Guest chillsey Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Hi, Here in the UK my mum has had 2 chemo treatments of Navelbine for nsclc, tumour in her left lung, given weekly with one week off. She is 77 years old and having a mild dose. Ten treatments of palliative radiotherapy back in March knocked her for six and although the tumour thankfully shrank a little she had no specific symptom control success. So far the chemo is having horrible side effects of aching in her upper and lower back which eases with painkillers but returns regularly. Her appetite was never great but has now totally disappeared, she has been told to eat little and often but she finds this a real struggle. She feels absolutely fatigued all the time and is very inactive she sits down most of the day, does not even want to go out at all. She is supposed to have 8 treatments in total but I am very worried if she can tolerate it, we were told treatment 2 and 3 are the worst. She will start vitamin drinks but how can she recover her strength to fight the treatment, she has lost about 7lbs in 2 weeks. I can see she wants to give up fighting but I'm praying things may turn around if she can just get through this bad patch. Has anyone had this experience?, any help and advice would be great as I am frantic with worry. Chillsey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyW Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 you ahve to remember that the Drugs that are used are highly toxic actually. Not much fun at all. the fist couple of times the body is going to itself,"What the heck is this stuff, and what is it doing here!!!" it takes acouple of times to adjust to getting this stuff. Try this link for expert advice on this drug. Click and you will be redirected to the link, http://www.drugs.com/cons/navelbine.html For the eating, keep small amounts of food around. the rule is pretty much eat what you want when you want but eat something. Htis does include ensure and boost and the such. I used to make blender smoothies with yogurt and fruit for Deb. Frozen fruit and some milk and yogurt were the norm. Sending some extra prayers and thoughts. Hope this helps. You will get more responses as teh day goes on and tomorrow of course after the holiday. Hang in there check out what i gave you. It will exp[lain a lot of things. Let me know if you need anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chillsey Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Thanks very much for your advice, I have looked at the link and have found it most helpful. It sounds silly that at mums pre-asessment before treatment no-one ever really explains how toxic this is going into your body although you kind of know this somewhere in your mind. She gets herself so stressed over the needles alone, she is terrified of them, I guess all this does not help the body. Mum is quite fussy when it comes to things like smoothies, she is not keen on milk and does not like berry fruits or yoghurts which is why I am stuck as to what to give her. I am buying food which is high in calories like donuts, sausages and today will try a good soup. Thank you also for your prayers and thoughts through a very difficult time which I feel like running away from. You too are in my thoughts. Thanks again. Chillsey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.