Stage 3 Chemo Options Pros and Cons

Hi Everyone,

I was diagnosed with stage 1-2 bowel cancer backin December 2020 aged just 41.  However after surgery they discovered the cancer is now stage 3 maybe 4 (i'm waiting for liver tests to come back).

The burning question i have is the two Chemo options ive been given and wondered if anyone could shed any light on symptoms they may have had from these types of Chemo?

Option one is: Capox - Its a 3 month intense treatment plan of intravenous (for 3-4 hours) in hospital and take-home tablet Chemothereapy for 3 weeks with a 7 day break in between treatments.

Option two is Folfox - It;s a 6 month less toxic treatment plan using a port pump for 2 days (once fittied i can return home and if preferred have treatment at home going forward) and having 12 day break in between rounds of Chemotherapy.

The side effects look the same on paper with the Macmillan website, i just wanted to know if anyone had side effects, what they were or are and how long they have lasted or if there are still ongoing even after treatment has ended.

Any advice or words of wisdome would be greatly appreciated.  We've gone from a positive diagnosis to worse everytime we seem to see the oncologist and surgeon.

Thanks

Kirsty

  • Hello kirsty,

                       if only we had the use of a crystal ball.Like you say both treatments look the same on paper,but unfortunately no two persons response are,so goodness knows how you navigate through that fact.l have a very low tolerance to most drugs,so it really came as no no surprise that the chemo and radio l received managed to do a really good number on my body.Where with most people a sedative will calm them,with me l go into a deep coma,admittedly this helped on colonoscopies when the mild sedative given to help me relax meant l slept like a baby throughout the several proceedures l went through.

                So the downside is it destroyed my ability to ejaculate,and left me with two dead feet,and a bowel that has taken a very long time to join me in civilised society,but the upside is that my body has made all the necessary adjustments to cope,my command system is once again on full stream,and l am now living life to the full.

                                                                                                     For what its worth l had capox,but focusing on the main reason for doing so,l can confirm that as a treatment it was extremely effective,and from where l stood as l commenced treatment,that was the overiding issue, not taking a milder option that just mucked me about lightly but did not get rid of my visitor . Perversely l took a deal of comfort from my body being tortured ,since l reasoned if it was doing this to me, then l could take a sense of dark satisfaction to think of what my invader was being dished out..Looking back l consider the ticket price on this treatment was very expensive,but the resulting product ,my life today, to have been worth every single miserable moment,and l am fully enjoying admission back into life.

                                                                                                             l believe the statistics show that l am one of the two percent who suffer as much from this treatment,so you have a 98% chance of it being easier,not sure what the percentage rate of fatality is if you do not have treatment,but l am willing to bet its closer to 98 than 2. So my advice is to stop looking for the negatives in the treatment and look forward to its positives and your new future, good luck,

                                              David