First Treatment Of Ixabepilone (ixempra)

LOPSIDED · 12-19-2007, 08:10 AM

I Had 9 Months Of Freedom From Iv Therapy. Yesterday Was My First Ixabepilone (ixempra) Treatment. Everything Went Well. No Side Effects (I Know Its Early). I Just Felt A Little Tipsey (could Have Been The Ativan). When I Was Done, My Boyfriend And I Went Out To Lunch & Went Home. I Stayed Awake The Afternoon. Just Relaxed & Watched Movies. I Did Go To Bed Early And Was Out In 2 Minutes. I Feel Fine This Morning.

tousled1 · 12-19-2007, 11:41 AM

Sheila,

Glad to hear that your first treatment went well. Hoping that all future treatments go well and that it knocks the cancer cells into oblivion.

Believe51 · 12-19-2007, 11:56 AM

Ew, so glad you posted your update, I have been thinking and praying of you special since you let us know the next move. Now I can continue my prayers a bit easier now that you have eased my thoughts. Go get 'em Woman!!>>Believe51

Sheila · 12-20-2007, 05:03 PM

Sheila
I heard at San Antonio that this was a great drug...who knows, it may be in my future....I am excited that it will be a magical drug and get rid of the mets!

kareneg · 12-20-2007, 08:58 PM

Dear Sheila,

What great news, I hope all the treatments are this easy and you get great results!

Lolly · 12-20-2007, 09:02 PM

Glad everything went so well, and thanks so much for updating us; my onc has talked about Ixempra down the road for me, so I'll be watching for your updates!

<3 Lolly

iamtheadvocate · 01-16-2008, 07:15 PM

this drug was given to someone very close to me and they died less than 12 days later. I think it should be noted that there are always two sides of a story.

LOPSIDED · 01-17-2008, 06:59 AM

I Realize There Is A Risk With Any Treatment. I Know That I Will Die, If I Don't Try. I Am Not At The Point Of Giving Up. I Trust My Oncologist And If He Thinks This Drug Could Help, I Will Try It. I Am Sorry About Your Friend.

Mary Anne in TX · 01-17-2008, 07:06 AM

Hi Sheila!
You're terrific! Don't ever stop fighting. I'm glad you feel good and hope you feel even better today and the next day and next! This might be just the ticket for you and I'm praying that it will be. Please keep us up on how it goes and how you feel. Lots of love to you, ma

PinkGirl · 01-17-2008, 07:57 AM

Hi Lop
I'm so glad it went well ... happy to hear
that the side effects weren't too bad - hopefully
the rest of the treatments will be the same.
Good luck with this.

Lolly · 01-17-2008, 10:39 AM

Sheila, I'm glad you're still "hanging in there", and will be watching for your updates; Ixempra will most likely be my next treatment.

To Iamthe advocate, I am so sorry about your friend. It's a shock, and I'm sure there's some anger about the circumstances, but I hope you can come to a healing about this.
About side effects and complications from chemo, I think we all realize, especially us Stage IV'ers, that there are real risks associated with chemo, even death. However, we also have a real risk of death from cancer, so we have to accept that reality first, then decide if we want to fight fire with fire. Sometimes we reach a point where the risks outweigh the benefits, and then we have to make hard decisions about whether to continue treatment. It's a hard road we're on.

<3 Lolly

Believe51 · 01-17-2008, 10:46 AM

Wanted to pull this up so maybe I could get an update on your journey. Been thinking of you alot and kind of missed being on the site for several days. Keeping you in my thoughts>>Believe51

iamtheadvocate · 01-17-2008, 11:45 AM

Of coarse there is anger and sadness associated with the death however there is no closure in our circumstance. And knowing she was stage four for as long as we did we accepted that one day her "cancer" could take her. The thing is, the medical system is trying to cover up her situation. There is a lot more to this story for which I cannot disclose but I wish I could. In do time. I am not trying to persuade anyones choices here, I just want other cancer patients to hear the other side to this story. It's still less than two months since I lost the most important person in my life, my best friend, the strongest woman I have ever known, my mom. If it means that other moms, daughters, sisters, aunts, women in general do not have to go through this than it's worth it. I wish anyone fighting this disease all the hope and love one could receive in fighting it. I am eager to see how other people react to this treatment.

