bad reaction to chemo and radiation

pevvy
pevvy Member Posts: 14
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hello All,

Just wanted to know if anyone experienced what my mother is going through. She originally was diagnosed with rectal cancer due to her rectum being blocked. When they did surgery for a colostomy bag and took a biopsy of the tumor, the pathology came back that it was ovarian cancer. So she received chemo therapy every 21 days. After 4 months, there was no shrinkage; however, they found that the cancer was contained so they believed the chemo was helping with this. Then theyy recommended that she receive radiation to try to shrink the mass.

After 13 treatments of radiation and 2 smaller doses of chemo, she got very sick. She was discharging lots of fluid through her rectum (crazy because she has a colostomy bag, right?). I brought her to the ER to get hydrated. Then we went to her colostomy doctor so he could trace back what was going on with this fluid. He ordered a barrium enema (which was extremely painful considering where her mass is). They could not find what the problem was and by this time the fluid stopped coming out of her rectum. (oh, i didn't mention, she was also constipated because she stopped her miralex and took immodium to stop that fluid which she thought might have been diarhea. The immodium only created problems for her bag!)

Now her bag is back to "normal". The problem is, is that she is totally fatigued and kind of loopy... much like what i have read about chemo brain. She spends all day on her recliner and lives alone. My siblings and I have been visiting regularly, but she is constantly in her apartment...which I think adds to concerns about her mental status.

Is it normal to be this fatigued? How about confusion and forgetfulness...is this normal??

I hope someone can speak to this... and, yet, I am sorry if you have experienced this.

Confused myself on what to do, Linda

Comments

  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    #2
    Fatigue, chemo brain are normal
    Each chemo is different and chem for ovarian cancer is not the same as for colon or rectal cancer. What is your mother taking?
  • pevvy
    pevvy Member Posts: 14
    #3
    dianetavegia said:

    Fatigue, chemo brain are normal
    Each chemo is different and chem for ovarian cancer is not the same as for colon or rectal cancer. What is your mother taking?

    chemo is
    the Chemo is Carbo Platin and Taxol. She gets this every Monday. And, every Mon-Friday, she gets radiation in three places on her backside.
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    #4
    pevvy said:

    chemo is
    the Chemo is Carbo Platin and Taxol. She gets this every Monday. And, every Mon-Friday, she gets radiation in three places on her backside.

    Try not to leave your mother alone at this point in her ex-
    experience with treatment, etc. While my chemo and radiation were probably different than your mother's, the extreme fatigue and lack of interest in much is some of what we experience. I had my girlfriend/caregiver with me throughout so I was never alone (she lives with me) If its possible, try to have someone to be with your mother, if she
    feels like talking to someone, or maybe to encourage your mother to move about, to give her the support she may need to get thru this (which is not to say you're not already doing that)The radiation/chemo can tire her, cause pain and other side effects. Has she (you) spoken to her medical team? Maybe she needs to see a therapist as it is no good to do nothing, unless its pain (for which there are meds).....
    Also, chemo brain doesn;t mean you can't do anythin; your mind just doesn't operate like it did before chemo (I judge mine somewhat my how well/fast I do crossword puzzles-much,much better now, tho memory, vocabulary, etc still not the same). I also just got used to living with my bag so I also know what thats like.....Try to encourage your mother to try to start doing things she's capable (physically/medically) of doing and what she enjoys doing......steve
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #5
    coloCan said:

    Try not to leave your mother alone at this point in her ex-
    experience with treatment, etc. While my chemo and radiation were probably different than your mother's, the extreme fatigue and lack of interest in much is some of what we experience. I had my girlfriend/caregiver with me throughout so I was never alone (she lives with me) If its possible, try to have someone to be with your mother, if she
    feels like talking to someone, or maybe to encourage your mother to move about, to give her the support she may need to get thru this (which is not to say you're not already doing that)The radiation/chemo can tire her, cause pain and other side effects. Has she (you) spoken to her medical team? Maybe she needs to see a therapist as it is no good to do nothing, unless its pain (for which there are meds).....
    Also, chemo brain doesn;t mean you can't do anythin; your mind just doesn't operate like it did before chemo (I judge mine somewhat my how well/fast I do crossword puzzles-much,much better now, tho memory, vocabulary, etc still not the same). I also just got used to living with my bag so I also know what thats like.....Try to encourage your mother to try to start doing things she's capable (physically/medically) of doing and what she enjoys doing......steve

    Fatigue Sucks!
    It makes you feel too tired to do anything. You feel this mostly after you are unhooked from the pump for a few days, and then you may bounce back to having a little energy coming back, day by day, but it's nice to at least have some help and not be alone when feeling like this, as it's hard sometimes to even want to be able to get a drink, or cook, or even shower, it's too tiring. If she isn't getting help or eating or drinking anything, she can become dehydrated, which isn't good.

    If she is needing to get on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medicines, those may help as well, she is probably just scared and alone in her thoughts being alone, so it be good to even get her out shopping for awhile. She may be too tired to even grocery shop herself, you really just can't do anything, the fatigue is awful, you feel helpless at times.

    I hope she gets better, she been through alot already, does she have a nurse or someone there to just help her out while she goes through her chemo treatments? it's so hard to do it by yourself.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • pevvy
    pevvy Member Posts: 14
    #6
    Shayenne said:

    Fatigue Sucks!
    It makes you feel too tired to do anything. You feel this mostly after you are unhooked from the pump for a few days, and then you may bounce back to having a little energy coming back, day by day, but it's nice to at least have some help and not be alone when feeling like this, as it's hard sometimes to even want to be able to get a drink, or cook, or even shower, it's too tiring. If she isn't getting help or eating or drinking anything, she can become dehydrated, which isn't good.

    If she is needing to get on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medicines, those may help as well, she is probably just scared and alone in her thoughts being alone, so it be good to even get her out shopping for awhile. She may be too tired to even grocery shop herself, you really just can't do anything, the fatigue is awful, you feel helpless at times.

    I hope she gets better, she been through alot already, does she have a nurse or someone there to just help her out while she goes through her chemo treatments? it's so hard to do it by yourself.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna

    thanks steve and donna
    it is very helpful to hear from others who have similar experiences. I went away over the wknd and did make sure my other sibs went by to visit. We are trying to keep her from isolating. She is looking better today. Her platelets were too low for chemo. So with the fatigue and other symptoms, her doctor has decided to stop the chemo for now and finish with the radiation. Following this we will talk about further planning. Thanks for listening, Linda

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