On 3/11/2008
HORSE1 wrote:
Hi again
I have taken three treatments intravenous, I'm having to go back to work in two weeks.I ask the Doc. it I could switch on oral chemo. It takes two hours to get to the hospital and then I'm their for another two hr.. I'm on the TAC cocktail. It didn't spreed anywhere else, it stayed in the breast which I had it removed, & 11 lip nodes. He said that oral chemo is just for people with cancer in the other parts of the body. Is this true? Would someone out their know the answer to this?
Thank you Rose
Rose,
There are three oral chemo treatments approved for breast cancer treatment but only your doctor can make that decision, based on your type, stage, etc.
If I were you, I'd ask him and see if he thinks this is an alternative. It's possible that the chemo you're on is better at your stage of the disease and the oral chemos have side effects also, the same as intravenous treatment administration.
If you have the time, and it's a while before you see your doctor again, put "oral cancer treatments" into Google or whatever search engine you like and do some reading. It takes a while to find out specific information on cancer treatments, sometimes, but can be very worthwhile. Perhaps you can find something useful and if you do, print it and take to your doctor.
From the little bit of reading I did after reading your post, it sounds like the oral chemo is mostly for people with "mets". That's where the cancer has already spread to other organs and parts of the body. There is research going on, all the time, and that's one of the many reasons to keep in close touch with your medical team.
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