Lung Cancer...

Kim1214
Kim1214 Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
My mother in law was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, that had spread to her brain (several lessions) and adrenal glands, in August.

She had 10 sessions of full brain radiation and will have her second dose of chemo this Thursday.

She is having issues with walking. Could this be the cancer or just weakness from the treatments?

Also, this past Friday her red bloos cells were extremely low. She was admitted into the hospital for a blood transfusion and received 2 bags.

What could cause the loss of blood cells? Is the an side effect of chemo? Could there be something else causing it? She had to do a stool sample and it looked like there was blood in her stool. I keep trying to google information and am worried that something will be missed.

Please answer...there is so much going on, I do not know where to turn.

Comments

  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #2
    Side effects
    Chemo is a strong medicine for a big problem. It works, but it also has many side effects that doctors and nurse must keep track of. One of them is anemia. They can do blood transfusions and sometimes give a shot to help the body produce more blood cells. Sometimes the blood problem is caused by something other than chemo, so they have to be on their toes to find the true cause and give the right treatment. By all means, call the nurses at your doctor's office and ask questions every time you need answers.
  • hope0310
    hope0310 Member Posts: 320
    #3
    cabbott said:

    Side effects
    Chemo is a strong medicine for a big problem. It works, but it also has many side effects that doctors and nurse must keep track of. One of them is anemia. They can do blood transfusions and sometimes give a shot to help the body produce more blood cells. Sometimes the blood problem is caused by something other than chemo, so they have to be on their toes to find the true cause and give the right treatment. By all means, call the nurses at your doctor's office and ask questions every time you need answers.

    WBR is hell on a person, my
    WBR is hell on a person, my mom had it. She too began having issues with walking. Ended up doing spinal tap to see if the cancer had spread to her spinal fluid, it had not, but there was still no definative answer concerning her walking.

    Is your MIL on decadran for brain swelling? There are issues with weaning from it as well.

    Low blood is from the chemo..

    My best to you and yours.
  • deb_needhope
    deb_needhope Member Posts: 38
    #4
    Blood Transfusion
    My mother has lung cancer too with one small lession to the brain. She had chemo first and started radiation in September.
    Your mother-in-law probably needed the blood transfusion from the radiation. My mother went thru approx 10 treatment of radiation to the brain and got very tired.. When she had blood drawn, they found that her red cell count was very low so ordered for a blood transfusion. The radiation kills the cells.. She now gets her blood drawn weekly to check her count to see if/when she will need another transfusion. When she had her chemo (4 sessions), she never needed a blood transfusion. After the transfusion, my mother's energy was better.

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