Hi Deb,
My husband John is currently on Xeloda and Avastin. He started with FOLFOX in April '09 through August '10 but had an adverse reaction to the oxaliplatin and had to stop. He had the sensory neuropathy that Marion mentioned and the oncologist told him that he would never fully recover from it. He still gets the tingling and numbness. After that, he went on gem/cis but had to discontinue that in October because it was causing damage to his left kidney. His right kidney was removed when he had a resection in August '08. John has Stage IV ICC. We went to Georgetown in October to meet with a specialist who suggested the Xeloda. John has taken Avastin since May '09. So far, the Xeloda hasn't caused any major side effects. He tires very easily and says he has a stomachache, but he keeps going. After the first 2 cycles, the oncologist increased his dosage since he had tolerated it so well, but that caused his feet to get so sore that he could hardly walk. When he called the cancer center, they told him to stop taking it until he saw the doctor. He had 2 days left on that cycle. The oncologist went back to the original dosage which is manageable. John takes two pills in the morning and two at night for nine days, and then is off for five days; then, he starts over. He gets the Avastin every other week. That, also, causes him to fatique easily. Good luck on getting insurance to cover the Xeloda. Our hospital contacted the manufacturer because they said sometimes they would provide it for patients whose insurance didn't cover it. They were told that they only provide it for breast or colon cancer patients. We were lucky in that the girl at the hospital found a pharmacy in Illinois that mails it directly to us and they charge it to our credit card. We live in Virginia. It's bad enough to have to fight this disease and then you have to fight to get the chemo. I will pray that everything works out for you and that you are able to start your treatment on Wednesday. Best wishes, PeggyP
My oncologist is on vacation and all I know is that the team will meet and decide what chemo we should do next. Any ideas what my options are? What has worked for others and side effects etc? I was also wondering if the side effects from my recent chemo (numbness and tingling) in my fingers and feet will ever go away? Although it was said to me that I have 12 to 18 months to live ,6 months ago I don't believe it for a minute 
I have way to much left to live for... 
Best wishes to all our family and friends here on the cc board. <<hugs>> deb
