Gemzar & Taxotere

My father (73) was diagnosed w/ stage iv pancreatic cancer in Oct 07, he was treated w/ Gemzar & Cisplatin @ MDACC in Nov & Dec.  In early Jan scans showed the tumor had regressed although the lymph nodes did not show significant regression.  Now it appears that the cancer is advancing again, he started on Gemzar w/ Taxotere yesterday.  Does anyone have expereince with this?  What different side effects should we look out/prepare for?  Right now he is full of energy (probably from the steroid) but we are wondering when he may crash...  Any ideas/thoughts will be much appreciated.  I wish for hope, strength & luck to all & their families that are dealing with this terrible disease.

Is your father still at MD Anderson?  If his scans showed that the cancer was shrinking in January, how did they determine it was growing again so soon?  Did they do another scan?  Just curious as my mom's onc. always says we have to wait for the scans to see what is really going on as other things could cause the CA 19-9 to go up... also, we were told that once Gemzar fails, they do not advise going back to another Gemzar combo as that is the main chemo.  My mom was originally on Gemzar/Xeloda, then switched to FOLFOX.  I have asked our Dr. about putting her back on Gemzar with Taxotere as I know Dr. Picozzi in Seattle puts most of his patients on that regimen and I have spoken to people who have done quite well on it.  My mom was given Decadron as a steroid, she would crash about day 3 for about 4-5 days...

Yes, he is still @ MDACC, seeing Dr. Wolff.  He had additional scans after a visit to the ER to find the potential cause of some blurred vision he experienced.  They were looking for heart/stroke/aneuresym...but apparently the change in the cancer was evident along with some physical symptoms & then the marker also supported the other evidence.

I did not think that it was unusual to try a different combination w/ the Gemzar especially since he initially had a good response.  He is also on Tarceva.  He seems to be experiencing more swelling of the feet with the Taxotere.  But, he still feels pretty good today, day 3.

Edema is a common side effect with Taxotere, keeping his feet elevated may help.  Is he still on the the steroid?  My mom would crash the day after she was done with it.  Glad he's still feeling well, it's a good sign that he will be tolerating this combo well.