A few questions of advice...re Chemo reactions

NewlyWedWife · Last edited by NewlyWedWife on Wed May 28, 2008 3:30 pm; edited 2 times in total

Current Treatments: Every three weeks - Mar. 2008-Sept 2008 - TAXOL & NEULASTA & CARBOPLATIN
Future Treatments: Radiation on Brain starting Sept. 2008 - then after Radiation begin Chemo type Nov. 2008. AVASTIN
Current Meds:
EMEND- 1 morning of & 1 day after treatment
ENDOCET - (Percocet 5-325mg) 1-2 tabs by mouth every 4 hours as needed
LORAZEPAM - (Ativan 1mg) 1-tab by mouth every 4 hours as needed (Stopped taking due to reactions with endocet)
DEXAMETHASON - (4mg) take 5 tabs by mouth evening before treatment & 5 tabs the morning of treatment
ONDANSETRON - (Zofran 8mg) - take 1 tab by mouth every six hours as needed for Nausea.

Hi, I'm new to all of this, and we do have an Oncologist appt on June 2nd, but I thought I'd ask to see how common the following are with Chemotherapy treatments:

Small bumps on body same as skin color (reaction?)

Hair lost, however small fine white hair apparent but minimal. If it kills new cell growth, wouldn't it effect all hair growth including this small fine white hair?

Muscle ache's mostly legs and cramping tight?

Lost of Memory (Mostly Short Term)

Wheezing when sleeping, has to sit up.

Headaches more often.

IRRITABLE

OCD in behavior...
_________________
Believe
--------
Husband has Lung Cancer & Brain Tumor NSCLC Stage IV
Diagnosed Mar 2008
37 Yrs Old
Smoker 15 years
- - - - - -
My story thus far: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9545
- - - - - -
Current treatments & Meds:
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9550

In

NewlyWedWife,

Hi, You might find If you keep your own Topic and keep posting questions etc on the same one, you'll have better replys and people asking you questions. Not only does the mean you wont have to keep posting new topics, but others can follow your story.

Regarding the fine white hairs... White hairs (and natural red heads) are very resilent, resistant. The molicles of these hairs are so tightly packed together, it can strengthen them 10X, a normal strand. (the reason red heads are hard to colour or bleach- and white also.)
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pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 1404

New,

Welcome and I'm very sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis. This must be shocking for you because he is so young, but it's happening to people in their thirties more and more and I hate it for all of you. I hate cancer for anyone!

I'm trying to piece together what you have written and need some clarification. Does your husband have NSCLC or SCLC? What chemo drugs is he currently taking and on what schedule?

It will help us to help you if we know the above.

Thanks and God bless all of you.

PBJ
_________________
Husband diagnosed with NSCLC Stage IV. (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer) Fought & lived 2 1/2 years with multiple lines of treatment.

Post describing our battle: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=7026&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

NewlyWedWife

Current Treatments: Every three weeks - Mar. 2008-Sept 2008 - TAXOL & NEULASTA & CARBOPLATIN
Future Treatments: Radiation on Brain starting Sept. 2008 - then after Radiation begin Chemo type Nov. 2008. AVASTIN
Current Meds:
EMEND- 1 morning of & 1 day after treatment
ENDOCET - (Percocet 5-325mg) 1-2 tabs by mouth every 4 hours as needed
LORAZEPAM - (Ativan 1mg) 1-tab by mouth every 4 hours as needed (Stopped taking due to reactions with endocet)
DEXAMETHASON - (4mg) take 5 tabs by mouth evening before treatment & 5 tabs the morning of treatment
ONDANSETRON - (Zofran 8mg) - take 1 tab by mouth every six hours as needed for Nausea.
_________________
Believe
--------
Husband has Lung Cancer & Brain Tumor NSCLC Stage IV
Diagnosed Mar 2008
37 Yrs Old
Smoker 15 years
- - - - - -
My story thus far: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9545
- - - - - -
Current treatments & Meds:
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9550

pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 1404

New,

Thanks for posting the additional information.

