his oncologist is sending him to John Hopkins for another opinion. They dont want to radiate him at a high dose and then not be able to do surgery. My father is going for his second round of chemo on Tues. and so far he has been fine. Just tired. They started him on Erbitux because of the size and extensiveness of the tumor. He will have 7 weeks of radiation, Mon.-Friday and has Chemo weekly. He just had a PET scan last week and we are awaiting the results and praying for the best. You and your husband will be in my prayers.
D'Arcy

Jeff,

I am so glad you are doing so well and your attitude is so positive. It is nice hearing your story. My dad's tumor is large and that is why they started him on Erbitux. He will also start 7 weeks of Mon.-Friday radiation treatments soon. This Friday he goes for his mask fitting. His Dr. wants to send him for a second opinion regarding a radical neck since his surgeon in UVA no will not do it. I am taking it one day at a time and praying for the best. Thank you for taking the time to respond, it helps me become more educated and keeps me positive when I hear results like yours. Please keep my father in your prayers and you will be in mine.
D'Arcy