Dad's 1st chemo yesterday, rad begins wednesday

More than likely he has a few good weeks before it starts hitting him hardest... More than likely that'll be due to lack of calorie intake..., between no taste and saliva, and possible nausea from chemo and rads.

Myself, I had nine weeks (three weeks cycles of Cisplatin, Taxotere and 5FU (strapped in a fanny pack for four days)). The three chemos on Monday, then no chemo for three weeks...start the cycle again, with some hydration and blood booster (Neulasta Injection) between cycles.

Then seven weeks of concurrent, Carboplatin each Monday, rads every day (M-F) for 35 days...

The 35 days of rads is pretty standard with a few that had something a little different...

Keep him very hydrated, can't stress that enough..., starting today and through out treatment.

JG

CherieLW said:

Thanks for your input.  I

Thanks for your input.  I knew from reading a lot of posts it will take a bit too affect him.  I will most certainly make sure he stays hydrated!! Everyone has stressed that so if I have to I'll follow him around with water bottles lol  

Tomorrow starts the rads. Ready to count those down.  I know they have dad some type of steroids,  ativan, nausea meds.   There is one other pill I'm not sure what it is.  

Thanks for support

Cherie

For big doses of chemo I had Emend for three days..., awesome stuff..., wicked expensive. Daily nausea meds were Zofran..., or Phennigrin (something like that)... For my first week I was freaked by being strapped down and the mask, so I had Xanax... Again, great stuff, could drive and all, it just took the edge off of anxiety.

I weaned myself off of it in a week once I was OK with the routine...

Best ~ John

CherieLW said:

Glad you had something for

Glad you had something for anxiety,  hope my dad does Ok with  ativan.

not to unusual after the 1st treatment, so he should go for it.  Time and further treatment will slow him down but its temporary until he gets thru treatment.  I had Base of Tongue IV , 2 Chemos, 9 Erbitux and 33 RADS, tough but doable and I got thru it as a  man with Polio useing  crutches and wheelchair, I drove to 99% of my treatments with my grandbabies momma most of the time and my wife when necessary since she worked.  So it is doable and he will be fine just a long journey that will go in a blink of an eye.  Good Luck

In a nutshell, I had 35 sessions (a couple of times it was done 6-7 hours apart twice a day, to recoup the long weekends). I didn’t miss any of these and I drove (1.5 hours x2) myself every day, except the day when I had morphine for the g-tube procedure. The side effects started immediately, a slight nausea, but became really significant 3 weeks in. The worst was during chemo treatment (cisplatin) and the last 2 weeks + 1 week post radiation. I didn’t work the whole time (I couldn’t). Now I am 6 months post treatment (9 post radiation) and I am doing really, really, great. I have a bunch of side effects, but really manageable and things continue to improve (slowly, but surely). In spite of the side effects, I feel better than pre-cancer era, because I see things differently. I always had something to complain about; was not generally happy with my life. Now I have a general state of well-being, even the lack of any serious symptoms makes me feel blessed. Hard to explain, and I guess even harder to understand, unless you’ve been through hell.

The sooner he starts, the sooner he's done and he can begin healing. :-)

Have you asked about Mugard? I think it helped me a lot in terms of oral mucositis--I had almost no sores in my mouth at all. You want him to start before the rads or as soon after as possible. If his doctor's can't get it past insurance, you can contact them at their website (www.mugard.com) where there is a form you can give to your doctor to fill in. When Phrannie and I went through treatments, they were giving it to patients or charging a greatly reduced amount of money for it to help get the word out.

CherieLW said:

Wow,  this really gives me

Wow,  this really gives me hope.   You are one tough man!  Not familiar with erbitux?  Can you elaborate on that one?  Thx for the encouragement.  Its just rough not knowing what lies ahead.  But dad's strong and healthy otherwise so I'm very hopeful! !

And he is driving himself for the treatments, just very tired when he gets home.  He is not mowing the lawn but he can go to the movies which we enjoy doing.  It's a time to rest and relax.

One thing he has done from the beginning, is mark each day on the calendar off with a BIG X when he gets back home.  We have both May and June stapled together so he can see that he is on the backside of this trek with only a couple weeks left.  We have also planned a vacation with our grandchildren for September.  The doctors believe he will be able to march through Disneyland with ease by that time and it gives him something to really look forward to.  I walk with him daily which helps his strength and helps the meds move through him quickly.

