had bad reaction at chemo #10 today...scary

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polarprincess
polarprincess Member Posts: 202
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I also posted this at the colon club. so you may see it twice if you go there...went in for #10 today. I had been taken off of oxaliplatin at rounds 6-8, and it was reintroduced on round 9 at a 30% reduction, and it has been no secret that OXY and i are not such good friends. So anyway, i have a history of acid reflux so when i started getting severe chest pain i figured it was reflux, then it got worse and worse, and my head, chest ,neck, and arms started feeling really itchy, and my back and stomach started hurting really bad as well.. so i looked at the nurses and said, my chest really hurts and i am really itchy and they looked at me and gasped. i was covered in hives and big welts. They immediately disconnected the OXY and got benadryl and the doctor and started monitoring my vitals..after about 45 minutes all my symptoms went away and i was able to drive home... but man that was scary.. they said i was their first patient to ever have this and i find it odd. i have seen many posts with others who have had reactions to the drug... i feel like God is tellng me either you don't need it- the cancer has been gone since surgery or that i wasn't meant to be cured...i have only had 3 full doses of the oxy, 3 with some kind of reduction and then it will be 6 without it. On top of the planned 12 cycles of 5fu, I did also have 4 weeks of 5 fu with radiation so in all i am getting quite a bit of chemo..just not much of the OXY. I have read where some of you continued with the fulfox after getting premeds of benadryl, but i don't think that is in my doctor's plan because my hgb is 8.2, my platelets are bottomed out, and my white count is low as well...but i am trying to make peace with it all. it is what it is.

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  • CherylHutch
    CherylHutch Member Posts: 1,375
    #2
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    Scary stuff!
    Wow PP... that is scary stuff!! I guess the upside is... you had the reaction to it WHILE you were at the medical facility where the nurses and doctors were right there to deal with it. Imagine if you had been at home, by yourself? So I'm definitely glad to hear that if you have to have a reaction, then have it when you are at the facility!

    Interesting that you should mention reflux. I have never had it before the surgery... but while in the hospital recovering from the surgery, I got it quite bad. I forget what it was they gave me for it but since I was hooked up to a bunch of IVs , they gave it to me via an IV and it disappeared immediately.

    Quite often, my oncologist or the oncologist interns will ask, "Do you ever get reflux or heartburn?" The answer is no... but last week I actually did get it. Not really bad, but enough that I thought, "I don't like this!" I had some Zantac at home, took 150mg and that seemed to do the trick.

    But, now I'm curious... why are the doctors concerned if we get reflux? Is this to be expected? Or does something about our cancer/treatments cause it? I haven't been on chemo since Oct 2007 so it's not the chemo causing it... but they still ask me.

    Huggggs,

    Cheryl
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #3
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    scary
    Wow- what a scary reaction to the oxi! I had a scary reaction also to it, but not quite as severe as you've described- no chest pains or anything. I did get swollen, itchy lips, and itchy hives on my face, palms of my hands, ears, and feet. As you mentioned, I was one who then continued to get it following Benadryl, steroids (Decodron?), and having the oxi infusion spread out over 4 or 5 hours. Even so, I had a reaction again on my very last treatment of it. Scary stuff!

    I do find it unusual that your oncology staff said they never experienced that before. Maybe they just meant to that degree. I can't believe they've never had a patient react to it before, because from what's reported on this board, it doesn't seem that uncommon.
    Well, you got through it, thank the Lord, now on you go again.
    Take care, dear-
    Lisa
  • tiny one
    tiny one Member Posts: 465 Member
    #4
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    oxiplatin
    I made it thru 6 months of treatment on oxiplatin with few side effects. From what I've read some people can't tolerate this drug very well. Guess I was lucky that I could tolerate it. It's been 17 months since my last chemo treatment on oxi. I still have just a slight numbness in my toes and feet.
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #5
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    Scary stuff!
    Hope no newbies were around! Glad they were able to get the allergic reaction tamed and you were able to drive yourself home. I am sure you will do just fine without the oxi, sounds like you have gotten a good dose of chemo and rads. You know, I believe there are no coincidences, and everything happens for a reason. Your treatment is what it is because it's exactly what you need, at least for now. Be strong and know that your body is tolerating what it can and rejecting what it can't; the way nature is intended to behave.
    mary
  • kmygil
    kmygil Member Posts: 876 Member
    #6
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    Very Scary
    Hi PP. I'm so glad you were at the facility so the professionals could handle your reaction. I have heard of reactions, but none so severe, I think. Interesting about the reflux. Midway thru chemo I developed acid reflux & have been on Prevacid ever since. The chemo must do something to the acid levels or cause them to leap upward:-) You are a brave princess.

    Hugs and prayers,
    Kirsten
  • polarprincess
    polarprincess Member Posts: 202
    #7
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    kmygil said:

    Very Scary
    Hi PP. I'm so glad you were at the facility so the professionals could handle your reaction. I have heard of reactions, but none so severe, I think. Interesting about the reflux. Midway thru chemo I developed acid reflux & have been on Prevacid ever since. The chemo must do something to the acid levels or cause them to leap upward:-) You are a brave princess.

    Hugs and prayers,
    Kirsten

    thanks
    Thanks for the comments. You all just reminded me they gave me pepcid too with the benadryl. Evidently that helps with hives too as well as reflux. I have had acid reflux for years, but I get asked all the time too if i have it now. I am not sure the reason..maybe some of the drugs cause it.. maybe because they are concerned about aspiration into the lungs which can cause a serious baterial pneumonia..which is common in relfux especially at night. Sometimes i wake up choking on acid. Another reaosn i imagine is that continuous reflux can lead to esophageal throat cancer... so maybe they want to keep a watch on that..who knows??