Apparently your husband has NSCLC Stage IV by your description of Carbo/Taxol, which is standard first line treatment for NSCLC.

Typically the oncologist gives a pre-treatment bag with steroids, antihistamine, and anti-nausea meds. They seem to be loading him up with a lot of steroids in a short period of time the night before and the day of, to ward off an allergic reaction to the Taxol. We didn't have this experience of additional steroids with this regimen except for the pre-treatment bag.

A blast of steroids like that makes coming on and off a rough deal. This could be the cause of irritability and headaches. Is there any pattern to some of this behavior that could be traced to the period of time around when he takes the steroids?

Percocet may be the culprit for memory loss, but it could be related to the brain met. Have you asked the doctor about any effects from the met and it's actual location in his brain? My BIL had severe headaches prior to being diagnosed with secondary tumors in the brain. I take it that your husband is having headaches even with taking a pain killer. Is the percocet for his bone mets?

Wheezing? Is he seeing a pulmonologist to determine if he should be on inhalers or mucus thinning medication? Does he cough up any sputum? Is he short of breath (SOB)? If this is something new, call the doctor ASAP.

How is his fluid intake? He really needs to push fluids. Water, gatorade, and other products that have potassium and electrolytes. Leg cramping can be from low potassium levels.

Some of these symptoms can just be from the treatment itself. Carbo/Taxol can make some people feel like they have the flu for up to a week after the infusion. Body aches, feeling yucky, etc. For most people, the more hydrated they are, the less intense the side effects are. Of course the treatments are cumulative and can make him feel a little worse each cycle. Neulasta can cause bad bone aches and pains for some people too. Poor man -- I hope he'll start getting some of this straightened out.

Have you been reporting these things to the oncologist's staff when he goes for infusions? Make sure you notate everything and ask the questions either to the nurses or the doctor.

Sorry if this is too business-like, but I have to get off to bed. Very Happy

Very best wishes,
PBJ
_________________
Husband diagnosed with NSCLC Stage IV. (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer) Fought & lived 2 1/2 years with multiple lines of treatment.

Post describing our battle: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=7026&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

momaton · Regular Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Location: central fl

Hi newlywedwife,
I can't address all the issues you husband is having, however I would hazard a guess that it is the steroids that are causing:

fuzzy hair growth
cramps
irritability
headaches

My husband experienced all of these symptoms while taking just 6mg a day.

The leg cramps were especially awful...just as you described...he started drinking tonic water for the quinine and adding a little more salt to his food, also eating bananas to boost his potassium levels. Apparently the steroids rapidly deplete both potassium and salt which can lead to the cramping.

Hope this helps, take care,
Eve
_________________
"Human beings are always trying to fix things. Our hardest lesson is seeing perfection in the imperfect world."

from a little Zen book that I own.

NewlyWedWife

Wow, lots of great information...TY...

Here's some answer's to the below questions:

pbj11 -

Yes, the irritability and headaches can be linked to the time period of when he takes his steroids, I keep a log of dates and symptoms, and looking at that now they also have him take the steroids 1 pill a day for the three days after, and most of that is around that time in my log.
The Met is located in the frontal lobe of the brain, which the Dr. advised was an inactive area. The Percocet is actually for his pain in the back of his neck from the removal of his periotic gland 5 years ago, they sort of killed a lot of the nerve endings and didn't really connect others back to gether perfectly, they gutted the right side of his neck (wartmans tumor spelling?) non cancerous, but it consisted of removal of most things in the right neck, it was said he was lucky it didn't paralyze him (the Surgery), so he deals with the constant neck pain and will continue to all his life, the percocet is to numb that pain to let his body concentrate on the cancer fight.
The Lung collapsed and was filled with 1.5 liters of fluid, that is how they discovered the cancer in his lungs, and when they reinflated it, the cancer secreated more fluid into the lung. The Doctor advised this won't go away until the cancer stops growing and secreating fluid. It was that or have a tube put in, a drain of some sort, but the Doctor wanted to see if it would go away after a few months first. We went May 27th for a CScan W/ W/o contrast to see how that is progressing and will find out June 2nd. I'll ask my Oncologist after he reviews the results if he recommends seeing a pulmonologist for this. Yes he constantly coughs and brings up Phlem and is short of breath.
He drinks lots of fluid, gatorade, Ginger Ale, and Water when I make him, but he doesn't like water, and nothing with potassium that I'm aware, I'll start buying Banana's Thanks for the tip. One thing we discovered were Citrus drinks, even Tropical Gatorade makes him VERY sick to his stomach, not throwing up but feeling like it.

