Jump to content

Update: Chemo - Beamo & looking for tips


Julie in SoCal

Recommended Posts

Good morning, Friends!

It looks like I'll be starting chemo and radiation soon.  Next Tues I'll talk with the radiation onc and we'll come up with a plan.  Then sometime the week after that I'll talk with the Rock Star Onc and get a chemo plan together, but it's most likely Carboplatin/Pemetrexed. 

Our thinking on the LC vs Melanoma treatment debate is to take out the melanoma intransits and watch and wait.  I still have an option left for Mel, but we'd rather not use it for small fry like intransit tumors on my arm.  So on Tues they'll come out (it's just 2 minor punch incisions- been there, done that, have the scars), and I'll return to NERD status.  

Many of you have walked the chemo beamo road.  What tips do you have?  What's the word / general wisdom on this treatment?  What have you all found is the best way to get through?  All wisdom and advice gladly accepted.  Thanks!!

Shalom,

Julie

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Julie,

Sorry I can't link but read my "Ten Steps to Survive Lung Cancer" in the blog section of the forum. It is on page two of the Stay The Course blogs.  It has all my best suggestions for chemo prep and side effect management. 

Stay the course. 

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Julie,

You might also check out www.chemocare.com.  It has information about side effects and mitigating those side effects based on the chemo drugs.  I've had both of the drugs you'll have but in different combinations (cisplatin/pemetrexed and carboplatin/taxol).  Good luck to you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With my first diagnosis, I had chemo and radiation together. The chemo will make you tired. The radiation will add to that and make you feel wiped out. Pamper yourself, rest, relax, sleep when you need to. See if your cancer center participates in the Look Good, Feel Better event, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. This is from their site:

In a Look Good Feel Better session, trained volunteer cosmetologists teach women with cancer how to cope with skin changes and hair loss using cosmetics and skin care products donated by the cosmetic industry. or PBA a national organization that represents hairstylists wig experts estheticians makeup artists... which includes A detailed description and demonstration of the 12 step skin care and makeup program... Detailed skin care information How to makeup tips Wig information Pointers on head coverings etc.

You can read more about it here:
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/support-programs-and-services/look-good-feel-better.html

It's a nice way to spend a couple hours, learn how to feel good about yourself again, and you get some free makeup!

My biggest advice is to just listen to your body and rest when you need to, cry if you want to, and never lose your faith.

Blessings,
Michelle

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i agree with Michelle about listening to your body and resting when you need  to; also about Look Good, Feel Better. I had chemo/radiation for a different (non-lung) cancer. My digestive system was seriously affected. Yours should not be as bad since they aren't radiating that part of your body You may well have some digestive issues and will need to experiment to see wha your digestion will tolerate. (mine took no-fat, no fiber, no dairy--very boring!) Other than digestion, I functioned pretty well and drove myself to my appointments. I was a little tired at times but didn't experience the extreme fatigue that some have. I did have neutropenia. If you have any fever, treat it as a medical emergency and if you can't get hold of your doctor immeciately, go to the ER. With low neutrophils, your body can become overwhelmed with infection in hours.

I'm not much of a make-up wearer, but still found Look Good Feel Better to be entertaining. I love freebies! I'm always on the lookout for free stuff or events for people wiht cancer. Might as well get something out of it!

Best of luck to you with your chemo-beamo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you BridgetO and Tylalla and Susan!  I appreciate your advice! I'll check out the links.

I think I'm most concerned about the radiation.  I've done chemo-like drugs before (various immunotherapies for melanoma) so I've managed the sfx of fatigue, and nausea, and the like.  But radiation is a whole new world to me. And to be honest I'm not keen on it.  I've seen a friend's experience with radiation and radiation burns and it wasn't pleasant.  Don't get me wrong, if the Rad Doc presents a reasonable case for it I'll do it, but it freaks me out and it's gotten into my head.

So there it is- I just don't like waiting and I want this whole thing to be resolved and over, done, and forgotten. Enough said.

Thanks for listening,

Julie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Julie
I had the standard radiation treatment of 33 treatments taken 5 says a week for 6 1/2 weeks for another cancer and just completed 5 S.B.R.T. treatments for lung cancer. I had no trouble at all with it other than some skin redness sort of like a mild sunburn and not painful just itchy. And one cannot scratch it. Very bad idea. That's asking for infection. Will tell you what my Radiology Oncologist told me since it worked very well for me. Use only Dove soap and just sqeeze soapy water over the treat area. Do not rub that area ever. He also had me apply aquaphor on the treated area 1-3 times a day. You can get it at Wal Mart. And the treated area would sting a bit immediately after sometimes. I'd put ours Aloe Vera gel on it before I got dressed again and that would stop it. You can get that at Wal Mart also. I'd heard the horror stories, but had very little trouble with radiation treatments. I'm the opposite. Getting ready to have chemo for the first time next week and wondering how I'll reacte. Seems no one knows because everyone is different. That may be true with radiation also. Don't really know. Just sharing my experience. Hope yours is as easy as mine have been.
Just M

Sent from my SM-J100VPP using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Julie, I can understand being freaked out by radiation.  We've all heard that radiation can cause cancer, right?  I've had radiation for two different primary (non-lung) cancers and the effects were different. And I'm still alive, but most recently have had cancer #3, lung. In 2008, I had radiation for breast cancer. I had some burns-- about 2/3 of the way through I developed a severe sunburn-like rash over a fairly large area, and later  blistering, peeling and rawness over a smaller area. Highly unpleasant, but it healed with only a slight redness ( think of the broken veins on an alcoholics nose), and no other scaring. No significant fatigue during ot after. When chemo/radiation was proposed for my gyn cancer in 2011, I was worried about burns and talked to the rad onc about it. She said that skin effects were very unlikely because the radiation was given in a differnt way--as I understnd it, the machine emitting the beams circled around me so that the radiation was more concentrated internally and not so much on the skin. In fact I had no skin effects at all but did have the digestive issues described in my  previou s post.

I recommend that you talk to the rad onc and find out exactly how the radiation will be given and what side effects you can expect. 

I'm NED on both radiated cancers. I'm amazed, especially for the gyn one which was very aggressive and had a poor prognosis. I'm also really grateful  I'm a survivor of 2 courses of radiation, 2 courses of chemo and 3 cancer surgeries. Hang in there, treatment works, even if ti's unpleasant at times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My radiation was given to a tumor on my lung. The tumor was inoperable. I had radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks. I developed a "sunburn" type burn on my chest and my back, I also developed a burn on my esophagus and it was extremely painful to swallow for several weeks. That's when cold watermelon, cold applesauce, and popscicles became my diet.

It wasn't terrible for me, and everything healed within a few weeks after radiation ended.

Radiation is a lot more advanced than it used to be. I was marked so I could be put in the exact same position each time. The machine rotated around me, and was set to pinpoint accuracy so it would only radiate the tumor.

Each visit was only 20 to 30 minutes long. The radiation was a lot kinder to me than chemo ever was!

Blessings,
Michelle


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.