alcohol and chemo -- do they mix?

[Guest guest]

Hello, I am new to this group and posting for the first time. My

husband has rectal cancer with mets to the liver. He had surgery to

remove the tumor and thankfully did not require an ileostomy. He

tolerated the surgery well and is growing stronger every day. We

are scheduled to see the oncologist the first week of August to hear

what kind of treatment comes next. My problem is that he is a fairly

heavy drinker and I know in my heart that he will not be willing to

give up drinking during an extended period of chemo. I wonder if he

would be happier to simply let the disease run its course instead of

trying to change life-long habits. Have any of you any experience

with this kind of situation. I will appreciate your input one way or

the other. The decision is going to be his, not mine.

[Guest guest]

I am sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis. Although you

should discuss it with the oncologist, I know that an Italian lady

who got 5-FU treatment along with me, said that she missed her glass

of wine with dinner, so I can only presume that the oncologist had

strongly recommended against it. Alcohol can reduce the ability of

the liver to detoxify a number of different drugs, so I would suspect

that it's use would be discouraged regardless.

All of this being so new, you must both be very frightened. It took

me several weeks just to get to thinking clearly about things.

Initially many people believe that chemotherapy will undoubtably be a

terrible, painful and miserable experience. Some people believe it

will be as bad as dying. This is not true for at least for most.

Although everyone responds a bit differently, and everyone will have

their ups and downs, advances have made chemotherapy much easier for

most people. Chemotherapy can offer a good length of good quality

time, or perhaps even make liver nodules removalbe or amenible to

radiofrequency ablation. I have worked, gone on trips and in general

have enjoyed life during the 18 mths or so of chemotherapy I have

been on.

It may be worth passing on this information, and then gently bring up

the possibility for alcohol to cause problems so that he has time to

mull things over carefully.

Best wishes,

Kris

[Guest guest]

I am sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis. Although you

should discuss it with the oncologist, I know that an Italian lady

who got 5-FU treatment along with me, said that she missed her glass

of wine with dinner, so I can only presume that the oncologist had

strongly recommended against it. Alcohol can reduce the ability of

the liver to detoxify a number of different drugs, so I would suspect

that it's use would be discouraged regardless.

All of this being so new, you must both be very frightened. It took

me several weeks just to get to thinking clearly about things.

Initially many people believe that chemotherapy will undoubtably be a

terrible, painful and miserable experience. Some people believe it

will be as bad as dying. This is not true for at least for most.

Although everyone responds a bit differently, and everyone will have

their ups and downs, advances have made chemotherapy much easier for

most people. Chemotherapy can offer a good length of good quality

time, or perhaps even make liver nodules removalbe or amenible to

radiofrequency ablation. I have worked, gone on trips and in general

have enjoyed life during the 18 mths or so of chemotherapy I have

been on.

It may be worth passing on this information, and then gently bring up

the possibility for alcohol to cause problems so that he has time to

mull things over carefully.

Best wishes,

Kris