Hi,
My name is Jaime and my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer three years ago. They did a resection and told her she was 'cancer free.' They just found out now that she has colon cancer in her liver. Two mets in her liver near the Inferior Vena Cava. She is undergoing chemo. I believe the chemo for this is fairly standard. Research has shown the 5FU, Levocrtin (Spelling?) Avastin and I forget the name of the 4th drug (I have it at home), are most effective. My mom is very tired during the chemo. She gets chemo every two weeks. She goes in on wednesday for about 4-5 hours and then goes home of the 5FU for 48 hours. The nurse comes to our house and 'unhooks' her on the following friday. She has a port inplanted into her chest it is almost similar to a pic line but it is actually a tiny metal box that connects into her main vein. Supposedly this provides the most efficient way for her to receive chemo. I also met with the dietican and studies have shown that peope who take a multivitamin and eat very healthy, do better with the chemo. She drinks TONS of water and I give her EGCG (which is Green tea-this is controversal and many docs advise against any antioxidants during chemo) She stops taking the EGCG two days prior to chemo and begins taking it again two days after chemo.
The side effects we have seen are her cuticles darkening and her hands becoming discolored (this happened after her third chemo treatment), her hair thinned but is not noticable, she is more tired than usual, and she had a little bit of nausea.
Some tips that our dietican told us were to eat organic because the pesticides on the foods can make my mom sick when her immune system is done. Wash all fruit and veggies in a quart of water with a tablespoon of applecider vineagar (this disinfects the food and gets rid of any bacteria). My mom takes a multivitamin, viactive calcium, and drinks whey protein mixed with yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries in the morning. The want her eating two yogurts a day and rinse her mouth with baking soda and salt to avoid getting sores in her mouth.
If I were you I would start your mom on these things now, ask her doctor and he might refer you to the hospital dietican.(For some reason our doc could not be as detailed as the dietican) This way her body will be as strong as possible when she is undergoing chemo. She also suggested that my mom eat two tablespoons of flaxseed a day, but my mom hated the taste so she said it was ok to take the flaxseed gel caps. My moms taste has changed and she enjoys salty foods and she is very sensitive to sweet foods. I am sure this depends on the person, but that is a change that we noticed. Also, the dietican told us to cut out red meat and if she really really really was craving it have it once a month and for it to be very lean. All meats need to be cooked completely. If you reheat chicken or meat in the microwave, it needs to be 160 degrees because bacteria could have formed while being in the fridge. We throw away any meat in the fridge longer than two days.
I know this sounds like so much and it is alot, but these are just precauticans we take to ensure that bacteria that we as healthy people are able to fight off everyday does not get into my mom.
We begin chemo is July and as she has each treatment she seems to be getting more tired but, she bounces back several days after chemo. I believe in my mom and I believe that she is not a statistic and I try to help give her the strength to fight. I am 24 years old and my mom just turned 54, she has so much to give this world and I will help her every step of the way. If you have any questions please feel free to ask, hopefully I can help in any way even if it is just lending an ear. I will pray for your mom. What hospital is your mom at? My mom is at Northwestern in Chicago.