Rosie77

Hi June! I’m Rosie, diagnosed with stage 3 squamous cell NSCLC. My oncologist suggested Opdivo and Yervoy for my specific cancer because the cells that make up my tumors are similar to the ones found in melanoma patients. Similar to your situation, I had my second infusion of Opdivo on Sept. 8th. Five minutes into the treatment, I also felt the sharp pain on my lower back. I had to request to pause the infusion. The nurse said this was unusual, she said maybe I just needed to adjust my position. She put a pillow behind me and continued my treatment. A few minutes in, and the pain returned, it made me curl on my seat. The doctor on the floor ordered a dose of steroid iv which helped. I decided to finish the treatment. I did some research and found out this was a common side effect from immunotherapy, particularly Opdivo. I found this on the Mayo Clinic site when I looked up Nivolumab (Opdivo) and back pain was first on the list of common side effects. For my next infusion on Sept. 29, my oncologist prescribed an IV of Benadryl before my treatment to prevent this. He did not want to give me steroids because it would affect the effectiveness of the immunotherapy. I hope your next infusion goes well, maybe they’ll give you the same pre-treatment to reduce any side effects. Hopefully our Opdivo treatments work well to rid us of this cancer, that the pain we felt was just a bump on the road to our healing/recovery.

Thank you everyone for your warm welcome and support. I’m encouraged by your journeys and outcomes, and I could really feel a sense of community. Regarding my biomarkers, I asked my oncologist about any mutation seen from my tumor tissue biopsy. He just let me know I had stage 3 squamous cell nsclc, which presented no mutations. He informed me I didn’t qualify for the targeted treatments for Egfr, alk mutations. He was baffled at the type of my cancer since it’s usually the type attributed to smokers. I was puzzled myself, and wondered if I had any prolonged exposure to cancer-causing materials like radon. I’m trying to focus now on my treatments, my third infusion of Opdivo and yervoy is scheduled for September 29. I’ll be having my blood work done 2 days prior. Hopefully, with the Benadryl drip I wouldn’t have the side effect of sharp back pain that I felt on my last infusion. Thank you once again, I’ll continue to give updates. Stay positive… Rosie