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Posted

Good Morning!

My father just got diagnosed with Stage IV NSCLC.  We all feel (family and father) got hit by a mack truck with the diagnosis. He was admitted into the hospital with possibly pneumonia and came back Cancer positive.  He had fluid in the lungs that was drained and now he has a catheter to drain his lungs as needed.  He went with the Oncologist and found out that it had spread to his bones, upper abdominal lymph nods and right lung. He also needs to gain some weight because he is smaller built. 

He will start Chemo (Carboplatin & Paclitaxel) in May.   Has anyone had experience with these two medicines?  What can I expect?  What kind of foods should be avoided?  What would be great food to eat? I have been googling a lot but figured I would come to you all and see if you had any suggestions.  Any information you are willing to share I will be eternally grateful for.  I will gladly inform you of more info if needed to help answer my questions.  

I am thankful for groups like this.

Posted

Randa,

Welcome here.  On the whole, I'm sure you'd rather be on a more entertaining website but given the circumstances, you are in the right place.

Your dad has Stage IV lung cancer but you did not reveal what type of non-small lung cancer.  There are three common types: adenocarcinoma, squamous cell and large cell. Revealing his type may allow us to provide more focused answers to your questions.

I had 18 infusions (3 different treatment cycles -- 6 infusions each) of taxol and carboplatin (Paclitaxel is the brand name of taxol), so I had the same stuff as your dad. Each cycle successfully knocked back my cancer but lung cancer is persistent.  So you should expect good results but be prepared for additional treatment.  Here is a summary of suggestions I wrote some years ago about treatment and preparation.  Steps three through ten may be of interest.  Oh on survival statistics, I'd stay away from them.  If you feel the need to explore statistics, read this first.

I had trouble maintaining my weight also but fortunately, my wife is a dietitian.  So calories were the order of the day and her best delivery method was ice cream -- oreo, rocky road, packed with calories!  Part of his chemotherapy routine may involve taking oral steroids prior to each infusion.  These made me hungry enough to eat everything in the house the day of and the day after infusion.  Be careful to check with his doctor if contemplating starting him on a course of nutritional supplements.  Some of these may adversely affect his chemotherapy.

More questions?  Ask away!

Stay the course.

Tom 

 

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Hi, Randa,

Welcome to LCSC. I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing. Please post an update when you can. We are here for you and we hope to hear from you soon.

With gratitude,

Lauren
--
Digital Community Manager
LUNGevity Foundation

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