Thank you for taking the time to reply...Best wishes to you and yours.

Momaton -
Thank you for your response. It seems to be during the steroid periods
when these symptoms happen, so yes I think you are right. He does crave salt all the time, so I will speak to the doctor on this...Thank you and best wishes to you and yours.
_________________
Believe
--------
Husband has Lung Cancer & Brain Tumor NSCLC Stage IV
Diagnosed Mar 2008
37 Yrs Old
Smoker 15 years
- - - - - -
My story thus far: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9545
- - - - - -
Current treatments & Meds:
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9550

pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 1404

Hi New,

This will be quick because I have to run. How about talking to the doctor about lowering the steroid doses? You're a smart cookie to note all this information -- that's being a good advocate for your husband and I commend you. It simply strikes me as the most steroids I've ever seen given for this particular regimen, unless they are being given for reasons other than the chemo. I'd push for more answers and explain what is happening to him. Poor guy, he's going through enough without the whole steroid issue tossed into the mix.

Ouch -- nerve damage to his neck? Nerve problems are never, ever an easy fix. Anyone who has gone through lung surgery of any type will tell you that the nerves being cut are some of the weirdest pain you can have. I'm sorry he has this other issue to contend with along with the cancer.

I mentioned the lung fluid in another post to someone, but I'll say it again. This is called pleural effusion and is located in a small sack-like area between the lung and chest wall. The fluid accumulates in this area, often from the cancer itself, and can cause a lot of shortness of breath (SOB). The doc's are hoping that the chemo will kill the cancer cells that are causing this to happen. Oftentimes, as the cancer responds, the effusion goes away by itself. If it gets to be too bad, they can drain it out with a simple procedure called a thoracentesis. A long needle is run up the back and the fluid is tapped into bags. If he refills too much, they may recommend a permanent tube that you will empty at home. You also may hear about a procedure called pleurodesis, where they empty the fluid and add an irritating agent, usually talc, and this seals that pleural lining to the lung permanently where no more fluid can accumulate there. It's effective about 80% of the time to stop effusion.

Getting them to drink something that won't upset their stomachs is a real challenge, but he needs to stay hydrated. Keep away from any caffeine drinks, they only act as a diuretic. The more fluid he intakes, the better for him. Citrus based drinks are often a problem -- I understand that one!

He should be having testing done to see what his blood oxygen levels are. The oncologist's staff can put a little monitor on his fingertip and have him walk and sit to gauge how high or low this level is and whether he should be seeing a pulmonologist. My husband was on a couple of types of inhalers, which did help with his breathing and he also took mucinex twice a day to thin out the secretions and allow him to cough them up easier. You should ask the oncologist about all of this. He shouldn't have to struggle so much to breathe, but maybe once the chemo starts shrinking things, it will go better for him. That's what happened for my husband. It was miraculous how much better he breathed once some of the tumors shrank off of his bronchial tubes.

Good luck with the scan results and keep us posted. I'll be thinking of you both.

God bless,
PBJ
_________________
Husband diagnosed with NSCLC Stage IV. (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer) Fought & lived 2 1/2 years with multiple lines of treatment.

Post describing our battle: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=7026&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

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