Dear Ginny

I am 60 yrs old and I was diagonos with stage 3c ovarian CA 27 months ago. I was put on taxil even though my assays said that I would respone best with Doxil. My CA came back after 3 months. I was then put on Doxil. It had been great. I have ct scans every three months (because they found that they could not rely on the numbers from the ca 125 as they were low and the ct scan revealed that the CA had returned) I have now had 20 doxil treatments. I have had no problems with my heart(when they give me my chemo I also give me something to protect my heart). At first I had a bad reaction...hand and foot syndrome. We had to let some time go by, for that to clear up before we could start again. They reduced the amount given to me. My hair has grown back and I am feeling wonderful. It has been my miricle drug.

Thanks so much for sharing the information and your response to Doxil. I have had Stage 3B ovarian cancer for several years. My first dose of Doxil was last Friday (7-29) and I have had only a mild, mild nausea and some fatigue, which I think is really not bad at all. I follow all the "do's and dont's" recommended. I was curious, did your side affects of hand/foot syndrome occur during the first 5 days post treatment? Also, did they occur after several treatments? Your information is very valuable to me. I guess most oncologists don't start patients out with Doxil but use Taxol/Platinum, which I was glad to avoid. One of my friends is a oncology nurse and says Doxil "is a good one" i.e. fewer side affects.

Thanks very much for your input,
Kathleen

Dear Kathleen,
My side effects did not occur during the first days of my chemotheraphy. I believe it happened three weeks or so after the chemotheraphy. They reduced the dosage and they put me on steroids and waited a couple of weeks for the reactions to subside. my reactions kept getting much less because of the reduced dosage (I suppose) I would get little red pin point dots on my legs. I hope that your reaction is good one.
Donna