Michele Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Hello; my husband had his first treatment of immunotherapy 2 weeks ago. I must say he did much better with chemo.the first week he was nausea ; the next 2 nothing but tired sleeping a lot! Next week we start all over again. He is suppose to get this for a year if he can handle it ; but if it keeps going like his first treatment I'm not sure.immunotherapy is kind of new for small cell they say it just gives more time. This cancer is so scary it can keep coming back! They tell you in remission you get great happiness from that word until reality hits you knowing small cell is evil! If I could hear from one person that has lived long 3 4 5 years it would help with some hope.oh well thanks for listening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Michele, I'm not sure you are going to hear from a 3 to 4 to 5 year immunotherapy treated survivor. These drugs have only been in regular treatment for about a year. You are right about how nasty and scary lung cancer is because it does seem to keep coming back! I really hope immunotherapy works for your husband. Stay the course. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Michele, I have no experience with immunotherapy for small cell LC. But my mom was on immunotherapy for over 1 year for NSCLC. It was first paired with chemo and she didn't do too well. But once the chemo was done and she was just on immunotherapy, she did fine. She did not have nausea, but she did have a lot of fatigue and a rash. When my mom was diagnosed with her latest recurrence (prior to the immunotherapy), she too felt she was just buying time. She brought that up to her docs and they affirmed her thoughts. But then said that she might be buying 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 years of time. And at least we have an option that allows us to "buy time" without severely sacrificing quality of life. Since my mom has had no evidence of active disease for several months, her thoughts of 'buying time" have lessened. Lung cancer is not at the forefront of all of our discussions and she is working on getting herself back. I understand that immunotherapy is new for small cell LC, it's relatively new for NSCLC too. Even though it's new, it has been helping so many people "buy more time". That being said, be sure to let the docs know that your husband has had nausea, they likely have something for it. Also mention the extreme fatigue, it could all be related to the immunotherapy, but maybe he has something else going on that can easily be treated. Immunotherapy is not like chemo where you can expect the same reaction each time. New things can pop up at anytime, but most are not as bad as chemo reactions. Hopefully once your husband gets accustomed to the treatment, it will be a breeze with little to no nasty side effects. Take Care, Steff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaurenH Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Hi, Michele, I'll reach out to our members to see if anyone with experience with immunotherapy for SCLC can share their experience with you. With gratitude, Lauren -- Digital Community Manager LUNGevity Foundation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.