first chemo session yesterday

lindadanis
lindadanis Member Posts: 235
edited March 2014 in Esophageal Cancer #1
just wanted to post and say that my husband did his first chemo yesterday, went way better than we expected, we were all so nervous. Going back this morning for two hours of fluids. Is this common procedure? Doctor said about 50% of patients respond to chemo, 50% do not. Is this true?

Comments

  • JaneE2366
    JaneE2366 Member Posts: 289 Member
    #2
    fluids
    It is not uncommon to need fluids......my husband has his chemo (120 continuous hours) in the hospital and when we went to the dr 2 days after he left the hospital, he needed to be hydrated.
    I know we were told not everyone responds to chemo.....but I don't remember if it was 50%. We were told if he didn't respond to his his cocktail (Cisplatin, Taxotere, 5-FU) they would try another.
    Good luck to you....keeping you, your husband, and everyone else on this site in my prayers.
    Stay strong,
    Jane
  • MAE66
    MAE66 Member Posts: 66
    #3
    Fluids
    I am glad to hear it went well. No one has mentioned the 50% stat., I really try to avoid the stats., they will make you crazy. Our Dr. has said over and over that even though this is not curable, it is treatable, and if one treatment regime does not work, we can try something different. Paul has “partially responded” which means it has worked, but not enough. So we are looking into what that something different is.


    I cannot overestimate how important the fluids were. Usually around the 6th or 7th day into the chemo cycle Paul would get fuzzy; his balance was affected, speech slurred, just plain out of it. One cycle he was hospitalized for low blood pressure due to dehydration. Turned out fluids were the trick. After we figured it out we asked to have the IV fluids at home. Since Paul had a power port it was really easy to do and we were able to stay on top of it.

    Susan
  • mumphy
    mumphy Member Posts: 440
    #4
    MAE66 said:

    Fluids
    I am glad to hear it went well. No one has mentioned the 50% stat., I really try to avoid the stats., they will make you crazy. Our Dr. has said over and over that even though this is not curable, it is treatable, and if one treatment regime does not work, we can try something different. Paul has “partially responded” which means it has worked, but not enough. So we are looking into what that something different is.


    I cannot overestimate how important the fluids were. Usually around the 6th or 7th day into the chemo cycle Paul would get fuzzy; his balance was affected, speech slurred, just plain out of it. One cycle he was hospitalized for low blood pressure due to dehydration. Turned out fluids were the trick. After we figured it out we asked to have the IV fluids at home. Since Paul had a power port it was really easy to do and we were able to stay on top of it.

    Susan

    Me neither
    I have never heard of the 50% thing either. Everyone does respond to chemo differently.

    It is true about the fluids, also the chemo doesn't kick in right away just as MAE said.

    Al always was hydrated right after chemo before he was discharged as part of his protocol.

    Take Care
    Kath
  • oriontj
    oriontj Member Posts: 375
    #5
    My husband always went back
    My husband always went back two days for fluids...chemo on Wed...fluids Thurs and Fri..and radiation every day.

    I don't know how many respond or don't respond...but I'm happy he did his lst treatment with no problems..
  • Trish_from_Pittsburgh
    Trish_from_Pittsburgh Member Posts: 56
    #6
    mumphy said:

    Me neither
    I have never heard of the 50% thing either. Everyone does respond to chemo differently.

    It is true about the fluids, also the chemo doesn't kick in right away just as MAE said.

    Al always was hydrated right after chemo before he was discharged as part of his protocol.

    Take Care
    Kath

    Yep, we did fluids, too
    When Roy had his chemo treatments, they always gave him a 2 hour drip of fluids before they started his chemo drugs, and a 1 hour drip of fluids when he finished chemo before he went home, same as Al. The fluids help to keep you hydrated in case you start vomiting or get diarrhea. Plus, it helps to push the chemo drugs around in your body to get to all the hiding places where any cancer cells might be. So, don't fret about the fluids....they're good for ya!

    Got water? lol

    Trish
  • lindadanis
    lindadanis Member Posts: 235
    #7
    oriontj said:

    My husband always went back
    My husband always went back two days for fluids...chemo on Wed...fluids Thurs and Fri..and radiation every day.

    I don't know how many respond or don't respond...but I'm happy he did his lst treatment with no problems..

    update on first chemo session
    My husband had first chemo on past Thursday, Friday he felt pretty good but the weekend, not so good., he says his body hurts all over, mostly his arms and legs, is this common? Other than that and him being extremely tired, things went ok. would love to hear from people who have experienced this.
  • MAE66
    MAE66 Member Posts: 66
    #8
    lindadanis said:

    update on first chemo session
    My husband had first chemo on past Thursday, Friday he felt pretty good but the weekend, not so good., he says his body hurts all over, mostly his arms and legs, is this common? Other than that and him being extremely tired, things went ok. would love to hear from people who have experienced this.

    I think this is pretty
    I think this is pretty common. Paul would go to the treatment center on day 1 for infusions of two drugs and than go home with a 5FU pump for five days. On day 6 he was disconnected and started IV fluids. This is when he started going down hill and continued until he hit bottom on day 10 (this is also when his blood counts were lowest). Basically just feeling really crummy. After day 10 he would start to “climb out of the hole” (his words). It seems strange, you would think that after he was disconnected from the pump, he would feel better, but that was not the case. He would recover around the 12th or 14th day and we had about week and a half of feeling good. Hope this helps.

    Susan

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