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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,519
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I am on Xeloda/Tykerb. Minerals, calcium/magnesium combo, Omega/EFAs, B-6, are the ones my nutritionist has me taking. How much is determined by your weight and the RDA in whichever vits you buy. MORE IS NOT BETTER! Also, take your vits with meals, they work better when digested with food. Drink green tea (or any tea is good), eat lots of fruits and vegs (I have tried to do 50% cooked and 50% raw per day as a general rule), avoid fried foods, avoid grilling meat/poultry/fish (flame kissed and high heat cooking creates carcinogens from enzymes in the meat), avoid hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup and most food in boxes. Eat whole grain pastas and rice. Organic meats and dairy are good because they don't have the hormones and antibiotics, and wild caught fresh fish is also recommended. As far as exercise, they want me walking 20-40 minutes minimum 5 days a week, and would love for me to do some light to moderate weight or resistance training for 20-30 minutes 3 x a week.
Sometimes vitamins can interfere with different chemos, so be careful. Like Becky said, be aware of Super-dosing and antioxidants while on chemo. When I was on Carboplatin, I couldn't take B-complex 1 day before a treatment or for 5 days after. Sometimes when you are on a chemo there is a "protected zone" when you should be careful about what to take and when. Right now on Xeloda, the Folic Acid in Multi-vits and B-complex can contribute to worsening the side effects, so I am not taking those while on Xeloda. My nutrtionist/naturopath has been doing studies and research on counteractions and reactions of supplements and chemo for 20 years. He is pretty well-versed about it all. His name is Dr. Labriola and he is in Seattle.
He and his staff will do phone consults and he will also consult with your doctor first. It's not cheap, but I think it's well worth it. He has a book called Complimentary Cancer Therapies. It's very informative. I found the book first and then decided to call him after reading it.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
__________________
Brenda
NOV 2012 - 9 yr anniversary
JULY 2012 - 7 yr anniversary stage IV (of 50...)
Nov'03~ dX stage 2B
Dec'03~ Rt side mastectomy, Her2+, ER/PR+, 10 nodes out, one node positive
Jan'04~ Taxotere/Adria/Cytoxan x 6, NED, no Rads, Tamox. 1 year, Arimadex 3 mo., NED 14 mo.
Sept'05~ micro mets lungs/chest nodes/underarm node, Switched to Aromasin, T/C/H x 7, NED 6 months - Herceptin only
Aug'06~ micro mets chest nodes, & bone spot @ C3 neck, Added Taxol to Herceptin
Feb'07~ Genetic testing, BRCA 1&2 neg
Apr'07~ MRI - two 9mm brain mets & 5 punctates, new left chest met, & small increase of bone spot C3 neck, Stopped Aromasin
May'07~ Started Tykerb/Xeloda, no WBR for now
June'07~ MRI - stable brain mets, no new mets, 9mm spots less enhanced, CA15.3 down 45.5 to 9.3 in 10 wks, Ty/Xel working magic!
Aug'07~ MRI - brain mets shrunk half, NO NEW BRAIN METS!!, TMs stable @ 9.2
Oct'07~ PET/CT & MRI show NED
Apr'08~ scans still show NED in the head, small bone spot on right iliac crest (rear pelvic bone)
Sept'08~ MRI shows activity in brain mets, completed 5 fractions/5 consecutive days of IMRT to zap the pesky buggers
Oct'08~ dropped Xeloda, switched to tri-weekly Herceptin in combo with Tykerb, extend to tri-monthly Zometa infusion
Dec'08~ Brain MRI- 4 spots reduced to punctate size, large spot shrunk by 3mm, CT of torso clear/pelvis spot stable
June'09~ new 3-4mm left cerrebellar spot zapped with IMRT targeted rads
Sept'09~ new 6mm & 1 cm spots in pituitary/optic chiasm area. Rx= 25 days of 3D conformal fractionated targeted IMRT to the tumors.
Oct'09~ 25 days of low dose 3D conformal fractionated targeted IMRT to the bone mets spot on rt. iliac crest that have been watching for 2 years. Added daily Aromasin back into treatment regimen.
Apr'10~ Brain MRI clear! But, see new small spot on adrenal gland. Change from Aromasin back to Tamoxifen.
June'10~ Tumor markers (CA15.3) dropped from 37 to 23 after one month on Tamoxifen. Continue to monitor adrenal gland spot. Remain on Tykerb/Herceptin/Tamoxifen.
Nov'10~ Radiate positive mediastinal node that was pressing on recurrent laryngeal nerve, causing paralyzed larynx and a funny voice.
Jan'11~ MRI shows possible activity or perhaps just scar tissue/necrotic increase on 3 previously treated brain spots and a pituitary spot. 5 days of IMRT on 4 spots.
Feb'11~ Enrolled in T-DM1 EAP in Denver, first treatment March 25, 2011.
Mar'11~ Finally started T-DM1 EAP in Denver at Rocky Mountain Cancer Center/Rose on Mar. 25... hallelujah.
"I would rather be anecdotally alive than statistically dead."
Last edited by hutchibk; 05-06-2007 at 10:55 PM..
Reason: add info
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