We met with John's chemo Doc yesterday. During the conversation about the chemo drugs of choice, he mentioned Erbitux [and called it Martha's Stewart's drug-which irritated me,] Any way, he called it a "chemo failure" drug. We did not have time to get into a real discussion about it, but I took that to mean that Erbitux is used after other chemo drugs did not produce desired results. Am I right in assuming this? He is going to start John on Carboplatin and something else[ which I did not get the name of, but I will] Since this is John's 1st go round with chemo, I don't know what else to ask other than to have lots of anti nausea meds on hand. Amy

Hello Amy,

They gave me anti-nausau infusions before the chemo. I had no side effects from the chemo at all. I started with Carboplatin & Taxol. Next up was Taxatere & Cytoxen, next up was Visblastin and ended treatment with Erbitux. The Erbutux was the only drug I had a problem with, severe headachs every day. On a 1 to 10 I would rate it a 7. Hospice is helping with the pain needs.
I am now in Hospice.
Mine was a stage 4 tonsil cancer with a recurrance in the same area.
Hopefully John will not suffer the bad side effects from his chemo. Thinking of you both.

Danny Boy

Thanks for the reply, Danny Boy. I think about you every day. Amy

Danny,

I knew it wasn't going well for you but did not realize you were involved with hospice. It is a wonderful group of people who work in hospice, and I would be honored to be able to contribute there at some time in my life. So many people wait too long for it to be of real benefit. My hat is off to you, you are the bravest of the brave. Are you still at home or living in a hospice facility? I too think of you daily.

Much love Danny Boy,
Lisa

Amy,
Erbitux was just approved by FDA for H&N cancer and some have already been having it as a standard part of their treatment protocol, so your doctors info is a little out of date. It is being used as an post Tx adjunct to CT/RT.

http://patient.cancerconsultants.com/head_cancer_news.aspx?id=30708

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01329.html

Gary, I think his "exact words" to us the other day were "Erbitux is being used when other chemo drugs have failed". I will read your link because I do want to ask some more questions. Sometimes it is hard talking to these guys-they know I am not a Doc and so do I-I feel like I'm walking a fine line between challanging their treatment plan and insisting that they justify them to me[John doesn't want to hear those discussions] and asking dumb questions. If I had been better informed a year ago, I would have pushed hard for John to have chemo along with the radiation after his 1st surgery. Amy

Hello Amy. I am so sorry about John's recurrence. I had Erbitux with Docetaxel in a Stage II Clinical Trial in conjunction with radiation and following a modified radical neck dissection. I had not had prior chemo or radiation.

Zenda, thanks for your input. It sounds like you ae doing well. That's great to hear. Amy