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Hi friends,
My Mama is starting chemo (Taxol & Carboplatin) along with radiation for 6 weeks. How sick will she get? What can I do to make her feel better. Please help me to help her.
Thanks a million,
Melissa
Exercise Cancer Taxol Compazine Dexamethasone Decadron Anxiety Taxotere Constipation Pain Peripheral neuropathy Carboplatin Diphenhydramine
Hi Melissa,
Your mom may not necessarily get sick as I didn't on the same medication for 6 cycles. Adavan and hydromorphone helped me with pain and anxiety. There are also several anti-nausea meds out there. They gave me Compazene to take if nausea came on and it did not.
Be ready for Mom to be REAL tired for awhile. Also, if she can possibly exercise; short walks etc. then she should do so. Be prepared to do a lot for her as her energy level will be low for awhile.
I hope this helps and best of luck with your Mom.
Dirk Neuhof
Have her take the compazine before chemo and also the few hours the next day after chemo, it helped and I never got sick to my stomach, I had one round of this treatment and was allergic to it, but it did get all of my hair out, and also I felt my bones ache like the flu afterwards. But I can't tell you what it would be like since I didn't stay on it, I was switched to Gemzar, It was not bad really the first dose anyway. I thought it was going to be but it was not, the big thing with it is the peripheral neuropathy and don't take it lightly, if she starts feeling it, tell right away. I am left with this pins and needles in my right thigh and numbness, it was caused from that chemo. Take care and God bless. Sandy
Drink a lot of water . I drank 12 bottles (500ml each) per day. I did not get sick I walked to my cancer center for chemo. Nobody is the same we all do the best we can just make sure you let them know at the cancer center if you are having a problem(no matter how small). All the best Lucy
Hi:
I had Taxotere and Carboplatinum which is almost the same thing. I never got sick to my stomach. Of course my Oncologist gave me 2 prescriptions, one for the compazine just in case, and the other for Decadron (Dexemethazone) to take the day before, the day of, and the day after Chemo. I believe that kept me from getting sick to my stomach.
I will tell you that from day 2 or 3 to about day 7 the Chemo knocked me on my butt and I slept a lot. I did get up to eat some and of course keep my fluids up. I cannot complain, because 5 or 6 days down and then getting back to normal until the next time was not bad at all. I had 4 rounds of this. It did make me lose my hair.
Hope your mom does as well as I did and you won't be worried. Of course, my family was since they saw their energizer bunny sleeping a lot, but the chemo was doing it's job. Please keep us posted.
Much Love,
Marylou
I am one of the ones that does get sick to my stomach. I take my chemo on Thursdays and spend Saturday and Sunday on the couch fighting nausea. I take adavan and it helps alot. I also take Zorphan, it only last about 1-1.5 hours, but it is a blessings. You both can do it.
Blessings,
Barb
Besides echoing what the others have said I have only one suggestion. The thing I most appreciated when I initially started chemo was just having company at my appointments. My husband, daughter or friend went with me to every treatment (at their insistence..not mine). We would talk, play cards and sometimes we would be laughing so hard at whatever we were doing, others were poking their heads in to see what was going on. It made what could have been a long boring morning into a pleasant visit with loved ones. And when finished we would always go out to lunch, or shopping, making a day of it. I have been on my current treatment for 8 months now, every 3 weeks, and for their sake, I have finally convinced everyone I CAN do this by myself , but I tell you , at first, when it was all so new and scary, it sure helped having that support there with me, And they still do come with me when they can (without rearranging their own schedules)
I had 7 weekly carbo/taxol treatments along with 37 daily radiation treatments. I was prescribed compazene as well but never had to use it as I never got nauseous. I was given antinausea meds along with the chemo treatments and was also on Dexamethasone (a steroid hormone that acts as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant). I think the nausea was not an issue because weekly treatments are of a lower dosage than the ones given every 3 weeks. However, I did lose my hair and fatigue was a problem. The worst effect of treatment was the esophagitis from the radiation and the swelling in my legs and feet. Also the neuropathy has lingered with my feet being worse than my hands.
Cheryll
Chemo is not too bad. They loaded me with anti-nausea drugs because I was extremely thin and I did not get sick (Emend and Compazine). I worked part time and exercised and I am old and determined to not miss any of my life. Think positive.
Karen
My mom's first line chemo was VP-16/Cisplatin (harshest she could have gotten I guess) and she tolerated it very well in my opinion. She simultaneously had 35 radiation treatments. I think the radiation really kicked her butt. The side effects of not being able to swallow was tough. We were give great anti-nausea meds (emend and granisetron) that I credit for keep that at bay. About 4 weeks after chemo stopped she developed low blood pressure in the mornings that eventually got better - as long as she didn't make any quick movements and kind of eased into her day ...
Jessica
So sorry ,i m not the one on chemo but my twin is good advice make sure they give her something for throwing up,and don,t make the mistake of eating any greasy food my twin did the first time with chemo and was so sick the 2nd time she ate only soup and sandwiches for a couple days and felt great Also if your mom has a bit of diahrea do not take the pills they give you to stop it unless she sits on the toilet alot.My twin took it to soon and was constipated for 4 days and felt awful.She is on her 4th chemo treatment and she has no side affects at all good luck and i hope this info helps you and your mom.
I started out my chemo on Taxol/Carboplatin. I lost my hair on the 12th day after chemo. I lost my taste buds shortly after that (things started to taste tinny and like dirt). I also became very sensitive to smells. I ended up surviving on yogurt, fruit and Big Sticks popsicles. Neuropathy (numbing of the hands/feet) came next - I still have it 1 1 /2 yrs later.
I ended up being allergic to Taxol, which was discovered on my second treatment - watch out for that! The allergic reaction started as pressure in my head between my ears, then I had difficulty breathing then got a rash on my arms. I called the nurse and they immediately stopped the treatment, then had to begin oxygen and diphenhydramine. Once the reaction subsided, I came back the next day for Taxotere. That was okay. Then on the second treatment of that, i had the allergic reaction again. I switched to Gemzar. Just be aware - it does happen.
Good Luck
Nannette
because i had a reaction to taxol, my Onc got me abraxene. same as taxol only its in a natural occuring substance in our bodies called albumin. I did great and it worked. :-)
drink lots of fluids, water, juice. Take your anti nausea meds as directed do not wait for it to hit you and you will do fine.
if your red blood cells get low there is procrit. that's what makes you tired.
It will be fine as attitude is everything.
kat
my husband is having the same chemo as your mum.To date he has not had major side-effects however does get pins and needles and suffers from constipation following the treatment.
He remains relatively active and he takes his anti-nausea medication routinely post chemo.
We ,like you, did not know what to expect,but the chemo certainly was not as bad as we envisaged.Best wishes to both you and your mum.
Hi Melissa:
I had those exact same drugs and tolerated them very well. I didn't have any problems with vomiting or losing weight .... my appetite stayed good pretty much the whole time. Sometimes the day of infusion, I felt a little queasy after the treatment, but they have such good drugs for nausea now that it was no big deal.
A little bit of my hair came out .... just thinned a tiny bit ... nothing even close to going bald.
Really the only thing I can think of is that I was pretty tired during the treatments and slept a lot.
Overall, the experience for me was no big deal. And I got an EXCELLENT response to the treatment .... it removed all traces of cancer ..... I finished chemo about 3 months ago and still remain NED.
Hope everything goes well for your mom and you. Feel free to write me if you have any questions that I didn't address. I will do my best to answer them for you.
Cheryl
xo
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