after chemo = more symptoms, so what now??

marc24
marc24 Member Posts: 92
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
hello, ive been posting here and there about my moms health..after 5 chemo, she is gonna meet with her onco july 7th and im hopnig for the best, but now i can see my mom is having more and more symptoms, either from the drugs itself and her liver mets...she is consderably weaker, and lost about 10-12 lbs after 3 months, she has slight pain on her abdomen for every move she does, and she says there's some "hardness" to her abdomen area, where the liver is at, im afraid its the cancer just acting...im getting more and more scared as the days go by, during chemo, i was scared, but i felt like at least she is getting treated, then now i feel like days are just flying by and now she is on halt from her meds + her symptoms...what can i tell her to encourage her to keep fighting??

Comments

  • kristasplace
    kristasplace Member Posts: 957 Member
    #2
    chemo is hard
    Everyone reacts differently to the effects of chemo, but i think the one thing that is universal is that it causes you to generally feel like crap. I was always tired, and just kind of sickly feeling. If she's had abdominal surgery, her abdomen is going to feel 'weird' for a very long time. Everything in there has been jerked around, clamped up, taken out, put back in, rearranged, and stapled. My abdomen still feels achey inside, and numb around the surgical site, and my surgery was a year and a half ago. Chemo can be a nasty monster. I would tell her that the misery from the chemo means it's probably working very well. Tell her to invision the chemo eating the cancer up, and her immune system is assisting the fight, and too busy to work on making her feel better at the moment. She's almost halfway through it. That's around the time i felt the worst. Then, when it's all over, she'll start to feel better again very quickly.

    I hope her symptoms improve, and i wish you both the very best!
    Hugs,
    Krista
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #3
    I agree with Krista....
    Chemo and treatment, in general, puts your body thru hell.....

    I lost 35 pounds, and had about enough energy to crawl from bed to bathroom and back...

    I know it is almost impossible, but tell yourself (and mom) to stop diagnosing. That's for the doctors. Right now, every little twing seems that the cancer is moving...I felt that way for 2 years after treatment...and I had nothing more. Take mom somewhere that is totally non-cancer related. Or, bring it to her, if she is too weak to go out. A massage at home (I had a lovely gal who knew I was fragile, and she made me feel so much better with a light massage). Rent a movie. I got some 'chick flicks', so that it was OK that I was sobbing...ROFL!

    Hugs to you both!
    Kathi
  • angelsbaby
    angelsbaby Member Posts: 1,165 Member
    #4
    KathiM said:

    I agree with Krista....
    Chemo and treatment, in general, puts your body thru hell.....

    I lost 35 pounds, and had about enough energy to crawl from bed to bathroom and back...

    I know it is almost impossible, but tell yourself (and mom) to stop diagnosing. That's for the doctors. Right now, every little twing seems that the cancer is moving...I felt that way for 2 years after treatment...and I had nothing more. Take mom somewhere that is totally non-cancer related. Or, bring it to her, if she is too weak to go out. A massage at home (I had a lovely gal who knew I was fragile, and she made me feel so much better with a light massage). Rent a movie. I got some 'chick flicks', so that it was OK that I was sobbing...ROFL!

    Hugs to you both!
    Kathi

    chemo
    See if you can see the dr sooner.

    michelle

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