Gained 5 pounds in 5 days?

[Blossomsmom]

My mom saw the Nurse Practitioner yesterday because she was having trouble keeping anything down due to Chemo/immunotherapy the day before. It was decided she would have fluids including anti nausea meds instead of the chemo she was due to get. I unfortunately was not available to take her but my daughter did. My daughter casually mentioned to me last night that my moms weight had gone from 120 last Friday to 125 yesterday. When I questioned her she said the NP didn’t seem overly concerned. I’m trying not to hit the panic button here. Is that normal? It’s not because she’s over eating, quite the opposite. She doesn’t having any outward signs of fluid build up. And doesn’t have any pain that I assume she would if fluid was accumulating somewhere. She’s due to go in again today for chemo and I’m assuming they will weigh her again and advise the NP or doctor if her weight has gone more. Am I over reacting? I’m so afraid I’m miss the signs of something that could be fixed before the point of no return that I tend to over think everything. Ugh!

[Tom Galli]

Blossomsmom,

You are right about the weigh-in and report routine.  During my chemo, my weight varied a lot; mostly down but large upswings when my wife could stuff me with ice cream.  When variance was noted, I'd take a seat while the chemo nurse consulted with the on-call oncologist to determine suitability for treatment.

It is hard not to overthink; this admission comes from the one who overthinks everything always.  And of course, my overthinking always leads to over reaction that leads to panic and et cetera.  So I'm guilty but must admit that my overthinking never led to thoughts that eliminated my weight variance.  Today, I overthink when planning vacations and this is a much better use of my time.

Stay the course.

Tom

[Blossomsmom]

Thanks Tom, I’m pretty sure her weight gain was run by her oncologist. NP did say her lung sounded clear so I take that as a plus. Just makes me nervous. So many complications to worry probably needlessly over. I wish sometimes I could be one of those people who’s mantra is “what will be will be”. I try but fail miserably at it. 

And I too over think vacations which is why I usually don’t enjoy myself until at least day 3 of most vacations. But that, I am getting better at!

 

[Isabelle49]

Should weigh on same scale, same time of day, wearing same weight of clothing each day. Scale should be on a hard floor and patient bladder empty. With the weight gain, I would look for foot/ankle/lower leg swelling, abdominal swelling - these should be reported to the doc. One other thing, a scale is a machine and machines are not always right. Hoping all is well.