Torisel

I am a 74 year old female with Kidney cancer.  I was on Sutent for 4 weeks, but the doctor did not like the results of my blood work after taking it and the side effects. He is now going to start me on Temsiroloimus (TORISEL).. I will be given the injection once a week for 4 weeks.
How good or bad is this chemo treatment and will I have many side effects.  What scares me is I am not young and I am afraid I will not be able to tolerate this treatment. Please, if anyone can give an insite about this I will be very greatful.  Thank You... oldmom

My mother has been on Torisel for ~6 weeks.  For her (and each person is different), the side effects are much less than when she was on Sutent.  Her only really bad side effect has been a really itchy rash but she is managing that with regular moisturizer.  I hope this works for you as well!

Thank you so much for your reply. That is so reassuring.  I hope I will do as well.  I do appreciate your reply. And I will keep you mother in my prayers as well..... oldmom

 

On 4/2/2008 Yeoldmom wrote:

Thank you so much for your reply. That is so reassuring.  I hope I will do as well.  I do appreciate your reply. And I will keep you mother in my prayers as well..... oldmom

Have been on and off  Torisel treatments for 7 months,  Treatments are usually every week, depending upon the weekly blood test results.  Before Torisel, I was on Nexivar for 6 months.  Taking Torisel is a "picnic" compared to Nexivar.

I have a few side effects, but they are reasonably tollerable.  My quality of life is quite satifactory.

Good luck..

 

On 4/2/2008 Yeoldmom wrote:

Thank you so much for your reply. That is so reassuring.  I hope I will do as well.  I do appreciate your reply. And I will keep you mother in my prayers as well..... oldmom

Thank you for your reply.  I feel somewhat better now about receiving this treatment.
I do have some questions, if you can help me with.
How many mg's do they give you? I read that if they give you too much it could be life threatening. That over 25 mg's could hurt me.
Will the injection be in my arm? Also I read that the injection is very painful when inserting and when removing the needle. (I'm such an old cry baby)
Will I lose my hair? How long does it take?

Can't think of anymore questions now, but I hope it is OK to contact you if I have more. Thank you so much for your help.... oldmom

 

On 4/3/2008 Yeoldmom wrote:

 

On 4/2/2008 Yeoldmom wrote:

Thank you so much for your reply. That is so reassuring.  I hope I will do as well.  I do appreciate your reply. And I will keep you mother in my prayers as well..... oldmom

Thank you for your reply.  I feel somewhat better now about receiving this treatment.
I do have some questions, if you can help me with.
How many mg's do they give you? I read that if they give you too much it could be life threatening. That over 25 mg's could hurt me.
Will the injection be in my arm? Also I read that the injection is very painful when inserting and when removing the needle. (I'm such an old cry baby)
Will I lose my hair? How long does it take?

Can't think of anymore questions now, but I hope it is OK to contact you if I have more. Thank you so much for your help.... oldmom

My weekly regimain at the cancer center is as follow:

1.  9 am  get blood draw for testing.  I have a port which makes the blood draw much easier.

2. See doctor at 10 am. Review blood test results and othe subjects.

3. 11am  get Infuzion-----( 3 parts}

     a.  25mg of steroid (approx 2 minute injection)

     b.  25 mg of benadril (approx. 30 minute drip)

     c, 25 mg orf Torisel  (approx. 45 minute drip)

Total time of the infuaion is approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes.

 

Siince you don't like needles and since this treatment is weekly, you might want to consider using a port.  Discuss this with your doctor.

My mother has been taking Torisel for over 8 weeks now.  She finally gave into a port and is happy she did.  She has noticed a little hair loss but nothing like chemo patients endure.  I've read about the hair turning color (like brown to white) wile taking Torisel but no significant hair loss.

Your doctor will probably use the steroid with benadryl as a preventative to any reaction to Torisel.  My mother receives 25mg each treatment and has had no great side effects except fatigue.

Good luck with your treatments.

My wife has just finished her 6th week of treatment with Torisel.  

When we started, we read all the possible side effects.   We felt it was best to not dwell on possible side effects, but to concentrate on visualizing the medication working as designed - shrinking tumors. 

Her actual side effects haven't been too bad - a little diarrhea for a day or so after the treatment and some fatigue due to low iron. 

 Make sure they give you 3 things right before the treatment - 1) tagamet  2) Decadron and 3) Benadryl.   Those will help eleviate any possible side effects during the first 24 hours.