Xeloda for colon cancer - Scared about side effects and need support

Happy New Year! Thanks for your good wishes. I hope it turns out to be a good one for all of us currently undergoing chemo or surgery.
Since ending my first 2 week cycle last Thursday I have been a lot more comfortable - more energy and a taste for champagne and red wine reappeared yesterday evening during New Year's Eve celebrations with friends! And today I have done 6,800 steps so far with my wife which is a record since starting chemo.
I agree that drinking lots of fluids, particularly water, is so important. If I start to flag, a drink of water soon perks me up. Fortunately, I've been free of constipation for around 10 days now and so I hope the balanced diet I'm trying to achieve will work better once the next cycle of chemo starts in a few day's time. I tend to avoid supplements and focus instead on fresh or frozen produce from our garden, particularly greens, beetroot, carrots and potatoes. I like natural unsweetened yoghurt too. But I did experiment with a Chinese takeaway two days ago - the ginger with the prawns (shrimps) and spring onions was delicious but overall it was a bit too spicy for my system and so probably won't be repeated for a while.
I hope you're tolerating Xeloda well and that you avoid any significant side effects. Best wishes. Martin

I took that chemo for 6 weeks five days a week. I was fatigued, but getting around doing the basic basics not so bad.. I was also taking the radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks. If no radiation I would expect it to be manageable but weak weak for sure.. best of recovery! My big day comes on the 18th of Jan. Hope and pray for a healthier rectum. Was at 6cm. Maybe much smaller if at all ?

Happy New Year! Thanks for your good wishes. I hope it turns out to be a good one for all of us currently undergoing chemo or surgery.
Since ending my first 2 week cycle last Thursday I have been a lot more comfortable - more energy and a taste for champagne and red wine reappeared yesterday evening during New Year's Eve celebrations with friends! And today I have done 6,800 steps so far with my wife which is a record since starting chemo.
I agree that drinking lots of fluids, particularly water, is so important. If I start to flag, a drink of water soon perks me up. Fortunately, I've been free of constipation for around 10 days now and so I hope the balanced diet I'm trying to achieve will work better once the next cycle of chemo starts in a few day's time. I tend to avoid supplements and focus instead on fresh or frozen produce from our garden, particularly greens, beetroot, carrots and potatoes. I like natural unsweetened yoghurt too. But I did experiment with a Chinese takeaway two days ago - the ginger with the prawns (shrimps) and spring onions was delicious but overall it was a bit too spicy for my system and so probably won't be repeated for a while.
I hope you're tolerating Xeloda well and that you avoid any significant side effects. Best wishes. Martin

Hi again, I wanted to wish you a very Happy New Year, and hope going forward you will feel much better and soon have good news that your treatment is working. I meant to tell you that drinking a lot of water or other fluids will most likely help with the constipation. I am also going to talk with my doctor next Friday about my going back on probiotics. I used to take them and it always was helpful in regulating the system. I read articles about clinical studies where cancer/chemo patients do very well with probiotics, and it is a great help. Check with your doctor first and ask what type he or she recommends. I will do the same. I eat mostly gluten free and dairy free foods, and had gotten into a habit of eating vegan cheese before all this started, and realize now that to help avoid the constipation I cannot eat it as much or even my gluten free bread and other food items that contain rice flour. As we know, rice is a binder, so maybe in moderation with vegetables and fruit is okay, but not as a steady diet. It's a whole new learning process. Hope you enjoy the rest of the holidays and are feeling better.

I hope you're not too uncomfortable. Yes, I'm sure diet has such a large part to play and eating healthily will help avoid the need for even a gentle laxative. Whilst I haven't needed any for several days now my bowel continues to be irritable much of the time, despite eating lots of home grown vegetables. It needs to learn how to behave itself. I shall follow your advice and take the pills in easy steps in future instead of swallowing all 3 in rapid succession (mainly to get the process over with!). Thanks for the tip, and for the ginger recommendation.
Best of luck over the next few days. It's good to compare experiences.

I to was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer with 2 lymph nodes positive after bowel resection surgery. After my initial oncology consult I was scared also because of the picture they painted.after 8 chemo sessions my side effects r minimum. Taste buds,brain fog, some diarrhea,that's easy checked. Anxiety that I brought 2 the table. No pain,,no fever,no hair loss,. nail color change (some)

Hello again, I am about to start my morning ritual on day 3. I did have a little constipation this morning upon wakening, and realized that I also need to do something about eating more well balanced foods to include more vegetables and fruit--especially grapes. I have gotten into a bad habit prior to the holidays with eating foods that I normally don't. Not only have I gained weight, but am also eating foods that are not good for the treatment and with just having the colon surgery. Starting today, I am going to eat more of the good things and go back to eating the fun stuff in moderation. I have heard that prune juice is also good to have around in case one has this problem. Definitely need to keep a gentle laxative on hand. I will let you know how it goes, and I do hope that you will have better success. Is next week your one week off? All the Best in the New Year!

Thanks for your Christmas greetings. I hope you had a good day and that your first day of Xeloda has gone well. Have you experienced tingly fingers yet? That's an easy side effect to live with but I sometimes wear thin gloves when handling cold objects. I'm finding it's a bit like riding a roller coaster - some days are great and others difficult and I've yet to discover the reason for the variances. I seem to be tolerating Xeloda quite well and so I suspect it's about finding the right diet to ensure a comfortable bowel at all times.
My treatment started with an infusion of Oxaliplatin last Thursday which lasted around 2 hours. That was easy. Since then I have been taking 3 x 500mg pills of Capecitabine (Xeloda) twice a day but the first 3 days also included steroid and anti-sickness pills which, combined, might have been the cause of the awful constipation a week ago. I've stopped taking laxatives and so it now seems to be a question of diet management. This roller coaster experience has resulted in some days, such as yesterday, when I have felt very well (5,500 steps achieved fairly easily), but not quite as good today (only 3,300 so far). Maybe it was the first red wine for weeks when a couple of grandkids visited yesterday! I hope your experience goes well and that you have no discomfort.
We have had lovely sunny weather over Christmas with temperatures of 9C / 48F at times. Good to hear you're not affected by the icy conditions elsewhere. Keep in touch.