Side effects Taxol/Carbo

Glljcawley
Glljcawley Member Posts: 5
in Ovarian Cancer #1

Hello, my mom was recently dxd with OC in August. She underwent a massive resection/Debulking surgery bc her tumors presented inside the colon/rectum. All pathology states OC stage 4. She spent 12 days in the hospital and her incision site became infected. She had to wear a wound vac pump for 9 weeks. It has now healed enough for chemo. She had her port placed a week ago. She had her first cycle on Thursday, 10-21-14, of taxol/carbo. She will have 6 cycles lasting 18 weeks. She goes every 3 weeks with 1 week off. My main concerns r side effects she's been experiencing.  They gave her Benadryl, steroids, and anti-nausea drugs before infusion. The first two days were fine. Yesterday and today she is experiencing pin pricks all over her abdominal area. She gets flushed and feels hot but has no fever. Due to the way her cancer presented, she had to have a permanent colostomy bag and she's had diarrhea in her bag. She has also said her teeth hurt. Today, she is also complaining of feeling like an elephant is sitting on her chest. She's had a lil nausea well controlled with Zofran. She says her muscles ache like when she has the flu. I've done some reading on side effects and my inclination is that these side effects r normal, but I also wanted ppl's individual opinions based on actually taking the drugs. The elephant sitting on her chest is new as of today and prob worries me more than the others. Any opinion/advice is greatly appreciated. My mom is 68 and this is a new frontier to us all so just trying to c what's normal and when r the times to contact the dr? Ty in advance for any help!

Comments

  • Ro10
    Ro10 Member Posts: 1,561 Member
    #2
    I would call 911 or take her to the ER

    an elephant sitting on her chest and pain in her jaw or teeth could be signs of a heart attack.  Those are not usual side effects from chemo.  Better safe than sorry.  The diarrhea could be from the steroids, and generalized aching is common also.  I would have the "elephant sitting on chest". Checked out immediately.  Your mother has been through much.  

  • NoTimeForCancer
    NoTimeForCancer Member Posts: 3,368 Member
    #3
    Ro10 said:

    I would call 911 or take her to the ER

    an elephant sitting on her chest and pain in her jaw or teeth could be signs of a heart attack.  Those are not usual side effects from chemo.  Better safe than sorry.  The diarrhea could be from the steroids, and generalized aching is common also.  I would have the "elephant sitting on chest". Checked out immediately.  Your mother has been through much.  

    I'm with Ro. The elephant

    I'm with Ro. The elephant sitting on her chest and teeth pain is serious.  Please don't wait to hear from any other women - take her in immediately.

  • Glljcawley
    Glljcawley Member Posts: 5
    #4
    NoTimeForCancer said:

    I'm with Ro. The elephant

    I'm with Ro. The elephant sitting on her chest and teeth pain is serious.  Please don't wait to hear from any other women - take her in immediately.

    Ty Ro and NoTime. I called my

    Ty Ro and NoTime. I called my mom as soon as I read ur mssgs. She had taken a nap and she said when she woke up, she no longer felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest and her teeth didn't hurt anymore. I cautioned if it happens again to let my dad know so he can get her to the ER and I will meet them there. I explained to her that those r not side effects of her chemo and it needs to b taken very seriously if it happens again. Hopefully, she will listen to me. Parents aren't so good at listening to their grown children lol. ;-) I've been doing some reading on things which r good to take for the neuropathy and found that B6 and L-glutamine r helpful. I, myself, have diabetic neuropathy so I thought I would experiment on myself to c if I notice any relief. However, since I don't take chemo, I wanted to ask if anyone has tried these vitamins and experienced any relief and/or complications and if they r safe to take with chemo? I will, ofc, verify everything with her dr before administering anything new. My mom has been through a ton of stuff, but I'm sure others have as well. She initially presented with two tumors in her sigmoid rectum area which one dr dxd as lipomas.  She kept experiencing heavy bleeding and clotting so she sought a second opinion who took biopsies of the two tumors and pathology revealed them to b ovarian cancer. During surgery, two other very large tumors were found high up in her abdomen that were never picked up on MRI, CT, nuclear medicine scans, or ultrasound. During her entire journey, she has consistently tested normal on CA-125. She has a very gifted and caring surgeon who considered closing her after finding the cancer was everywhere in her abdomen, but he knew she would die if he did. So, he did surgery for 6 hours and removed all tumors, all nodules, 15 lymph nodes, most of her large intestine, and some of her small intestine resulting in the permanent ostomy. He said he only left very few nodules smaller than the tip of a pinkie due to not being able to safely remove them. She has been presented to numerous tumor boards due to her rare presentation, but we pray for a good outcome since there has been no liver involvement and she had such an extensive Debulking surgery. She has a great outlook and lots of ppl who love her and support her. I'm glad to have found this mssg board bc often times, answers aren't available from caregivers in the middle of the night or on the weekend! Ty all for being there! :-)

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