Joanna C Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Hi- My 48 year old sister who lives France was diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma. Stage 4 because it has spread to her GI lymph nodes. The distance and translation of medical terms has been so difficult. We are all in shock because this has come out of nowhere. Healthy lifestyle and she's so young. I know cancer can hit anyone but I need an outlet so that's why I'm here. Trying to figure out when I need to go there. She started chemo this week and has had a high fever. Her husband said he wants me to come for her second round of chemo. Thanks for listening!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Mally 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mally Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Welcome here and there a lots of knowledgeable people who can give you the advice and support you need so hang in there and someone will chat to you about your sisters cancer Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk LaurenH and Joanna C 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Joanna, Welcome here. When do you need to go. Normally, chemo is administered on a fixed schedule with a defined period between infusions. Ask your sister's husband to tell you the infusion cycle, that is once every three weeks or once a week. Chemo effects everyone differently but once side-effects develop, they generally stay the same and occur with the same frequency after each infusion. For example, on the second day after my infusion, I'd experience nausea. On the third, joint pain would set in. Moreover, by the fifth day after infusion, side-effects would be much reduced. The third week in my 3-week cycle, I felt almost normal. So to help you decide when you need to go, understand her infusion cycle and schedule. Then ask your husband what he needs help with. If it is attending to side-effects, then schedule your visit to be there at the onset of side-effects. But, I felt pretty miserable with my side-effects and was well medicated and didn't want visitors. If your sister's husband's intent is to lift her spirits, visit 5 to 7 days before her next scheduled infusion. I had Squamous cell NSCLC. My diagnosis was Stage IIIB but I had surgery after pre-surgical radiation and chemo to shrink the tumor. My cancer metastasized to my remaining lung after surgery and had only chemo to treat it. That was in the dark ages of chemotherapy (2004) when only several drugs were approved. Now, immunotherapy advances are starting to emerge in research that are effective against Squamous cell. Here is some information about immunotherapy and recently approved drugs. My point is if I can live 13 years after diagnosis, so can your sister. You might try and be a resource of information for your sister's husband. He'll likely be your sister's caregiver and one of the most important functions of a caregiver is to ask terribly preceptive questions during oncology consultations, especially when discussing treatment plans or options. My wife's questions likely saved my life. You might want to point your sister's husband here and let him read into the disease. If he copies and pastes English text into Google, it can be translated to French and that might be helpful. We have many non-US members on the forum and perhaps one or several read and write in French. I'll ask around is you are interested. You'll likely have many more questions. Ask away. Stay the course. Tom Mally and LaurenH 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia V Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Hello Joanna, It is nice to "meet" you. I'm so sorry that it is under these circumstances. All I can tell you is that my sister has been a major support for me during this difficult time. There is something so special about a sister relationship that it is a role that no one else can fulfill. Because of the sister-bond and long-term nature of the relationship I could totally relax with her and talk about things that I wouldn't be comfortable sharing with anyone else. I know nothing about you circumstances but if you are able to go there without causing too much hardship for yourself, I would encourage you to go to be with her. I think I saw on one of the cancer websites that there may be assistance with travel expenses for situations like this. My heart goes out to you and your sister. I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers. Lydia Tom Galli 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanna C Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Thank you all for your advice. I truly want to support her and her family the best I can from here. I will be going there in the next month. For now I'm sending care packages with comforting things for my sister. I feel like I just need to "do" something. What I'm very concerned about is that she has had a fever from her first chemo treatment. It's been 5 days now and she's still in the hospital. They think it's an infection but they can't pinpoint it. This worries me but I've also been told that having a fever can be pretty normal for chemo treatments. Can anyone shed any light on this for me?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Joanna, Anything is normal with chemothearpy, unfortunately. There are predictable side effects that happen in most people, but unpredictable side effects in others. Moreover, there are complications that add symptom complexity. For example, chemo is known to affect white blood cells by reducing there number. That sets up a weakened immune system that can result in magnifying any illness. Yes I know of those who suffer fever as a primary side effect and those who get one as the result of a weakened immune system. The only way to determine if fever is a primary side effect is to wait till the next infusion. If it happens again, it might be a normal side effect of your sister's treatment. One more thing, her husband should record the onset of all side effects and note the hours after infusion. Chemo side effects repeat and start at about the same time after each infusion. My doctor told me to start taking mitigating medicine a couple of hours before a side effect started. This helped me. Killing cancer cells with chemicals is tricky. Some, perhaps many good cells die also. That is why we often lose hair. The cells that produce hair are among the fastest growing cells in the body and chemo attacks fast growing cells. Gastrointestinal complications occur because the cells in our digestive system are also very active. I'm sure they will sort out the fever quickly and will be prepared for the next infusion. Stay the course. Tom LaurenH and Mally 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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