Mum has been on Docetaxel for 3 weeks and is due to have her 2nd treatment on Monday. Effects haven’t been too bad, it’s certainly no walk in the park but as the days have gone on it’s noticeable that the week after treatment is a right off and then things start to get better with the third week a dramatic improvement in how she feels and energy levels. I think mentally she will cope better knowing what to expect and the fact it does get better as time goes on.
She continues to have a cough, but it’s no worse and some days seem better than others.
Are there any other medications apart from steroids which might help?
It’s almost like her lungs get irritated sometimes. Maybe that’s a common thing with lung cancer and something she has to learn to live with. Mums almost waiting for the cough to go and the more it lingers the more she questions whether the treatment is working! I guess it takes more time than a few days/weeks.
We got Mums letter in the post from the last scan which showed keytruda wasn’t working. The doctor stated “definite disease progression”, but did not mention any spread. It’s hard to take the positives but I guess it’s good it’s not spread any more and that we’re able to deal with a cough which isn’t too bad... she’s able to go about her life albeit irritated by it but it doesn’t stop her from her daily activity.
Mum is starting to lose her hair, we expected it but she seems oddly ok with it. She mentioned a wig and I’m trying to gently encourage her to look into it.
Trying to stay positive that the third line treatment is the one that works for mum. Keytruda got us through Covid, which is a blessing but now we just need a bit of luck that the chemo is going to do it’s job. X
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Hope your Mum continues to feel reasonably well on her treatment and it must be such a nuisance for her having the cough. As you probably know, if the cough changes or gets worse then to have this reassessed by the specialist or GP. You may have done this already but you could ask the lung cancer nurse specialist, doctor or local pharmacist, if there is anything else that they could recommend to ease the cough.
This link will take you to our booklet on living with lung cancer and on page 19 details some advice on coughing: roycastle.org/app/uploads/2...
It can be challenging to stay positive on any part of a cancer journey, but it is helped by the support of family and friends and taking the good and not so good days together. There are some encouraging stories from those living with lung cancer found on this link: roycastle.org/campaigns/lik...
If there is anything you would like to discuss you can either email us at lungcancerhelp@roycastle.org or call our freephone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200
I meant to add some information on accessing a wig for your Mum, and am sure the lung cancer nurse would direct you to this in the hospital, but here is some useful information on this from Macmillan support:
(NOTE -- you should ask her doctor if this is okay for her situation).
My husband had docetaxel for prostate cancer, perhaps your mum has a different dose. One thing that helped --- sometimes peripheral neuropathy (a nasty problem with hands and feet) can happen with docetaxel--- we iced his hands and feet during chemo (using plastic bags of ice inside a larger bag, making sure that his feet were protected by socks and his hands were protected by tea-towel to avoid over-freezing). This has been used by others to help prevent peripheral neuropathy, and he never had the problem.
Thanks so much for the advice, will keep an eye out for this side effect and will mention to mum! It’s a harsh treatment, but we live in hope it’s working! All the best
Good to hear from you -- I hope I was clear that the time to do the "ice" is before any symptoms happen, if she's going to do it. The idea is to prevent neuropathy from starting. I don't know if the ice would help if she already got it, although it might keep it from getting worse. Hoping for the best for both of you.
I see! It’s preventative, I’ll mention it to mum tomorrow. She’s can be a tricky patient, doesn’t like to dwell on it or talk too much but it’s worth mentioning to her. Thanks so much
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