effects of chemo

sooner
sooner Member Posts: 1
I was diagnosed with Anaplastic Lymphoma in Aug,2000. I will have my 2nd round of chemo on Mon, Oct 30. I have vomited quite a few times, and have lost tons of wt. I am a male,64 yrs old, avid jogger for 30 yrs,5'9", and now only weigh 120 lbs-used to be 155 earlier this year. I'm taking Compazine, which helps sometime, and got a new drug called Megase to help my appetite. I am scheduled for a bone marrow transplant (autologous) after the 4 rounds of chemo (21 days apart). I am getting so discouraged with the wt loss and stomach probs. I had small bowel cancer, and the recoup was terrible, because my ncision was infected; it's now almost healed (7wks after surgery), so the whole thing started out as a bummer! Please help! Thanks,Sooner

Comments

  • tamis
    tamis Member Posts: 33
    I was diagnosed Hodgkins Lymphoma in July '99 and this past April 2000 had an autologous bone marrow treatment. To be totally honest, it's not an easy thing to go through. I was very sick from the high doses of chemo and unable to eat the entire stay at the hospital. It was roughly a 3 week stay. It will get better! It's very tough to go through, but keep fighting to get better. I had also lost tons of weight. I am know back to my original weight and have a great appetite, which at times, I thought I never would have again. Stay strong. think positive. It's a tough road ahead of you, but it will get better. I've been there. I'm know undergoing my 2nd round of radiation with hopes this will end it! I wish you the best!!!
  • begood
    begood Member Posts: 1
    Sounds like your chemo routine is about the same as mine was... about every 21 days or so. I went from 200 lbs to 150, and couldn't keep much of anything down for about 4 days after the day-long treatment every "month". After 2 cycles I settled on just drinking water and nibbling on crackers for those first few days. I also tried some of the liquid dietary suppliments for the transition from my "bread and water" days back to a regular diet. That seemed to work for me. It's been 20 months since my last treatment, and things continue to look good -- unremarkable as the radiologists term it. The treatment is rough, the nausea's, well, nauseating, but it passes. Just keep in mind that as bad as it is, the treatments are working on the tumor. Sounds like you were pretty healthy otherwise which will really help you get through this, Sooner. Keep stopping in here and talking.