Venting, worried, and wondering

[mary colleen]

Hi all,

My husband has completed 7 of 8 chemo treatments. All along, side effect have been pretty moderate and tolerable (with some allowances for days on the sofa, etc.)

These last few days (in contrast), have been very rough. He is just so very sick, and in so much pain. He lays on the sofa all day and all evening. He is mostly awake , but keeps his eyes closed. He somehow got up for a bit this morning and tried to clear snow on my route to the car (like I cared - I don't). He returned to the house alarmingly short of breath and exhausted after maybe 3 minutes. He slept for the next 5 hours just to recover from that effort. I keep telling him that these are just the accumlated side effects of so much chemo, and that he is SO close to the end of it - just to hang in there. He has horrible body aches, nausea, and weakness.

He went in to the Onc clinic today for a scheduled Neupogen shot, and the RN wanted him to see the doc, but he declined. I'm hoping that this is all normal after 7 rounds of chemo. He isn't interested in food, visitors, or phone calls from his buddies. I'm honestly out of ideas for helping him.

I know that so many have a harder situation than ours right now...still, I'll ask for good thoughts and any spare prayers that might be out there.

10 days to the last chemo!!

[Judy-OK]

Good morning Mary. Is he running a fever? I am wondering why the nurse let him out of the office if she was concerned about his wellness. The SOB could be caused by an infection or radiation pneumonia. Of course it could be just about anything with all the stuff they put our bodies through. I would make certain he drinks plenty of water so he does not become dehydrated and I would call the onc just to let him/her know what is going on.

[mary colleen]

Thanks Judy. He doesn't have a fever - at least, he didn't late last night. He is sleeping so hard this morning that I don't want to disturb him to take his temp again until he wakes up on his own. He hasn't had radiation, just surgery and chemo. When the SOB started to develop a couple of weeks ago, the nurse practitioner thought it was probably being caused by his low RBC. Of course, he is also just 12 weeks out form a bilobectomy. He has been struggling with blood counts since about his 4th round of chemo. Why they weren't more insistent with him about seeing the doc yesterday, I don't know. I should have gone with him, but had to work. I have a call in to the Oncology clinic this morning because I think he needs to be evaluated, and I am going to work from home today in order to keep an eye on him. As bad as this is, it is probably just the cumulative effects of his 7 1/2 rounds of chemo catching up with him.

[kreed70]

Hi~

I would call the onc just to be on the safe side. Maybe a oxygen therapy is needed.

Water is very important too!!

Kelly

[trish2418]

Hi Mary Colleen,

My last 2 rounds of chemo were brutal. I had been doing low-dose Taxotere (weekly) during radiation which was tolerable, but when I finished radiation, I went back to every 3-week Taxotere which just knocked me on my butt. The good news is that the recovery from the last dose was slow but steady. Within about 5 months my blood counts were completely in the normal range and I was feeling better than ever. Hope it goes that way with your husband.

Trish

[marym]

Hi Mary Coleen,

I'm sorry to hear that your husband is having some difficulty. The chemo can have acumulative effect. I assume his RBC was okay, since you say he received nuepogen. I know I needed arenesp almost every month - I was anemic most of my initial chemo (which was gemcitibine and carboplatin for 11 cycles).

Is he having any problem with fluid retention? That can also cause SOB.

I think his operation and a fairly strong chemo regime could account for the problems, but I would want to review with the doctor, just to be sure. Sleeping a lot is good - and other than that, get him to drink enough fluids and hopefully eat a few small meals.

Hope he feels better.

Mary

[Don Wood]

It is not unusual after surgery and chemo for the patient to be very tired. The body is trying to recover from the assault. It is very important that your husband drink plenty of fluids and eat properly, so his body can recover. Try giving him small snacks every two to three hours rather than the usual 3 squares. I agree that the onc should be kept aware of his condition. Don

[hockeyma]

Hi Mary Colleen.

My husband was on the same type of chemo - he would have gemzar and carboplatin thursday of week one, and then just the gemzar on thursday of week two, week three he would be off. After 3 of these 3 week cycles - so going into his 7th actual treatment - his hemoglobin count went for a total dive and he had to get transfusions. He was shorter of breath. He would fall asleep standing up and could do nothing without getting exhausted...totally. We would have people over and he would fall asleep talking to them at the table. I couldn't figure out what was going on - his week off he was like this the whole week - and after the blood work for chemo they called and said no chemo - get blood instead. I wish you and your husband well and hopefully he gets better so he can get his final round of treatment.

Heather

[Welthy]

Mary C,

Sounds like a typical reaction after a fairly long run of chemo. Tony was on Taxotere/Gemzar for 12 cycles (both day one, gemzar only day 7, every 21 days) and by the time he got to about 9-10 cycles he looked bad and felt like crap. Just kind of retreated into his own little world. It took him about 1 1/2 months to recoup. The cumulative effect of a lot of chemo is devastating for the body and very scary for the caretaker. Has SOB been an issue for him before? Tony has always had that problem, so if this is new for your hubby, I'd get that checked out. Low RBC doesn't help either.

Welthy

[mary colleen]

Thanks All,

Yes Welthy, SOB (upon exertion, not when stationary) began to be a problem for him about 3-4 weeks ago. After his thoracotomy, he improved rapidly in that regard and was walking a couple of miles daily, etc.

Around 12/1, he went back to work and his SOB began to escalate. Not sure if there is any relationship there, but he kept saying it was because he had stopped exercising. About 2 weeks ago, he caught a major cold (still has it), and at the same time his RBC issues began. I guess my point is that it's been very hard to distinguish one causative factorfrom another. He has a CAT scan of the chest scheduled for 1/25, so if there are any chest or cancer related issues there, I guess we'll know then.

Anyway, he has sat up a few times and turned on the TV today for short periods, but that's about it. Mostly just lying down and semi-sleeping. I called the clinic, and they didn't sound too concerned. I guess it's on to the final chemo infusion on Thursday, and the CT scan the following week.

It's helpful to know that others have had this experience!

[golden275]

I got almost no side effects from my first chemo. About a week after treatment was done, I did nothing but sleep and finally called oncol. after about 3 days. It turns out I needed a transfusion and was put in the hospital for one day.