kimblanchard Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Hi, everyone, I have read some about edema but I am hoping someone here may know a little more - Hubby first got edema after his first Taxotere (with Decadron) treatment - much swelling around his shoulders and neck, especially where he had tested positive for lymph node involvement. The first time it went down in a few days. On the second and third Taxotere treatments the edema came back, not as severe, but it hasn't left again. We have been to the doctor once and called twice more and will be calling again Monday. She said it is not a blood clot, she thought water retention and weight gain. She gave us a water pill which helped 1/3. The rest is still there. His skin in tight and puffy but it doesn't seem gathered in one place. He hasn't had chemo since June 7. Otherwise he seems to be doing okay, no fever, not a lot of energy but okay. This may be related to the chemo or it may just be a coincidence in timing or something else going on. So some questions to anyone who may have experience with this - Does edema just come and stay and never leave? What caused yours? What helped? And a really bad question - how serious is this? Because I see a lot of posts that mention edema when the illness is pretty severe or the person is going into hospice care. Thank you for anything you can share. Margaret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Hi. I can;t answer your questions b/c I have not dealt with it with my mom yet, but as to your last question "how bad is it"---it does not have to be bad at all and actually can be caused by non-cancer reasons. There are two types of edemas, one that just happens without cancer and then as a side effect to cancer. Brian's 11 year old cousin was just diagnosed with lymphedema. Her leg is very swollen and she has to get the massages, wear a boot thing, etc. It is hard on her b/c kids can be very mean, but it is not "serious" in the sense of serious serious as we know the term serious now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginnyde Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Margaret, Earl got big and puffy all around his jowls and his neck. The doctor said this is from the steroid and was no big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betplace Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Edema can have a lot of causes, I have been dealing with mild edema in my feet since about a month after the chemo, it just came and has never gone away. When it gets too painful and swollen I take lasix for a couple of days, the rest of the time I ignore it, but not before we did tests to make sure I didn't have a kidney infection. Someone metioned on here before that drinking gatoraid can help with edema, but I am diabetic, so can't drink it cause of the sugar in it. Keep us posted. Blessings Betty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 I have had no chemo and recently developed edema in both calves, ankles and feet. I went to ER and they coujld find no cause but gatorade has kept it pretty much in check. I, too, an worried about this latest development because it can mean a lot of things. Margaret, I hope you get it checked out. One thing though is that the location you speak of doesn't seem to be the location that edema from cancer progression would assert itself--so that's a GOOD thing! elaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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