Is it cancer or chemo making him sick ???

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Geri1959
Geri1959 Member Posts: 37
in Colorectal Cancer #1
My husband has small bowel cancer (adenocarcinoma) diagnosed in May 2011 had 5 chemo treatments all were good except the last two... now I am worried since he is not eating and has lost 20 lbs in three weeks, is this the cancer or the chemo?... first three chemo treatments were Great!!! the 5th one is so bad he had it on Sept 19, and 10 days later he is still the same tired and feeling bad, he does not want to eat he is drinking could the cancer be doing this?

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  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #2
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    My Opinion...
    It's the chemo. What drugs is he on? I don't know how you folks feel about marijuana but it can help a lot for things like appetite.
    Phil
  • farmgirl500
    farmgirl500 Member Posts: 8
    #3
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    I'm Sure It Is the Chemo
    Sounds like the chemo. Took me a few treatments before it really hit me too. Then I could not taste anything or what I could taste tasted weird and then you don't even want to eat. Other people on the board might have suggestions on something to perk up his appetite? I just wound up forcing myself to eat my regular meals and eat what I would have normally eaten whether I could taste it or not.
  • laurettas
    laurettas Member Posts: 372
    #4
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    farmgirl500 said:

    I'm Sure It Is the Chemo
    Sounds like the chemo. Took me a few treatments before it really hit me too. Then I could not taste anything or what I could taste tasted weird and then you don't even want to eat. Other people on the board might have suggestions on something to perk up his appetite? I just wound up forcing myself to eat my regular meals and eat what I would have normally eaten whether I could taste it or not.

    Same for my husband, farmgirl.
    His taste has been affected but he just ignores it and eats normally. Well, actually he eats more than normal. Jake believes that the more he eats, the faster things start tasting a little more normal and he has less nausea. We have a hard time getting two antibiotic pills in to him a day because he never goes three hours without eating! He has only needed a couple of anti-nausea pills since he started and has had three months of FOLFOX and now two months of FOLFIRI plus some Avastin and Erbitux.

    He is also trying different things to get the bad taste out of his mouth. So far Tums, ginger cookies, licorice etc. have seemed to have the greatest effect, along with rinsing his mouth with salt/soda water. But the main thing for him is just keeping food in his stomach most of the time. He did well with ten months of chemo when he was young and is now tolerating it well again. So eating frequently has worked both times for him.
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    #5
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    Geri,
    It could be dehydration. Try getting him an fluid infusion and see if that makes him feel better (I know it worked wonders for me).

    Blake
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #6
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    Buckwirth said:

    Geri,
    It could be dehydration. Try getting him an fluid infusion and see if that makes him feel better (I know it worked wonders for me).

    Blake

    Geri i think is Chemo , I use to force my self to eat even more
    than normal despite not having any appetite or taste and I won 10 kilos , choosing high calories meals, lots of avocado, cheese, pies! Not very healthy but better than loose weight !
    Hugs!
  • Geri1959
    Geri1959 Member Posts: 37
    #7
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    PhillieG said:

    My Opinion...
    It's the chemo. What drugs is he on? I don't know how you folks feel about marijuana but it can help a lot for things like appetite.
    Phil

    AVASTIN, LEUCOVORIN INJECTION,IRINOTECAN, FLUOROURACIL
    thanks for the response,
    he is on AVASTIN, LEUCOVORIN INJECTION,IRINOTECAN, FLUOROURACIL then there are all the pills
    Iron, perks, Stemetil, lomotil,magnizum I belive in MJ he does not. We see the Dr on Monday he is to take the last of 6 treatments but I think he needs a rest,We will see what the Dr has to say, he is so tired he has been this way for 11 days
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #8
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    pepebcn said:

    Geri i think is Chemo , I use to force my self to eat even more
    than normal despite not having any appetite or taste and I won 10 kilos , choosing high calories meals, lots of avocado, cheese, pies! Not very healthy but better than loose weight !
    Hugs!

    Ginger snaps, BBQ anything, chili, Hawaiian Punch ,
    Milk Shakes, buttered toast with cinnamon, chocolate milk...and Phinagren (sp)...

    for me on folfiri/avastin...its my basic food group for about 6 days.....
  • Geri1959
    Geri1959 Member Posts: 37
    #9
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    Buzzard said:

    Ginger snaps, BBQ anything, chili, Hawaiian Punch ,
    Milk Shakes, buttered toast with cinnamon, chocolate milk...and Phinagren (sp)...

    for me on folfiri/avastin...its my basic food group for about 6 days.....

    Thank you
    Big Thank you for everyones reponse... :-) He is looking so much better and he is eating a little more, I am so very happy today , what I have learned here is ONE DAY AT A TIME and take the time to breath, which is sometimes very hard... I am so happy I found this board and for the people who share their stories... THANK YOU !!!!!!
  • thxmiker
    thxmiker Member Posts: 1,278 Member
    #10
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    It is the chemo thsat makes
    It is the chemo thsat makes one sick. I did not feel like eating but forced myself to do so. I was pooping 20 times a day and had rectazl sores. (from the acidic pooping.) I was eating 6000 calories a day on average because I was pooping sooooo much. I still lost 40lbs over 7 months of chemo! One must eat no matter how bad one feels. Cooking food made me feel better. Even though eating made me feel like crap. (No pun intended.) Bananas, Gatoraid, and Ginger became my foods of choice. THey were the things that made me feel better.

    The cancer made me feel lathargic. I did not even know I had cancer untill I had a medical problem.
    Best Always, mike

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