Cherie, do not be alarmed if he sleeps for the next few days.  My husband sleeps the days away after Chemo, primarily days 4, 5 and 6 after Chemo.  I've always thought of rest as healing.

It's really incredible what we are capable of.  After each treatment that your Dad goes through he will see that it is something he is capable of and that it is doable.  We just have to help our loved ones take one day at a time and not rush them or dwell on the what ifs.  We just need to work with our daily reality.

These fabulous survivors here on this board have gotten me through the last 2 months.  They are wonderful, listen to them as they have lived it.

I know you are worried about what lies ahead, but believe me whatever it is....you can handle it.  Stay strong, stay positive.  Humor is very helpful as well.

Laugh as much as possible with your Dad and smile, life is still good.....very very good!

CherieLW said:

Janet

Sorry to hear that your husband is starting these treatments Monday.  What kind of cancer was he diagnosed with if you don't mind me asking?  Dad has his in the nasal cavity and one lymph node was affected. I'll be praying for you all and thinking of you...I know it is scary, but as everyone has said on here just stay positive!  It really helps to have things to look forward to. 

One thing I can tell you, is last week I was scared as heck! I cried all week, even cried before dad went into treatments. I was more scared than him!  

Monday he had his first chemo and he did great!  They did a saline drip in his IV, then nausea meds, then chemo, then more saline.  Dad had to use the restroom a lot- as you might have read many do.  I read a lot of people's inputs to prepare myself for what was to come... Anyway, no nausea. It took about 6 hours, then dad went and mowed at the new house and did some errands.  He's been out working on the new house every day despite starting radiation on Wednesday.  He has to complete 35 rad trtments (he has 32 left).  He said he didn't feel anything, no discomfort or anything.  I was really scared knowing tht they were going to have to secure my dad's head down during radiation, but he said it was no biggie.  He did get somethign for his nerves prior, but the doctor explained why they had to do that.  Its so they target the cancer cells and avoid hitting healthy ones, as well as keeping his head in place to hit the target exactly each time.  So just try to look at everythng as positive as possible.  I'm glad my dad started trtments when he did, because I'm ready for them to be over...

This site has offered a lot of support.  So many ppl have gone through similar trtments and had the same cancers and you all see them here today so that is something to be really grateful for!  If you have any other questions pls feel free to ask.  Many have helped me and I would love to help you all in any way I can, even if it is just reporting how dad is to help others get through their experiences. 

Also, just remember that nowadays there are better trtments and ways to soothe side effects, whereas there wasn't years ago.  Phrannie, Skiffin, and many others have given so much valuable information and prepared me for what we are facing now.  I'm right here with you!  Only a week behind...

Praying for you both as you begin this dreaded journey.  Just think only a few months!  You know how fast that is going to go? 

ron has stage 3 left tonsil cancer with 2 lymph nodes  will have 39 rads with weekly cistplatin

got his picc today and mask mapped for rads.

starts everything on monday.

I have met phrannie, T, skiffin and civil matt and hondo. they and many others have been a wealth of info.

like you I was freaked and emotional the first week and trying to get a lot of info. then the cancer society sent him a packet telling him survival rates of 50% for 5 years, it was so outdated from 1998 to 2001, was so mad. thats when I got on here and started chewing ears off to get as much info as i could.

I am a nurse at his primary care drs group, so have a lot of help and support to answer my questions , but they cant help with the answers like these ppl on these boards.

I will be watching your dads progress closely and it sounds great so far. hope its statys that way.

there are 2 others on here i chat with too, john and sandy and another person who is almost 4 years out ned. i am bad with names lately due to insomnia is all

over the place. wonder why?!

we have our arsenal ready, biotenes, stoppers 4 and xyletine came today. tons of whey protein, berries and yogurt , l-glutamine, mucinex, aquafir lotion.....

so I guess we are ready to start. will add more once T and the rest post more.

so keep up the faith, one day at a time is all we can do. we have to take care of ourselves (hard to do with worry) so we stay strong for them.

god bless

janet