If there is one thing we learned from this situation it's to not trust in the medical system as much as we did. I will say this, she was the first in our state to receive this drug, she questioned it, she researched it as she did with every other drug she received, she told us of her concerns before going through with it. They marketed it to her as the "miracle drug", the one that would cure her, and really pushed it upon her. And 12 days later she was dead. Now I knew my moms cancer like I know myself and what we witnessed was not her cancer. It's a gamble with or without, but the thing is, none of us truly know, the oncologists, the drug companies, just make sure your doctor knows how to treat it when and if things go astray being that it's so new. You owe it to yourself to cover every option.

iamtheadvocate · 01-17-2008, 11:53 AM

Sheila, Kick the crap out of that cancer! We are here pulling for you! With all the love in the world to you and your fight!

StephN · 01-17-2008, 12:35 PM

Dear "advocate" -
Thanks for appearing here and telling what you can of your family's story.

In order to move ahead with what should be better, more effective cancer treatments someone must step forward and try the new drugs. You don't say what other options were presented to your Mom, but she seemed to go with this as giving her the best chance. She was extrememly BRAVE to go out on that limb.

In order to take a trial drug we must sign an Informed Consent form, so you should have a copy of that around. This form covers the medical center and doctors unless something very important that can be proven they knew is left out.

Ixempra is still in trial phase, so not everything is known that can happen to the patients. I have taken part in several clinical trials that had good results for me. But I knew there was NO guarantee of anything, and that I was basically signing on as a Lab Rat with long legs and no tail.

My father passed away this past November and I am still reeling with the effects of his several month acute illness and how much I miss him. In other words I feel your pain of loss of a close parent that meant the world to you.

Lolly · 01-17-2008, 02:12 PM

Steph, did you mean that Ixempra is being trialed for earlier stage cancer?
Ixempra is FDA approved for use in metastatic and locally advanced breast cancer, since Oct. '07. Here's a link:

FDA Approves Ixempra for Advanced Breast Cancer Patients
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01732.html

LOPSIDED · 01-17-2008, 02:47 PM

So far I have been on this treatment for a little over a month. I have had two treatments. My side effects have been loss of hair & fatigue. I was very tired after the 2nd treatment for several days. I am also receiving neulasta & neupigon shots, so I do feel the joint pain but it is tolerable. After the third treatment, I will go for scans to see if my lymph nodes have shrunk. I keep looking for a sign, like my body should give me a signal if it is working. I really have no clue. My oncologists said they were seeing good results with this drug. I did herceptin for 9 months and still can't believe I had reoccurence so quickly. I had such hope for herceptin. I don't know what ixabepilone will do to me but I'll give it a chance & maybe I will get lucky.

smith · 01-17-2008, 03:56 PM

I just started Ixempra also. I'm also taking Tykerb with it. I'm a little nervous about taking them together, but right now it's my best option. I haven't had any nausea, just tired and joint pain. I hope it stays this mild. Hope we both have wonderful success with this.

hutchibk · 01-17-2008, 03:57 PM

A note to iamtheadvocate - without the full history of your friend's journey, it is difficult for me to discern what you mean by 'two sides of a story'. Was it determined that Ixempra actually caused the death of your friend? (I would need to know more of the story to be asked to believe that), or was your friend in very latest stages of his/her cancer, and that the treatment was a last resort effort, which came too late in their journey to actually gain them solid footing? I am so sorry for your loss.

StephN · 01-17-2008, 04:22 PM

...for clarification.
I was a little "out of it" that last part of 2007 with my family problems.

Guess I thought it was announced at San Antonio, and know it was fast tracked for approval.
When a drug is fast tracked, they still don't have all the trial data to crunch and go on promising early results. Right?

Sounds like iamtheadvocate's Mom was given this drug just after approval since it is only a couple of months since her passing. Of course at that point most cancer centers would have no experience with that drug.