Radiation

[hope4her]

What would make someone not a good candidate for radiation? I see a lot of people in stage 3 getting radiation .Is this standard ?, Not sure why my sister is not getting it. Maybe it might be because her tumor is near the heart? She just started chemo last week and she said she has ringing in her ears and twitching in her legs. Is that common? Sorry for asking so many ?

[SandraL]

Hi there. It is a good question re radiation. I was Stage 3b and radiation is quite standard for that stage. It must somehow be due to location but I would certainly ask as radiation can be very effective, particularly in the lung area.

Sounds like chemo side effects to me. Your sister should have a sheet on what symptoms she should report. So ask her if she has that. I think ringing in the ears is something that should be reported right away. What chemo drugs is she receiving?

And just keep asking as many questions as you like, that is what this board is for.

Take care

Sandra

[hope4her]

Its called cisplatin and Gemzar... she gets it for 3 weeks, high doses then normal. then i think she gets a week off, She said she has no pain she is just really sick all the time. I think she is getting a new anti nausea drug this week called emend, Good news is with just one round of chemo she had and the pain has gone away in her chest. She can now lay a certain way without it hurting. Does that mean the chemo is working ?

[Bruce u]

Hi Hope

Ringing in the ears can be a side effect of Cisplatin. I had a Cisplatin/Vinerolbine combination. After 3 rounds they had to switch the Cisplatin to Carboplatin because of the ringing in the ears. Your sister should let the chemo people know because it can cause permanent damage.

[jaminkw]

Hope,

Like Sandra said, ask all the questions you want here. There's bound to be someone with experience like your sister's. Like the emend--great stuff. It should really lick the sickness for the first three days. After that I would get a little naseau for a couple of days. And yes, I do think that the pain going away is a very good sign!

Judy in Key West

[RandyW]

I know how very stressfull this is right now wanting to know answers to questions and answers and such. I cant give you an honest knowing answer but I can recommend you ask our resident oncologist Dr. West out of the Swedish institute in Seattle Washington. Dr. West has graciously donated his small amout of free time to help us with medical questions. Many of our members here are also members at Dr. Wests Site. If you click on the link it will tak eyou to his site. He can probably give you a better answer than we can but we can give you more prayers and supprt and compassion so.....

http://cancergrace.org/

[cat127]

Restless leg is also a side effect. My sister took ativan for it and it helped a lot. Again, many of the side effects can be reduced/eliminated by other pre-medications or meds to take at home. But it is vital that the medical team be told the problems, then they can try and reduce them.

You should go with your sister to the dr if you can and ask them why no radiation. Location of the tumor could be one reason, as could size of the tumor. If the tumor is too big, they fear damaging too much healthy tissue. My sister had to take a few doses of chemo to get the tumor smaller, then she was able to get radiation. Yes, radiation is commonplace in stage 3 NSCLC, but there are reasons why it isn't used. You/your sister should ask the dr what the reason is here.

[Gail Redmond]

"SandraL"]Hi there. It is a good question re radiation. I was Stage 3b and radiation is quite standard for that stage. It must somehow be due to location but I would certainly ask as radiation can be very effective, particularly in the lung area.

Sounds like chemo side effects to me. Your sister should have a sheet on what symptoms she should report. So ask her if she has that. I think ringing in the ears is something that should be reported right away. What chemo drugs is she receiving?

And just keep asking as many questions as you like, that is what this board is for.

Take care

Sandra

Sandra,

Just read your history. What a journey! I see you are on Tarceva 125. I am on Tarceva 150 with good success after 8 weeks. Were there side effects that you couldn't withstand on the 150? This is the only treatment I've been on so I've interested in anyone that has taken it.

Gail Redmond

Sherrills Ford, NC

[jean44]

Hi Hope,

Just wanted to relate my husbands experience with Emend. He had it in the IV with all his chemo treatments and has never had issues with nasea. His Oncologist also gave him a prescription for the pill form of Emend and fortunately he hasn't had to use it. It has made his treatments tolerable. As for radiation, the first Oncologist we saw had my husband set up for 35 rounds of radiation plus chemo. The second opinion we received from my husbands current Oncologist was to stop radiation. He said we may revisit it at a later time but wanted to work with just the chemo now. My husband is Stage IV. Hoping for good results for you sister.

Jean