My father is currently going through chemotherapy.
Two cycles have been completed and after each cycle side effects were very bad.
After first cycle he had severe diarrhoea and after the second cycle he was knocked out by chemo induced pneumonia for 10 days.
His 3rd chemo session is scheduled tomorrow.
Please suggest how to deal with chemo.
One possible approach to consider is short-term fasting, but you would need to research this and get it approved by your father's care team, so it is probably a bit late to consider it for this round of chemo. I can't give you any specifics on how it should be pursued for best results, and that of course might depend on the specifics of the patient and his treatment. (I have heard of people trying 48 hrs pre-treatment and 24 hrs post-treatment for a 72-hr total, for example, but it would be important to maintain hydration and electrolyte balance.)
I'm on my second run of Chemo at the moment, last round is end of May (first time was Jan 2019). I tried a routine of exercise when I was able (just walking), before it really knocked me off my feet. Keeping fluids going has really helped, I got a taste for herbal teas, not that I could taste much.
Chemo takes a big toll on the body, first time I ended up in ER twice, once with temp and second time my leg became very swollen, I have a good friend who is a GP and she has been a great help in giving me advice, my trips to ER were more a precaution than something serious. This time have been okay, I did lose 3 teeth, a small price I suppose.
Talk with Oncologist, he reduced my Chemo dose to help me deal with side effects a little better.
Good luck.
There is a drug with the U.S. trade name Neulasta that reduces the likelihood of infection while taking chemotherapy. I have also seen accounts of reducing dosage (see Zetabow's posting above) to significantly reduce side effects. There are several ways to reduce dose. One is to just administer less drugs. Another is to combine a reduction in dose with an increase in frequency of dosage. For example, instead of the usual 75 mg/m2 every three weeks. it is possible to try 50 mg/m2 every two weeks, or 25 mg/m2 each week. I seem to recall reading one study claiming that the overall efficacy is the same for lower dose, higher frequency treatment. A guy I knew used the 25mg each week plan and found the side effects to be very manageable.
Not all doctors will do things differently from the way they've always done them, but it's worth inquiring about.
Alan
Because my Father also has multiple sclerosis his MO has him on 1/2 dose every two weeks with a 3-day chaser of dexamethasone and he has very few side effects.
Thank you AlanMeyer
He is being administered with Neulasta after each chemo.
Hoping for the best 🙂
My husband is undergoing chemo. Now this past year. For 10 years he used pills to contain his cancer. Then they stopped working. 6 months later His prostrate cancer metastasized to his liver. He had 2 chem treatments 15 days apart. The second treatment he had a fever of 100.4. Which means the start of an infection. We had been taking our temp last year many times a day to check for covid. That is how we saw his spike in temp quickly. I took him to the er at sloan. They immediately gave him neulasta ?spelling , melatonin and antibiotic. They cultured his infection. Gave him the specific antibiotic. He stayed in the hospital for 4 days to build up his white blood cells. He never got pneumonia or covid. I decided that chem was too much for him and we took a 3 month break and went away. My husband walked, hiked , swam every day. When we returned he was strong. His test results came back that 4 /5 legions in his liver were gone. One more left. He had one more chemo with neulastin attached to him for 2 days. He never got a fever and was not effected by the chemo. The last spot disappeared. 6 months later 3 little spots appeared. He went on a break for 6 months. Then he had chemo . Then break for 2months. Chemo zapped only his liver cancer. My advice. Build your body. Do not overdo chemo. Its a killer. Use it in moderation. Unfortunately chemo doesnot work on his resistant prostrate cancer. I only wish he had started chemo before the pills and radiation . He had an operation recently on his bladder area because the cancer had grown and obstructed his peeing ability. The dr removed 4 panels of which 22% was metastatic cancer and 10% was benign cancer. I feel w/o this operation he would have lost his kidneys and died. He has recd a new lease on life for a few years . Unless we can find a way to manage the resistant prostrate cancer he is going to die.As all cancer patients do. We can only manage cancer until our bodies give up.
My advise is to take chemo slowly. Many breaks......It works. LLLURIE his wife.
LURIE,
Bless you for caring for your dear husband...
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Friday 04/30/2021 8:15 PM DST
My advise do not have the next chem . Wait until he recovers . He will die from the chemo not the cancer. Build him up and rest!!!
I went through six months of chemo, Taxotere. After the first cycle, I was sick as a dog. For the second cycle, I began using cannabis, which was not part of my normal routine. It helped tremendously. I remember smoking marijuana in college but never thought of it as medicine until chemo. I’d smoke it through the bad days and manage quite well. It helped attitude, stomach, and overall energy. I never stopped playing tennis for the rest of my five months of chemo.
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