ngc4au Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Good Evening! We just got back from the medical oncologist and my father will be doing weekly chemo/radiation. The chemotherapy drugs are carboplatin and taxotere. Does anyone have any information on this therapy and how well it works? Side effects? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryTD777 Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 I have heard of that combination before and while I don't remember anything specific about it, I think that if I had heard bad things, I would remember. What you need to know is that each situation can require a certain treatment or pair of treatments. Mine were cisplatin & etopiside with radiation. That was what worked for a 5x4x3 apical tumor of the right lung that was a squamous cell nsclc. The doctors want your dad to do well as much as you do. They may not have the same emotional attachment, but they want that check in the win column just as much as you want dad happy & healthy!Side effects will also differ from one person to another. My one major one was that I couldn't go near a gas station, the slightest bit of smell would make me violently ill! I was also a little tired and about 80-90% of my hair fell out. My doctors were very surprised that I wasn't getting ill from the "very strong chemo". Was it considered very strong merely because of the meds, or the amounts of the meds? That, I don't know. All of that said, I will hope & pray that your dad has as easy of a time with his chemo as I had with mine. Don't forget to take care of you too!!Take care, Mary Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ngc4au Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 Thank you so much! I'm so worried. He is 73 and is not considered a candidate for surgery and although we haven't been told for sure it is stage 3. He is going to have chemo-radiation. He also had melanoma several years ago...I noticed you did, too. I just want to read somewhere this is what is going to happen (I know this is not possible?). Plus, it just seems like we go from dctor to doctor and they need something else or some other test before they can say anything for sure. Next week is the brain MRI. Thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BridgetO Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Hi there! I have some experience wtth those drigs and with concurrent chemo and radiation, although not for lung cancer. My non-small cell lung cancer is stage 1 and recent. However, I had another cancer, stage 3, grade 3, 6 years ago, at age 65. I had concurrent radiation with cisplatin for 6 weekly cycles , then 3 more cycles of carboplatin- a higher dose than the cisplatin- and taxotere without radiation. I had a lot of nausea and diarrhea during the concurrent treatment, which may have been because my gut got radiation, as much as from the chemo. I had to be really careful of what I ate to keep it tolerable. I didn't have the kind of fatigue that some people experience with radiation. I was't feeling like a ball of fire, but I was able to function OK. and drove myself to my daily appoiintments. I did have some digestive upset from the carbo/taxo combination, but not as bad. All the platinum drugs have a reputation for causing nausea. I also lost my hair and got neuropathy on the carbo/taxo. My neuropathy has decreased over the years, but I still have some. A serious side effect that I did have from the chemo was neutropenia.This is a decrease in the neutrophils (white blood cells that control infection )If this isn't caught quickly and dealt with, a person can not only pick up infections from others, but also from the normal bacteria that are on and in our own bodies. A few days after my first dose of carbo/ taxo, I developed a slight fever, called my oncologist and was sent to the ER, where they found I had zero neutrophils. They couldn't find any focus of infection, but put me on two antibiotics, ttold me about "neutropeniic precations" to avoid infection. I had no serious consequences After my subsequent chemo rounds, I got shots f Neupogen, which helps prevent the neutropenia. What I want to say with that long story is that if your father develops a fever, even slight, after chemo, get in touch with the oncologist right away (don't wait until morning, for example.) Fever is often the only sign of these infecions, which can become severe really quickly. This therapy worked well for me-- I had a cancer with a poor prognosis and today I have no evidence of disease. Of course you are worried. It's normal to be worried. I have found it helpful to learn as much as I could about the cancers I have had (3 different primary tumors) and to ask a lot of questions. I also went for a second opinion at one point when I wasn't sure about my treatment. I had to pay for it myself and I'm really glad I did. I think information gives me something to focus on besides worry! Best of luck to you and your father. Hang in there. You can do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryTD777 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I always forget to mention neuropathy because it was one of my symptoms before Dx. It did get worse but I was never too sure if it became worse from the treatment or surgery since I have had trouble caused by the surgeries... I had a neuro ortho surgeon go in first to get 3 vertebrae out of the way so he could get the tumor out of there first. The thoracic surgeon then did the chest wall resection & lobectomy which left me with "unavoidable damage to the sympathetic nerve chain". I look like a circus freak with my head off to the side because my neck started to collapse & some of the nerve damage means that the left side of my head sweats profusely whenever it wants to for no reason, even in the dead of an east coast blizzard! LOL lotsa fun watching the words pop up on my predictive text banner on my phone LOL!! I bet your phone doesn't know about kyphosis!! There were other words in front of it that probably referred to the fact that it was an unavoidable effect from surgery too. Stuff it! I still get to wake up on the green side of the grass, and I love it![emoji3]Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ngc4au Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 I guess neuropathy is not something I am so concerned with either...he has had that for years and years. He had two back surgeries due to chronic back pain and no relief of the feet and hands. I love your spirit!! I think that is what we all continue to hope for...does anyone remember if after the mid-point in chemo radiation if the side effects improved, worsened or stayed the same? One of the doctors (I am pretty sure the chemo oncologist) said the beams should change about mid way through the radiation and the discomfort may lessen when swallowing. I am going to look through the message board for information about side effects and symptoms through the treatment. I love this site!!! #prayingforNED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Ngc4au, Midpoint recollection about side effects during chemo and radiation? My chemo side effects stayed the same throughout treatment. They were cyclic and predictable. Radiation was different. At the midpoint of my conventional radiation treatment, I experienced no side effects. In week 3, the sky fell. My skin on my chest turned red and hurt like a bad sunburn. My throat became dry and sore and I developed a non-productive, near constant cough. And, my energy level fell off the table. I remember my week 3 experience because these side effects prompted a non scheduled session with my radiation oncologist. She gave me medication for my sunburn and a strange cocktail of cough syrup for my cough but told me nothing would easy my declining energy level. By my sixth week of concurrent treatment, I was bed bound save for my daily trip to the radiation session. Midway through my radiation treatment, the duration and my position on the table did change. The table was rotated re-positioning me and the duration of the session was reduced by about 9 seconds. I was told this was the original treatment plan. This did not effect my side effects in any way. It took about 2 weeks to recover from my initial chemo and radiation treatment. Stay the course. Tom ngc4au 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ngc4au Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 Thank you! I hate to hear that about the fatigue and mid-point side-effects. He already has the cough syrup, magic mouthwash, and cream. I was hoping that with the re-positioning the side effects may change...he can barely swallow a single pill. Although, on a positive note he hasn't lost much weight (3lbs) and he still has his hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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