Hi
Can anyone please give me some advice? My mum has been diagnosed with a rare type of sclc that was diagnosed in the summer. She has rheumatoid arthritis which she has taken methotrexate for around 25yrs. The hospital stopped this when they discovered her tumour in the right upper lung. They were going to start radiotherapy but when they scanned her for the planning of treatment the tumour had shrunk dramatically with no treatment. They decided to watch & wait for 4wks, it remained stable so they left it for another 4wks which after that time it was back to the original size again. They went ahead & did 12 sessions of radiotherapy. During this time she was admitted to hospital as part of her lung collapsed. She has now been started last week on chemotherapy carboplatin & pemetrexed. My mum is 74 & now cannot do anything as she is so exhausted & breathless. Is this a normal side effect of the chemo, I know they say you will get tired but as I say she is unable to do even the smallest task & it's just not my mum to be looking that. Is there anything I can do to help with this or anything she can do to improve this. We are seeing the doctor on 5 January & the next cycle is supposedly on the 7 January. I'm so worried about her & at my wits end. Please any advise would be much appreciated.
Hi I am sorry to hear your Mum is feeling so worn out ,certainly some of it will be the chemo and the radiotherapy side effects ,perhaps once her blood count improves she may start to feel better ,after having carboplatin on my last cycle I took to lying down a lot as I frequently felt breathless and dizzy upon getting up. I did develop a love of red meats and green vegetables at this time even though everything else made me feel yuk .They body sort of tells you what it needs .I never had radiotherapy or pemetrexed a different mix was ordered for me .Your Mum is also older than myself so she must be feeling it .If you are really concerned contact the chemo unit or lung care nurse they may check her bloods earlier which might be helpful .Try not to worry too much things do improve and it is always harder to watch these things happen to those we love than to be the person experiencing it all .Hope it all improves for her over Christmas a.Diane .
Thank you so much for replying it really means a lot. I hope you are feeling well and have had a lovely Christmas. Lots of good wishes to you for 2016.