CancerCompass message board discussion started by caring for mom on 9/21/2007 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,16380,0.htm Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ My mother is currently in the ICU.  She is in her 10th day of severe diarrhea.  She had FOLFOX on 9-5-07 and has been very ill since.  The diarrhea is not responding to antibiotics or prescription diarrhea meds.  Her white cell and platelette counts have come back up as well as her potassium levels but the diarrhea just seems to get worse.  Is this a normal side effect of FOLFOX?  Has anyone else experienced this problem?  She is so tired and so emotionally devastated by this that I fear she won't resume her chemo.  By the way, this occurred after her second treatment and she gets them every two weeks.  I'm desperate.  Is there anyone who can shed some light on this? caring for mom Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT I do understand the whole diarrhea situation for my father has had the same problem.  Just yesteday he was at the cancer center getting hydrated through IV for 4 hours due to the diarrhea that seems to come back faithfully with out fail.  My question fto you is what chemo treatment is your mother taking and is she taking chemo with combo of the tarceva pill.  The tarceva is what's causing the diarrhea for my father and his doctor prepared him for that prior.  Each time my father has a spell immediately following his bathroom visit he takes 2 immodium.  We also do not hesitate to call the doctor if it persists for more than a day and immediately he's scheduled to come in and rehydrate.  I can only share with you my experience with this, ofcoarse, your doctor shoud be better to explain a remedy to your problem.  Don't be afraid to be persistant and if you don't understand keep asking questions until you do understand.  Remember, this is new to all of us or most of us touched by this disease and there is no wrong question.  This is your mother and i can see you are desperate to help her, be active in asking what you can do and how you can help her, until you get an answer that provides you with some peace of mind and heart.  You are doing the right thing by posting your message and asking for some guidance.  Our experiences and sharing them help others involved with cancer.  Remember to ask your doctor until you question is perfectly clear to you.  Good luck and god bless you and your mother. DaddysGrl Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT