My feet are killing me

Options
longtermsurvivor
longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I've now been on erbitux for about 10 weeks. It has been a struggle for me. My face finally settled down, but that required lots of TLC, steroids, and time. Now my finger tips and heels are fissuring badly. The finger tips I can handle by wearing occlusive gloves at night and slathering them with vaseline, but the feet are proving to be a bigger problem.

I asked the oncologist for tips the other day, but he issued only general instructions, like "cover them". I already figured that, but I haven't had much luck yet. I tried moleskin, but it doesn't stay on for long enough to matter. Now I'm wearing a special vinyl-soled bootie to bed hoping to increase moisture to the bottom of my foot that way.

It's mostly my heels, but also the soles of my feet that are affected by this. Huge fissures you could drive a Humvee into. Hurts bad enough I can barely walk. Advice from
anyone who has battled this to a standstill would be sincerely appreciated. I have about six weeks left on this medication, which means at least 10 weeks of misery to go.

Thanks. Pat

Comments

  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #2
    Options
    Ouch!
    This has not happened to me, but these wounds on your feet ('drive a humvee through them') sound very serious and can lead to infection and who knows what else.

    Have you considered visiting the hospital and asking to see a wound care nurse (ET nurse)? My wife is one of them, so I know what they can do with rather massive wounds, including fissures, especially fissures. The pain must be incredible, Pat. Please consult your regular doc and ask for a referral to the hospital, and ask to be seen by an ET (or wound care) nurse in addition to whatever doctor you choose or they assign.

    Take care,

    Joe
  • jtl
    jtl Member Posts: 456
    #3
    Options
    Pat
    I was on Erbitux for 8 weeks and had acne for a couple of weeks and inflamation around the nail of my big toes, like an ingrown toenail. This went away after a few weeks post treatment but it was very sore in the mean time. I never had what you describe nor do I recall that side effect. Hope you feel better soon.
    John
  • Ed_PortOrange
    Ed_PortOrange Member Posts: 110
    #4
    Options
    Thanks for the info on Erbitux side effect
    Pat,

    I just posted my current situation and your post certainly stirred some memories of my feet being real dry the first time I was on erbitux. My onco is talking 18 weeks with me but may reevaluate with another PET in a few weeks. I imagine there is a cumulative effect as the weeks add up, but no side effects as of yet. I think I will begin using lotion on my feet and hands immediately.

    Keep us posted on any changes.

    Thanks, Ed
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #5
    Options
    So sorry
    I do not remember your situation with the fissures being a side effect of erbitux. I would agree that seeing a wound care specialist and/or your primary care doctor is in order. You do not want to get an infection, especially now when your immune system is almost non existant. Take care of this ASAP.

    Praying the doctors can do something to heal those feet.

    Debbie
  • robinleigh
    robinleigh Member Posts: 297
    #6
    Options
    Feet
    Andy's heels really cracked badly, as well. Not sure if anything would clear it up until you're finished with treatment. We gobbled on Aquafor at night and wore socks to bed. Good tips to ask a wound care nurse. We never thought it looked like an open sore that would be prone to infection...more like a super dry, cracked desert!

    You are getting close to the end of treatment. So happy for you and always wishing you the best!
  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #7
    Options
    Aha...
    Success. Thanks all who responded. My wife found some little booties with gel soles in the pharmacy department at WalMart. They cost about $4. Figuring there was nothing to loose, I put them on and have worn them under my socks for 2 days now. The healing I've gotten is nothing shy of miraculous. The whole thing is occlusion, to trap moisture, and evidently anything that serves as a barrier to loss of water works. I'm not taking these babies back off again for awhile. Sigh........
  • CaKat
    CaKat Member Posts: 28
    #8
    Options
    longtermsurvivor said:

    Aha...
    Success. Thanks all who responded. My wife found some little booties with gel soles in the pharmacy department at WalMart. They cost about $4. Figuring there was nothing to loose, I put them on and have worn them under my socks for 2 days now. The healing I've gotten is nothing shy of miraculous. The whole thing is occlusion, to trap moisture, and evidently anything that serves as a barrier to loss of water works. I'm not taking these babies back off again for awhile. Sigh........

