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Can you switch immunotherapy drugs?


catlady91

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I can't find any info about this anywhere. If one immunotherapy drug doesn't work, can you try another or if one type of immunotherapy doesn't work, does it mean that they all won't?

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I believe certain immunotherapy drugs are appropriate for only certain types of cancer, or when paired with certain chemo drugs. Your mom's oncologist should be able to tell you whether there are other drugs that might be appropriate for her. 

And honestly, I'm not sure why you keep saying the immunotherapy she was on didn't work "at all." It seems pretty clear that it did. Many, if not most, cancer drugs eventually stop working. You said they stopped the immunotherapy early, because they thought it was sufficient? Any chance they could put her back on that? 

As I think I mentioned before, the maintenance therapy I'm on is likely to be continued as long as it keeps working.

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My mum has a meeting with the team next Monday. As far as she knows there's talks of giving her three rounds of chemo every three weeks (2.5 months of treatment in total). We thought that she would have treatment for much longer like six months or more. Mum's going to ask more questions on Monday. I wish I could come with her but I can't go because of COVID. 

The immunotherapy didn't seem to work for very long. I thought that the effects last for several months. I don't know where it's pseudo regression. Obviously I hope that it is but I don't want to raise any hooes especially as at the moment it feels as though all of my hopes have been dashed. When mum had her excellent scan in August, I think that she only had 1 or 2 infusions. I don't know how quickly immunotherapy works. 

 

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You might want to check with your mom's team and see if there's any way you could be "Zoomed" (or similarly videoconferenced) in for the visit. Many oncologists will do that these days when caregivers/support people can't come. Of course, that's assuming your mom agrees. 

Worth asking, anyway. Her doctor would be in a far better position to answer your questions than we are. Alternatively, does your mom have a medical power of attorney (or whatever they call it in the UK), that gives her permission for you to talk to her medical providers? 

Any of us on this board are just guessing, and you'd get much better info from someone intimately familiar with her treatment.

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7 hours ago, LUNGevityKristin said:

I agree.  Have your mom Facetime you or do speaker phone so you can hear the conversation and ask additional questions.  Will your mom have anyone with her at the appointment?

My mum doesn't want me at the appointment in person or via Facetime as she says I'm too neurotic and ask too many questions 😂. A friend of my mum's who is a scientist is going with her, which I think is better as she's more objective and has a better understanding. Even so I can't go with my mum as they say that my mum can only bring one person and someone who has had the vaccine against COVID. I haven't had it yet and my mum's friend has. So I actually think her friend going with her is a better option. It's good to have someone who is rational, less emotional and with a strong scientific background, she will be able to understand far more than my mother and I combined. Also my mum is useless with technology so trying to sort out FaceTime would make her more flustered 😂.

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12 hours ago, LexieCat said:

You might want to check with your mom's team and see if there's any way you could be "Zoomed" (or similarly videoconferenced) in for the visit. Many oncologists will do that these days when caregivers/support people can't come. Of course, that's assuming your mom agrees. 

Worth asking, anyway. Her doctor would be in a far better position to answer your questions than we are. Alternatively, does your mom have a medical power of attorney (or whatever they call it in the UK), that gives her permission for you to talk to her medical providers? 

Any of us on this board are just guessing, and you'd get much better info from someone intimately familiar with her treatment.

I'm not sure what medical power of attorney is. The unfortunate thing about living in the UK is having different systems from the US. I haven't really heard of it in the UK but I can try to find out. What does it entail in the US?

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It is a legal document that permits the person granted the power to communicate with caregivers, access medical records and, if the patient is unable to make their own medical decisions, to make decisions on their behalf. My daughter holds my primary medical power of attorney and her dad (my ex-husband, who is still a very close friend) is the backup. My son also can communicate with the doctors.

You might want to contact a solicitor to find out what the law requires for you to serve in that role. Your mom would have to sign it, granting you that permission. Without a document like that, the law will determine how the decisions are made, which may not be consistent with what your mom would want. 

It also provides an opportunity to have some discussions with your mom about her wishes. There are several websites online that can provide information about the kinds of things that should be included in the document--I'm sure there are some specific to the UK.

ETA: Another term for this kind of document is "advance directive."

 

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Here in California, when a person makes an advance directive, they choose specific decisions that their health care "proxy" (or designated decision-maker) should make on their behalf when the person is no longer capable. The questions are thought-provoking, and it really gives the proxy peace of mind knowing they are following their loved one's wishes. 

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