    I was actually the only one in the infusion room at the time so know one else saw it which was good. I wish i had a pic of the nurses faces when they saw me. It was priceless. I felt bad though because there was a guy that had come in and had leg cancer and his scan had showed new lung mets and he was all concerned and wanting to talk to to the doctor and because of me their meeting got interrupted. I hope he got all his questions answered.
    On one more note..my doctor did mention to me that the studies show that people who got radiation tend to have more toxicity with the oxaliplatin which is certainly proving to be true with me. Maybe that is why most people who get radiation only get 8 treatments instead of the standard 12.
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #8
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    polarprincess said:

    thanks
    Thanks for the comments. You all just reminded me they gave me pepcid too with the benadryl. Evidently that helps with hives too as well as reflux. I have had acid reflux for years, but I get asked all the time too if i have it now. I am not sure the reason..maybe some of the drugs cause it.. maybe because they are concerned about aspiration into the lungs which can cause a serious baterial pneumonia..which is common in relfux especially at night. Sometimes i wake up choking on acid. Another reaosn i imagine is that continuous reflux can lead to esophageal throat cancer... so maybe they want to keep a watch on that..who knows??

    I was actually the only one in the infusion room at the time so know one else saw it which was good. I wish i had a pic of the nurses faces when they saw me. It was priceless. I felt bad though because there was a guy that had come in and had leg cancer and his scan had showed new lung mets and he was all concerned and wanting to talk to to the doctor and because of me their meeting got interrupted. I hope he got all his questions answered.
    On one more note..my doctor did mention to me that the studies show that people who got radiation tend to have more toxicity with the oxaliplatin which is certainly proving to be true with me. Maybe that is why most people who get radiation only get 8 treatments instead of the standard 12.

    the nurse's faces
    gotta laugh, I can picture it now! They are so ever diligent and certainly hope nothing goes awry! I gave my nurse a scare one time. I have issues with my shoulders, related to my line of work and the fact that I spend hours on end with my arms in a single position. Anyhow, the ligaments aren't tight and I have to be conscious of how my shoulder is laying in the socket or it cuts off circulation and the nerves. Well, I was sitting in the treatment room getting my Avastin and knitting. Well, I was holding my arm weird so it cut off the circulation. I started shaking my arm to wake it back up and one of the onc nurses had been headed out of the room and saw me out of the side of her eyes. Boy, her head whipped around, she narrowed her eyes and asked me what I was doing. I told her it was no problem and she went on her way, but I guess she was afraid i was having a heart attack or something! Poor thing!
    mary
  • vinny3
    vinny3 Member Posts: 928 Member
    #9
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    Having a reaction like that is scary. Your body may be telling you something. I went through 9 cycles of Folfox before stopping because of the neuropathy. Just felt that my body had had enough and there was no evidence of any remaining cancer. Still NED 2.5 years after the chemo. I have missed your earlier posts. What stage are you. It seems as if you could stop the chemo if it is being done as a precaution for the future.

    ****
  • johnnybegood
    johnnybegood Member Posts: 1,117 Member
    #10
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    vinny3 said:

    Having a reaction like that is scary. Your body may be telling you something. I went through 9 cycles of Folfox before stopping because of the neuropathy. Just felt that my body had had enough and there was no evidence of any remaining cancer. Still NED 2.5 years after the chemo. I have missed your earlier posts. What stage are you. It seems as if you could stop the chemo if it is being done as a precaution for the future.

    ****

    stomach ulcers
    i found out that during my first round of chemo{xeloda pills} and radiation for 5 weeks to shrink my tumor i was having burning pain in my stomach like an ulcer. my radiologist said the chemo was causing it to irratate the lining of my stomach.he gave me previcid. i am now doing #2 of 12 with oxy and 5fu.after my 1st dose my stomach was hurting and burning.i had some previcid left and my onc said is was fine to keep taking it.so i guess chemo does cause stomach problems[along with all the other side effects] take care and Godbless.....johnnybegood
  • polarprincess
    polarprincess Member Posts: 202
    #11
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    johnnybegood said:

    stomach ulcers
    i found out that during my first round of chemo{xeloda pills} and radiation for 5 weeks to shrink my tumor i was having burning pain in my stomach like an ulcer. my radiologist said the chemo was causing it to irratate the lining of my stomach.he gave me previcid. i am now doing #2 of 12 with oxy and 5fu.after my 1st dose my stomach was hurting and burning.i had some previcid left and my onc said is was fine to keep taking it.so i guess chemo does cause stomach problems[along with all the other side effects] take care and Godbless.....johnnybegood

    yeah
    I am laughing about the shaking arm!! yeah what chemo can do to our poor bodies it is scary. i actually have chemo induced hepatitis right now as well. I am looking forward to a little detox that is for sure.. To answer the question about my stage.. i am an early stage IIIa- a T1 which would have been stage 1 had it not been found in the 1 lymph node out of 26. No other adverse factors..just your garden variety borderline rectal cancer..
  • taraHK
    taraHK Member Posts: 1,952 Member
    #12
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    I've had similar
    I had a similar reaction to the oxi once. Not as severe as yours, it seems -- but I did have a wild rash on my face and chest. Bad enough that I had to go to hospital for IV steroid and antihistamine (mine started after I got home -- swell). We decided to carry on with the oxi for a while -- with heavier premed steroids and antihistamines. But it freaked me out and we eventually stopped the oxi. I know some others, once they have an allergic reaction, never have oxi again.

    I'm on xeloda (pills) only now and I'm a happy chicky (for the most part).

    Sorry you had this scare!

    Tara

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