Chemo side effects

MikeM
MikeM Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
My wife is being treated for Stage III A lung cancer. She received her first course of chemo consisting of Taxotere and Carboplatin on February 7th. Since then she has spent ten days in the hospital, and has not been without severe pain, continued nauseau, and has basically been bedridden since then. She is a breast cancer survivor and has undergone many different surgeries without having any major problems. Her oncologist has delayed the next course and is considering replacing the Taxotere with Gemzar.

Has anyone experienced this type of violent side effects during chemo? She was totally without symptoms until the chemo. We are concerned that we may have to stop the chemo because of the violent side effects.

Any insights would be helpful.

Comments

  • michaelcie
    michaelcie Member Posts: 133
    #2
    hi mike, yes I had side effects from cisplatnum, the second cycle,I crashed on it,and was hospitalized for three days. They kept me semi-consious until I got over the major side effects. As far as chemo goes, every cycle I would go for 10-14 days of vomiting , it is the chemo, ask for anti-nausea medications, they didn't work for me but alot of people I have talked to it has helped. Good luck and God bless, mike. There is a pretty good chat site at: www.oncochat my nick there is "handle"
  • schuyler
    schuyler Member Posts: 32
    #3
    Hello, Mike I had chemo for lung cancer last year. I did not have the drastic effects your wife is having for that duration of time. However, my first round of chemo gave me severe pains in my legs and hips (taxol causes this). In trying to medicate me for the pain, I became very nauseous and vomited for five days. The pain medication started a reaction that kept me nauseated. Perhaps your dr. can experiment with different pain relief to control the pain and the nausea. I cannot tolerate any codeine or anything like vicodine, lortabs or morphine. Demerol or mepergan fortis worked okay for me and my ensuing treatments were not as traumatic. I did have to use anti nausea medication, but my bouts of sickness lasted only about 48 to 72 hours. Hope this may help. Know what you are going thru and wish you the best. Schuyler
  • tomsbc
    tomsbc Member Posts: 19
    #4
    I have been through radiation and 6 weeks of chemo with what was supposed to be Taxol and Carbo for inoperable NSCLC. I had an anaphylaxis reaction to the Taxol so I continued with just Carboplatin with no problems. I am now in week 6 of a second round of Chemo with Carboplatin and Gemzar. In the past two weeks (my off week) I have developed a severe pain in my left shoulder. It appears to be around the center of the radiation target. I just had a CT done and will see my Chemo Doctor on Monday. I hope to get a pain medication as the tylenol and aspirin no longer do the job, but I don't plan to stop the chemo though. After this round I may be continued on more Chemo using Iressa.
  • Paul McNally
    Paul McNally Member Posts: 1
    #5

    Mike, I have/had NSCCL, had a mass on the right lung, went through a right upper lobectomy which removed that part of the lung with the mass.During surgery many lymph nodes were removed and one came back positive for cancer cell, recovered from surgery and went throuh 4 cycles of chemo (Cisplatin and Taxotere) The side effects progressively were worse through each cycle and at the second cycle I was hospitalized for a day and a half with dehydration. Nothing about my chemo treatment was easy on me. I was very grateful to get through it all and have been in remission since the surgery ( Nov of 2012 ) Prayers for you and your family.

  • dennycee
    dennycee Member Posts: 857 Member
    #6
    Side effects management.

    My dr have me an anti nausea med called Emend with the chemo.  I didn't take it correctly and wound up very sick.  My caretakers told me that I was hallucinating.  I remember nothing of it.  In order to bring my nausea under control they added Ativan to the other meds and we got it under control. 

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