Guest Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 Hi all, i was wondering if anyone has experience with Iressa side effects, such as weakness? My mother in law has been on Iressa for two weeks now. She was discharged from the hospital 4 days ago, and she is admitted to Hospice and we have her at home. She still wanted to do Iressa as one last shot even while she was in Hospice, so after many many phone calls, and a lot of rule bending, she is able to get both at the same time. The problem is, she is very very weak and just gets weaker everyday. She is in a hospital bed in the living room, she went from being able to sit up on the side of the bed by herself and standing to get in the wheelchair with just a little assistance, to today not even being able to sit up in bed by herself. We have to use a bedpan, she can't use the bathroom by herself at all, we sleep by her bed at night in case she needs anything or if she needs to use the bathroom. We're exhausted and don't know if this is a side effect from the Iressa, or if she is giving up. We have read that weakness is a side effect, but at the rate she is going downhill, it is really scaring us. Can anyone shed any light for us?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy RN Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 Someone may be able to post the side effects here. I have no experience with this drug. Call your Dr about the increase in weakness. He needs to know this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 The RN from Hospice came today and we told her about the increased weakness and she seemed to think that it was perfectly normal and to be expected with the progression of the disease. We are keeping our eyes open and making notes- all of her vital signs are normal and stable and have been since she got home. How do we know when the end is near? She is declining so rapidly? We just want to be prepared - i guess Hospice will let us know, they have the experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 deleting all posts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 Christina, thank you very much for your honesty, that's what i'm looking for at this moment. I want to know what other people experienced so that we can be prepared. We feel deep down that it is the progression of the disease and not the Iressa because she started to digress before she started on the Iressa, but we have to have some glimmer of hope that it is side effects, or maybe it just helps us to deal with it. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 I am no expert on Iressa -- you might want to check the info at www.fda.gov. I can say that my wife was on Iressa for four weeks before she got pneumonia, and in that time, she never was very strong. And it had been over a month since her chemo and radiation. Now that she is off Iressa, she is doing well. Of course, it could have been that the pneumonia coming on (which we think was due to the Iressa) kept her weak. Just info -- no conclusions for you. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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