itchy skinmets now sting

[lindaw]

I fear xeloda may not be working anymore. Have been on it for 4 rounds and while the skin metsd are not getting any worse they are becoming very itchy and stingy and a few crusty parts.
What next - have had taxol, navelbine, carboplatin and xeloda ( 2wce). I guess it could be gemzar or caelyx( not sure what you call it could be the lipo....one). The area is too large for miltex.
Need some advice -what are the side effects of these chemos? Does it mean more hair loss- just abandoned my wig after 3 years. Oh well - whats the choice.
feeling a little scared and hopeless tonight.
love
linda

[lu ann]

Dear Linda,

I have been on gemsar, herceptin, and zometa for 4 months now for bone mets. I get gemsar and herceptin bi-weekly and zometa monthly. So far I have not missed a tx. for blood counts and I still have hair. I was getting achey from the zometa tx. so they put me on elavil, which is also used as a anti-depressant. I also take paxil for depression and a fentanyl patch for pain from a compression fracture I have in my spine. I had tx. yesterday and I'm feeling pretty good. Ask your doc. about bi-weekly tx. I was on gemsar last spring 2weeks on/1 off and I had to get shots for low wbc's, which made me miserable. Take care and Blessings to you, Lu Ann.

[Cindi]

Linda,

Sorry to hear that your skin mets are still causing you such problems. I've had them now for 1 1/2 years. They started itching again recently and I dragged out a cream that I used after Hyperthermia radiation last year. You can maybe even get this over the counter, but my Radiation Oncologist gave it to me. It's called Kendall Thermazene (Silver Sulfadiazine) cream, 1%. It tends to give me some relief.

Sorry I can't give you any guidance right now on treatments. I've had 3 now for the skin mets, am now looking into clinical trials. The three I've had were, Navelbine/Herc, Xeloda/Cytoxan (pill form) and Herc and then finally Gemzar and Avastin. I am just in a holding pattern with the Gemzar and Avastin. We are seeing slight progression at the end of each cycle, hence the reason for looking into clinical trials.

Good luck to you. God's healing.

Cindi.

[Lolly]

Linda, I'm sorry to hear this, but I have a friend who's got Inflammatory BC which is confined to the skin on her breast, and I know one of her previous treatments for it WAS Gemzar which was working well for her except that it made her very tired. Her onc switched her to Xeloda which she's not had before and it's also working. Looks like you've run your course with Xeloda, so maybe Gemzar would be a consideration for you and it may not affect you the way it did her as it seems we're all unique that way. Hope you're feeling better today, don't lose hope as there's something out there for you. Maybe SABCS will have something new to report in that area.

<3 Lolly

[lindaw]

Thanks everyone who replied. I am feeling a little less despondent. Got a bit freaked out after reading how bad they can get with open wounds and the difficulty of treating them. I have been on continuous chemo since October 2002 and a break seems so attractive but impossible for me and now I get scared the next one won't work either..
love
linda