    So glad you're getting relief!
    You might still slather on the aquaphor...
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #9
    Options
    Pat
    Glad you found some relief, because that just sounded awful.
  • robinleigh
    robinleigh Member Posts: 297
    #10
    Options
    longtermsurvivor said:

    Aha...
    Success. Thanks all who responded. My wife found some little booties with gel soles in the pharmacy department at WalMart. They cost about $4. Figuring there was nothing to loose, I put them on and have worn them under my socks for 2 days now. The healing I've gotten is nothing shy of miraculous. The whole thing is occlusion, to trap moisture, and evidently anything that serves as a barrier to loss of water works. I'm not taking these babies back off again for awhile. Sigh........

    Ahhhh
    Hooray for relief! And hooray for fabulous caregivers! We get obsessed with finding answers for what ails you.
  • Crazymom
    Crazymom Member Posts: 339 Member
    #11
    Options
    longtermsurvivor said:

    Aha...
    Success. Thanks all who responded. My wife found some little booties with gel soles in the pharmacy department at WalMart. They cost about $4. Figuring there was nothing to loose, I put them on and have worn them under my socks for 2 days now. The healing I've gotten is nothing shy of miraculous. The whole thing is occlusion, to trap moisture, and evidently anything that serves as a barrier to loss of water works. I'm not taking these babies back off again for awhile. Sigh........

    Dry feet
    So sorry to hear about feet. I am on week 4 of Erbitux and my feet look like a desert with cracks. I will go to Walmart and get the gel soles. Thanks for the advice. Hope you get to feeling better.



    Ann
  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    #12
    Options
    Glad you're getting some relief
    I had problems similar to yours during treatment - fissures not to the extent yours were, though. I did best glopping up my feet and hands every night with aquaphor or petroleum jelly , then covering with gloves/socks, and adding a second pair of socks over the first. I would glop up my feet during the day, too, and use balm or moisturizer on my hands. This really helped my feet and fingers with the exception of one thumb - the skin completely peeled off a few times (and was tender and inflammed for whatever reason) before it eased up.
  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #13
    Options
    Thought I'd update this one more time
    as we hit upon what is, for me, a very simple solution to the heel fissuring problem. Enough time has now gone by to where I'm comfortable saying that the gel-lined booies work miracles for the fissures which Erbitux can cause. What I have noticed is if I wear the booties continuously for 36-48 hours, I am completely pain free. I just put them on and wear them under socks. The fissures start to re-epithelialize in this brief period of time. Then if I don't wear the booties, the fissures, although still visible, don't hurt AT ALL. This effect lasts, for me, at least 5 days. WHen I begin to get pain again, wearing the booties as described above works its miracle as quickly each time.

    I'm sure the healing is prompted mostly by simple occlusion. These things are effectively a 100% vapor barrier. You could probably get the same effectt from wearing plastic bags. But these gel-soled booties are convenient, and available. We bought several from WalMart (pharmacy department). These were a better bootie, with more complete coverage than the ones we found at Walgreens. They cost about $8. You can also find these on Ebay and other places on the web.

    Sorry to take up so much bandwidth on this, but I wanted to record for posterity that this is a good solution to what is a miserable problem while on Erbitux. I'll update this if anything important comes up.

    Pat
  • ratface
    ratface Member Posts: 1,337 Member
    #14
    Options
    longtermsurvivor said:

    Thought I'd update this one more time
    as we hit upon what is, for me, a very simple solution to the heel fissuring problem. Enough time has now gone by to where I'm comfortable saying that the gel-lined booies work miracles for the fissures which Erbitux can cause. What I have noticed is if I wear the booties continuously for 36-48 hours, I am completely pain free. I just put them on and wear them under socks. The fissures start to re-epithelialize in this brief period of time. Then if I don't wear the booties, the fissures, although still visible, don't hurt AT ALL. This effect lasts, for me, at least 5 days. WHen I begin to get pain again, wearing the booties as described above works its miracle as quickly each time.

    I'm sure the healing is prompted mostly by simple occlusion. These things are effectively a 100% vapor barrier. You could probably get the same effectt from wearing plastic bags. But these gel-soled booties are convenient, and available. We bought several from WalMart (pharmacy department). These were a better bootie, with more complete coverage than the ones we found at Walgreens. They cost about $8. You can also find these on Ebay and other places on the web.

    Sorry to take up so much bandwidth on this, but I wanted to record for posterity that this is a good solution to what is a miserable problem while on Erbitux. I'll update this if anything important comes up.

    Pat

    At least it's recorded somewhere
    glad you got some relief from a painful sounding ailment. Too bad it wasn't printed in some pamphlet. I suppose Erbitux is still to new? Such a simple solution.

Discussion Boards