One round of chemo...?

[richinsdakota]

Onc. is recomending one round of 3 treatments of chemo, Carbo/Cis + Iressa, I think he said, after my pneumonectomy. Anyone know if Ill lose my hair and other side effects from one round?

I guess Ill have to go with it anyway, the consensus of studies show increased survival with adjuvant chemo after surgery...just not thrilled, as the darn surgeon lead me to believe Id be cured, suggested Icould go home and forget the nightmare, as I heard him. Oh, well...still relatively fortunate , I know..

[ginnyde]

Rich,

There are so many tough decisions during this journey. But I would take every option available to squash any of those micro cells. A short period of discomfort (or baldness) can lead to a long life.

[tess]

I wish Doctors would not play God! So what if you lose your hair, it will grow back! You have to do something!

Tess

[SJAS]

Rich,

Don't sweat the baldness. Now when we see someone who shaves their head, we snicker and whisper to each other, "Not a true baldie - just a wannabe!" Steve is still working on the "rat tail" from the one spot at the back of his head that survived WBR. You can find a lighter side (sometimes no ear/nose hair Best of luck in your treatment.

[Tami]

While I didn't have Iressa I did have 2 different chemo regimes, one was the cocktail you mentioned. One was at the beginning of my treatment (prior to all my surgeries) the other during treatment. I didn't loose my hair... It thinned quite a bit but really unless you knew what my hair really looked (FELT!) like before, the average person wouldn't have noticed it.

I really struggled with this. I wanted to live but just hated the thought of losing my hair. I didn't even mind the steriod weight I gained so much. It's really kind of silly I suppose. Hair is such a vain thing to dwell on but it would have been really hard on me to lose it. After I started treatment I went and picked out a wig, was fitted and everything. I just never needed to order it. Who knows... you may lose it, you may not. Either way in the grand scheme it isn't all that important all that is important is that you do everything your doc's tell you to do to beat this monster.

[richinsdakota]

Yea, guess Im gonna stop worryin about the little things, when faced with the alternative, I do what I gotta do...as we all do. Thanks for the encouragement, and the lighter side of it. Come to think of it, might not be so bad if I didnt have to shave so much. (Wink)

5 weeks since thoracotomy, pain is down a little, but Drs. are stingy with pain meds...trying to cut me off completely. Tell me to bite the bullet...sheesh. First they tell ya to stay on top of the pain so you can walk and stay active, then they cut off the pain meds, so you cant do much.

I think Drs. are too busy chasin their priority, the greenbacks, to stop and explain or consider your point of view or concerns. Think Im getting a little, no, a lot depressed over the whole nightmare. Oh well, world aint what it used to be anymore...sigh. More scans and chemo next month, if insurance approves...another hassle Im sure many have had.

Still havent paid any on anesthesia, guess they prefer we bite on a .19 cent piece of wood..clothespin or something.